5 Reasons You Should Include Functional Testing In Your Pre-Employment Medical Assessments

Pre-Employment Medical Assessments are a common requirement for high risk job roles in industries such as mining, oil, gas, construction and logistics. Pre-employment medical testing is used to ensure a potential employee, or applicant, is safe and fit to perform the job role and should include a medical history questionnaire, medical testing and functional testing.

A tailored Pre-Employment Medical Assessment is often an Employers only chance to determine who is safe and fit to perform a job role. Unfortunately, some Pre-Employment Medicals do not include a Functional Testing component. The consequences to this are significant, not only to the risk of injury to the worker, but also to related project costs due to workplace injury.

Functional Testing provides important information about a worker that a medical history questionnaire and medical testing do not provide:

Functional Range of Motion

A measure of how well an applicant can move each major joint, considering the requirements of the job role.

Functional Strength and Strength Endurance

A measure of how strong the applicant is and how this compares to the demands of the job role they are applying for.

Positional Tolerances

A measure of the body’s ability to maintain certain postures such as kneeling or squatting for certain periods of time.

Lifting and Carrying

A measure of the mass an applicant can safely lift and carry at varying heights and distances.

General Cardiovascular Fitness

A measure of how well an applicant’s cardiovascular system responds to physical work.

If a Pre-Employment Medical Assessment includes a Functional Testing component, they are able to determine not only if a worker is medically fit to perform a job role but also if they are physically fit to perform a job role.