Of all of our injury prevention solutions, post-offer pre-employment physical ability screens can cause a high level of political tension for clients. On one side of the table, recruiting is tasked to fill jobs and does not want another obstacle in doing so. This is especially true in today’s economy where workers are hard to find.  On the other side of the table sits safety, loss prevention, and/or workers’ compensation who are tasked with reducing and avoiding injuries and their related costs. Typically, these groups can tell stories of new hires who quickly report injuries, and they only want to hire employees they are sure can safely complete the work.

Legally you cannot screen a job applicant beyond the physical requirements defined by a validated demands analysis of the essential functions. However, based on business necessity you can screen a job applicant below the level of the documented essential functions, but doing so inherently increases injury risk.

Given the political tension and provided legal flexibility, what is the right answer?

The right answer is your answer. 

An appropriately designed post-offer pre-employment physical ability screen program must be sensitive to and support your unique business objectives. If recruiting is a more critical factor for your business than injuries and costs, a program should be designed accordingly. Conversely, if injuries and costs are more critical, the opposite needs to occur.

The keys to success are making sure your post-offer pre-employment physical ability screen provider is willing to adjust and has the knowledge and experience to do so. If they do not ask about your business objectives or simply designs a program to match the physical demands of the essential functions of the job, you are likely with the wrong screen provider.

In today’s economy where good workers are scarce and injuries are expensive, realize the best solution is not black and white and should not be dictated by others—it needs to be your solution.

If you want to consider implementing a legally compliant and business sensitive post-offer pre-employment physical ability screen program, please contact us. We are confident you will like what you hear.