Physical & Cognitive Demands Assessment

Quantifying job demands for safe and effective RTW

Job Demands Assessment

Objectively documenting essential physical and cognitive job demands

A Physical Demands Assessment (PDA) or Cognitive Demands Assessment (CDA) is a document that describes the physical or cognitive requirements of a job. These can be completed separately or combined into one document, often referred to as a Job Demands Assessment (JDA).

PDAs & CDAs (JDAs) are most commonly used in the disability management process to provide Disability Management Specialists, doctors, insurance providers, Return to Work Specialists, and other stakeholders with objective data about the essential duties of a job/task. They provide the detail necessary to determine the suitability of the job/task for a successful return to work of an injured employee and can also identify areas where accommodation may be possible for a safe and successful return to work.

Let's Connect

Why it's important

Decrease delays in return to work

Having PDAs/CDAs on hand helps decrease delays in WSIB cases and aides in early RTW. When you have documentation about the job requirements available up front, you can quickly provide stakeholders with objective data about the job/task and start finding suitable work from day one, helping workers stay at work, do value-added work, remain engaged in the workplace, and connected to their peers.

Factory worker assessment physical job demands

Our Process

Systematically identifying and documenting job demands

Conduct interviews with employees and supervisors/managers
Observe, take video of, and photograph the job/task during regular operation
Gather quantitative data on forces, weights, and frequencies of strength tasks
Quantify time spent in various postures and performing mobility, reaching, and gripping demands
Describe cognitive demands, including time management, supervisory, memory, accountability, and focus & attention skills, providing a summary of how these skills are employed in the job/task

Let's Connect

"Shortly after completing PDAs for our facility with PROergonomics, we had two claims to dispute and were able to use the PDAs to effectively address our concerns with the Claims Manager. The WSIB indicated that the PDAs were a key element to having both claims denied as they objectively documented the demands of the jobs in question without bias. The cost of completing the documents was quickly repaid with these two cases. Money well spent."