Abstract
Aim
Variation exists in the hiring process by human resource departments within the fire service in the province of Ontario, Canada. This study sought to examine the association between the sequence of hiring practices and biophysical health components in screening for probationary firefighters.
Methods
Biophysical health and occupational assessments were conducted on 134 male probationary firefighter applicants hired by one of two different Ontario cities. Prior to being hired as probationary firefighters, City A applicants (N=58) passed a biophysical health assessment at the beginning of a screening appointment before successfully completing a psychological aptitude exam conducted on the same day. Conversely, City B applicants (N=76) passed a biophysical health assessments several weeks following the successful completion of a psychological aptitude exam as part of a longer screening process (range=28-56 days, mean=39+7.3). Following resting heart rate (RHR) and blood pressure (BP) measurements, and a vision and hearing exam, biophysical health measures including waist-to-hip ratio, body fat percentage (BF%), maximum aerobic capacity, 60-second sit-up, and trunk flexibility (TF) as well as completion of an occupational assessment were conducted.
RESULTS
City A applicants demonstrated significantly lower RHR, resting diastolic BP, BF% and higher z-scores for BF, TF and overall biophysical health assessment (p<0.05). Multiple regression analysis identified candidate age and sequence of assessment (i.e., biophysical health assessment at the end of the hiring process) found in City B as significantly detrimental factors contributing to poorer BF% (R2=21%), BF z-score (R2=22%), TF z-score (R2=10%) and overall biophysical health assessment z-score (R2=7%).
CONCLUSION
These results suggest that sequentially positioning the biophysical health assessment at the beginning of a short screening process will result in hiring a healthier probationary firefighter.