Pre-Employment: Getting it Right!

Pre-Employment Hearing & Sight Assessment

Functional Pre-Employment Screening

Psychological Pre-Employment Assesments

Drug & Alcohol Screening

Pre-employment screenings enable employers to accurately identify workplace risks and to provide a safe work environment for new employees. Pre-employment benchmarking can also be important in minimising an employer’s exposure should a workers compensation claim involve a pre-existing condition. All screening procedures are conducted with particular attention to privacy and anti-discrimination laws.


Pre-Employment Hearing & Sight Assessment

Hearing screening is conducted by trained personnel, with procedures and equipment used in accordance with the specifications of Australian Standard AS 1269 and NSW WorkCover Code of Practice for Noise Management (1997).

Each assessment is intended to provide an initial screening and where significant hearing impairment is detected, consideration may be given to referring the employee for further specialist audiological or medical advice. Eyesight screening will identify the existence and severity of colour blindness, as well as an assessment of sightedness.

Functional Pre-Employment Screening

Functional pre-employment screening is an assessment of a person’s physical ability to perform work and associated duties. Pre-employment screenings do not prevent injury; however, they have a role in reducing the severity of injury and lost time due to disability.

They are generally:

  • Conducted at time of recruitment
  • Can be used for employees returning from a non- work related injury/ illness
  • Conducted to identify workers with pre-existing injuries/ illnesses, which may be aggravated as a result of performing the requirements of the job

For a pre-employment screening to be of maximum advantage and to ensure non-discrimination the assessment must be based on a job analysis. Assessment may take place in the workplace or at an independent location.

Utilising pre-employment screenings as a management tool facilitates the fulfillment of OH&S Duty of Care objectives through focus on “prevention” and “health promotion”.

Insight’s Pre- Employment Screening Components:

  • Injury history- pre-existing medical conditions
  • Cardiovascular measurements
  • Pre & post assessment heart rate and blood pressure
  • Balance
  • Manual dexterity
  • Active range of movement- neck, trunk, knee, shoulder, elbow and wrist
  • Back fitness questionnaire and test
  • Lower limb functioning- squatting and kneeling ability
  • Manual handling capacity- floor to waist, floor to shoulder, carrying and pushing/ pulling

Psychological Pre-Employment Assessments

Psychological Pre-employment Assessments are designed to assist in identifying if a candidate is likely to be a suitable ‘fit’ in your workplace. They should not be used as a stand alone assessment, but utilised in conjunction with interviews, references and physical pre-employment assessments.

The following types of tests may be utilised when conducting psychological pre-employment assessments:

  • Personality Assessment
  • General Reasoning
  • Ability/Aptitude Tests

Personality assessment identifies a person’s personality traits. It provides insights into a candidate’s behaviour, values and ethics and provides valuable information which may be used in identifying management strategies. The results of this assessment assist in identifying whether the candidate is likely to by suited to an employment environment and the job requirements (i.e. need for team work, solitary & self-driven roles, dealing with the public).

General Reasoning tests to assess general cognitive ability.

Ability/Aptitude tests identify a person’s ability /aptitude with regard to specific tasks e.g. numerical reasoning, verbal reasoning and clerical skills.

Drug & Alcohol Screening

Insight Risk Assessment currently uses the saliva test Oral 5 + Alcohol, specifically designed to suit AS4760:2006 cut-off levels. The unit tests for AMP 50 (Amphetamine), mAMP 50 (Methamphetamine), COC 50 (Cocaine), OPI 50 (Opiates), BOZ 50 (Benzodiazephines), THC 25 (Marijuana) and alcohol (>0.02%BAC). This is a rapid, clear and high integrity testing regime, with results available within 2-3 minutes, minimal handling and the sample is observed at all times. Testing is performed by national accredited “collectors & technicians”.