General

Types of Job Health Screenings

Sometimes your job might require you to take a physical or undergo a health screening. This is often the case in industries where manual labor or extended periods on your feet or lifting heavy objects is common. These screenings can serve a number of purposes for your employer, so let’s take a deeper look at what they are and what purpose they might serve.

Why Health Screenings?

Occupational health screenings might be requested for a few different reasons.

  1. To make sure you can meet the physical job requirements
  2. To make sure jobs exposing you to potential hazards aren’t creating health issues.
  3. To obtain a doctor’s release to return to work after being away on sick or disability leave.
  4. To assess if you’re fit to continue working during sickness or after a minor injury.

You may imagine a health screening means you have to see a doctor or undergo invasive tests, but often these measures are fairly simple. Some can even be done in your employer’s office. Here are a few different types of health screenings you may be asked to submit to.

Drug Tests

Drug tests are a common type of health screening for almost every job. Some employers work with an outside company to collect and test specimens, but others opt to collect in-house and mail the specimens to a lab for testing. This screening ensures new hires are not involved in illegal activities or likely to abuse controlled substances.

Physical Exam

A routine physical may be required once a year to determine your physical health. In jobs with a significant physical requirement, this screening helps employers regularly evaluate if you still meet the criteria to perform your job or if you’ll need accommodations. This is also a way to check for any ill effects of harmful substances you may have been exposed to on the job.

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Psychological Tests

Don’t worry, this rarely means you have to sit in a therapist’s office to be analyzed. Typically, companies will use things like personality tests and aptitude tests to get a better idea of who you are and where your talents lie. These can help employers decide if you’d be a good fit in their team and if you’d enjoy the work required by your job.  

There are many more types of health screenings some employers might require, but these three are by far the most common and often the most helpful.