Dialogue does the Trick!
Social worker Luise Hougaard uses a proactive approach when helping seafarers to return to the labour market after a work-related injury.
Dialogue and outreach combined with experience and professional insight.
Those are the tools and qualifications used by social worker Luise Hougaard in helping seafarers to overcome a sick leave and return to the labour market after a work-related injury.
Since the summer of 2019, Luise Hougaard has been attached to the Danish Shipowners’ Accident Insurance as social worker. The task is to help seafarers, who have sustained a work injury, to return to their job on sea or to another function on land.
Returning to working life at sea after an extended period of sick leave can be a long and bumpy road for the seafarer – both emotionally and physically.
”My experience is that dialogue and continuous follow-up give the best result. There are many aspects and problems to relate to when on sick leave due to a work injury. The rules and regulations can be hard to understand for someone battling ill health due to an injury,” says Luise Hougaard.
The Tasks are Varied
Luise has 25 years of experience as social worker and job consultant, 13 of them at a job centre. Further, she has for a number of years worked with proactive claims handling for insurance companies.
”My tasks are varied. Often it is about supporting the seafarer by explaining the processes of the job centre. What do the letters mean? They are often held in a legal language, which can trigger frustration, when things seem complicated. Sometimes “minor” requirements are the last straw that makes people suddenly feel everything is impossible and they become dispirited,” says Luise Hougaard.
From zero to one hundred!
She adds, that for seafarers it can be a special challenge to return to their job.
“When on sea, you have to be “fit for duty”. It is almost from zero to one hundred! There is no middle course. It is either or. It is easier to arrange a gradual return to work if the job function is on land.
Luise Hougaard also functions as liaise between the seafarer and the workplace if the injured seafarer wishes so. She underlines that generally employers care about their employees and would like to have them back in some shape or form. Both sides benefit the most from a flexible and positive process, says Louise Hougaard.
