Monday Muses ~ "is there something that Craig's Table can do?"
Rosemary McKenzie-Ferguson
Founder at Craig's Table- Recipient Summa Comp Laude 2021-22 Recipient Bloom Making a Difference Award 2023
It was a standard phone call, "can Craig's Table help?"; my response tell me what is needed. The caller wasn't able to provide me with all the details, just enough for me to work out what was required and what response was urgently required.
Last year I was reprimanded for daring to speak the reality of suicides within the injured worker community at a workers compensation conference. At the same time the workers compensation industry wants the "lived experience" I know that conference organisers really don't want the lived experience, because all too often is is beyond ugly. Such was the phone call I received last week. Ugly is just the start point on this one. I also know that the issue faced for this particular member of the injured worker community are multiple and complex.
However here is the bare bones truth. If the issues faced by this male member of the injured worker community had been faced by a female member of the injured worker community I would not have had to spend the amount of hours nor would I have had to call people asking for assistance if this member of the injured worker community was a female. This may be the most gender specific statement I have ever made, however it is time to admit the male issues within workers compensation are magnified simply because the workers compensation industry [successfully] pretends that the lack of social services external to the workers compensation industry does not impact male members of the injured worker community in a harsher manner.
The immediate assistance required- emergency housing away from a non-workers compensation issue. Emergency re-location funding would have been in place with in minutes of asking, no application required.
Instead this member of the injured worker community is a male, there isn't any spot for him on the emergency accommodation waiting list- that is unless he is prepared to wait it out for a ridiculous amount of time.
He might be able to move to stay with a relative, however there isn't an agreement possible as the relative he could stay with is in another State. If he were to go he would be deemed to be abandoning his claim as he would be gone for many months. Instead he is required to stay in an abusive situation that is not conducive to a return to pre-workplace injury health.
Yes; this male member of the injured worker community has caused many concerns, many of them not workers compensation related, the workers compensation injuries just add another layer of complication that normally would easily be navigated.
To be fair to the claims agent here there is nothing in the legislation that requires the claims agents to provide a social worker to ease the burden of non-workers compensation, just as there is no requirement for the other issues to be able to provide support for the workers compensation challenges. The various industry silos prevent the required service providers talking to each other let alone resolving the concerns this member of the injured worker community has presented with. The one thing this person needs is a coordinated approach over multiple providers to remove the barriers and place resolutions in place. But in workers compensation we do not admit such concerns as considered attempted or completed suicides, thus we certainly do not interact with non-wokers compensation societal issue providers.
However the workers compensation industry does not allow those of us with the lived experience to discuss what we know and what we see and what we deal with day in day out regardless of the time or the day. We are only permitted to pretend that everything is fine and dandy.
Well it isn't fine and dandy. I have spent a large number of hours over the last few days calling in favours trying to find a possible safe haven and then a way to get his workers compensation back on track.
Sadly the situation is dire and despite not wanting to I feel that I will be attending yet another senseless highly preventable suicide funeral.
I can no longer remain silent on issues such as preventable injured worker community suicides. The workers compensation industry must acknowledge these senseless loss of lives. We need to provide the social safety-net even if it means stepping awy from an outdated model of workers compensation to a system that does what it says it does, put people before anything else.
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Fund Raiser
Conferences
领英推荐
Florida Bar Workers' Compensation Forum ?April 20 - 21 2023??
I will be speaking at an event on the 29th April from 5-7pm in Adelaide venue to be formalised
Safety and Health at Work Congress ?IAIABC The Forum 2023 Wyndam Grand Clearwater Beach Florida April 27th
“Contracting in Compo” ?Intelligent Rebellion ?May 12th 2023
Awards?
Days to be observed
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SHARE YOUR STORY ?Donation Portal ??It’s Just what I do (audio) ?It’s just what I do (PDF) ?Before I Go Guy Sebastian
Yours in service
Rosemary
Team Omertà LLC
6 个月Craigs table has operators all over
Retired
1 年Thanks for taking the time to present this Rosemary
Ambassador Survivor’s R Us ... Supporting the fight against Domestic Abuse.
1 年The industry can not handle the truth.
?? Helping business leaders unlock their digital potential by leveraging their Social Media ?? Social Impact Entrepreneur??
1 年Rosemary, your bold and authentic approach to problem-solving is inspiring! It's great to see a willingness to take on challenges and make a real difference. Looking forward to hearing more about the impact Craig's Table is making.