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Bureau of Labor Statistics > Occupational Requirements Survey > Home

Respondent Reference Guide

Overview

ORS captures durations for some physical demands and environmental conditions based on the ranges below:

Duration Category	Overall range	8-Hour day	40-Hour week
Seldom	Up to 2%	Less than 10 minutes	Less than 45 minutes
Occasionally	2% up to 1/3	10 minutes up to 2 1/2 hours	45 minutes up to 13 hours
Frequently	1/3 up to 2/3	2 1/2 hours up to 5 1/2 hours	13 hours up to 3 1/2 days
Constantly	2/3 or more	5 1/2 hours or more	3 1/2 days or more

For each of the selected jobs, please provide the following information:

Job Information & Requirements

For each of the jobs we will be talking about today, we will need the following information:

The number of full-time and part-time workers
The typical or average work schedule (e.g., 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week)
The below hiring requirements, when applicable:
- Educational requirements (e.g., high school diploma, college degree)
- Other special training requirements (e.g., certificates, licenses, vocational training)
- Related, professional work experience

Job Function and Tasks

What are the most important things this job does for your organization?
What is the purpose of this job?
What do workers in this job do in a regular day?

Supervisory Information

Does this job supervise anyone?
Is their supervisor in the area where they typically work?
How does their supervisor check the quality of their work?

Cognitive Demands

How fast work is performed?
How often must this job verbally interact with others?
How closely the job is supervised?

Physical Demands

Pushing/pulling - Do workers push or pull anything that requires a significant amount of force?

Reaching/manipulation - Do any tasks require gross manipulation (e.g., seizing, holding, grasping, turning, or otherwise working with the hand)?

Woman inspecting an item while working in a warehouse

Do any of tasks require fine manipulation? Fine manipulation includes touching, picking, pinching, keyboarding, or otherwise working primarily with fingers rather than with the whole hand or arm, as in gross manipulation.

Postural - Do any tasks requires them to use low postures (e.g., stooping, crouching, kneeling, or crawling)?

Man crouching while lowering a jack at the rear of a travel trailer

Environmental Conditions

Do workers encounter any of the following while performing the job?

Outdoors
Extreme Heat (non-weather related)
Extreme Cold (non-weather related)
Wetness
Humidity
Heavy Vibration
Hazardous Contaminants*
Proximity to Moving Mechanical Parts*
High, Exposed Places*
Noise Intensity Level*

* Is personal protective equipment (PPE) used (e.g., ear plugs, hearing protection, safety harnesses)?