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Purpose Construction remains one of the most hazardous and disabling industries worldwide. This scoping review was completed to identify barriers and facilitators related to return-to-work (RTW) after work injury in the construction industry and gaps in the literature. Methods We searched ten databases from 1990 to 2020 for academic and grey literature. Two independent reviewers screened citations for inclusion. One team member charted the data and a second team member reviewed the coding. Articles were included if they identified any barriers or facilitators to RTW in the construction industry. The findings were synthesized into overarching themes. Results Our search identified 6706 articles for screening, with 22 articles included in the final sample. Three articles used qualitative methods, while the remaining articles were quantitative. The majority of articles were from North America and published in academic journals. Overall, findings are organized under seven main themes: worker sociodemographic characteristics; injury characteristics; worker motivation; workplace goodwill; modified work and disability management; work disability systems; and access to healthcare. Some barriers and facilitators are more relevant to the construction industry compared with the general working population. Conclusions: The findings suggest that accommodations are possible for this industry but barriers still exist in identifying suitable work. More research is needed to investigate the role of union involvement, work disability management systems, gender, and organizational characteristics, such as multiple worksites, in relation to RTW in the construction industry., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Introduction Differences in disability duration after work injury have been observed across jurisdictions, regions and urban and rural settings. A key aspect of effective disability management is the access and utilization of appropriate and high quality health care. This paper presents a framework for analyzing and thus understanding how health service spending and utilization vary across and within work disability management schemes and affect work disability management. Methods Our framework was developed through a literature review and policy analysis. Existing frameworks describing geographic variation in general health care systems identified factors believed to drive that variation. A review of policy and practice documents from Canada's no-fault cause-based work disability management system identified factors relevant to work disability systems. Results We expand on previous frameworks by taking a systems approach that centers on factors relevant to the work disability management system. We further highlight predisposing, enabling, workplace environment and need-based factors that could lead to variation in health care spending and utilization across and within jurisdictions. These factors are described as shaping the interactions between workers, health care providers, employers and work disability management system actors, and influencing work disability management health and employment outcomes. Conclusion Our systems-focused approach offers a guide for researchers and policymakers to analyze how various factors may influence spending and utilization across regions and to identify areas for improvement in health care delivery within work disability management systems. Next steps include testing the framework in an analysis looking at geographic variation in spending and utilization across and within Canadian work disability management systems., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)