What is work disability?
Work disability has been the subject of dozens of definitions, which have evolved significantly with our understanding of this phenomenon (Lederer et al., 2014). Here is the current definition (in italics) as proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO), to which adaptations (in bold) have been made to contextualize it according to the reality of work.
The WHO defines “disability as an umbrella term, covering impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions. An impairment is a problem in body function or structure (including those associated with mental impairments); an activity limitation is a difficulty encountered by an individual in executing a task or action (e.g.: shovel, listen, solve problems); while a participation restriction is a problem experienced by an individual in involvement in life situations.” A partial or complete restriction of work participation, namely work disability, is one of those situations.
“Disability is thus not just a health problem. It is a complex phenomenon, reflecting the interaction between features of a person’s body and features of the society (including the workplace) in which he or she lives. Overcoming the difficulties faced by people with disabilities requires interventions to remove environmental and social barriers.” With regard to work participation, solutions mainly involve the worker and the workplace, but may also involve other actors.
Adaptation of the English definition proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO):