Not Quite a Win-Win

Abstract

The idea that efforts are necessary to transform the dominant framework of workplace safety and health in the United States, from one of compensation and disability to one of stay at work/return to work (SAW/RTW) for workers injured or made ill on the job, has become increasingly widespread. SAW/RTW advocates argue that everyone “wins” when unnecessary disability is reduced. Toward this end, advocates have put forward a program and implemented a strategy with strong proponents among a coalition of corporate-connected professionals. The seemingly obvious conclusions of their arguments bear closer critical scrutiny, however. Addressing key questions—why injured workers do not SAW/RTW, who the coalition of SAW/RTW proponents includes, and what the coalition proposes—reveals that the SAW/RTW approach mainly benefits employers and the corporate-connected advocates. These assertions are detailed, and principles of an alternative approach that will serve the needs of injured workers are outlined.