WorkSTEPS®

In 1986, OPT developed a “virtual” job specific testing system for new-hires, existing workers and injured workers. Due to the enormous reduction in injury claims for the companies utilizing the test systems, OPT created WorkSTEPS®, which has grown to become the largest employment testing company in the nation. WorkSTEPS® now tests for thousands of employers and has over 900 licensed test sites in 48 states as well as Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. OPT has done over 12.5 million test since it was created.

Larry Feeler, founder of OPT and CEO and Founder of WorkSTEPS®, developed the concept for WorkSTEPS®’ proprietary baseline medical testing product while working with his father in the family’s pipeline construction and fabrication business. Feeler, a licensed physical therapist and private practice owner, developed a baseline medical testing product to be utilized on new-hires, and designed to better match workers’ strengths with their jobs and create a safer workplace.

In the first year of testing, injuries and costs per claim were reduced by more than 60%, and the Feeler family business saved $750,000. After similar successes in nearby oilfield businesses and towns, their functional employment testing quickly became a well-known employer tool. By 1990, Larry and a partner incorporated software to effectively track employee data, and built a functioning, full work-simulation medical office. The testing method was a breakthrough for the medical industry. In 1994, Feeler formally incorporated WorkSTEPS®, which is the largest functional employment testing company in the United States.

The original mission of WorkSTEPS® was to address the rising incidence and cost of workers’ compensation claims. As the industry has evolved and the need for services has expanded, WorkSTEPS® has evolved from the narrow focus of developing testing protocols and data for local and regional heavy industry employers, to a more comprehensive provider of business services. WorkSTEPS® utilizes its testing services and data in conjunction with a group of related and coordinated business services, which are designed to help corporations nationwide contain and control costs related to employment and work-related environments.

WorkSTEPS® tests designed for new hires are administered before a candidate officially begins working in his or her position.

Testing Services

New Hires

WorkSTEPS® tests designed for new hires are administered before a candidate officially begins working in his or her position.

PRE-OFFER AGILITY TESTING

Before an official offer of employment is made to a candidate, a Pre-Offer Agility Test may be administered to identify whether or not an individual has the physical ability required to perform the position for which he or she is being considered. Medical history is not collected in a Pre-Offer Agility Test. Rather, the test seeks to establish the physical demand criteria level at which the applicant can safely perform. The results are based only upon the applicant’s strength and his or her ability to meet the essential function requirements.

PRE-EMPLOYMENT POST-OFFER TESTING – COMPREHENSIVE

Pre-Employment Post-Offer Testing represents the core of the WorkSTEPS® program, and is administered to determine whether or not a job candidate can safely perform the essential functions of the position he or she has been offered. This test is administered after an official offer of employment has been made, but before the candidate officially begins work in the capacity of his or her new position. The Comprehensive Pre-Employment Post-Offer test includes the following components:

Medical history review with a clinician
A series of comprehensive medical measurements
Strength measures
Dynamic lifting & progressive lifting sequence
Cardiovascular measures
Essential job functions testing demonstrating the capability to safely perform the essential functions of his or her job.

The information gathered through the post offer employment testing will document and quantify pre-existing conditions and cumulative traumas, and is invaluable when used as a baseline for comparison should there ever be an injury and/or rehabilitation necessary.

UPPER QUADRANT / CARPAL TUNNEL

The Upper Quadrant/Carpal Tunnel Testing is used to determine capability relative to repetitive job function, rather than heavy material handling tasks. This test may be used independently, as part of the comprehensive Pre-Employment Post-Offer Employment testing, or as a component to the Injured Worker Fit-for-Duty test if necessary.

Existing Workers

The following WorkSTEPS® tests are designed for existing employees:

POST-EMPLOYMENT PHYSICAL AGILITY TESTING

This non-medical agility testing may be used preventatively and may be administered periodically to ensure that existing employees continue to be able to meet the physical demand criteria necessary to safely perform the essential functions of the job. Employers may request this type of agility testing for all employees in a particular job class as part of their periodic monitoring to ensure that employees remain capable of performing physically demanding job tasks. This test is periodically administered on employees in positions affecting public safety, such as firefighters and police officers, or as a re-certification requirement.

UPPER QUADRANT / CARPAL TUNNEL

The Upper Quadrant/Carpel Tunnel Testing is used to determine capability relative to repetitive job function, rather than heavy material handling tasks. This test may be used independently, as part of the comprehensive Pre-Employment Post-Offer Employment testing, or as a component to the Injured Worker Fit-for-Duty test if necessary.

Injured Workers

The following tests are designed for employees who have been injured on the job.

FIT FOR DUTY EVALUATION

A Fit-for-Duty evaluation is administered to a current employee post-injury through an injury management program. A Fit-for-Duty Evaluation is a functional capacity test that focuses only on the injured part of the body used in a job specific task, rather than a comprehensive exam. In compliance with EEOC mandates, a medical examination of a current employee may be given only when it is “job related and consistent with business necessity”.

FUNCTIONAL CAPACITY EVALUATION (FCE)

The FCE is a full body comprehensive medical test used to measure an employee’s functional capacity and assist in injury management, whether the injury was sustained while at work or existed previously. The FCE test may be used alone to document existing impairments or may be used in combination with the Post-Offer Comprehensive test as a comparison against original, baseline data.

One FCE should be given at the time of injury to determine severity and legitimacy for optimum injury management. Another FCE should be administered during rehabilitation to determine progress, and one functional capacity evaluation should be conducted post-rehabilitation to determine the employee’s ability to return to his or her job.

At the time of injury, when compared against data previously collected, the FCE may be used to prove consistency and validity of performance and create realistic, objective rehabilitation goals, return to work recommendations, or work conditioning programs to capitalize on injury management procedures. This information is invaluable to objectively move the patient through the system in a fair and timely manner.

SINCERITY OF EFFORT

The X-RTS Hand Strength Assessment is a method of objectively assessing validity of effort during a hand strength test that maintains the gold standard: unprecedented accuracy in identifying invalid effort—while also correctly classifying effort for the compliant patient. In the largest controlled study of its kind, the X-RTS methodology and analysis correctly classified validity of effort in 199 of 200 functional capacity tests.

Extra Testing

DRUG SCREENING

We offer a wide variety of drug testing such as DOT, NON-DOT, and rapid drug screens that produce an instant result (available in several different panels).

BREATH ALCOHOL TESTING (BAT)

Breath Alcohol Testing is also available in DOT and NON-DOT forms.

FIT TESTING

We offer a wide variety of quantitative fit testing using half and full mask depending on your companies manufacture.

DOT AND NON-DOT PHYSICALS

We also offer DOT and NON- DOT Physicals, Pulmonary Function testing, audiograms and Spirometry testing; this is done through Adapt-2-Work.