Physical Demands Analysis: Improving Sustainability and Worker Safety

By Ari West PT, DPT, Senior Solutions Strategist?

If the past few years have taught us one lesson, it’s that businesses need to be more agile than ever in today’s constantly changing world. Being able to respond to constant change in both internal and external environments can determine whether a business actually stays in business. But many organizations and EHS leaders remain haunted by the ghosts of EHS management’s past—struggling with traditional and often reactive tasks such as incident investigations. In doing so, they’re missing the benefits that a robust Physical Demands Analysis (PDA) can bring in reducing the risks that underly safety incidents in the first place, and in the process building greater agility and potential for Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) maturity.?

Physical Demands Analysis provides a solid foundation for an active approach to EHS & ESG by improving the collection and use of accurate information about employee physical abilities, through valid and reliable test methods.?Whether business operations need to slow or close or work rotation schedules need to change to decrease levels of exposure for employees, PDAs provide vital, baseline job data you can leverage to increase efficiency and consistency in these types of processes.??

PDAs can also help build?social sustainability?– a focus on creating healthy places inside and outside the workplace. PDAs support your internal social sustainability efforts, especially during changing times, by providing important job data that enables employers to focus on the needs and abilities of your employees. It helps connect safety to inclusion by making adjustments specific to individual employees’ needs, as opposed to fitting the employee to the needs of the business.?

Workplace Injuries and New Employees?

Here are some important statistics to highlight regarding workplace injuries:?

• New employees account for more than a third (35%) of workplace injuries.?
• Injuries for these new employees typically occur in the first year, regardless of age or experience.?
• In a study done by Travelers Cos. Inc. (CT-based insurer), first year-injuries led to over 6 million lost workdays, 37% of all lost days?
• Once a person is injured, the risk of re-injury increases 2-3x and is highest soon after the injury itself = when a person first returns back to work?

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