Diana Hanafin. Health Manager- TriEx Health, Safety & Wellness explains.

 

You have interviewed, you have selected and have the best recruit out of the bunch. But are you sure you have considered all risks? What about their physical capability? Can they reliably do the job long term? Your next step is the pre employment assessment.

-          Do you know why you need to perform a pre employment assessment?

-          Do you know exactly what you want from that assessment?

-          Do you know what assessment tests are available

-          Do you know how to organise the assessment and not breach various ‘Acts’ and satisfy other ‘Acts’?

This article will help to answer these questions so that you the employer can negotiate a satisfactory outcome.

 Why Perform an Assessment?

Suitability

Assessing the person and ensuring physical capability for the task is paramount and at the same time you will gain a baseline health status for DoL and ACC purposes. It would be inappropriate to expect a person of limited physical ability to perform a task requiring heavy and repeated lifting or an asthmatic to spray Isocyanate based paints. A pre employment health assessment differs from an ‘Insurance Medical’. The insurer wants to know the likelihood of this person becoming chronically ill or needing expensive surgery. A pre-employment assessment is about looking for an appropriate level of function in the well person.

 What do you want from this assessment?

Important questions to ask:

-          Does the health questionnaire and physical assessments planned enable me to meet the criteria under the Human Rights Act 1993, the Health Information Privacy Code?

-          Does it give me all the health testing and information needed to meet my requirements under the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992?

 In a nutshell the questionnaire and testing has to be appropriate and to apply to work-related issues, not personal issues.

-          What report will I receive that will help me make a decision about whether or not I should be taking on this person?

A “fit for” or “not fit for” reply on it’s own will not tell the employing manager what has been tested, and why the person was deemed fit or not fit. It is tempting for the non-medical person to put the responsibility on to a health professional but this is not ideal. There are many grey areas that need to be considered so this should be your decision with guidance from the health practitioner. You may have a worker as a ‘casual’ and if is not taken on permanently, is it safe to keep employing him or her on a casual basis?

-          Who is gaining consent for this testing?

The HSE Act requires that the applicant is informed of the job requirements, the potential hazards and risks involved. Consents are signed for the health assessment either with you or with the practitioner prior to testing.

 Assessments

There are some basic health assessments and history taking and these usually comprise:

1. General Health and Injury History: This will establish where, when and the extent of any previous injuries to assist in screening out people whose present condition could be affected by taking on a particular occupation, e.g. asthma, dermatitis and discomfort or pain in back or limbs.

2. Hearing Testing: Full audiometry for those exposed to noise to establish a baseline level required for ongoing monitoring.

3. Lung Function Testing: Full spirometry creating a baseline and will show if the person is already an asthmatic or maybe has the airway disease emphysema from many years of smoking. This is particularly important given the increasing list of chemicals used in the workplace and some dust exposures.

4. Vision Testing: Near vision for paperwork, mid vision for screen work and distant vision for those driving for work tasks in trucks or company cars.

5. Colour Vision: For those people applying for jobs in the electrical industry, printing or for general colour competency.

6. Grip Strength: For those at risk of developing occupational overuse discomfort. This can be used to detect a previous discomfort problem, or injury and to provide a baseline measurement for future testing.

7. Physical Flexibility: For assessing muscular skeletal competency. Lifting capability can also be checked by a variety of weights mirroring the type of manual handling loads needed in the new position.

8. Drug Testing: For those involved in machinery or any safety critical tasks. Drug testing is by a urine sample and the testing is completed utilising instant onsite devices or through laboratory testing strictly controlled by the AS/NZS 4308:2008 standard.

How do I organise this and without breaching the ‘Acts’?

Your full time on-site occupational health or medical practitioner is ideally suited to carry out the assessments. They are aware of the special risks of your organisation and the capabilities required of the new recruit.

For the majority of companies who do not have full time health staff then the most convenient option is to contact a contracting occupational health practitioner (Registered Nurse with extended health and safety qualifications). These people are available in most locations. The new recruit visits the health practitioner’s premises or medical premises where all the equipment is available for the assessments.

There are many issues to consider and those carrying out pre employment health testing should have addressed them already. Most companies are either contracting out or considering pre-employment health assessments. If you are not one of them, you just may end up with the people that no other company wants. Be involved with the planning and ensure that you are getting what you need from the pre-employment health assessment.