Workplace injuries are at least a 50 Billion dollar problem in Australia. Work Safe Australia

near ZERO - Master Documentation The unique and patented near ZERO - Injury Prevention and Injury Management System lowers the risk of injury in a work place, and the subsequent costs of any rehabilitation. Hence the overall costs to the Employer (and Insurer) are tightly managed and contained.

  The main aim of near ZERO is simply to enable workers to be able to sustain their employment tasks.   If an injury does occur, then a system is already in place to manage that situation.

It is a system that is refined to:   Incorporate existing Health and Safety Programs.   Focus directly on the individual worker.   Look at ability against the inherent requirements of jobs.

Roles to be played In a successfully working near ZERO system, the three key roles are well defined:   The near Zero Workplace Co-ordinator (internal)   The near Zero Project Consultant (external)   The near Zero Technical Advisor (human movement expertise)

In a near ZERO System all Jobs:   Have been assessed for risks to a worker’s body.   A functional (screening) test for every job has been designed.   Every worker’s body is assessed against their job’s demands.

Each worker for their job will have:   A unique Risk Profile describing their physical capacity.   Risk Points assigned for areas of concern based on their screening test.   The opportunity to lower their Total Risk Points by improving their physical profile.

Using the unique near ZERO points system all workers are assigned an overall category of risk:   Lower risk of injury   Medium risk of injury   Higher risk of injury   Remediation required   Conditional ( new applicants )

For Effective Management:   The near ZERO Management Database stores the results.   The Risk Rating is communicated to workers.   Workers are given assistance to improve their rating.

Targeted Interventions Three types of risk lowering interventions are delivered:   Global, identified needs for a whole group of workers.   Sub Groups, of workers with common needs.   Individual, their needs are specifically known.

Injury Management: Minor injury can quite often be dealt with effectively by the near ZERO Technical advisor. Major injury may be the time when external Case Management or other services are required.

External Rehabilitation: The near Zero Project Consultant has access to an Expert Rehabilitation Panel drawn from number of disciplines and able to work nationally. The Project Consultant may assist the near Zero Workplace Co-ordinator, to ensure consistency in all rehabilitation delivery.

Maintaining the System Once the system is in place (Installation Phase), the system’s integrity must be maintained (Maintenance Phase). The Audit and Training Processes are by this time automatically in place.

A final but most important question - Who are the winners in this process?

The Employer Saves:   “Down time” - lowered by not having to change work tasks   Retraining time - reduced by not losing good workers   Recruitment time - lessened by not having to replace workers   Management time - lower injury rate requires less management   Productivity - increases due to less labour changes   Premiums - reduced by quantifying and lowering risk

  The worker - Their livelihoods are more protected as they know their body’s strengths and limitations, and how to safely perform their specific work tasks.   Any union - The duty of care of their members increases.

  Any Insurer - has very accurate information, including the unique near ZERO risk points system, giving more control on all costs.   Any Medical Provider has their job made easier as they can be given access to worker’s Risk Profiles and workplace Task Descriptions.

In Summary: The Employer has the most cost effective way of deploying the best workers for specific tasks. Bottom Line: Profitability Improved

Cost Benefit typically 6 to 10 times outlay *Dependent on level of internal expertise – near ZERO builds on existing internal capacity $ = Australian Dollars