Supporting Employees With Amputations In The Workplace: Strategies For Inclusive Work Environments

Running a business requires you, as business leader, to wear multiple hats. On the one hand, you must pragmatically steer your ship through the troubled waters of a saturated industry, globally competitive field, and of notable economic instability. On the other, you must be a nurturing leader, willing to invest in your staff cohort and ready to see the true value in valuing your staff.

With regard to employee accommodation, development and satisfaction, there are some core, legally-necessary provisions any and every business has to make. There are also steps a business can take to go above and beyond for its staff, for the betterment of both worker and employer. This is well-demonstrated in the unfortunate instance where a staff member suffers a serious, life-altering injury – such as amputation.

Understanding the Challenges

Amputation is one of the more grievous forms of physical harm a human body can suffer, bringing with it an extremely wide array of complications, limitations and ancillary impacts. An amputee must come to terms with being fundamentally less able than they once were, and must re-learn how to do any number of simple activities – whether writing, cleaning oneself, or simply moving from one place to another.

Not only must they do this in order to reclaim any form of post-injury independence, but they also must do so while facing serious post-injury side-effects, physical and psychological. Phantom pain or sensation can be destabilising and difficult to manage, as can the mental hurdle of re-learning life without a limb.

This is all to say nothing of the personal toll that civil processes relating to amputation claims can take on an already-embattled mind. The resulting compensation is not a reward but a form of justice, and an essential payment to enable major at-home accommodations.

Creating an Inclusive Environment

As a business leader, it is crucial that you set a precedent for your business – one of inclusivity, value, support and comfort for your staff members. Responsibility for upholding this precedent lies with you and your management staff, as well as your colleagues in general – which can be facilitated with a strong subset of conduct guidelines and office-co-ordinated understandings.

From a management perspective, and with respect to as serious a worker injury as amputation, providing access to counselling services and peer support groups through HR channels can be a net positive for the office as well as personally beneficial. A personal touch is vital too, as the simple act of offering empathy and understanding can be enough to welcome a struggling employee back.

Providing Necessary Accommodations

Here, though, it is important to acknowledge the legal side of the equation. Through the Equality Act 2010, a business is required to provide reasonable adjustments to employees with protected characteristics – disability included. Where an amputee staff member may benefit from flexible work arrangements, step free access or automated door systems, it is incumbent on your business to provide them so as not to impede their career success.