Evaluating the prospective benefits of physical demands description (PDD) data created from job simulations

Every job at Ford Motor Company should have an associated document describing the physical demands (i.e., lifting, climbing, pushing, etc.) required in that job. This information is important to select job candidates with the right blend of capabilities to be able to safely meet these demands. Perhaps more importantly, this information also provides a benchmark to guide health care providers in helping injured workers rehabilitate their capabilities so that they can again return to their job, safely meeting the jobs demands. However, it is very time consuming to generate these reports and many health care providers often wish they had more details. With advances in the ability to simulate work using computer programs, there is a new opportunity to more quickly generate very detailed physical demand summary reports. This project will evaluate health care providers preferences regarding the usefulness of reports generated from work simulations compared to the traditional reports.

Faculty Supervisor:

Steven Fischer

Student:

Nicholas Patrick

Partner:

Ford Motor Company

Discipline:

Kinesiology

Sector:

Medical devices

University:

University of Waterloo