Functional Return to Work Test

Your Employee gets done with rehab and is ready to come back to work, now what?

• How do you know they are ready?
• Are they going to re injury themselves?
• Can you safely put them back into that same work postion?

Employees in good health mean more productive outputs and less costly expenses for companies. Most businesses realize the need to carry out worthwhile worker screening and health promotion programs. In a bid to do this, companies come across a major challenge which is how to structure services in a manner that guarantees safe job placement. The plus to this for the employees is the benefit of an improved lifestyle.

A Functional Return to Work Screening is usually administered after a provisional job offer is made. It is an impartial screening for physical fitness, musculoskeletal health and job specific abilities. It inaugurates a standard of physical fitness and decides a worker’s suitability for physical job demands to prevent false claims, needless healthcare, and pointless work disability. The Functional Return to Work Screening comprises of a standard health history and measurement of:

• Near and far vision screening
• Anthropometric measures of body mass index (height, weight, and abdominal girth)
• Vitals (seated heart rate, pulse oximetry, respiratory rate, and blood pressure)
• Agility/dynamic balance
• Grip, pinch, and pull strength.
• Finger dexterity or wrist-finger speed
• Job specific tests
• Total-body manual agility
• Quick screen of useful range-of-motion/flexibility;
• Aerobic capacity (when appropriate)

Note: Functional Job Tests are required to authorize any hiring cut-scores. Applicants NOT cleared for FULL DUTY may be considered for job accommodation possibility if they qualify for supplementary employment consideration based on disability or another protected status.

The Functional Return to Work Screening can be repeated when it is needed to bring up-to-date the worker’s physical fitness profile and measurability in response to specific issues such as:

• when an employee has been on limited duty for more than 30 days.
• When a worker reports difficulties, physical or otherwise in response to assigned duties
• when an employee is released to full duty after a 30-day or longer absence due to lay-off, work-related injury, non-occupational injury or illness, or FMLA leave

Repeating the Functional Return to Work Test as a reaction to any of the above issues provides an update on a worker’s physical fitness state as well as ensures safe, ongoing job placement. The employer is given a report card that relates current status with past performance. Functional Return to Work tests also encourages worker participation in appropriate wellness, medical or therapy services to reduce unnecessary disability or healthcare costs.

Contact us to find out how you can start utilizing Work Well, PLLC's Functional Return to Work Physical testing in your company today.