Return to work in policing

Experiences from Ontario’s police services

Summary:

Dwayne Van Eerd and Uyen Vu from Canada’s Institute for Work & Health discuss research on improving return-to-work outcomes for police officers absent with work-related illness and/or injury. They explore the physical and psychosocial issues that can make return to work particularly challenging in a police service environment.

Whether due to budget constraints¹, high numbers of resignations² or low recruiting³ rates, staffing levels are a challenge faced by police services in the UK. Similarly, in police services across Canada, a recruiting and retention problem has been growing. Fewer job applicants, higher-than-expected amounts of resignations and retirements, and heavier workloads are creating staff-shortage issues for large and small services alike. As reported by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, police forces in London, Ontario⁴, Hamilton⁵, Ottawa⁶ and Halifax⁷, as well as the national police service, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)⁸, are among those dealing with staffing recruitment/retention issues. The reasons range from a perceived lack of opportunities for…

 

 

Dwayne Van Eerd is a scientist at the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) in Toronto, Canada.

 Uyen Vu is the manager of communications at IWH. IWH is a not-for-profit organisation that conducts research to support policy-makers, employers and workers in creating healthy, safe and inclusive work environments.

Author: Van Eerd D, Vu U

Tags absence cancer emergency services international Return to work sickness absence

Occupational Health at Work December/January 2024/2025 (vol. 21/4) pp33-36

Download full article