An observational objective job analysis of role related tasks undertaken by Royal Navy sailors

BACKGROUND

The current in-service Royal Naval Fitness Test has two elements to test the aerobic endurance and muscular strength of Service Personnel through generic field-based tests and a short job task simulation. However, in 2017 the Royal Navy (RN) identified a requirement to update their in-service fitness test to align with international best practice.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to conduct an Objective Job Task Analysis on critical, physically demanding tasks that could be undertaken by RN sailors during sea deployments.

METHODS

Twenty-one training exercises were observed across a range of contexts; Type 23 Frigates, Type 45 Destroyers and at shore-based training facilities. A total of 203 RN personnel (age 27.8±7.1 years) were observed undertaking 36 job related tasks (e.g., 'firefighting', 'damage control', 'abandon ship' and 'casualty handling'). Tasks were evaluated by cardiovascular response, primary functional movements and contextual factors to aid a Military Judgement Panel in task list down-selection.

RESULTS

14 Criterion Tasks (e.g., 'firefighting', 'two-person magazine stowage' and 'casualty handling') were selected to progress to the next stage of the process. Five tasks were selected based on cardiovascular responses and a further nine tasks selected based on task ergonomics and other factors.

CONCLUSION

This research has identified and quantified the most physically demanding, critical roles undertaken by RN sailors on sea deployments and will inform the development of the RN Physical Employment Standard.

Characterising the physical demands of critical tasks across the Royal Australian Air Force

BACKGROUND

Militaries have historically utilised generic physical fitness tests to assess physical readiness, but there has been a recent shift to develop physical employment standards (PES) based on actual job demands.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this investigation was to characterise the physical demands of critical tasks performed by Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) personnel to inform PES development.

METHODS

Job task analysis were performed for 27 RAAF trades. Criterion tasks were identified through a systematic approach involving workshops and field-observations. The identified tasks were assessed for dominant physical capacity and grouped into movement-based clusters. Psychophysiological measures were collected from personnel performing the tasks.

RESULTS

Of 87 criterion tasks, 92% were characterised as manual handling dominant. Across these 87 tasks the principal physical capacities were: muscular strength (59%), muscular endurance (52%) and cardiorespiratory endurance (39%). The most common movement clusters were Lift to Platform (44%) and Lift and Carry (38%). Lift to Platform tasks required lifting to a median height of 1.32 m (1.20 -1.65 m) and a median mass of 25.0 kg (21.0 -28.9 kg) per person. Median carry mass was 25.0 kg (22.4 -36.1 kg) per person and distance was 26.0 m (17.5 -50.0 m). Median task mean 'Vdot;O2, HR and RPE were 1.8 L.min- 1 (1.5-2.2 L.min- 1), 137 b.min- 1 (120-144) and 13 (12-14).

CONCLUSIONS

The high proportion of manual handling criterion tasks emphasises the importance of these activities and the underlying physical capacities for RAAF personnel. Current fitness assessments are unlikely to predict job task performance.

A job task analysis of the authorised firearms officer - counter terrorism (AFO-CT) national role profile

BACKGROUND

The Ministry of Defence Police recognised the requirement to develop a Physical Employment Standard (PES) for the Authorised Firearms Officer -Counter Terrorism (AFO-CT) role profile.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to conduct a job task analysis to identify the most critical and physically demanding tasks performed by AFO-CT personnel.

METHODS

A focus group and online survey were undertaken to identify a list of job tasks. The down-selected job tasks were objectively monitored during training events to determine the most physically demanding tasks. Tasks were ranked by physical demand and additional factors (e.g., operational load, primary physical actions). Down-selected tasks were then included in a Subject Matter Experts (SME) task scenario generation workshop. The physiological demands of the resulting standardised scenarios were determined.

RESULTS

The focus group (n = 11) identified 13 physically demanding and critical role-related tasks. The subsequent survey (n = 907) down-selected eight tasks with a 'moderate' demand or greater. Thirty AFO-CT personnel completed the eight tasks as part of routine training events. From the observed tasks, four tasks were down-selected and combined into two operationally relevant, reasonable worst-case standardised scenarios during a SME workshop. The two scenarios, 'Conduct Armed Search in the Open for an Active Shooter' and 'Victim Focussed Emergency Search' were used in subsequent phases of the research to form the basis of the AFO-CT PES.

CONCLUSION

This research elucidated the most physically demanding job tasks within the AFO-CT role profile to inform the development of a MOD armed policing PES.

Physiological responses to treadmill exercise in size- and fitness-matched male and female firefighter applicants

Physiological responses during a standardised treadmill test for structural firefighting employment were compared in 41 pairs of size-matched, male and female applicants. Applicants wore personal exercise clothing, running shoes, and fire protective ensemble with self-contained breathing apparatus (added mass 21.2 ± 1.0 kg). Applicants walked at 1.56 m·s-1, completing a 5-min warm-up, 8-min at 10% grade, and then, progressive 1-min stages to exhaustion. The cut-score required completion of 13-min of exercise. Up to the cut-score, no differences in heart rate, oxygen uptake or minute ventilation were detected between sexes. At time 12:30-13:00 min, V̇O2 was 45.7 ± 0.6 vs. 44.2 ± 0.5 mL·kg-1·min-1 (body mass) for males and females, respectively. Despite similar physiological responses at minute 13, females worked at higher fractions of peak than males (p < 0.05). A second analysis compared a subset of 27 fitness-matched (V̇O2peak) male-female pairs. Fitness-matching further reduced or eliminated most observed differences in physiological responses, except small differences in breathing pattern. Practitioner Summary: Physiological responses during a standardised treadmill test for firefighter applicants were investigated in male and female applicants matched on size and fitness. Absolute responses to exercise were the same for both sexes when size-matched, but relative intensity was higher for females. Fitness-matching reduced or eliminated most previously observed differences. Abbreviations: NFPA: National Fire Protection Association; V̇O2: rate of oxygen consumption; V̇O2peak: rate of oxygen consumption at peak exercise; PAR-Q+: Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire Plus; SCBA: self-contained breathing apparatus; ANOVA: analysis of variance; V̇E: minute ventilation; V̇Epeak: minute ventilation at peak exercise; V̇E/V̇O2: ventilatory equivalent for oxygen.

Performing one or more verification VO2 workload(s) immediately after an incremental to maximal graded exercise test significantly increases the proportion of participants who meet the job-related aerobic fitness standard for structural firefighters

PURPOSE

Graded exercise tests (GXTs) are commonly used to determine the maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) of firefighter applicants. However, the criteria used to confirm VO2max are inconsistent and have a high inter-subject variability, which can compromise the reliability of the results. To address this, a verification phase (VP) after the GXT has been proposed as a "gold standard" protocol for measuring VO2max.

METHODS

4179 male and 283 female firefighter applicants completed a GXT and a VP to measure their VO2max. VO2peak values measured during the GXT were compared to the VO2 values measured during the VP. The proportion of participants who met the job-related aerobic fitness standard during the GXT was compared to that of those who met the required standard during the VP.

RESULTS

For male and female participants that required the VP to attain their VO2max, the VO2peak values measured during the GXT (47.3 ± 6.0 and 41.6 ± 5.3 mL kg-1 min-1) were, respectively, 10.1% and 10.3% lower than the VO2 values measured during the VP (52.1 ± 6.7 and 45.9 ± 6.4 mL kg-1 min-1), p < 0.001. Furthermore, the proportion of male and female participants who met the job-related aerobic fitness standard significantly increased from the GXT to the VP by 11.6% and 29.9%, respectively, p < 0.001.

CONCLUSION

These results strongly support the use of a VP to confirm VO2max, especially for females, older and overweight individuals. These findings are applicable to other physically demanding public safety occupations and when examining the efficacy of training interventions on VO2max.

A comparison of physical performance during one- and two-person simulated casualty drags

The ability to drag a casualty to safety is critical for numerous physically demanding occupations. This study aimed to establish whether the pulling forces during a one-person 55 kg simulated casualty drag is representative of a two-person 110 kg drag. Twenty men completed up to 12 × 20m simulated casualty drags using a drag bag (55/110 kg) on a grassed sports pitch, with completion times and forces exerted measured. Completion time for the one-person 55 and 110 kg drags were 9.56 ± 1.18s and 27.08 ± 7.71s. Completion time for the 110 kg two-person drags for forwards and backwards iterations were 8.36 ± 1.23s and 11.04 ± 1.11s. The average individual force exerted during the one-person 55 kg drag was equivalent to the average individual contribution during the two-person 110 kg drag (t₍₁₆₎ = 3.3780, p < 0.001); suggesting a one-person 55 kg simulated casualty drag is representative of the individual contribution to a two-person 110 kg simulated casualty drag. Individual contributions can however vary during two-person simulated casualty drags.

The bookmark method to establish minimum performance standards for intensive care flight paramedics performing helicopter winch rescue

We aimed to use the bookmark method to establish minimum standards for selecting intensive care flight paramedics. Two subject matter expert (SME) focus groups reviewed nine videos of decreasing duration showing land and water helicopter rescue tasks. Focus Group 1 (FG1, n = 10) viewed videos individually off-site, whilst Focus Group 2 (FG2, n = 9) attended a face-to-face session. All SMEs selected the video they judged as the appropriate pace for the task then reviewed feedback. For both groups, the process was repeated until 80% agreement was achieved, or three rounds were completed (whichever occurred first). FG1 and FG2 achieved agreement after two rounds for the land task. For the water task, FG1 did not reach agreement. FG2 reached consensus after two rounds. The selected task durations were similar. The bookmark method is valuable to determine performance standards for performing winch rescue, and SMEs are more likely to reach consensus when face-to-face.

Comparison of physical demanding paramedic work tasks between an Australian and Canadian ambulance service

Ambulance services require candidates to pass physical employment tests (PETs) to be deemed suitable for the paramedic role. Whilst some research has been undertaken to improve to relevance of these tests, they are often arbitrary and not based on research. The first phase in developing PETs is to generate a list of job tasks. To examine the utility of universal physical tasks tests for ambulance work, we conducted a cross-sectional study, utilising the results from previous work in a Canadian ambulance service to create a physical tasks checklist. These lists were then used by paramedics working for an Australian Service to identify physical tasks in their workplace, and the results from the two services were compared. Patient transfer tasks were similar in frequency and description for both services. Stretcher handling and manoeuvring was identified by Canadian paramedics as highly strenuous, (mean rating of perceived exertion (RPE) 7/10) but were rated mean RPE <3/10 by AV paramedics. Although some tasks between these two services were similar, the ambulance services in this study differed sufficiently with regard to equipment, training and policies mean that similarly titled jobs are not comparable, cross-nationally. Service specific job task analysis is required to develop PETs that ensure employees are specifically selected to meet the requirements of that service.

Development of physical employment standards of specialist paramedic roles in the National Ambulance Resilience Unit (Naru)

AIM

To develop evidence-based role-specific physical employment standards and tests for National Ambulance Resilience Unit (NARU) specialist paramedics.

METHODS

Sixty-two (53 men, 9 women) paramedics performed an array of (1) realistic reconstructions of critical job-tasks (criterion job performance); (2) simplified, easily-replicable simulations of those reconstructions and; (3) fitness tests that are portable and/or practicable to administer with limited resources or specialist equipment. Pearson's correlations and ordinary least products regression were used to assess relationships between tasks and tests. Performance on reconstructions, subject-matter expert and participant ratings were combined to derive minimum acceptable job performance levels, which were used to determine cut-scores on appropriate correlated simulations and tests.

RESULTS

The majority of performance times were highly correlated with their respective simulations (range of r: 0.73-0.90), with the exception of those replicating water rescue (r range: 0.28-0.47). Regression compatibility intervals provided three cut-scores for each job-task on an appropriate simulation and fitness test.

CONCLUSION

This study provides a varied and easily-implementable physical capability assessment for NARU personnel, empirically linked to job performance, with flexible options depending on organisational requirements.

Defining the characteristics of physically demanding winch rescue in helicopter search and rescue operations

Helicopter emergency medical service search and rescue (HEMS SAR) paramedics perform physically demanding winch rescues. Rescue organisations require valid physical employment standards (PES) to ensure personnel can adequately perform duties. There are no studies describing validated PES for HEMS SAR. We convened a subject matter expert (SME) focus group to review historical case data and generate task descriptions for land and water winch rescue as the basis for development of task simulations to assess physiological workload. Sixteen helicopter rescue paramedics with a mean age of 47 (range, 36-52) years and 8 (2-20) years' experience in helicopter rescue participated in a SME focus group. When provided with data from historical cases, SMEs achieved consensus (≥80%) when generating descriptions of winch rescue. This method may be useful to develop simulations for assessment of physiological demands of winch rescue and similar tasks, and to enhance validity and reliability of PES for rescue organisations.

U.S. Army physical demands study: Accuracy of occupational physical assessment test classifications for combat arms soldiers

BACKGROUND

Beginning in 2017, successfully passing the four-part pre-enlistment Occupational Physical Assessment Test (OPAT) became a requirement for all U.S. Army recruits. To ensure the test accurately identifies individuals who are qualified for their job, it was necessary to examine classification errors.

OBJECTIVE

The objectives were to 1) determine the accuracy of OPAT cut-scores for combat arms Soldiers, and 2) determine which events contribute to the individuals that are misclassified as passing or failing the OPATMETHODS:A total of 741 trainees were tested on the OPAT within two weeks of entering their initial entry training. At the end of their training, trainees were tested on simulations of the most physically demanding tasks of their job.

RESULTS

There was a high classification concordance (76.5%) between success on the OPAT and job task simulations. False positives (6.7%) were misclassified because they did not perform as well on the strength-dominant task simulations. While the interval aerobic run was the greatest contributor to false negatives (16.8%), previous studies indicated high performance on this event as a potential key indicator of injury and attrition risk.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings provide insight on how the accuracy of the OPAT, and similar pre-employment tests, could be improved.

The sensitivity of a military-based occupational fitness test of muscular strength

The risk of low back pain and injury during manual materials handling is increased if personnel are not physically capable of safely performing such tasks. To establish predictive relationships and develop a test cut-score, 69 participants performed a critical military lifting task to a 1.5-m platform (pack lift) and two task-related predictive tests (box lift to 1.5 m and 1.3 m). The pack lift was strongly correlated with both the 1.5-m (R² = 0.85) and 1.3-m box lifts (R² = 0.82). Both tests had similar sensitivity (range 0.85-0.94) with the 1.3-m test having higher specificity when compared with the 1.5-m lift. Increasing the test cut-score with the application of a safety factor increased the number of false positives and true negatives for both tests. Organisations must carefully assess their risk acceptance when applying safety factors to test cut-scores as the classification (pass/fail) of personnel may be affected.

Jerry can carriage is an effective predictor of stretcher carry performance

Carrying a casualty on a stretcher is a critical task conducted in a range of occupations. To ensure that personnel have the requisite physical capacity to conduct this task, two bilateral jerry can carries were used to predict individual performance in a four-person stretcher carry. Results demonstrated a bilateral 22-kg jerry can carry (R(2) = 0.59) had superior predictive ability of stretcher carry performance than a bilateral 15-kg jerry can carry (R(2) = 0.46). Pre- to post-carry changes in grip endurance (p > 0.05), back-leg isometric strength (p > 0.05) and leg power (p > 0.05) were not significantly different between carry tasks. There was no significant difference in heart rate (p > 0.05) and oxygen consumption (p > 0.05) between the stretcher carry and either jerry can carry. Thus, on the basis of performance correlations and physiological measures, the 22-kg jerry can carry is an appropriate predictive assessment of four-person stretcher carriage. Practitioner Summary: This study investigated the ability of a jerry can carry to predict individual performance on a four-person stretcher carry. Performance correlations were substantiated with physiological measures to demonstrate similar physical requirements between task and test. These results can be used to set physical employment standards to assess stretcher carriage.