Employers Mutual Limited (EML) is a Sydney-headquartered mutual insurance company that specialises in managing workers’ insurance, workers’ compensation and personal injury claims.
One of EML’s recent challenging cases involved Fred, a security guard in Sydney’s CBD. Fred suffered brain damage from a violent, drunken attack. A video on EML’s website details how, after an operation to save his life, Fred was unable to recognise himself or anyone in his family. He endured a long process of rehabilitation in order to learn to walk, talk and eat again.
After many months of support from his family and EML, Fred was able to turn his life around. He even represented Australia in the Physical Disability Rugby League World Cup held in the UK in 2022.
After checking with Fred and his family, EML agreed to discuss some of the challenges around managing a case like this.
Renee Hudson (pictured above) is senior manager of claims operations in EML’s Nominal Insurer Speciality department, leading the Workers with Highest Needs portfolio. She has customers across NSW. Serving those customers continues even when they move out of the state, with some currently in Queensland and New Zealand.
“When a worker suffers a severe injury - and in the case of Fred a traumatic brain injury - the immediate and longer-term impact of the injury is felt by the injured worker and their family,” she said. “A traumatic brain injury effects a person’s memory, can alter a person’s ability to regulate their emotions, ability to speak and perform activities of daily living.”
Hudson said Fred required intensive rehabilitation and coordination with local allied health services.
“Some of the challenges for an injured worker are the significant impact of loss of self, loss of independence, inability to work and engage independently in the community, and how to navigate what can be a life changing injury,” she said.
Hudson said there is no typical case when it comes to workplace injuries. Severe cases, like Fred’s, are often unique, she said, and how they play out is heavily dependent on the injury, the person injured and their family.
“Fred was assaulted in the course of his employment, suffering a traumatic brain injury, and the perpetrator was convicted and sentenced, making this case not your typical injury,” she said. “It is important for all treating providers, employers, and the insurer, to work collaboratively to provide the best support and services that will guide the worker through the rehabilitation journey with the focus on helping get the injured worker’s life back.”
One of EML’s current challenges in the injured worker space, said Hudson, is establishing a reliable treatment and care provider network tailored for each customer in their location. She said identifying the daily living needs of a customer can be easy compared to actually meeting them.
“The regulatory framework which underpins the workers’ compensation system can bring challenges in managing customer expectations of compensable treatment and care also,” said Hudson.
However, she said good communication with the customer can “largely” overcome many obstacles.
EML has considerable experience in the injured worker space.
“For over 110 years we have been helping injured workers get their lives back after a workplace injury or illness,” said Hudson. “We have a workforce of over 4,000 employees focused on personal injury claims management.”
She said her firm’s Mutual Benefits Program has invested over $109 million during the last decade in developing innovative products and services to help improve outcomes for injured workers and employers.
“This has enabled us to go above and beyond for employers and injured workers we support to offer additional services above our core claims management services,” said Hudson.
Two EML employees, Dylan Aserovisius and Jazz Mahmud, are finalists in this year’s Excellence in Personal Injury and Disability Management Awards.
According to the EML website, Aserovisius and Mahmud worked with Recovre and NSW Health “to manage and control psychosocial hazards and risks that can negatively affect mental health and well-being in the workplace.”
The winner of this award, together with many others, will be announced later this month at a summit and conference in Adelaide organised by the Personal Injury Education Foundation (PIEF).
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