Harley-Davidson Motor Co. has significantly reduced musculoskeletal injury claims among new employees by making job offers contingent on a measurement of a potential job candidate's physical ability to complete tasks.

The motorcycle manufacturer has spent less than $5,000 total on musculoskeletal workers compensation claims reported by new employees screened under a post-offer employment testing program, dubbed POET, launched in 2008, said Caroline O'Connell, Harley-Davidson's human resources process improvement project manager in Milwaukee.

“That is significant for us, because we were spending a lot of money on workers comp costs on new employees,” Ms. O'Connell told the Disability Management Employer Coalition's annual conference held July 31-Aug. 3 in Dallas.

Before implementing the POET program, 43% of Harley-Davidson's employees suffered an injury within one to five years after they were hired, Ms. O'Connell said in an update to a 2009 DMEC presentation. “So spending less than $5,000 on all of our work comp costs for musculoskeletal claims for candidates tested was significant for us,” she said. “That is huge dollar savings.”

Two years ago, Ms. O'Connell told the San Diego-based DMEC that its POET testing, provided by Hanover, Md.-based BTE Technologies Inc., helped improve return-to-work rates.

BTE's software and equipment works by measuring the job requirements and a worker's physical abilities to complete the job, said Connie Miller, vp of business development at BTE.

Harley-Davidson, which employs about 5,700 workers, has tested more than 500 job candidates. About 18% of those potential employees have failed the test.

“That 18% failure rate for us is pretty significant,” Ms. O'Connell said. “Lets say, for every employee that you failed and didn't bring into your workforce it (saved) you $10,000 in a work comp claim. You can show significant cost savings,” she said.

Since 2008, Harley-Davidson has reported no musculoskeletal-related claims among new hires in its Milwaukee facility, where it launched the program. In contrast, between 2008 and 2010 Harley-Davidson recorded 516 musculoskeletal claims in facilities where it did not apply POET testing, Ms. O'Connell said.

In 2010 it expanded the POET program to its operations in York, Pa., Ms. O'Connell said.

In 2010, the manufacturer experienced only three musculoskeletal-related claims reported by workers tested in York. Those three cases account for the $5,000 total spent on musculoskeletal claims for new hires, with two of them costing $31 each for administrative filing fees. The third claim required medical treatment expenses to reduce inflammation.

In York, Harley-Davidson ap-plied POET to evaluate its seasonal workforce. They don't have the health care benefits that full-time employees do, so they have a greater potential to file workers comp claims, Ms. O'Connell said.

“If you are going to tell somebody that they are not getting a job because they functionally can't perform it, you need to be right,” BTE's Ms. Miller said.

The tests are legally defensible because Harley-Davidson has tested its existing workers as a benchmark, the speakers said.

The employer continues seeing return-to-work improvements. BTE's physical demand analysis of jobs at Harley-Davidson helps the employer with its return-to-work efforts by matching employees with work restrictions with appropriate jobs, said BTE's Ms. Miller.