Evolution therapist further enhances skills in commercial vehicle and plant assessment

Evolution OT Principal Therapist, Tim Williams recently completed his certificate in heavy vehicle driver assessments, making him one of only a handful of therapists in Queensland certified to complete heavy vehicle assessments of medical fitness to operate.

This course has enhanced and refined his skills and abilities to complete formal Occupational Therapy Driver Assessments for all classes of licenses from car, forklift, bus, right through to semi trailers and multi-combination vehicles.

Organisations should be aware that driving is potentially the largest identifiable risk to your workers.  Statistics also reveal that the greatest cause of workplace deaths in Australia is vehicles.  Occupational Therapy driver rehabilitation in the workplace aims to assist the worker with a functional impairment to commence or return to safe and independent driving through the identification of strengths and limitations, program planning for compensatory and remediation strategies.  We also work with employees who are struggling with the physical demands of operating their vehicle, and can assist with ergonomic modification, adaptive driving equipment or engineering a cockpit re-design where appropriate.

A worker is referred for Occupational Therapy driver rehabilitation in the following circumstances:

• Where there is a concern regarding a worker’s suitability and safety for driving as their primary work role.   Concerns regarding a worker’s suitability include functional capacity and medical status.
• Where the activity of driving is aggravating the worker’s symptoms or the worker’s symptoms are impacting on their ability to drive.
• If your worker stopped driving due to an injury or disease, and they wish to explore the possibility of returning to driving.  This is important if driving is their primary mode of transport and/or part of their work duties.

The driver rehabilitation service includes the following components where relevant:

• Off-Road Clinical Examination and specific driver testing
• On-Road Examination (in car,  heavy vehicle or plant as per requirement)
• Ergonomic assessment of proposed vehicle, and modification or adaptation where necessary
• Collaborating with our driving instructor colleagues in a Driver Retraining service, focusing on areas such as driving behaviours, compensatory techniques and safety
• Driver Fatigue Management programs
• In the event of an incident, post-accident injury management and return to driving, including counselling and PTSD support

As an established provider in the Workplace Injury Management and Insurance sector, Evolution has a great deal of understanding of the process and the respective goals of all parties involved.  If you have concerns about your workers’ medical fitness to drive in your workplace or have a complex case to manage, Evolution is the ideal corporate partner.

For information:    Contact Evolution Occupational Therapy to stay CarFit.

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