Jobs in industries that are considered labor-intensive need to be filled by people who can keep up with the demands of the job. But how do you accurately assess the eligibility of an applicant beyond the resume and interview?
Even if you think you have found the perfect candidate to fill a job position, it’s important to ascertain the candidate’s physical fitness for the job via a third party. This is where the pre-employment physical comes in. A comprehensive physical can help you make the final hiring decision.
Make sure that it is in your company’s legal documentation that certain jobs require certain types of physical capabilities, or you could be subject to lawsuits. For positions that are desk-based jobs, you may only want to require a drug test.
Let’s talk about the top three reasons why your company should require pre-employment physicals for applicants for certain positions:
Benefit #1: Ensuring the Candidate Is Fit to Perform the Work
At the time of application, the candidate may not know that he or she has an underlying disease which would render him or her unable to perform this particular type of physical work. A pre-employment physical can ensure that the candidate is, in fact, fit to perform the work.
A candidate may not be honest about his or her medical history during the interview process, especially if the full disclosure could result in a rejection. A pre-employment physical provides transparency of the potential employee’s actual fitness and health.
Benefit #2: Protection from Lawsuits
An employee with early-stage disease or an existing underlying injury who begins to develop symptoms while on the job can try to hold the company liable for the illness or injury. For this reason, it is in your company’s best interest to know their health condition by obtaining timely medical documentation before going any further.
Benefit #3: Reduced Employee Turnover
You need employees who can actually perform the job. Hiring new employees who fall short of this requirement wastes everyone’s time – including the new employee and those who are spending company time training the new hire.
Having to fire or lay off the new employee contributes to low morale among the rest of your staff, and this can result in other employees leaving to go to work for other companies. Hiring the right people in the first place makes all employees feel like they work in a well-run workplace, thereby increasing morale and reducing turnover.
What Happens in a Pre-Employment Physical?
The medical tests requested by the employer will depend on the physical requirements necessary for the position. A standard pre-employment physical for physically intensive jobs can include:
- Answering a list of health questions
- A urinalysis
- Height and weight measurements
- Vision tests
- Cardiovascular tests
- Pulmonary function tests
- X-rays
- Musculoskeletal tests
- Blood tests
Pre-Employment Physicals in Grand Junction, Colorado
If you want to make sure that you hire the right candidate for a physically demanding job, it’s imperative that you have them get a pre-employment physical beforehand. The results of a pre-employment physical can tell you whether or not a candidate can carry out the responsibilities of the job.
At WorkPartners Occupational Health, we offer comprehensive pre-employment physicals that are tailored to your job’s physical demand requirements. We have the knowledge, experience, and highly specialized equipment necessary to perform physical tests for potential and current employees.
To schedule a physical for a potential employee, call WorkPartners Occupational Health today at (970) 241-5585 or request an appointment online. We look forward to being your healthcare partner in a business that thrives!
