| This thesis i) presents summaries of several prominent job-specific physical fitness protocols (JSPFPs) that were constructed to qualify as bona fide occupational requirements for physically demanding public safety occupations, ii) provides fitness training guidelines that are germane to all JSPFPs and iii) describes an original investigation in which familiarization and physical fitness training are utilized to overcome the adverse impact of the Emergency Service Physical Abilities Test (ESPA). Participants in the investigation (n=41) were familiarized with the ESPA then engaged in a supervised 6 week training program. The baseline ESPA pass rate was 12% for females and 79% for males (X2=18.1, p<0.001), indicating adverse impact on females. Following the training intervention, the pass rate of females (77%) was no longer significantly different from the males (96%) (X2=3.5, p=0.062). These results demonstrate that familiarization and physical fitness training can overcome adverse impact thereby providing 'de facto' accommodation. |
