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Copyright 1999 Star Tribune  
Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)

November 23, 1999, Tuesday, Metro Edition

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 1A

LENGTH: 1574 words

HEADLINE: Ergonomics plan receives cautious welcome in state;
Workers, officials and doctors see guidelines as a way to reduce injuries.

BYLINE: Rosalind Bentley; Staff Writer

BODY:
For Joanne Verri, it started with a tingling in her fingers _ a dull annoyance, but nothing severe. Her job as a marketing supervisor with a Twin Cities communications company required her to type much of the day on a keyboard she couldn't adjust.

      But over two years, the pain in her right hand became so excruciating that it woke her up at night, and no amount of propping it on pillows or shifting position would help.

     "That's when I decided to take action," said Verri, of Minneapolis, now an executive assistant with Allina Health System Foundation in Minneapolis. In 1994, Verri's acute case of carpal tunnel syndrome was remedied by surgery.

     On Monday, the U.S. Labor Department announced that workplaces will be required to provide employees with ergonomically correct work conditions. Verri said she hopes the move will prevent others from experiencing the kind of pain she had.

     "They didn't offer to buy me a keyboard tray; no occupational nurse came in," she said of her former employer. "I don't think it was intentional _ I just don't think they knew back then the implications of not having an ergonomically correct workstation."

     The proposed federal standards published in today's Federal Register would require all workplaces to fix any conditions that require people to work in awkward positions, overexert themselves or perform repetitive motions for long periods. Office jobs and assembly-line positions would be affected, as well as jobs that require constant heavy lifting, such as those in health care, moving or manufacturing.

      But it probably will be at least 18 months before Minnesota workers see any changes in the guidelines, let alone in their work stations, said James Honerman, spokesman for the Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Division, sometimes referred to as Minnesota OSHA. The government must take public comment until Feb. 1 on the proposals. Then, beginning Feb. 22, a series of public hearings will be held in Washington, D.C.; Portland, Ore., and Chicago.

      After the federal rules are adopted, Honerman said, Minnesota can adopt the federal guidelines outright or develop a set of standards that would be at least as effective as the national ones. Honerman said his agency probably will adopt the federal standards.

     Some companies are not waiting for the rules to take effect.

     Take Signature Flight Support, an Orlando company that provides baggage service to airlines such as Sun Country, Champion and Omni. Steve Brant, safety director of the company's Minneapolis office, said it recently had a consultant tour its facility at the Humphrey charter terminal to suggest changes when the operation moves into a new terminal.

     Although the weight of suitcases varies dramatically, the average suitcase weighs about 35 pounds, Brant said.

     Currently workers stoop to pick up bags from a conveyor belt below their knees. The consultant suggested raising it closer to the waistline.

    "We have a lot of 'my back hurts, my shoulder hurts,' " Brant said. Those people are assigned to lighter duty. "But there's a weekly safety topic that's discussed every day."

    Other problems will be more difficult to address. For instance, the cargo pits of many planes are too low for workers to stand upright in, so they must walk hunched over as they load baggage.

     Tom Votel is president of Ergodyne, a St. Paul company that develops ergonomically correct products for industries. He applauded the move but likened its possible impact to that of the Americans With Disabilities Act, saying it will require major changes in some industries.

     "People are going to go nuts over this," he said. "There are certain jobs that are easier to make changes in than others. What about a day-care worker? How do you change the job? How do you pick up that kid now? What about hotel workers changing dirty bed linen all day, or delivery truck drivers?"

     About three years ago, Minnesota OSHA tried to develop ergonomic standards. But federal legislation was passed that prohibited states from using federal money to develop such plans, Honerman said. Minnesota is one of 23 states with its own plan. Those states may develop policies to meet their own needs, independent of the national agency.

     Because the state has had no ergonomic guidelines in place, preventing injury hasn't been easy. Under Minnesota law, employers who have high injury and illness rates are required to have accident reduction programs, but those programs are monitored by the individual employers.

      Honerman's agency can cite and fine employers for unsafe working conditions under what's called a "general duty clause." But they can only do this after a serious injury has occurred and it has been proved that the employer knew there was a hazard and how to fix it, but did not.

.

Injuries cost money

       About 36,000 Minnesota workers are affected each year by musculo-skelatal injuries such as overexertion or repetitive stress problems. For about 12,000, the injuries are serious enough to require time off work.

     Mary Arneson is a physician with Hennepin County Medical Center's Occupational and Environmental Medicine Clinic. Of the nearly 6,000 patients the clinic sees a year, about 500 come for treatment of repetitive stress injury. Arneson used to treat a lot of grocery store clerks, who spent hours passing items over scanners. As businesses installed more sensitive scanners, fewer came in. Arneson said she believes uniform standards will help, but she added that there is also the potential for some workers to abuse such guidelines.

     "Employers worry because somebody who's about to get fired over productivity could say, 'Well, I have carpal tunnel,' " she said. "But it's a good thing to have standards, because it gives all employers the incentive to do all the simple, not very expensive things that would eliminate most repetitive stress injuries."

     Even so, Arneson said there are occasions when a work station is modified but pain recurs. In those instances, little can be done other than asking the person to work through the pain or reassigning him or her.

     Verri now has an adjustable keyboard and mouse tray for her computer. Every now and then, she said, her hand swells.

     "If I'd had one through my career maybe this wouldn't have happened to me," she said.



LOAD-DATE: November 23, 1999




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