Designing criterion measures for physically demanding jobs

Area of Science:

• Occupational health
• Physical ergonomics
• Workforce assessment

Background:

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates 39.1% of the US civilian workforce engages in physically demanding jobs.
• These jobs involve activities like lifting, carrying, pushing/pulling, kneeling, stooping, crawling, and climbing in diverse environments.
• Similar physical demands are present in United States military occupations, including combat, rescue, and maintenance roles.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide an overview of criterion measures for assessing the physical domain of work.
• To discuss approaches for designing and evaluating these physical job criteria.
• To present a method for generating criterion measures applicable across multiple job types.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of existing criterion measures for physical job assessment.
• Analysis of approaches for criterion design and evaluation.
• Development of a framework for generating cross-job applicable physical criteria.

Main Results:

• Identification of various criterion measures used in physical domain assessment.
• Discussion of best practices for criterion development and validation.
• Proposal of a systematic method for creating adaptable physical job criteria.

Conclusions:

• Effective assessment of physical job demands is crucial for workforce health and safety.
• Standardized and adaptable criterion measures can improve the evaluation of physical job requirements.
• The proposed method offers a way to create relevant physical criteria across diverse occupations.