Monday, November 13, 2000

WASHINGTON--U.S. Senator Don Nickles' office released the following statement today about the newly promulgated ergonomics rule:

"With a cost somewhere in the $60 billion to $100 billion range annually, this is the most far reaching, intrusive and expensive regulation ever promulgated by OSHA.

"In a rush to manufacture a legacy, President Clinton's Labor Department hurriedly issued sweeping regulations to give the federal government unprecedented power to go into virtually every workplace in America and fine employers for not meeting vague and unspecific new ergonomic standards.

"On the merits of the proposal, OSHA fails dramatically on all counts: it cannot identify whether there is a significant work component contributing to an identifiable physical injury, and whether that workplace component is subject to control through an OSHA standard; or state the degree to which an individual's work activities, as opposed to other factors, actually contributed in whole or in part, to an injury; it can't even prescribe the changes in the workplace that would mitigate the risks they seek to reduce or eliminate.

"For example, if a potential injury is caused by the length of time the employee stands, or the height and frequency of the elevated reach that possess the alleged hazard, proving the existence of the hazard alleged requires OSHA to identify with certainty the levels of force, frequency, and/or repetition at which injury becomes a possibility. OSHA cannot meet any of those tests.

"OSHA's laughable initial estimate that the regulation would cost the entire economy only $4.5 billion annually has subsequently been roundly refuted by the Small Business Administration and by numerous independent analyses.

"Further, issuing a final regulation before the National Academy of Sciences completes its peer-review of the scientific literature as mandated by Congress and the President is a gross waste of taxpayers' funds.

"When the National Academy of Science study is ultimately completed, it may recommend that an ergonomics regulation move forward. That is for the scientists and researchers to decide. An issue as important to American workers as this should not have been rushed for political reasons as it appears was the desire of the Clinton Administration, OSHA, and their allies in organized labor.

"OSHA should protect workers through unbiased regulation based in sound science, not payback special interest supporters through poorly drafted, hopelessly flawed, and politically motivated midnight regulations at the end of President Clinton's term.

"As the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service stated in a July 5 report; ‘Due to the wide variety of circumstances, however, any comprehensive [ergonomics] standard would probably have to be complex and costly, while scientific understanding of the problem is not complete.' "