Brief Abstract:

Personal support workers are routinely required to lift, transfer, and bathe clients, all of which are physically demanding tasks requiring forceful exertion and assumption of awkward postures. These physical demands are associated with a significant increase in job‐related musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries. Pre‐employment Physical Readiness Tests (PRT) are conducted by physiotherapists and used as a primary injury prevention strategy in situations, like healthcare, where the where the work is physically demanding, cannot be redesigned and carries a high‐risk of work‐related injury. The purpose of this study is to collect movement‐related data recorded during PRT assessments to objectively describe the manual handling techniques of personal support workers during the assessment.