Workplace Disability Management Assessment (WDMA)

The CBDMA was created as a highly calibrated, reliable and weighted tool used for benchmarking an organization's disability management program. Completing a CBDMA can take up to five days to complete, depending on the size and complexity of the organization.

It was from this scientifically developed benchmarking tool that the shorter Workplace Disability Management Assessment (WDMA) evolved, which allows workplaces to obtain a highly accurate snapshot review of their current disability management performance.

After requests indicating that the CBDMA meets expectations when auditing particularly large, complex organizations, the need for a simpler version of the tool particularly for use in smaller, non-industrial based organizations was identified.

Using standardized psychometric procedures, the WDMA development utilized the extensive CBDMA database to arrive at an assessment reliability standard which is reflected in a .98 coefficient to the 360 TQM approach employed by the CBDMA, but utilizing a much shorter administration time requirement.

To complete the WDMA requires fewer workplace resources and less time, i.e. it takes less than one day to complete the questions and possibly one-half day for the Certified Auditor to enter the data online and retrieve the report. The WDMA can be undertaken by any organization no matter their size, industry, or location. As the WDMA uses an interview process, the final results of the assessment are only as valid as the veracity and knowledge of the workplace representatives participating in the interview process.

The WDMA is comprised of 72 questions grouped into three main categories covering the key elements (see tab entitled "Elements"):

Disability Management Policy and Workplace Resources
Disability Prevention
Early Intervention and Timely Return to Work Process

Each question in the assessment tool is uniformly evaluated using a five-level hierarchy. For each question, the definitions are provided to differentiate between the five levels.

The Certified Auditor will obtain information about the disability management program using two methodologies:

The WDMA assessment questions are reviewed during a meeting with organization representatives, preferably with an equal number of management and worker representatives, where agreement is reached on how to respond to each question.
The Certified Auditor will review documentation intended to provide verification of the disability management practices and procedures in place at the workplace.

The information gathered at the workplace is entered into the online assessment tool which produces a standardized score and a report explaining the results of the assessment.

The total score achieved on the WDMA has an extremely high correlation with the total score found on the CBDMA. For the most part, there is a good level of comparison between the element scores on the WDMA and the CBDMA but there is not the same degree of accuracy due to the interview process. The recommendations provided in a WDMA report are more "global" in nature.

As the WDMA applies an interview style approach, it does not qualify toward obtaining the "IDMSC Certified" designation.