The Importance of the Pre-Employment Medical Check Up

September 30, 2015adminwebNewsArticleFitnessHealthMedical1

Every company would undoubtedly want their employees to be highly productive in order to achieve the company’s desired targets. Therefore, companies would screen their prospective employees before they can join the company. These assessments are not only based on the abilities possessed by the prospective employees, but also the health conditions of their prospective employees.

Nowadays, many companies require medical check-ups for each prospective employee. By conducting the pre-employment medical check-up, companies can get a detailed analysis of their prospective employees’ health status. This will identify any existing conditions that might interfere with doing their future job whilst also ensuring that the prospective employees are physically capable of performing the jobs assigned to them. Moreover, it can also determine whether prospective employees can safely perform a job, reduce insurance claims, and reduce other related medical costs.

If a pre-employment medical check-up is needed for the examination of prospective employees, the types of examination will be adjusted to the type of work.. Below are some types of tests for pre-employment medical examinations:

• Hemoglobin test; blood sugar test; Liver function; Complete blood count test;   Electrocardiogram (ECG); HBsAg test, and Urine test:

The urine drug test is a very important test as it screens for drugs including cocaine, nicotine, marijuana etc. Employers prefer this test to eliminate candidates who have drug-related problems, as their addictive nature can create problems in the work environment and can lead to unnecessary problems in a healthy workplace

High risk jobs will require a more complete examination such as:

• Peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR test): This test measures how fast a person can exhale. A person with abnormal PEFR may experience difficulties in breathing which can give rise to severe anxiety or panic, decreased alertness and confusion.
• Spirometry test: There are certain jobs where workers are exposed to various harmful substances. In such jobs, one has to ensure that workers do not have respiratory problems. For instance, in an iron and steel manufacturing environment, workers are often exposed to harmful chemicals and gas. In this case, the employer needs to carry out a spirometry test to check if the employee has a lung or respiratory problem that may deteriorate due to such a work environment.
• Audiometry test: This test is also job specific. It basically eliminates workers who are at risk of hearing loss due to the exposure of high noise level. If the workers are exposed to more than 90dB then this test is a must. This test is crucial as it reveals whether the worker can sustain a high degree of noise level without the risk of having hearing impairment in the future.
• Renal function test: It is basically a kidney function test used to evaluate how well the kidneys are working. Kidney disorder can lead to swelling of legs, hands, feet, ankles or face, loss of appetite, fatigue, confusion, and shortness of breath.

Therefore, companies must be more serious in carrying out pre-employment medical check-ups for their prospective employees as healthy employees can create a more positive and energetic work environment which can boost the company’s efficiency level.

Source : https://www.integrity-indonesia.com/blog/2020/09/17/the-importance-of-the-pre-employment-medical-check-up/