When it comes to hiring the right employees, you are likely investing a good amount of time and money into the process. Workers compensation costs can be a major expense in the moving and storage industry when hiring new employees. In Massachusetts, it is required that all employers provide workers compensation benefits to their employees. Depending on factors such as experience mods, rates and premiums, the cost can get pretty expensive, pretty quickly.

As an employer in an industry so dependent on an employee’s ability to lift and perform physical tasks, you cannot help but worry about the risk you face with regards to workers’ compensation claims. Surely you have heard the stories before: a company hires and employee and a few weeks later that employee becomes injured – and the moving and storage company has to pay. Between the risk of increased movers insurance rates and experience mods, as well as the loss of productivity for the company after losing the worker to injury, this can be a detrimental experience should you have to face it.

Although privacy laws and the ADA limit the types of questions you can ask potential hires, it does allow you to ask about the candidate’s capabilities with regards to the job. Additionally, pre-employment testing such as DOT physicals is acceptable and necessary in this industry.

Unfortunately, the rejection rate of those type of pre-employment tests are less than 1% – meaning many employees are hired and not fit for the job. One way that moving and storage industry can get around that is with pre-employment strength testing, also known as Isokinetic Testing.

What is Isokinetic Testing?
• A pre-employment physical test, usually involving three parts: the initial assessment, examination and evaluation
• The examination has three parts: history, systems review and tests/measures
• The evaluation focuses on key areas, such as: ability, activity, capacity, impairments, activity limitation, and job analysis

With a focus on all parts of the body and how they respond to work as it relates to the job function, it can provide a more in-depth analysis of a candidate’s ability to perform a job. In an industry such as the moving and storage industry, where physical ability is so imperative, this could be a great idea for your company.

Remember, no matter how much safety and training procedures you have in place, hiring an unfit employee can result in claims on your movers insurance. At Wolpert Insurance, we want to help you avoid that cost. Call us today and find out how you can utilize Isokinetic Strength Testing to avoid unnecessary claims.