This is the third installment in the blog series titled “Classifying the Physical Demands of Occupations.” When evaluating a claim for Social Security disability benefits and/or Supplemental Security Income the Social Security Administration (SSA) must classify the physical demands of your past relevant work and potentially the physical demands of other jobs that exist in the national economy. To do this the SSA relies on the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) and its companion publication, the Selected Characteristics of Occupations (SCO).
The physical demands of occupations are evaluated in relationship to twenty different factors. One of the factors used is “Stooping.” The SCO notes either the presence or absence of “Stooping” in every job that potentially exists in the national economy. If “Stooping” is required, the SCO will rate the frequency under one of three categories: occasionally (activity exists up to 1/3 of the time); frequently (activity exists from 1/3 to 2/3 of the time); or constantly (activity exists 2/3 or of the time).
Stooping typically refers to “[b]ending body downward and forward by bending spine at the waist, requiring full use of the lower extremities and back muscles.” “Stooping “is one of the most common physical demands that a majority of jobs require. Individuals who have injured their lower back or either of their lower extremities are likely to have more difficulty with this activity.
Social Security Ruling 96-9p suggests that a complete inability to stoop could result in a finding of disabled if an individual is limited to unskilled sedentary work. The ruling states:
An ability to stoop occasionally; i.e., from very little up to one-third of the time, is required in most unskilled sedentary occupations. A complete inability to stoop would significantly erode the unskilled sedentary occupational base and a finding that the individual is disabled would usually apply, but restriction to occasional stooping should, by itself, only minimally erode the unskilled occupational base of sedentary work. (SSR 96-9p).
If a claimant’s impairments results in a limitation in “Stooping” it is essential for the Social Security Administration to determine if “Stooping” is required, and if so, at what frequency it is required in the claimant’s past relevant work and possibly other jobs that exist in the national economy.
