REWARD Report Do you know exactly what their jobs really require?

Physical Demands of Essential Job Tasks: A key to facilitating return to work post injury

by Robert Townsend

What activities do you do at work? What is the heaviest object you have to lift independently on the job? How often do you lift that heavy object?

These are some of the questions asked of injured workers by healthcare professionals such as physicians, physical therapists and occupational therapists during the recovery process with a work injury.

Even though these questions seem simple and straightforward, many individual employees and potentially employers are unaware of the weight of materials handled on the job or force requirements to push or pull objects such as loaded carts or pallet jacks. Unfortunately, this type of information is what defines the end-point of rehabilitation and when an injured worker is ready to return to work.

If this information is not known (or documented) by the employer, it is more than likely not known by the employee. So, when an injured worker is asked for this information by a healthcare professional, their response will more than likely be a rough estimate at best. If a specific weight or force production requirement is overestimated by the injured worker, this would delay the return to full duty. If it is underestimated, a premature release to work could put the individual at risk of reinjury.

Defining Essential Job Tasks

Most employers have job descriptions available for the occupations within their organizations. These job descriptions typically identify which tasks are essential and which tasks are non-essential. Essential job tasks are those that are non-negotiable for an employee that holds that job title. These are the tasks that an injured worker must be able to perform safely when returning to work post-injury. Non-essential job tasks are those tasks that are at times performed by an employee but can easily be delegated to another employee who holds a different position within the organization.

A hypothetical example would be an attendant at a farming supply store in which running the checkout processes is the primary or essential task. However, they are occasionally asked to assist in unloading deliveries to the facility. The unloading of deliveries may not be required (or essential) to performing the job duties of an “attendant.” Therefore, the physical demands of unloading a delivery would not be included in the decision of work readiness post-injury in this example. Each employer should determine which job demands are essential when including these in a job description.

Analyzing and Documenting Physical Demands

Once an employer has defined which tasks are essential vs. non-essential for a specific job title, the next step would be to identify the physical demands of those tasks. Ideally, an employer would utilize specialists within the work injury field to perform a job physical demands analysis. A job physical demands analysis is a detailed report that is generated from measuring specific weights, force requirements, heights, distances and repetition counts for the various job tasks for a specific job title. These can be time consuming and costly.

However, having a third party (outside the employer and injured employee) produce the job physical demands analysis report can be very beneficial if what is required with normal job demands is ever disputed in a work injury claim. A thorough physical demands analysis performed by a third party would be considered the “gold standard” for a healthcare provider attempting to determine which treatment goals and testing should be included when treating towards a return to full duty.

Often, the expense of a physical demands analysis for a specific job title can be added onto a work injury claim if normal job demands are either requested by interested parties or are disputed. Waiting to document the physical demands of essential job tasks to attach to claims will do very little for the healthcare provider attempting to efficiently determine if the injured work is fit for duty. Having the physical demands documented up front and included in the documentation from the first report of injury can eliminate confusion and delays caused by this lack of knowledge.

Practical Alternatives for Employers

For an employer, it can be overwhelming to consider the time and expense of performing a physical demands analysis on all job titles within their organization. A cost-effective strategy may include performing just a few physical demands analyses based on injury rates and the complexity of the job demands. Consideration should be taken as to which positions are the most challenging for returning to work after an injury.

If there is an inability to have physical demands analyses performed, an employer should consider adding some easy-to-gather metrics to their job descriptions. These metrics can include any known weights of materials handled. The “known” weights would be either in product descriptions of materials (a labelled 50-pound bag of feed or a ladder weighing 45 pounds according to documented specifications at the time of purchase). In addition to the weight of objects, other known metrics can be added such as heights of steps or rungs of a ladder, or the number of parts handled per day from productivity or business volume. Even if this practice is not as encompassing as having a physical demands analysis performed, the information will be welcomed and well received by the workers’ compensation interested parties.

The Benefits of Proactive Documentation

Whether taking the time to either document known metrics regarding the physical requirements of essential job demands or undergoing the expense of having a third party perform a physical demands analysis, this information will be valuable to those determining when an injured worker is ready to safely return to work post-injury.

Just remember that if employers don’t make these efforts, the end of treatment and the ability to return to work would rest on the injured worker’s perception of their job demands and their ability to communicate this information to healthcare providers.

About Rob Townsend

Robert Townsend is currently Head of Research and Education at Bardavon. He began treating and testing injured workers in 1997 after earning his MS in Exercise Physiology from Benedictine University. Mr. Townsend has been involved in the specialty services of work injury rehabilitation including work conditioning, functional capacity evaluations, job analyses, ergonomic assessments and post offer employment testing. In addition to the clinical setting, Robert Townsend was a faculty member at the University of Memphis from 2012-2017 in the School of Health Studies. While at U of M, he taught courses in cardiopulmonary and neuromuscular exercise physiology along with exercise testing and interpretation laboratory classes. Mr. Townsend continues to serve as an adjunct professor at Johnson County Community College teaching Human Physiology. Throughout his career he has authored and co-authored multiple research studies and articles on functional testing and human performance. He has presented similar topics at multiple local, regional and national conferences including WCI, National Comp, AMCOMP, MSWCA, MPTA, and NSCA events.

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Join us for the next virtual meeting on Tuesday, October 21, 2025 at 1 PM (Central Time). Rob Townsend, the author of this article, will review key points in the claim process from first report of injury (FROI) to a return to work for employers. Emphasis will be on communication. Documentation strategies will be provided to assist healthcare providers and other workers' compensation stakeholders’ decision on returning an injured worker to full time employment.

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R.E.W.A.R.D. PROGRAM: RETURN EMPLOYEES TO WORK AND REDUCE DISABILITIES

A job description describes the work performed; a job demand analysis determines the force, repetition, and continuation of movements associated with a job, in addition to the body positions and movements required and the conditions of the surrounding environment. This requires measuring the size and weights of products, boxes, etc. and tools handled, the position of these objects in space when handled, and distances objects need to be moved. For more information on job demand analyses download the REWARD Program Toolkit.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in the REWARD Report are solely those of the authors and may not reflect the official policy or position of the Tennessee Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, the Tennessee Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims, the Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, or any other public, private, or nonprofit organization. Information contained in the REWARD Report is for educational purposes only.