What is a Job Dictionary?
You may have heard of a job dictionary, or seen a functional role description, or task analysis, and thought - that's handy! But what are job dictionaries, and what are they used for?
A job dictionary formally documents the physical, mental and psychosocial demands of individual jobs (and tasks) as they are performed across an organisation.
Developed by occupational health practitioners experienced in task analysis and job dictionary creation (such as Occupational Therapists; or Physiotherapists or Exercise Physiologists who have undergone specific training), job dictionaries profile the specific tasks performed for a job, and identify what workers are physically and mentally required to do, to complete the inherent requirements of their substantive role.
In essence, job dictionaries provide objective, evidenced based data that can be used to:
- Develop evidenced based health assessments, such as pre-employment medicals and functional capacity evaluations
- Facilitate rehab and return to work programs, by assisting employers, medical doctors, and allied health practitioners to identify and allocate suitable duties within prescribed medical restrictions, and
- Create effective and data driven injury prevention programs, such as participatory ergonomic initiatives, based on the identified risks associated with each task or role.
The general methodology used in the creation of Job Dictionaries includes:
- Review and collation of all available information relevant to a specific role (e.g. position descriptions, prior Job Dictionaries, and hygiene information)
- Onsite task analysis of each position by the occupational health professional. This is completed by ‘buddying’ with selected workers to observe all tasks performed in the actual work environment. Where tasks are not performed on the day (i.e. due to work scheduling), re-enactments may be completed to capture specific task information including:
- Task observation
- Measurement of functional actions (e.g. distances reached, loads lifted, and heights of working surfaces)
- Observation of the working environment, including a subjective assessment of exposure to any potential hazards, such as noise or hazardous substances,
- Consultation with workers regarding tasks, working conditions, and potential psychosocial stressors, and
- Photographs of work performed.
- Collation of findings (generally performed offsite), which includes professional judgement and interpretation of observations and results; and cross reference and benchmarking against the:
- Occupational Information Network (ONET)
- Australian Job Dictionary, 2008
- Australian Job Guide - now amalgamated into the Good Universities Guide
- US Department of Labor (DOL) Revised Handbook for Analysing Jobs, 1991
- Review of draft Job Dictionaries with participating workers to ensure accuracy of collected information.
Once created, job dictionaries are reviewed on a regular basis to capture any changes which may occur relevant to the role performed.
The final job dictionaries include:
- A description of the role (similar to, but shorter than a position description)
- The maximum physical demands required for each job
- Job specific information such as:
- Duties performed
- Roster details (including days of work, shift duration, and break timings)
- Psychosocial factors, such as working alone or working in high stress conditions
- Environmental factors, such as dusty or hot work conditions, lighting, floor surfaces, and bench locations, etc
- Equipment, tools, or PPE used to perform a task or role
- Manual handling details, including weights of tools or objects handled, as well as the forces involved with pushing, pulling or carrying items, etc, as required to complete the assessed task
- The frequency and duration of functional movements and manual handling as necessary to complete the assessed task.
- Photographs of tasks performed, to provide a visual reference guide.
In addition to this, functional demands are broken down to include components such as:
- Postural demands – e.g., standing, walking, sitting, climbing, crawling, stooping, squatting, kneeling, lying, bending, twisting, reaching, gripping and dexterity, and foot and ankle movements
- Manual handling demands – e.g., lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling, and handing.
The frequency that each functional demand is performed is cross referenced against literature, and the US Department of Labor's Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) tables, to provide a standardised analysis of the ‘heaviness’ of the role.
Resources and examples of Job Dictionaries (available openly online):
