4.5.20.5 Determines liability
Within 10 days of receiving the ADL Activities of daily living (OT Occupational therapy is a client-centred health profession concerned with promoting health and well being through occupation. The primary goal of occupational therapy is to enable people to participate in the activities of everyday life. Occupational therapists achieve this outcome by working with people and communities to enhance their ability to engage in the occupations they want to, need to or are expected to do or by modifying the occupation or the environment to better support their occupational engagement .) assessment, the Agent must make the decision to approve or reject the request for household help services and send a standard letter to the worker and the worker’s treating health practitioner advising them of the decision.
4.5.20.6 WorkSafe approved services
Agents should refer to the Household Help policy and the following table to determine if the type of household services requested have been approved by WorkSafe.
Exceptions: Any request for services not listed within the checklists must be discussed with a suitably qualified person and referred to WorkSafe's Claims Division.
| Approved service | Recommended approval amount | Maximum frequency |
|---|---|---|
|
Housework/cleaning support |
2 hours per fortnight unless additional time is requested on the referral form (Q6) with justification. Justification should align to information provided on the worker declaration form. |
Once per fortnight |
| Gardening: Lawn mowing and edging | Per quote for domestic lawn mowing, considering the house yard's size. For larger properties this includes the ‘lawn area’ surrounding the house, which was maintained by the worker prior to injury. WorkSafe will not pay for maintenance of lawn beyond this. |
|
| Gardening: Primary gardening tasks (includes sweeping of paved areas and weeding garden beds) | 1 hour in addition to lawn mowing and edging services. | As above |
| Annual clean/spring clean (e.g. cleaning an exhaust fan, oven, light fixtures, window cleaning, and thorough floor cleaning) | 6 hours. If more time is requested, refer to the worker declaration giving information about their residence at the time of injury/illness to help allocate appropriate time. Decluttering and disposal of rubbish is not payable*. | Once per calendar year |
| Gutter clearing | As required based on quote for primary residential property. | Once per calendar year |
| Light pruning of trees | WorkSafe will not pay for services that require a specialist provider such as an arborist. Where the worker lives on acreage, pruning is applicable within the house yard (lawn area surrounding it). | Once per calendar year |
*Where hoarding is impacting the worker’s ability to maintain themselves in the home, and is related to the work related injury or illness, regular cleaning support, management of illness, and occupational therapy Occupational therapy is a client-centred health profession concerned with promoting health and well being through occupation. The primary goal of occupational therapy is to enable people to participate in the activities of everyday life. Occupational therapists achieve this outcome by working with people and communities to enhance their ability to engage in the occupations they want to, need to or are expected to do or by modifying the occupation or the environment to better support their occupational engagement. may be appropriate.
Finding a Household help provider
When assisting the worker to find a provider, Agents can:
-
suggest the worker liaises with a provider who is willing to register with WorkSafe
-
provide the worker with the household help service fee schedule which they can refer to when speaking to potential providers
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request that prospective providers register with WSV if they have not already done so.
See: Application for registration to provide services to workers