Testimonials

Testimonials for the Early Intervention Programme

"I  just wanted to off this expression of appreciation for your valuable role in helping to improve the safety culture and performance in CSIRO Entomology. The past twelve months have seen a major reduction in the number and severity of injuries in Entomology and I would like to thank Bjarne and his staff at Southside Physiotherapy for playing an invaluable role in this achievement. Historically, occupational overuse injuries and repetitive strain injuries have accounted for the majority of injuries and injury related costs in Entomology. About five years ago, the then HSE Manager initiated an “Early Intervention” program, the first of its kind in CSIRO, which involved referring people who reported the early warning signs of OOI or RSI to Southside Physiotherapy for advice and, if appropriate, treatment at the Division’s expense. An agreement was made between Southside and Entomology regarding costs, services and reporting. More recently, I have extended the Program to include back problems and non-work-related injuries and offered pilates as well as physiotherapy. I have also vigorously promoted and advertised the Program and introduced other early intervention initiatives including a workstation assessment program a manual handling training program. Early reporting and up-take of the Program’s services have increased, and there is now clear evidence that this approach has helped achieve a significant reduction in the severity and cost of injuries in Entomology. I also attribute the Program’s success to good communication between Southside and myself. I believe we have formed a very successful partnership that helps ensure injured staff members receive timely and appropriate treatment and that they are given the knowledge and tools to help themselves. I would like to express my appreciation to Southside and to Bjarne in particular for his support and excellent service".
Yours sincerely,

Ann Ashton
Health, Safety and Environment Manager
CSIRO EntomologyACT.

To Whom It May Concern:
I would like to outline the processes that Outward Bound Australia has implemented in reducing Workers Compensation Insurance Premiums over the past couple of years.

Outward bound Australia’s Workers Compensation Premium has been reduced by 40% in the past year as a result of an Early Intervention Program which was implemented with the assistance of the Southside Physiotherapy and Sports Injury Centre.

Under the Early Intervention Program, Outward Bound Staff are able to seek immediate attention to any Medical Condition that would be aided by the assistance of a Physiotherapist. Under these program the cost of these treatments are taken from a Fund which has been set up, follow up consultation (up to three visits) are also paid for out of this fund. In setting up this program there is substantial benefit to both the staff member and the organization in a speedy return to pre injury duties.

The Centre is also responsible for the medical Screening of all our new Operational Staff, this is in the form of a Muscular / Skeletal examination. The Southside Physiotherapy and Sports Injury Centre was chosen as our provider as they have direct understanding of the needs of the organization and work with the Management in looking at new and improved work methods.

Without doubt the Southside Physiotherapy and Sports Injury Centre has played an important part of the health of Outward Bound Australia.

Should you wish to discuss the contents of this letter, please feel free to contact me on 02 62375158.

Roger Buckley
Director
Outward Bound Australia

I am happy to provide a statement regarding the services provided to ACTION by Southside Physiotherapy and Sports Injury Centre. The Centre has provided physiotherapy services for ACTION employees since June 2002.

ACTION and Southside Physiotherapy and Sports Injury Centre have an agreement for the provision of services as an early intervention strategy to manage injuries in the workplace. ACTION has found this arrangement to be beneficial in reducing absenteeism and workers compensation claims as a result of minor injuries. Employees have provided consistently positive feedback and see the initiative as proactive.

Staff at the Centre are professional in their dealings with ACTION employees and have made efforts to familiarize themselves with ACTION’s workplaces and job tasks. The treating physiotherapists report to ACTION on the condition treated with an estimated number of treatments required and whether medical intervention is needed. ACTION agrees to pay for up to 7 physiotherapy treatments per employee and in doing so ensures that the employee receives immediate subsidized treatment for an injury, rather than waiting for a compensation claim to be decided.

This arrangement is working for ACTION and has the support of management, the relevant unions and employees. I recommend the services of Southside Physiotherapy and Sports Injury Centre to any organization considering a similar undertaking.

Kerry Byers
Manager
Injury Prevention and Management
ACTION

Testimonials for OH & S workshops

Dear Bjarne,
I just wanted to write to you on behalf of the staff of Calwell Early Childhood Centre and Gordon Early Childhood Centre. I received very positive feedback from all the staff who attended the workshop you conducted for us.

Thank you for providing a workshop that was both practical and informative. Looking after our backs is very important in the child care industry and you provided a workshop that explained both how backs function and how to look after them.

Staff comments included “how to lift effectively finally makes sense”, “I really liked the analogy about the tent and our backs, and how we need to get injuries seen to quickly” and “this way of lifting feels really comfortable”.
Regards,

Janelle Ballard
Calwell Early Childhood Centre

Dear Bjarne,
Thank you for coming into our office to do a review of all the workstations. Each staff member appreciated the time you took to talk to them about their workstation and to specifically adjust is to suit them. These adjustments have most definitely lead to an increase in productivity and everyone who now has an “exercise ball” is enjoying the novelty of sitting on that instead of a chair!
The exercises and stretches you showed us have been great to overcome the typical office working environment issues of posture and RSI. Everyone was fascinated to learn about correct posture and how they can improve, even after years in an office environment.
Over all the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Thank you, Bjarne!
Yours sincerely,

Ric Butt
Strine Design Pty Ltd