Assessment of Work Ability
Synonyms
Fitness for work assessment
Definition
Assessment of work ability is an objective assessment
of the health of employees in relation to their specific
jobs, in order to ensure they can do the job and will
not be a hazard to themselves or others. The assessment
should always be conducted with reference to the
specific job the worker holds or intends to hold. The
reasons for assessment of work ability are numerous,
such as the application or consideration for entry into
employment and assignment to a specific job, the need
to avoid diseases becoming chronic, return to work after
sick leave, or assessment for social benefits.
Assessment of work ability must be specifically jobrelated,
with judgments of fitness being based on the
principle that the employees’ state of health in relation
to their individual jobs will not be hazardous to
themselves or others. It is preferable that these activities
should be undertaken by individuals who are specially
trained or well experienced in occupational medicine.
Assessment of work ability, according to the definition
of work ability, usually involves the measurement
of activities related to personal care, mobility, sensory
perception, communication, recreation, socializing,
and intimacy. It is also related to mental and intellectual
status, psychological distress, individual work environment,
various occupational requirements, and even personal
demographic characteristics. Assessment of work
ability is a difficult task and probably cannot be performed
by a single individual. Available methods that
measure certain dimensions of work ability, such as
functional capacity, physical performance components,
or physical work performance, are generally considered to be hardly sufficient measurements of the real work
ability.
Occupational health service personne are in an excellent
position to make an assessment of work ability as
they have access to both medical and workplace data.
The work ability index (WAI), developed by the Finnish
Institute of Occupational Health, is an instrument, with
high validity, which can provide an integrated number
useful for comparative longitudinal study and followup.
