Rewarding rehab
1HSB wins Defence Safety Award category

Committed: Lt Rowena English explains 1HSB’s program. Photo by Phillip Vavasour

By Hugh McKenzie

1HSB has won the category three Defence Safety Award that covers Rehabilitation and Return to Work.

Two people behind the winning team’s program, Lt Rowena English and Sgt Rob Combe, accepted the award at a cermony in Canberra on May 13.

Lt English said the team was aware that Singleton had no rehabilitation facilities.

“The program was brought about in response to a number of recommendations from higher-level investigations which revealed inadequacies in the rehabilitation of IET members,” she said.

“I had literally just returned from Timor-Leste when we were given the go ahead for the program.

“We had four weeks to get the unit up and running before the first lot of IETs marched in from Singleton.”

Sgt Combe said that setting up the program was daunting. “Lt English took on most of the administrative stuff – it was mind-boggling the number of hours she put in,” he said.

As a result of the program, by August 2004 soldiers’ rehab days had dropped from 110 to 85 for men and 54 for women, although fewer women have gone through the program. Lt English said the number of cases of surgery after injury had decreased through the expertise of the physiotherapists working in the program.

Sgt Combe said the psychological impact of injury was also considered. “At the time a lot of the injured IETs at Singleton had became despondent and discharged from the Army – these levels have lowered and it’s a great saving to Defence,” he said.

In her acceptance speech Lt English said that she wanted particularly to thank the previous and current COs of 1HSB, Lt-Col Leonard Brennan and Lt-Col Georgeina Whelan.

Other winners of the Defence Safety Awards were DSTO in the Workplace Safety Innovative Solutions category, and joint winners Commander Navy Aviation Group and DHS, in the Injury Prevention and Management category.