Copyright 1999 Federal News Service, Inc.
Federal News Service
APRIL 21, 1999, WEDNESDAY
SECTION: IN THE NEWS
LENGTH:
648 words
HEADLINE: PREPARED STATEMENT OF
ASSOCIATED BUILDERS AND CONTRACTORS
BEFORE THE HOUSE
EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE COMMITTEE
WORKFORCE PROTECTIONS SUBCOMMITTEE
SUBJECT - PENDING LEGISLATION RELATING TO OSHA
BODY:
Associated Builders and Contractors,
which represents over 20,000 contractors, subcontractors, suppliers and
associated firms from across the country, strongly supports H.R. 987, the
Workplace Preservation Act and H.R. 1438, the Safety and Health Audit Promotion
Act of 1999. H.R. 987 will allow the National Academy of Sciences to complete a
peer-reviewed scientific study of the available evidence examining a cause and
effect relationship between repetitive tasks in the workplace and
musculoskeletal disorders or repetitive stress injuries before OSHA promulgates
or issues any standard or guideline on ergonomics. H.R. 1438 will prevent an
employer from being penalized for protecting his employees by inspecting the
workplace to identify and correct hazards.
Ergonomics is the science of
fitting the workplace to the worker. According to the medical community,
ergonomics injuries could include repetitive motion injuries, Cumulative Trauma
Disorders (CTDs) and carpal tunnel syndrome. OSHA expands the medical definition
to include one-time injuries such as back strains, as well as hearing loss. This
expanded definition allows OSHA to claim an epidemic of ergonomic injuries. With
no scientific or medical foundation to support it, any additional effort to
promulgate an ergonomics standard makes no sense.
ABC and its members share
a strong commitment to employee safety and health. ABC has a long history of
developing programs to assist and enhance our members' efforts to provide their
employees with a safe and healthful jobsite. Many construction companies
currently utilize ergonomic principles in their workplaces. However, there is a
lack of scientific evidence as to the causes of, and remedies for, the various
aches and pains that fall into the category of "ergonomic injuries" that would
be covered by an ergonomics standard.However, the worst aspect of this proposed
standard is that there is no sound scientific data that proves musculoskeletal
disorders (ergonomic injuries) reported by construction workers are
work-related. When OSHA wrote the draft ergonomics standard, the agency did not
allow for differences between industries, the type of work performed, health
factors outside the workplace, and other mitigating circumstances. The proposed
OSHA ergonomics standard also ignores the great strides construction companies
are making in addressing known hazards in the workplace.
Until we understand
what activities in the workplace cause these injuries, and how we can prevent
them, OSHA's work on ergonomics regulations is at best
misguided, and at worst, a waste of limited government resources and taxpayer
dollars. Without a proper scientific foundation, ill-crafted ergonomic
regulations would force businesses to spend billions of dollars without
guaranteeing the prevention of a single injury.
H.R. 1438 would eliminate
employers' fears that their own self-audits would be used by OSHA to target them
for wrongdoing. This bill will encourage more employers to perform selfaudits.
Often as part of a comprehensive safety and health plan, employers in the
construction industry conduct self-audits to uncover and eliminate unsafe
working conditions and achieve compliance with OSHA regulations. OSHA must
encourage employers to audit their own worksites for hazards, and abate the
hazards they find. Employers should not be penalized for performing such audits
by having the results subject to legal process. The results of voluntary
self-audits should remain privileged, even in the event of a serious accident or
fatality. Safety and health audits done voluntarily by employers should be
privileged communications.
Associated Builders and Contractors strongly
supports H.R. 987 and H.R. 1438. We encourage the committee to move these bills
to the House floor and pass them as soon as possible.
END
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LOAD-DATE: April
23, 1999 
