While the value of pre-employment medicals must be weighed against the cost incurred, the evidence reveals sound reasons for giving evidence-based practice serious consideration.

An evidence-based pre-employment medical programme can reduce the risk of injuries, improve safety and maximise productivity. However the latest research discourages a generic approach and suggests of job-specific assessments as the most effective strategy. It was estimated that in 2012/13 Australian businesses spent a staggering $8.4 billion on work related injuries alone. [1]

In 2016 a Cochrane Intervention Review [2] drew the following conclusions: 

• “Health examinations that focus on health risks involving particular jobs may be effective” 
• “Adequately dealing with potential health risks by changing work tasks or physical fitness training may also be effective” 
• “Need more and better quality evaluation studies” 

A key point of Cochrane’s Review was that non-specific pre-employment assessments have very little or no value for identifying injury predictability.

Conversely, job-specific pre-employment assessments supports compliance with Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 and state based Anti-Discrimination Acts, when making recruitment decisions, because it more accurately outlines whether a candidate is ‘fit to carry out the inherent requirements of the role’. Best practice pre-employment medical assessments are in fact the front-line risk assessment of your most vital asset; your people. An evidence-based risk assessment report should detail any workplace adjustments that would enable safe and inclusive placement.

Well InForm have supported many organisations implement pre-employment screening programs that drive a reduction in frequency, costs, and duration of workplace injuries.

With an ageing workforce and policy changes to the retirement age, organisations will inherently take on greater human resource risks. Looking beyond the benefit of screening out high-risk prospective employees, is the fact that if implemented correctly, pre-employment medical screening can provide relevant recommendations to improve a prospective employees’ productivity and safety at work. The Cochrane Study opined that implementing appropriate workplace management strategies has the ability to reduce ‘at risk’ employees with the resultant injury rate equalling that of low-risk applicants. Strategies you can implement to reduce ‘at risk’ employees include interventions such as individualised education, physical conditioning, or modifications to the job-design. 

Pre-employment assessment programs that provide robust workplace recommendations together with companies that take heed of these recommendations are likely to benefit significantly in the face of the emerging ageing workforce risk. In fact, ensuring the whole workforce is complying with strategies to maintain health and wellbeing as per their health assessment recommendations will have a significant impact on the prevention of injuries, productivity and culture within your organisation. 

So do pre-employment medicals work? 

A job-specific pre-employment program that connects to your health, safety and wellbeing initiatives offers great potential to reduce injury rates, increase productivity and reinforce a culture of zero harm. This is done through effectively identifying risk and providing practical management strategies for those that make it through to employment. 

References 

1. The Cost of Work-related Injury and Illness for Australian Employers, Workers and the Community 2012-13. Safe Work Australia; http://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/sites/swa/statistics/cost-injury-illness/pages/cost-injury-illness   

2. Schaafsma F, Mahmud N, Reneman MF, Fassier JB, Jungbauer FHW. Pre-employment examinations for preventing injury, disease and sick leave in workers (Review). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2016, Issue 1. [DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD008881.pub2.]