Physical Ability Testing

A Guide to Safe Job Placement, Accommodation, and Legal Compliance

Richard W. Bunch, Trevor D. Bardarson, Douglas A. Swift, Horace A. Thompson, III

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2025
• Print ISBN:
  9781119272274
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781119272281
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Industrial Health & Safety
• Index: Technology & Engineering

A guide to implementing legally compliant physical ability testing (PAT) programs that prevent injuries, optimize performance, and ensure reasonable accommodations

In Physical Ability Testing: A Guide to Safe Job Placement, Accommodation, and Legal Compliance, a team of distinguished medical professionals delivers an expert discussion of the fundamentals of creating a PAT program. Explaining the perspectives of the employer, the authors detail the systematic steps in developing and administering legally valid, job-specific PATs and providing proper interactive accommodation reviews for new hires and incumbent employees.

The book covers testing policies and procedures that address methods to avoid discrimination and minimize disparate impact on protected classes such as individuals with disabilities, older adults, women (including those who are pregnant), and individuals affected by medical or behavioral health conditions such as substance use disorders or recent surgeries. It also provides critical information on defending test failure determinations based on the "direct threat" and "undue hardship" defenses.

Readers will find:

• A thorough introduction to the validation process best suited for a defensible PAT program
• Comprehensive explorations of PAT programs in a variety of industries
• Practical discussions of administering PATs, legal cases covering them, and published scientific literature related to work physiology
• Complete treatments of the validation processes used in ensuring PAT programs remain legally defensible

This book is perfect for human resource professionals, occupational physicians and nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, chiropractors, safety professionals, industrial hygienists, ergonomists, human factors specialists, and risk managers.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1: Introduction to Physical Ability Testing
• Chapter 2: Assessing Physical Ability to Work
• Chapter 3: Avoiding Employment Discrimination
• Chapter 4: Disability and Interactive Accommodation
• Chapter 5: Physical Demands Analysis
• Chapter 6: Validating Physical Ability Tests
• Chapter 7: Policies and Procedures for Test Evaluators
• Chapter 8: PAT Policies and Procedures for Employers
• Chapter 9: Legal History of Occupational Health Protection
• Appendix 1: EEOC Employment Tests and Selection Procedures
• Appendix 2: Job Applicants and the ADA
• Appendix 3: Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (1978)
• Appendix 4: Enforcement Guidance on Disability-related Inquiries and Medical Examinations of Employees under the ADA
• Appendix 5: Part 1630 – Regulations to Implement the Equal Employment Provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• Appendix 6: The Americans with Disabilities Act and the Opioid Crisis: Combating Discrimination Against People in Treatment or Recovery
• Appendix 7: What You Should Know About the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
• Appendix 8: Hearing Disabilities in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act
• Appendix 9: Visual Disabilities in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act
• Appendix 10: Enforcement Guidance on Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship under the ADA
• Index
• EULA