Copyright 2000 Plain Dealer Publishing Co.
The
Plain Dealer
November 11, 2000 Saturday, FINAL / ALL
SECTION: NATIONAL; Pg. 13A
LENGTH: 848 words
HEADLINE:
U.S. TO ISSUE WORKPLACE ERGONOMIC RULES
BYLINE: By
CINDY SKRZYCKI; WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
BODY:
The Clinton administration is
expected to issue a final rule Monday requiring the nation's employers to create
programs to protect workers from the repetitive strains and pain of the
workplace.
The sweeping standard, eight years in the making, is the most
costly ever to come out of the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration. It will cover some 6 million workplaces and more than
100 million workers in nearly every line of business.
The rule is so
bitterly opposed by industry groups that a congressional move to block its
unveiling torpedoed a year-end budget agreement with the White House two weeks
ago, forcing a lame-duck session of Congress. Lawyers for trade associations
said they will sue to overturn the rule as soon as it is published.
The
rule mandates that the science of ergonomics be adopted in the workplace,
requiring employers to better fit jobs to the physical limitations of their
workers. OSHA officials said their goal was to cut in half over
the next decade the 600,000 repetitive stress injuries that
result in lost work time each year.
The hospital, restaurant, grocery,
and trucking and courier industries will need to make the most changes in the
workplace, OSHA predicted. The rule also targets the millions
of workers who sit in front a computer screen all day, typing and using a mouse.
Possible solutions include changes to the height of a manufacturing line
to prevent workers from constant reaching or giving new keyboards or furniture
to provide support for workers who type all day.
"We have recognized
that musculoskeletal disorders are a significant part of the injuries and
illness in America," said Charles Jeffress, the assistant secretary of Labor who
heads OSHA. "We have needed a better tool to address this.
These injuries have declined, but they still remain a third of all workplace
injuries."
OSHA said there are 1.8 million
musculoskeletal disorders reported annually, including carpal tunnel syndrome
and tendinitis - which affect women the most - as well as sciatica and low-back
pain. The agency estimates there actually are twice as many injuries, but half
aren't reported because workers fear losing pay or their jobs.
"Science
is clear that the more you repeat a motion, the more likely you are to get hurt,
though the number of repetitions for each person may be different," Jeffress
said.
Beginning next October, employers will have to inform their
workers about these kinds of workplace ailments and how they can report them.
Employees who have a work-related injury would have to receive medical attention
and time off with pay. And the employer would have to work at eliminating or
lessening the hazard that caused the problem.
Employer groups say they
are ready to challenge the rule.
Stephen Bokat, vice president and
general counsel for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said the rule exceeded
OSHA's authority.
"It's unconstitutionally vague, and
there is no scientific basis for the standard," Bokat said.
Some
business interests believe that if George Bush is elected president, Congress
might invalidate the rule, using the Congressional Review Act for the first
time. Congress would be less likely to prevail in invalidating the rule if Al
Gore wins the presidency.
The cost to employers, according to the
agency's calculations, will be $4.5 billion annually. That includes an average
of about $250 to fix each workstation. But the agency said the adjustments will
save employers $9.1 billion annually because of a reduction in cases of
long-term disabilities and lost productivity.
Business interests counter
that the cost of altering the workplace, paying benefits to workers who are
injured and setting up ergonomics programs will be anywhere from $18 billion to
$125.6 billion a year.
The idea of having employers implement ergonomics
programs dates to the early 1980s. The Clinton administration finally proposed a
rule last November and then heard voluminous testimony on the scientific issues
involved. It also spent four years fighting business-inspired congressional
attempts to delay it.
Business groups have argued that a rule is
unnecessary because repetitive stress injuries are declining.
They point to Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that cases of carpal tunnel
syndrome and tendinitis have decreased annually since 1994.
Corporate
lobbyists note that about one in four workplaces already has some kind of
ergonomics program in place, providing workers with adjustments to their
workstations, engineering changes in how jobs are designed and limiting the time
a worker spends on one job.
OSHA and unionized labor
said the decline also may be attributable to enforcement actions the government
has taken since the 1980s against the meatpacking, poultry and auto industries.
Some of those companies now have model ergonomic programs.
Jeffress said
there has been a decline in all workplace injuries, but that is not reason
enough to drop the initiative.
"We have learned there is a point where
regulation is required to get everyone on the same playing field," he said.
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