Affiliations: Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety,
Hopkinton, MA, USA | University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester,
MA, USA
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Yueng-Hsiang Huang, Liberty Mutual
Research Institute for Safety, 71 Frankland Road, Hopkinton, MA, 01748, USA.
Tel.: +1 508 497 0208; Fax: +1 508 435 0482; E-mail:
Yueng-hsiang.Huang@LibertyMutual.com
Abstract: The organizational responses of employers to work-related injuries
is one of several significant influences on return-to-work outcomes. Thus,
understanding the factors that lead to better or worse organizational responses
to work injuries may ultimately help to improve success in this area. The
purpose of this study was to systematically explore factors that might
influence the organizational responses of employers to injured workers, based
on employee perceptions. Cross-sectional survey data were collected from 2,943
subjects with work-related injuries which had occurred less than eight weeks
prior to survey completion. Measured variables included pre-injury demographic
and job factors, injury circumstances, and a measure of post-injury events that
comprised the organizational response. Multivariate linear regression results
show that age, gender, job dissatisfaction before injury, prior difficulty
performing job tasks, injury severity, back injury and lost time were all
associated with negative organizational responses, suggesting potential
opportunities for intervention.
