Copyright 1999 The Atlanta Constitution
The Atlanta
Journal and Constitution
November 23, 1999, Tuesday, Home Edition
SECTION: Business; Pg. 2F
LENGTH: 680 words
HEADLINE:
Business groups blast 'ergonomic' OSHA proposal
BYLINE: From our news services
SOURCE: CONSTITUTION
BODY:
Business organizations on Monday denounced proposed federal rules designed
to reduce repetitive strain and other ''ergonomic'' workplace injuries as
''vague, scientifically unsound and a politically motivated end- run around
Congress.''
If the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration ''continues down this route, the business community is
going to oppose them in court,'' said Randel Johnson of the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce.
He also said business would seek assistance from Congress in
blocking the rules.
The rules, announced by the Labor Department, would
require any employer with a worker who reports an ergonomic injury to improve
conditions in that part of the workplace --- steps such as adjusting
workstations or changing the height of equipment.
The rules also would
require employers to restrict workloads of injured workers and give workers full
pay and benefits while they are on light duty. Workers unable to work would
receive 90 percent of pay and 100 percent of benefits. This protection would
last up to six months.
The rules would also require all manufacturers
and companies with workers who do manual lifting to have a program to identify
ergonomic issues and teach employees what to watch for. This requirement would
also cover any employer with a worker who has reported an ergonomic injury that
qualified under the rule.
The rules, which OSHA said
would affect 1.9 million workplaces and more than 27 million workers, are the
subject of a long-running battle between employers and the government.
About 60 percent of ergonomic injuries currently are in manufacturing
and jobs that require heavy lifting, but repetitive stress
injuries from office work are on the rise.
Employers have
argued that in many cases it's unclear what they can or should do to alleviate
these types of injuries. They persuaded Congress to block earlier versions of
the rules and to fund a study of the matter by the National Science Foundation,
one of many that have been ordered. That study is in progress.
However,
officials of the Labor Department and OSHA said the matter had
become too urgent for further delay.
''We are compelled to act.
Employees are getting hurt. Workers are being sent home. People are suffering,''
said Charles N. Jeffress, assistant labor secretary for occupational safety and
health.
OSHA estimates the rule would prevent 300,000
musculoskeletal disorders annually. Each year about 1.8 million workers suffer
injuries related to overexertion or repetitive motion, and 600,000 are injured
badly enough to require time off from work, the agency said.
The
injuries to muscles, nerves, ligaments and tendons include such problems as
carpal tunnel syndrome, back pain and tendinitis.
By spending money
upfront, employers could net an estimated $ 5 billion a year on saved workers'
compensation and medical bills and from increased productivity, Labor Secretary
Alexis Herman said.
''The principles of prevention are simple and easy
to put into practice,'' Herman said.
Business groups say the rules are
so broad that they potentially cover virtually every workplace in the nation and
give employers little guidance as to what would constitute compliance.
''The standard is so badly written, so broadly written, that an employer
is not going to know what to do,'' Johnson said.
In addition, compliance
could be hugely expensive, business officials charged. While the Labor
Department estimated the cost to industry at $ 4.2 billion annually, Food
Distributors International, which represents food wholesalers and distributors,
said the rules could cost its members alone up to $ 26 billion the first year
and $ 6 billion annually after that.
These costs ''would result in
closed plants and warehouses and lost jobs, and ... would be reflected in the
cost of goods,'' said FDI Vice President Kevin Burke.
The proposed rules
are to be published this week in the Federal Register and will be open for
comment for 60 days. There will also be three public hearings.
OSHA expects to issue a final rule next year.
GRAPHIC: Graphic
PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS
Some
workplace conditions that can cause ergonomic injuries and possible solutions:
Problem: Manufacturing workers' wrists, hands and fingers can be
hurt when they try to hold tiny electronic components stationary while working
on them.
Solution: The employer provides dollops of a puttylike substance to
press the parts into.
Problem: Computer users sitting at fixed-height
work stations complain of wrist pain, especially in their "mouse hand."
Solution: The employer installs adjustable-height keyboards and mouse trays
that sit on desks.
Problem: Pharmaceutical workers who lift
bottles from high and low shelves on a cart and place them on a counter of
medium height complain of shoulder pain.
Solution: The employer raises a
section of the counter and lowers another to eliminate the need for repetitive
reaching.
Source: Associated Press
LOAD-DATE:
November 23, 1999 
