What Is a Biometric Screening: A Guide for Employees

Health is top of mind for many people, especially employers, making biometric screenings an essential part of preventative care that can happen conveniently in the workplace.

Think of biometric screenings like a quick, condensed check-up, but you don’t have to visit the doctor’s office. The results of a workplace biometric screening can indicate if you are at risk for potentially serious health conditions.

The Purpose of Biometric Screenings

Attending a biometric screening is an excellent way to establish a health baseline that evaluates your risk for health issues that you can likely prevent when you combine early detection with lifestyle changes.

Biometrics screenings help employees stay healthy. For example, if your results show that you have risks associated with diabetes, your screening provider will work with you to improve your health with fitness coaching, nutrition counseling, etc.

You can prevent disease proactively by addressing the results of regular biometric screening and taking advantage of your employer’s health education plan.

Your employer may also use the data from biometric screenings to keep their organization updated on their employee’s health. And while companies don’t receive individual results, they typically receive snapshots showing the overall health results of their workforce.

With this information, employers can improve their health benefits to meet their employees’ needs better.

What Do Biometric Screenings Include?

You’ll have various health indicators tested at a biometric exam. Other than simple measurements like your height, weight, waist circumference, etc., common screenings include:

Blood Sugar (Glucose)

The glucose in your blood can reflect energy levels, determine if someone is prediabetic, and show other valuable health information. You’ll likely be asked to fast before a glucose test, as the results will vary drastically if measured when fasting versus eating and drinking beforehand.

Blood Pressure

You’ve probably had your blood pressure taken at the doctor before, with a result that looks like a large number over a small number. For example, a normal blood pressure reading looks like 120/80 or less.

The top number shows the maximum pressure your heartbeats exert, and the bottom number shows the pressure between those beats.

Any reading over 140/90 is typically considered high blood pressure, and levels in between normal and high can put you at risk for hypertension (high blood pressure) in the future.

Lipids & Cholesterol

Cholesterol is produced by the body and found in dairy and meat products. It’s a fat-like substance measured in biometric screenings.

Your biometric exam will check your low-density lipids (“bad” cholesterol) and high-density lipids (“good” cholesterol).

In addition, your screening will measure your triglyceride count, a specific fat in your blood.

Then, it will measure your total blood cholesterol — the combination of your low-density and high-density lipids plus one-fifth of your triglyceride levels.

Body Mass Index (BMI)

Your BMI measures your body fat percentage to determine whether you are underweight, healthy, or overweight. While not perfect, it provides some insights into your overall health.

Higher body mass indexes indicate a higher risk for diabetes, cancer, and other health conditions.

Your biometric screening will help you understand if you’re at risk so you can prepare for your next visit to the doctor and look into your health habits.

The Importance of Biometric Screenings in the Workplace

The results of your biometric screening can help educate you about the state of your health and body, allowing you to have a productive discussion with your regular healthcare provider. This discussion can help you determine what lifestyle, diet, and medicinal changes you need to make to stay healthy.

For example, if your biometrics screening reveals that you have high blood pressure, it might encourage you to cut back on sodium, eat more healthy foods, and get a little more exercise each day.

In addition, it helps employers encourage their employees to be more mindful of their health status, preventing chronic health issues. A biometric screening can help you prevent concerns from turning into problems. It can also help your company make healthy changes, like investing in more ergonomic chairs, standing desks, etc.

Your workplace may also encourage healthy habits by investing in an on-site gym, providing healthier snacks, or encouraging physical activities by hosting softball games, volleyball matches, etc.

Overall, biometric screenings in the workplace help increase employee retention, productivity, and well-being while preventing further health issues.

Coworkers talking and laughing with each other

How to Prepare for Your Biometric Screening

Understanding what a biometric screening is by reading through this article should help you feel more prepared, but you can also do a few things to get the most useful results.

For example, you want your biometric screening to be as accurate as possible; this means not changing your habits beforehand to get better results — stick to your usual routine.

If you want your biometric screening to be successful, keep the following in mind:

You’ll likely have to fast before the screening, meaning no food or drink (besides water, black tea, and black coffee) for up to 12 hours before your exam.

You want to wear loose-fitting and comfortable clothing so that taking your measurements is easy. You’ll likely have your blood drawn and height, weight, and waist circumference measurements taken.

If you take prescription medications daily, take them as usual before your screening.

Don’t binge on things like alcohol, sugar, or caffeine in the days leading up to your biometric screening.

Talk to your employer or medical personnel before the screening if you have any questions, concerns, etc.

Finally, relax! Even if your results aren’t the best, it’s still a good thing — you get the information you need to make better choices so that your next biometric screening is even better.

Improve Health and Wellness in the Workplace With Xcellent Life

Focusing on employee health has numerous benefits:

You can reduce absenteeism and healthcare expenses by 25%.
Employees are more productive at work when they practice healthy eating habits.
People that are happy in life perform better at work and have higher morale.

On the other hand, poor well-being leads to unproductive employees, poor performance, higher turnover rates, etc.

So keep your employees happy, healthy, and productive with the app designed for corporate health and wellness. Schedule your consultation today, and see how we can help revolutionize your company’s wellness plan.

January 25, 2023