As a vocational rehabilitation counselor for the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Robert Trierweiler helps assess whether workers with impairments can safely return to work. Some of these workers are stroke survivors.
Trierweiler has ridden in the cabs of trucks to observe how drivers who have had a stroke react to road conditions. He has watched an employee perform construction work on the side of an interstate highway. And he has taken notes while an intensive care unit technician conducted ultrasounds.
“We don’t want anybody going back who’s going to present a safety hazard to themselves or others,” Trierweiler said. “I make that clear with the employee and the stroke survivor. We can’t compromise on safety.”
