Legal Research Digest 34: Application of Physical Activity Testing to Current Workforces of Transit Employees. Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP)

摘要

Physical assessments are accepted as a prerequisite to employment in the transit industry, particularly for safety-sensitive job positions. Such assessments routinely include vision and hearing tests for employees required to hold a commercial drivers license (CDL), drug and alcohol testing as mandated by federal regulations, and hearing and spirometry tests required to meet health and safety standards. Less routine perhaps are physical agility and work tests--whether to assess compliance with federal standards or meet the requirements of a given job description--akin to those commonly required for law enforcement officers and firefighters, and tests to measure an employees ability to perform movements required to carry out essential job functions. In addition, concerns about employee health may lead transit agencies to consider imposing lifestyle restrictions related to employee weight and offduty use of tobacco, including instituting physical testing to measure compliance with those restrictions.