An important aspect of a thorough pre-employment health assessment is to test a candidate’s blood pressure. Blood pressure is the strength with which blood pushes on the walls of the arteries as your heart pumps. We test blood pressure as the measurements provide us with an indication of a candidate’s cardiovascular health.
Why is my blood pressure high?
In some instances, during a pre-employment health assessment a candidate will be told that their blood pressure is high. Blood pressure is not a static measure of cardiovascular health and can be influenced by various factors.
Some of these factors include:
- Experiencing feelings of stress when completing a pre-employment health assessment. Stress stimulates the body to produce large amounts of vasoconstricting hormones namely: adrenaline and cortisol into the blood stream. These hormones are responsible for your “flight” or “fight” response which can influence your blood pressure and cause an elevation in the short term.
- Leading a sedentary lifestyle (with minimal exercise) or being overweight.
- Smoking: The nicotine in cigarettes can raise your blood pressure by stimulating the release of hormones namely: epinephrine and norepinephrine which can cause narrowing of the blood vessels impacting your blood pressure.
- A diet which is high in salt. Salt is hidden in many food products and makes your body retain water. Extra water circulating in your blood stream means extra pressure on your blood vessels which raises your blood pressure.
Did you know the World Health Organisation (WHO, 2023) recommends salt intake to be limited to 2000mg/day which is under a teaspoon.
- Current elevated blood cholesterol: Excess circulating cholesterol can cause a fatty build-up in your blood vessels, similar to dirt and grime in a garden hose. This build-up eventually hardens and causes your blood vessels to narrow. Due to this, your heart works harder to pump blood through these narrowed vessels impacting your blood pressure reading.
- Underlying pathology of diabetes
- Underlying pathology of cardiovascular diseases
- Familial history of cardiovascular diseases
How can we lower blood pressure during a pre-employment assessment?
When we test a candidate’s blood pressure, and it is high the assessor can try techniques that may help with lowering a person’s blood pressure. This can be done by using pursed lip breathing techniques which allows us to slow down the process of exhalation. Engagement with such allows for the activation of the rest and digest (para-sympathetic) part of the nervous system through the mobilization of the Vagus nerve allowing for heart rate to lower and assisting in the dilation of blood vessels thereby improving blood pressure readings. If a candidate’s blood pressure is high the assessor will ask the candidate to visit their GP to determine whether they are able to safely continue with the assessment or not.
What else is tested in a pre-employment health assessment?
- Comprehensive medical questionnaire
- Physical measures
- Standardised vision test
- Audiometry evaluations
- Spirometry test
- Instantaneous drug and alcohol screening
- Job-specific functional capacity assessments
Want to find out more?
Our services are available nationwide. Our consultants love to have a chat, so go ahead and give us a call on 1300 OHS RTW (647 789) or email enquiries@rrp.com.au
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Disclaimer – these articles are provided to supply general safety information to people responsible for OHS in their organisation. They are general in nature and do not substitute for legal and/or professional advice. We always suggest that organisations obtain information specific to their needs. Additional information can be found at https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/