Physical employment standards – More than a set of discrete tests

Abstract

Physical Employment Standards (PES) have been developed for all employment categories across the Australian Army. These PES are ‘baseline standards’, designed to ensure a minimum physical capacity of the workforce. Through the PES process a total of 465 ‘criterion’ tasks were identified, which formed the basis for the PES development. These criterion tasks were further categorised by dominant physical capacity; aerobic capacity, anaerobic power, muscular strength and muscular endurance. This categorisation was based upon the physical capacity determined to be limiting continued task performance, of which approximately 48% of all criterion tasks were deemed muscular strength dominant tasks. These results demonstrated that muscular strength was essential to performance of many occupational tasks in the Australian Army. Physical training however, for recruits and incumbents, is biased towards the development of cardiovascular and muscular endurance capacities. The development of PES for incumbents therefore helped to identify a requirement for an increased focus on muscular strength development to better prepare both recruits and incumbents for occupational demands and mitigate musculoskeletal injury risk. A revised (strength-focused) physical training program for recruits based on these occupational requirements demonstrated greater gains (p < 0.05) in strength (1-repetition maximum squat and bench press), aerobic capacity and occupational performance (box lift, load carriage) when compared to traditional military physical training. The development of PES for incumbents also has the potential to inform recruiting standards. By ‘back-casting’ from incumbent standards, and understanding the likely improvement in occupationally-relevant physical performance through the training continuum, military organisations can better determine enlistment standards. For incumbents within the Australian Army, the force generation cycle requires that soldiers within Combat Brigades complete PES every three years as they are preparing to become the ‘ready’ Brigade should operational deployment be required. Consistent with the athletic model where periodisation is key to training prescription, the force generation cycle similarly provides a model for the cyclic management of performance peaking. This helps to manage the requirement for personnel to continually undertake physically arduous training and maintain a high state of physical readiness throughout their career. PES can also inform return to work standards for injured personnel. Furthermore, should a short-notice deployment be required, by understanding an individuals’ baseline preparedness and the required PES, training can be efficiently and effectively prescribed. PES therefore has the potential to positively impact every stage of a military career, and should be considered part of the personnel management ecosystem rather than a set of discrete tests.