When you hire someone new, you want them to have the best chance of success.
It can be hard to know if a person is physically and medically well-suited to the role they have applied for.
Pre-employment assessments that assess a candidate against the inherent requirements of a role can assist employers to prevent an employee sustaining a workplace injury arising from a mismatch in functional capability to workplace demands.
With a robust pre-employment process, you can hire with confidence knowing that your candidates are well suited for your vacancies and that any identified risks can be appropriately managed.
Why they’re used
Pre-employment assessments are used as part of the recruitment process to assist employers to select the most appropriate candidate for a given role.
Holistic assessments that consider a candidate’s medical history and functional performance against actual role requirements support employers to determine the level of risk relating to injury or illness for a prospective and/or current employee.
While there is no one-size-fits-all approach, pre-employment assessments should involve a series of functional tests and base-line medical screenings to analyse a candidate’s general health and identify any potential risks relevant to the proposed job.
What’s involved
No single, standalone test will provide you all the information you need to make an informed decision.
Adopting a process that holistically assesses a candidate’s general health and functional status is recommended in place of a standard medical assessment performed by a general practitioner (GP).
Whilst GP medicals may present an excellent opportunity to promote health and assist in disease and injury prevention by providing feedback for a healthier lifestyle, these assessments do not encompass the tests and screenings to determine a person’s physical suitability for a role.
A pre-employment functional assessment will provide essential and definitive information to accurately determine a person’s functional capability for the position they are being considered for.
A comparison between functional and medical pre-employment assessment is shown below, highlighting the comprehensive nature of the functional-led model.
General Practitioner medical
Assessor qualification: General practitioner
Subjective assessment: Medical questionnaire
General medical examination:
- Blood pressure (BP) measurement
- Body mass index (BMI) measurement
- Nervous system check
- Skin check
- Ear check
- Cardiovascular check
- Respiratory system check
- Gastrointestinal check
- Nervous system check
- Urinalysis – protein/sugar/blood
Physical assessment: Range of motion – check
Further information required: Further testing – candidate referred to their treating GP for further testing.
Sign-off: General practitioner
Reporting received: Konekt sign-off report – comments and signature
Konekt functional assessment
Assessor qualification: Allied health staff – all
Subjective assessment: Medical questionnaire
General medical examination:
- Blood pressure (BP) measurement
- Body mass index (BMI) measurement
- Nervous system check
- Skin – specific questions in questionnaire related to skin health
- Ears – specific questions in questionnaire related to hearing
- Cardiovascular – specific questions in questionnaire related to cardiovascular health and a stress step test is performed as part of the assessment
- Respiratory system – specific questions in questionnaire related to respiratory health. Spirometry can be offered in addition to screen lung function.
- Gastrointestinal – specific questions in questionnaire related to gastrointestinal health
Physical assessment:
- Range of motion – full body and joint range of motion analyses including gait analysis.
- Physical strength – general or specific strength tests measured in relation to the proposed role requirements.
- Flexibility and endurance – hamstring and abdominal strength assessed.
- Balance assessment
- Manual handling assessment – technique and capability assessed against the specific lifting requirements of the role.
- Postural tolerance assessment – technique and capability assessed against the specific postural requirements of the role.
- Cardiovascular fitness assessment – blood pressure measurement, heart rate measurement, cardiovascular step test.
Further information required: Further testing – candidate referred to their treating GP for further testing.
Sign-off: Konekt allied health staff
Reporting received: Konekt sign-off report – traffic light risk rating result. Specific recommendations and restrictions relevant to the proposed role documented.
Note: The following items typically assessed in a basic medical are the only elements omitted if the basic medical is not performed: heart check, lung check, ear check, gastrointestinal check, urinalysis, and GP signature.
Why they’re important
The benefits of these assessments can be multifaceted.
For the candidate they can help identify an existing condition, a change in prognosis or capacity.
For employers, these determine a candidate’s capabilities or other factors that could pre-dispose a person to possible ill-health.
Konekt’s functional assessments do this by matching their physical capabilities to the requirements of a role.
When the results of the tests are known, employers and clinicians can work together to create a management plan to support the candidate to achieve optimum health.
Contact Konekt
Want to talk to someone about a pre-employment assessment?
Get in touch with one of our dedicated team of health professionals to help you identify the best people for your business.
You can get started today by contacting response@konekt.com.au or call our National Service Centre on 1300 723 375.
