Prevent injury with pre-employment medical and functional assessments
Many employers – particularly those with traditionally high levels of workplace injury – arrange for potential employees to undertake a pre-employment assessment, or job screen.
These medical and functional tests ensure that the employees physiological and psychological capacities are suitable for the work environment.
Pre-employment assessments save in many ways
The potential impact of work-related injuries and the resulting labour replacement costs from mismatched employees and job demands all provide a persuasive case for the use of pre-employment assessments.
Research shows benefits of pre-employment medical and functional assessments
Research shows that screened hires are more likely to have a lower incidence of injury, lower absence rate due to injury, and lower medical costs resulting from injury.1, 2
One major study found:
- There were significant reductions in the frequency and severity of musculoskeletal disorder injuries in the screened employee population.
- Non-screened applicants were 2.38 times more likely to experience an injury specific to the knees, shoulders and back than screened employees.
- Those who were not pre-screened attract 4.33 times more costs with claims.3
Konekt pre-employment services
Konekt offers three pre-employment service options. Each combines a medical and functional musculoskeletal assessment, along with add-ons, including:
- drug and alcohol testing
- audiometric testing
- visual acuity testing
- spirometry where required.
Pre-employment assessment for small business
There is a branch direct, pre-purchased service suitable for small businesses with low referral volumes.
Pre-employment assessment for regional or remote locations
Where Konekt does not have a local office the pre-employment service can be coordinated through our central customer service team.
They manage the entire process and provide you with the detailed report – the functional and medical assessments are outsourced to a third party, the results are reviewed through an internal quality assurance process, and made available online to the referrer.
Online pre-employment service
For the majority of other circumstances, Konekt are able to offer our online pre-employment service, JobScreen, provided from any of our office locations.
Konekt JobScreen™
Employ the right person, sooner.
JobScreen is Konekt’s new and unique pre-employment assessment service that provides highly reliable results and the fastest turnaround in the industry.
A collaboration with one of Australia’s leading occupational doctors, Dr Vern Madden, JobScreen addresses the major inadequacies of the traditional pre-employment model:
- excessive time taken to conduct assessments
- inconsistencies between medical reports.
JobScreen represents the most significant change to the way pre-employment assessments are performed, including:
- highly reliable pre-employment assessments
- far quicker turnaround than traditional services
- an online medical questionnaire
- face-to-face functional assessment.
Online medical questionnaire
The online medical assessment has been designed to record all past and current health issues. If a candidate answers ‘Yes’ to a primary question, additional medical questions are asked to thoroughly investigate each issue.
What appears to the candidate to be a very simple system, actually involves a set of highly developed algorithmic calculations operating in the background.
This process ensures that each and every medical issue is consistently and accurately investigated.
Functional Assessment
The functional assessment, or functional capacity examination, is conducted in a Konekt office by an Allied Health Professional. This assessment includes:
- a blood pressure check
- height and weight measurement
- musculo-skeletal exam
- back injury risk assessment
- sleep apnoea risk assessment
- balance assessment
- vision test
- postural tolerance
- manual handling evaluation.
Additional FCE assessments such as drug and alcohol screening, hearing and lung function evaluation can also be included.
Workflow for Konekt JobScreen pre-employment medical assessments
About Dr Vern Madden M.B.,B.S. (QLD)
Dr Vern Madden is one of Australia’s most respected and well-known Occupational Doctors. He studied at the University of Queensland and graduated in 1979.
He has held numerous hospital positions in the Queensland Public Hospital system including 11 years at the Tara Hospital, Queensland, as a general practitioner and medical superintendent.
Dr Madden has more than 12 years experience in Occupational Health and Rehabilitation. In 2001 Dr Madden established The Health Advantage in Toowoomba, Queensland which focuses on providing specialist rehabilitation to injured workers and state-of-the-art pre-employment testing.
Like to know more about our PE assessment services?
Contact your nearest Konekt office today
Download our pre-employment assessment brochure
References
- Gassoway, J. & Flory, V., 2000, Prework screen: Is it helpful in reducing injuries and costs? Work. 15(2), 101-106.
- Nassau, D.W., 1999, The Effects of Prework Functional Screening on Lowering an Employer’s Injury Rate, Medical Costs, and Lost Work Days. Spine. 24 (3), 269-274
- Rosenblum, K.E & Shanker, A. 2006, A study of the effects of isokinetic pre-employment physical capability screening in the reduction of musculoskeletal disorders in a labor intensive work environment. Work. 26(2):215 – 28
