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Ergonomics

Considering Physical Ability Testing?

Many sources have noted, as a population, we’re getting heavier and more “out-of-shape.” If this is indeed true, it has implications in terms of how qualified applicants are for physically demanding jobs, and their subsequent risk of injury. Validation studies indicates that people who have lower physical ability than the job requires have two to four times the risk of injury. If, in fact, the population is heavier and more out of shape, then it becomes even more important than before to assess the physical ability of applicants to perform these strenuous jobs.

 

If you are using or thinking about using a Physical Abilities Test for your new hires or employees returning to work after injury, there are a few things you should know.

 

First, ask the person(s) who developed the test if a validation study was performed. If not, your company would be unable to defend against a discrimination complaint based on the test. Since validation is often very misunderstood ask the same person(s) to furnish the validation document. If there is no document then there has been no validation study. By the way, we are not talking just about ADA validation. The person(s) developing the test should know the validation requirements in the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures CFR-20 Chapter 60-3 US Department of Labor and they must be adhered to as rigidly as the Americans with Disabilities Act. For example, the test must be based on a thorough job analysis not on a job description, normative data or a reference such as the Dictionary of Occupational Titles.

 

Second, check whether the validation document has an analysis of adverse impact. Specifically, there should at least be information about pass rate for females vs. males. The EEOC requires tracking of adverse impact on minority groups such as females and those over the age of forty. Where pass rates are significantly lower for those groups than others, adverse impact exists. However, the EEOC does not require that adverse impact be eliminated in the selection process, but that the process must show strong evidence of validation if adverse impact to protected groups exists. If you have an OFCCP audit or EEOC challenge, the agency will likely ask for the validation study and the adverse impact analysis.

 

Third, validation is an ongoing process. Are there ongoing periodic reviews of the requirements and the design of the battery? There should be a review of the job requirements on a periodic basis to make sure the cutoffs and tests are still a match to the job requirements. There also needs to be an ongoing review of alternative procedures to see if better testing methods have become available.

 

The news is not all bad however; if you are using a validated and legally defensible physical ability test, you are most likely eliminating a large part of your workers compensation injuries before they happen through better employee selection. If you are challenged you will be able to successfully defend your selection process. Well-designed physical ability testing programs can reduce injuries by 20 percent to 50 percent.

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