Health Care Facilities-Lifting

atherese

A new employee went through our pre-employment screening for a Certified Nursing Assistant and did not pass some of the lifting requirements. She could lift from a table position but not from the floor (75 pounds). There were other issues during her screening, very poor body mechanics. We needed to recind the job offer. She is stating that our screening has unreasonable expectations of our employees. She is one of the few to not pass our screening in several years. Would anyone in the healthcare field share what physical and lifting requirements you have for your nursing personnel (RNs, LPNs and Nursing Assistants). Thank you!

Don D

I noticed that you have no responses from the healthcare field. Just to let you know how we nailed this down here in this manufacturing environment (and it would work well no matter what industry). 3 years ago, we contracted with a professional physical therapy clinic. They had 2 licensed therapists spend about 8 days with us reviewing each of our 17 or so jobs and the demands of each. They visually watched the jobs being done, had our supervisory personnel complete questionnaires about each position and its demands, talked to the personnel doing the work, evaluated the equipment demands and capabilities and such things as bending, stooping, lifting, stretching, standing, sitting, walking, turning, etc. We make coaxial cable and some cell tower cables are 1 7/8 inches thick. These reels can be 7 feet high and weigh thousands of pounds. There are tremendous demands for consistently doing our processes. We experience a few comp situations as well. The PT clinic came back to us with spec sheets for each job, a 6 page document, professionally done, which outlines in medical terms what each job's demands are and each finite measure of what the employee must be able to do. This cost us a few bucks but has saved our bacon more than once when we had to present something to an ee's physician prior to allowing them to return to work. We also have each prospective employee review and sign the applicable documents certifying that they understand the requirements of the job and can perform them. I would not rely on a survey of similar places in the industry to come up with what you need. I would rather have the physical therapist on the stand discussing how he developed the physical demands documents than me up on the stand telling the court that I called around and it seemed standard in the industry. even on a much smaller scale, you could use this same program to develop what you need to certify your lifting standards.

Nat

We are a long-term care facility. Our physical requirements require an employee to be able to lift up to fifty (50) pounds. Our lifting requirements are as follows:
Up to 50 lbs is a one-man lift
51 - 80 lbs is a two-man lift
80+ lbs is a mechanical lift

We also require physicals, post-offer of course. We have withdrawn offers of employment for those who did not pass our physicals. Moving and lifting is part of our orientation for new employees and current employees get updates every year. We teach employees proper body mechanics. I wouldn't necessarily think about changes your procedures for one applicant that couldn't pass your test. I am sure that they do think it is unreasonable if they didn't pass it. I think you have to look at each position and the amount of moving and lifting involved and then determine what criteria you must go by. As Don D. suggested, a physical therapist consultant is a good resource. Hope this helps.