Physical Examination Previous To Employment

THE time is no longer when a man can act as an independent unit; the appreciation of the interdependence of one man upon another has emphasized the importance of the social unit. Epidemics have made us recognize that even a man's health is not distinctly his own to control as he pleases. The physical examination of workmen previous to employment started with an effort to prevent the spread of tuberculosis, for tuberculosis may be .detected in its early stages and cured. But it was soon found that many other diseases were detected and the saving of lives made possible. The physical examination does not mean the elimination of the unfit-on that basis it would utterly fail- but rather the measuring of a man's physical fitness and placing the man where he can do the best for himself, his fellow worker, and the company. Industry as a whole cannot expect to live up to the standard of physical examination set for the army, nor should it expect to do so, for in all branches of industry there are types of work that do not require -the same amount of endurance as does army work, and the placing of men with physical limitations in the work for which they are' capable permits a higher average of physical fitness for the work requiring physical excellence.