Index

My presentation will be divided into four parts

Summary
Introduction
Methods
Conclusion

Summary
Now

 This paper explores workers’ experiences of returning

to work and accommodations following an occupation
electrical injury.
 Thirteen semi-structured qualitative telephone
interviews were conducted with injured workers
recruited from acute rehabilitation programs in Ontario,
Canada.
 Thematic analysis was employed to identify themes
related to the request and provision of
accommodations.

Introduction
 Findings reveal that accommodations are most
frequently narrowly defined in relation to physical work
restrictions, leading to the exclusion of cognitive and
psychosocial concerns.

 In the first picture, you can see how a worker, is

separating with a stick to his partner who is
electrocuting.
 In the second picture you can see several examples of
people who are close to being electrocuted by not
taking the necessary precautions.
 reports that electrical fatalities rank seventh and
constitute approximately 4 % of all occupational
fatalities.
Before moving on to the slide, I warn you that there are
photos that can be strong for some people

The resulting impairments may include disfiguring

burns, musculoskel- etal injuries (e.g., deep tissue
injuries and joint contrac- tures), neuromuscular
conditions (e.g., motor neuron disease),
neuropsychological/cognitive challenges (e.g.,
attention, memory, processing speed, learning) and
psy- chological/behavioural issues such as anxiety,
depression, post-traumatic stress disorders, fear
associated with the trauma of the electrical injury
itself, and concerns with returning to the worksite
where the injury occurred
 While returning to work following
electrical injuries can present
challenges to workers, coworkers
and employers, there are many
potentially supportive
environmental modifications and
workplace accommodations that
may help facilitate successful
return to work.
 Since electrical injuries often
include cognitive and
psychosocial impairments, fear of
discrimination and stigma may
 discourage workers from
disclosing cognitive and
psychosocial difficulties to
employers and coworkers and
requesting support.

Methods
 Workers were recruited from a sample of electrically-
injured workers who had received medical and/or
rehabilitation services from two study sites.
 Thirteen workers who had suffered an electrical injury
at the workplace participated in the interviews.
 Participants lived and worked in both urban and rural
setting in Ontario, Canada and across sectors
including electrical contracting, power generation and
transmission, construction and hospitality industries.
 Post-injury cognitive and psychological status are
based on participants’ self-reports and related more
specifically to their own observed challenges during
injury recovery and the return to work process.
Conclusion
 Challenges within the accommodations process
such as perceived legitimacy, a do it yourself
approach to accommodations, and concerns
regarding job security can also influenced
workers’ decisions to request accommodations.
 Further exploration of best practices for the
provision of accommodations, especially for
less well understood challenges (e.g. cognitive
and psychosocial) would also be beneficial.
 Further education regarding electrical injuries
and workplace accommodations is warranted
to increase workers’, employers’, health and
insurance personnels’ knowledge about
electrical injury and best practices for providing
workplace accommodations.