Every year, more than half a million Australians sustain a work-related injury or illness. For the employee who becomes injured or ill at work, and for their employer, failed or incomplete return to work can have significant negative consequences. 

For this project, BETA collaborated with Safe Work Australia to adapt existing return to work materials for use by supervisors in Small and Medium Enterprises and undertook a literature review, stakeholder consultation, and data analysis. Key findings from this diagnostic research informed the first round of revisions to the original return to work guidance materials. The project then tested the revised materials with 12 supervisors working in SMEs, and made further changes based on their feedback.