Testing Saves Big Bucks: A Case Study from the Show Me State

The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) had a problem. In just a single year, the agency lost 3,027 work days to injuries and turnover. Management knew that something had to be done. So they singled out one job that had a particularly high injury and attrition rate and decided to test everyone who applied for it. They hired WorkSTEPS, Fit For Work’s testing partner, in a pilot program to see how the company’s job-focused physical testing would work. It worked very, very well. In the first year of implementation of the pilot, lost-time incidents decreased by 61%. Lost work days fell by 69%—from that troubling 3,027 to just 937 for the year. The bottom line? A savings of $7 million. In the next year, MoDOT extended testing to all of its positions, and the results were equally dramatic. By the end of the second year, lost work days dipped by another 46%, from 937 to 504. All told, MoDOT cut lost work days by 84% in two years and, of course, saved millions. WorkSTEPS tests, which Fit For Work administers, include pre-hiring (both pre-offer and post-offer), and post-employment examinations. In clinical settings and, in some cases at the employer’s work site as well, testers check workers’ general health and their ability to perform the exact tasks that they’ll be responsible for. Learn more by reading our e-book “Are They Up to the Job? Pre- and Post-Employment Testing.”