Supervisor's response to work injury matters

Title translated into English

Supervisor's response to work injury matters

Film: Duration in minutes

0:43 minutes

Product description

When a supervisor learns of a worker's injury, his or her reaction matters. As this research-based video from the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) sums up, a supervisor’s response can make a difference to whether an injured worker successfully returns to work within a few months.

Aims and objectives

When supervisors respond to reports of work injury with support and empathy rather than blame and skepticism, injured workers are more likely to return to work within the first few months. Supervisors matter.

A study conducted by a research team from the Institute for Work & Health in Toronto, Canada, and Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, looked at the experiences of about 870 injured workers who were workers' compensation claimants in the Australian state of Victoria. The team found that those with a supervisor who responded positively to the injury (e.g., with support and empathy) were twice as likely to return to work in the first few months after injury than those with a supervisor who responded negatively (e.g., with blame and skepticism).

To share this important research finding, IWH created a video that runs under one minute, and mixes animation with on-camera and voice-only narrative from Dr. Arif Jetha, the author of the study published in August 2017. The result is a short, easy-to-understand video that is easily sharable via social media.

The video was written and produced in-house by IWH's communication team, including Uyen Vu (script) and Kristina Buccat (narrative).

Target audience

Workplace supervisors, their employers and the occupational health and safety professionals who work with them

Contact details Editor / Production company

Institute for Work & Health
481 University Ave. - Suite 800 , Canada-M5G2E9 Toronto
1 416 927 20271 416 927 4167 cmoser@iwh.on.ca https://www.iwh.on.ca