Excerpted from Business Insurance  |  March 28, 2012

Recovering employees should be assigned to transitional tasks that allow them to perform as much of their usual work as possible, said Colleen Britz, ergonomics practice leader of workforce strategies for Marsh Risk Consulting in Los Angeles.

Workers who have been off the job can lose work-related muscle conditioning, making it more difficult for them to heal from injuries, she said. This can be particularly true for older workers, because people tend to lose strength as they age.

By having employees continue a close-to-normal work routine—rather than performing menial tasks—employers can hasten workers' recovery time.

“You want them to do as many components of their job as possible from a productivity standpoint, and also so you don't have them de-conditioning,” Ms. Britz said.

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