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I see in the news that there's a move to "change the work, not the worker" in cases of occupational injury. What's the goal here?

Reducing disability and costs are the first goals. Rising costs and disability is a major problem for Worker's Compensation. Companies are also interested in reducing the number of work-related time-loss claims.

Ways to "change the work" include schedules that rotate workers and reducing the lifting loads. Some tasks can be changed to make them faster or less likely to cause injury. This is part of a program called ergonomics.

The goal is to improve worker safety without cost to the company. This includes not affecting the company's productivity.

Reference: 

Mark Lemstra, MSc, and W.P. Olszynski, MD, PhD, FRCP(C). The Effectiveness of Standard Care, Early Intervention, and Occupational Management in Worker’s Compensation Claims. In Spine. February 1, 2003. Vol. 28. No. 3. Pp. 299-304.

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