Physical Job Demands Analysis

When an employee is injured in the workplace, there are many stakeholders who are involved in successfully returning that employee to their full-time duties.  This includes the injured employee, physicians, rehabilitation staff, WCB rehabilitation coordinators and the employer.  A physical job demands analysis helps all parties involved gain a better understanding of the components of a particular position.  It also helps to determine compatibility between a worker and a specific job.

What is a PDA (Physical Job Demands Analysis)?

A physical job demands analysis is a systematic procedure to objectively examine and quantify all aspects of a particular position.  An evaluator directly and indirectly observes an employee perform the essential and non-essential tasks for that job.  Tasks are analyzed by duration, amount and types of forces, weights, postures, environmental hazards, work aids, and equipment used.  The information is quantified in a detailed report that can be later referenced.

Why perform a PDA?

One challenge for employers is to successfully accommodate an injured employee by finding alternate or modified duties if full-duties cannot be performed.  On occasion, an employee is sent back to duties that are not suitable for their injury.  By identifying the essential and non-essential components of a position, the employer, physician, rehabilitation staff and WCB are better able to understand the physical demands of that job.

A functional capacity evaluation can be performed to assess and injured worker's ability to perform certain tasks.  However, without information about the physical demands of a particular job, the information gained from a functional capacity evaluation is not useful.

The physical demands analysis also helps rehabilitation staff direct treatment goals.  As part of their rehabilitation, workers may be asked to lift, carry, push and pull different weights to simulate the tasks of their job.  Without quantifying the physical demands, the rehabilitation staff have to estimate the amount of weight and tasks performed.

In addition, a physical job demands analysis can be used to help customize a company's pre-employment physical assessment.  Unique lifts or tasks can be added to a pre-employment physical assessment thereby ensuring that a prospective employee is able to perform these tasks safely prior to being hired.

Please contact us for more information about this service.