From the perspective of the company, why does the use of physical exams become so important from a legal liability standpoint?

A
physical exam is often needed to ensure that a potential employee possesses the mental and
physical strength to perform job requirements. Legally, employees who are injured on the job may
choose to file a lawsuit against the company if they feel the company acted negligently. Even if
they don't, the company will likely face a loss of profits due to workers' compensation claims
and in having to pay others to perform the duties of the injured employee if he or she misses
work.

Even more significantly, workers die every day performing job-related
tasks. In 2017, 5,147 workers died on the job. If it is determined that the company
unnecessarily put these workers at risk by pushing them beyond their physical and/or mental
abilities, they could be held at fault in such cases.

Some jobs put employees
in greater danger simply because of the work being accomplished. Examples include construction
workers, electricians, professional athletes, police, and roofers. Since jobs such as these
require great physical and mental skill in order to work safely, employers must be certain that,
as much as possible, the workers are not unaware of underlying health conditions which could
make injuries more likely.

Legally, employers try to ensure that they have
the healthiest people possible performing the needed work to both keep everyone safe and to
avoid potential lawsuits should an accident occur. (Or to simply avoid injuries all together and
therefore also avoid any litigation that would result from it.)

href="https://www.osha.gov/oshstats/commonstats.html">https://www.osha.gov/oshstats/commonstats.html