The need for physical testing for workers in manual materials handling jobs has been recognized by risk managers, personnel specialists, physiologists, occupational physicians and ergonomists increasingly over the past few years. Each of these groups have independently come to recognize the benefits to both the individuals being tested and the organizations themselves.
Risk managers have an interest in job safety and reducing workers' compensation costs.
Personnel specialists seek to hire the most qualified individual available, reduce absenteeism and sick leave, and yet comply with state and federal EEO mandates. Physiologists and physicians seek to reduce unnecessary injuries and find ways to better predict in advance those most likely to become injured. Ergonomists seek to study individual jobs and find ways through either job redesign or job selection systems that can better match the worker to the work. Cognizant of these issues, MED-TOX Health Services has developed an approach to assist employers in the validation of physical ability tests for new hires. Since overexertion injuries account for a large number of all work-related back injuries, it makes sense to reduce the potential for overexertion.