OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH: Fitness for Duty

Organizations concerned with the health of its employees put in place processes to determine whether employees are safely able to perform essential physical, physiological and cognitive requirements of their job without risk to self. Others or the environment and are not impaired by drugs, alcohols or disabling medical conditions or fatigue.

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The fitness for duty program is therefore paramount, it supports occupational health by:

• Providing a health workforce and mitigating against significant health risks that would prevent achieving organizational performance standards.

• Providing consistent handling for fitness decisions relating to employees or future candidates.

The fitness for duty process will identify health sensitive and physically demanding job functions and develops appropriate evaluations, including functional capacity evaluations as appropriate for the following categories:

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• New hires
• Job transfers
• For cause
• Returning to work after injury or illness
• Emergency responders

FITNESS FOR DUTY PROCEDURES

CREATING AND UPDATING A DETAILED DATABASE

This procedure is designed to help organizations accurately complete and maintain consistent physical requirements and working conditions by describing the physical and mental requirements ofeach job category.

Pre-Placement/Post-Offer

Fitness for Duty ProceduEmployee fitness for duty is important for the maintenance of a safe work environment and to successfully meet the requirements of the expectations identified herein. This procedure therefore helps identify employees who are physically or mentally unfit for duty, which may jeopardize the safety of themselves and others and negatively affect the environment and company assets and reputation.

Job Transfer

The purpose of the Job Transfer procedure is to establish a procedure wherein employees being transferred are properly evaluated to ensure that they meet the physical requirements and working conditions of the new position.

For Cause

For-cause evaluations may be necessary when an employee’s action or failure to take action results in or has the potential to result in an adverse impact on himself or herself, on others, on the environment, or on Company's assets and reputation.

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Return to Work

The purpose of the Return to Work procedure is to ensure that the employee, following an injury or illness, has regained the appropriate fitness for duty. This may include a medical or psychological evaluation, drug and alcohol testing, physical capability evaluation, functional capacity evaluation, work hardening, or modified duty, as appropriate.

Emergency Responders

The purpose of the Emergency Responders procedure is to provide a periodic evaluation procedure for emergency responders to ensure that they are fit to perform their emergency response roles and responsibilities.

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The purpose of this Fitness for Duty process is to ensure that employees can safely perform the essential physical and mental requirements of their job without risk to self, others or the environment.

Medical evaluations execute standardized exam processes and protocols, including drug and alcohol testing.

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These evaluations and subsequent decisions based on data regarding employee health status and physical capabilities related to the demand and local working conditions will determine if the employee is:

• Fit for duty
• Fit for duty with limitations
• Not fit for duty
• Failing to comply with these requested evaluations.

The decisions and actions are enforced by the human resources team who engage appropriate departments in the decision making, action planning and communication tasks, including:
•Human resources
•Medical
•Legal
•Supervisory
•Health, Environment and Safety (HES).

References

What is fitness for duty?

Guide To Fitness For Duty

Occupational safety and health

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