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Pre-placement and periodic medical examinations
A pre-placement medical examination checks whether the worker can perform the specific job safely and serves as a baseline for future comparison – it is not a tool for screening people by future risk, and periodic examinations are meant to detect an effect of work early and lead to change in the environment.
Why it matters in the exam
Items on this topic ask what the purpose of a pre-placement examination is: matching the demands of a defined job with the worker's ability, finding conditions that call for adjustments, and setting a baseline for future examinations – not a general questionnaire that screens out candidates with chronic illness. The principles are tested too: the examination focuses on the demands of the job, is done after a conditional job offer and not as a condition for an interview, the employer receives only a functional conclusion, and reasonable accommodation is required before deciding that a person is unsuitable – as the Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities Law requires in Israel. Other items deal with periodic examinations: they are needed when the regulations require medical follow-up because of a defined hazard, or in safety-critical jobs such as professional driving, flying and work at height, and are chosen by the specific risk rather than as a fixed battery of tests. When a periodic examination reveals a finding, the right step is to examine the worker, check whether co-workers are affected, and recommend a change in the environment – not only to remove the affected worker. Remember that a test unrelated to the job's demands is not justified and may also discriminate, and that a good examination ends with an explanation of the results to the worker.
Key points
- A pre-placement examination checks fitness for a defined job.
- It is done after a conditional job offer and focuses on job demands.
- Reasonable accommodation is considered before deciding unsuitability.
- Periodic examinations are chosen by a defined hazard or a safety-critical job.
- A finding on a periodic examination leads to checking the environment, not only removing the worker.
Summary table
| Type of examination | Purpose | Principle | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-placement | Fit for a defined job and a baseline | Focused on job demands, after a conditional offer | Vision testing for a professional driver |
| Periodic by risk | Early detection of an effect of work | Required by regulations and a defined hazard | Periodic follow-up of a worker at defined risk |
| Safety-critical job | Ensuring ongoing fitness | Conditions that may cause sudden loss of consciousness | Driver, pilot, worker at height |
| Return to work | Fit after prolonged absence | What the worker can do today | Return after back surgery |
| On request | Investigating a symptom the worker links to work | Clinical and environmental work-up | Hand pain in an assembly-line worker |
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Sources
- Faculty of Occupational Medicine, Fitness for Work: The Medical Aspects, 6th ed., 2019 — Pre-placement assessment
- ILO, Technical and ethical guidelines for workers' health surveillance, 1998 — Purpose and principles of medical examinations
- Israel, Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities Law (חוק שוויון זכויות לאנשים עם מוגבלות), 1998, as amended — Equality in employment and reasonable accommodation
Sources are given for further reading; the text is written afresh and not copied from them.
Reviewed by the Examqo AI Professor · 2026-11-06. The text may contain errors; when in doubt, check the source.