Job Demands Analysis

This course provides a practical, evidence-informed framework for conducting Job Demands Analyses (JDAs) to identify, measure, and document the physical and functional demands of work. Participants learn how to translate real-world job tasks into objective, measurable demands that can be used to support functional assessment, return-to-work planning, injury prevention, job accommodation, and employment-related decision-making.

Participants examine the role of the JDA as the foundation for comparing an individual's functional abilities with the actual requirements of a job. The course emphasizes identifying essential job tasks, observing work as it is actually performed, and distinguishing between job descriptions and objective analysis of job demands.

The course addresses systematic collection of job information through worker and supervisor interviews, direct observation, measurement, and review of available job documentation. Participants learn to document physical demands including lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling, positional tolerances, mobility, reaching, handling, and other relevant work activities.

Particular attention is given to quantifying demands using measurable characteristics such as force or weight, frequency, duration, height, distance, and position. Participants learn to use standardized terminology and frequency classifications to create documentation that can be consistently interpreted by clinicians, employers, insurers, and other stakeholders.

Participants also examine how JDAs support functional capacity evaluations, post-offer employment testing, return-to-work programs, work conditioning and work hardening, ergonomic assessment, and workplace injury prevention. Emphasis is placed on developing a defensible description of the job that can serve as an objective reference standard when making work-related recommendations.

The course concludes with practical application of the JDA process. Participants integrate job information into a structured analysis and learn to communicate findings clearly so the completed JDA can be used effectively across clinical and workplace settings.

Target Audience:

Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Athletic Trainers, Occupational Health Nurses, Safety Professionals, Human Resources Professionals, Supervisors, Case Managers, Ergonomists, and other licensed rehabilitation professionals involved in work rehabilitation, functional restoration, and return-to-work decision-making.

Instructional Level:

Introductory

Prerequisites:

None

Learning Objectives:

Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Explain the purpose of a Job Demands Analysis and its role in functional assessment, return-to-work, injury prevention, employment testing, and workplace decision-making.
• Identify essential job tasks and distinguish objective job demands from general job descriptions or worker-specific abilities.
• Collect job-demand information using interviews, direct observation, measurement, and available workplace documentation.
• Quantify physical job demands using appropriate measures of force or weight, frequency, duration, height, distance, position, and other relevant characteristics.
• Document postural tolerances, mobility requirements, material handling demands, and other physical requirements using consistent terminology.
• Develop a structured Job Demands Analysis that provides an objective and defensible representation of the requirements of work.
• Apply JDA findings to functional capacity evaluation, return-to-work planning, work conditioning, post-offer employment testing, ergonomics, and injury prevention.

Educational Methods:

Didactic instruction, case-based analysis, workplace and job-task examples, guided job-demand measurement and documentation, and applied Job Demands Analysis exercises.

Continuing Education Units / Contact Hours:

2 hours. Full Attendance Required.

Sponsors:

This program is not sponsored by any commercial entity. No commercial support has influenced course content.

Disclosure Statement:

All faculty and planners have disclosed relevant financial and non-financial relationships. Any potential conflicts of interest have been reviewed and mitigated in accordance with continuing education standards.

Cancellation & Refund Policy:

Refunds are available in accordance with Matheson's cancellation and refund policy. Please refer to our Cancellation Policy for full details.

• Definition, purpose, and professional applications of a Job Demands Analysis
• JDA as an objective description of the job rather than an assessment of the worker
• Differences between a JDA and a traditional job description
• Applications in functional assessment, return to work, employment testing, ergonomics, and accommodation
• Importance of objective, measurable, and defensible job-demand information
• Learning emphasis: Establishing the JDA as the objective reference standard for understanding what a job actually requires.

• Defining the actual job rather than relying on job title alone
• Establishing the purpose and appropriate scope of the analysis
• Reviewing job descriptions and available workplace information
• Integrating worker, supervisor, and organizational perspectives
• Recognizing variability across shifts, workers, production levels, and work conditions
• Applied activity: Review a job description and identify the additional information needed to accurately define the work.

• Distinguishing between the job, tasks, subtasks, and work cycles
• Breaking complex work into meaningful and observable components
• Identifying recurring task patterns and representative work activities
• Determining the appropriate level of detail for the analysis
• Separating meaningful job demands from incidental or isolated activities
• Applied activity: Break a representative job into tasks and subtasks that accurately reflect how the work is performed.

• Identifying essential and non-essential job tasks
• Considering the purpose and importance of a task within the overall job
• Distinguishing task frequency from task essentiality
• Recognizing activities that may be incidental, reassigned, or modified
• Importance of essential-task identification in return-to-work and accommodation decisions
• Applied activity: Classify representative job tasks as essential or non-essential and explain the reasoning supporting the classification.

• Quantifying lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling, force, repetition, and frequency
• Documenting posture, positional tolerances, mobility, working heights, reach, and distances
• Measuring duration, recovery opportunities, and variability in physical demands
• Identifying cognitive and psychosocial demands including pace, interruptions, task switching, and worker control
• Translating observed work into specific, measurable, and objective job-demand information
• Applied activity: Convert observations of a work task into measurable physical, cognitive, and psychosocial job demands.

• Principles of clear, specific, consistent, and objective JDA documentation
• Replacing vague descriptions with measurable job-demand statements
• Organizing task, frequency, duration, force, posture, height, distance, and other relevant findings
• Documenting variability, assumptions, and limitations of the analysis
• Creating a JDA that can be consistently interpreted by clinicians, employers, insurers, and other stakeholders
• Applied activity: Rewrite vague job-demand descriptions into specific, measurable, and defensible statements.

• Preparing for the worksite analysis and clarifying the referral purpose
• Using worker and supervisor interviews, direct observation, and existing documentation
• Determining when direct measurement is necessary and when estimation is appropriate
• Measuring weight, force, height, distance, duration, and frequency when needed
• Recognizing representative, peak, and variable demands while documenting limitations
• Applied activity: Determine what information should be observed, measured, estimated, or verified during a representative JDA scenario.

• Integrating job context, task analysis, essentiality, and measured demands
• Applying JDA findings to functional capacity evaluation and return-to-work planning
• Supporting post-offer employment testing, ergonomic assessment, and accommodation decisions
• Recognizing how inaccurate job-demand information can affect downstream decisions
• Reviewing completed JDAs for accuracy, consistency, and support for conclusions
• Applied activity: Use JDA findings to support a clinical or workplace decision and justify the conclusion using documented job-demand information.

• Applied discussion is integrated throughout the course using job and workplace scenarios. Participants practice distinguishing the job as described from the job as performed, identifying essential tasks, translating observations into measurable demands, determining when measurement is necessary, and considering how JDA findings influence clinical and workplace decisions.

• Assessment includes knowledge checks and applied exercises requiring participants to identify and organize job tasks, distinguish essential from non-essential activities, quantify physical and psychosocial demands, select appropriate measurement strategies, and develop objective and defensible job-demand documentation.

• The Job Demands Analysis Course Manual, Matheson JDA forms and worksheets, course presentations and case materials, and writing materials or an electronic device for documentation and case exercises are required. Applied activities may use a tape measure, stopwatch, scale or known weights, and force gauge when available. On-demand and live-stream participants will also need reliable internet access and a device capable of accessing the course platform.

• Clinical reasoning is reinforced by asking participants to replace assumption with observation and vague descriptions with measurable information. Participants integrate worker and supervisor input, direct observation, job documentation, and objective measurement to determine what the work actually requires while maintaining a clear distinction between the demands of the job and the capabilities of an individual worker.