It is widely agreed that “Our staff are our biggest asset”. Without staff, our organisations cease to operate. How do you know that the people you currently employ are in fact an asset and are still physically able to perform the inherent requirements of the position without the proper evaluation?
Employer Health Solutions Fit for Work Assessment’s provide the functional solution to this problem via a three staged approach:
1. Role Demands Analysis
The first stage is to obtain a robust summary of the physical demands for each role, such as: “required to lift up to 15kg every hour, or frequent walking required etc.” This information can also be used for Pre-Employment Assessments, included as part of a position descriptions and/or used as part of a Job Dictionary or Suitable Duties Register. This stage is only completed once with occasional reviews when job demands change or new equipment is purchased.
2. Functional Assessment Template
The next stage will be for the Employer Health Solutions to develop a battery of physical activities to simulate the actual tasks to be performed in the workplace as part of the individual role. These activities are included into a template used when performing the actual Fit for Work assessments, which are modelled on the Workhab Functional Assessment system. The battery of activities may include but not limited to:
- Medical history (Mandatory);
- Blood Pressure (Mandatory);
- Constant Heart Rate Monitoring (Mandatory);
- Three minute step test (To test cardio vascular endurance);
- A review of the employees musculoskeletal abilities (flexion, extension, balance, upper and lower limb strength etc);
- Simulated lifting tasks (floor to waist & floor to overhead and/or waist to waist & waist to overhead (To test lifting limits);
- Carrying tasks (To test carrying limits);
- Push/pull tasks (To test pushing and pulling abilities);
- Ladder climbing tasks (To test climbing abilities);
- Dexterity (To test fine motor control);
- Vision (To test visual acuity).
3. The actual Assessment
The final stage in this approach is the actual assessment with the objective of this assessment being to ascertain if your employee is still physically able perform the roles you require them to fulfil. This assessment takes approximately 1.5 hours to complete. Over the last several years of performing these assessments there have been many occasions where we have identified deficits in a workers ability to perform a specific activity, which in turn may have resulted in a potential injury or claim if not realised at the assessment stage and treated accordingly. Why not conduct an assessment to ensure your workers continue to be fit for the job role you require them to perform?