Copyright 1999 Plain Dealer Publishing Co.
The
Plain Dealer
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November 22, 1999 Monday, FINAL / ALL
SECTION: NATIONAL; Pg. 7A
LENGTH: 422 words
HEADLINE:
NEW RULES TARGET OFFICE ERGONOMICS
BYLINE: By ROBERT
PEAR; NEW YORK TIMES
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
BODY:
The Clinton administration is about to
propose new workplace rules that officials said would protect millions of
workers from repetitive-stress injuries, one of the major
sources of physical pain and disability in offices and factories across the
country.
In general, the rules would require employers to adopt
full-scale ergonomics programs to minimize workplace hazards if even a few
employees have suffered such injuries. Officials at the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration said they planned to issue the
regulations this month.
The proposal has been delayed for years as
business groups argued that the standards were unnecessary and too expensive.
Opponents in the House of Representatives tried this year to delay the rules for
further review, and some agencies within the administration have also voiced
doubts. But the White House has decided to act now, as Congress has left town.
On Aug. 3, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would prevent
the Labor Department from issuing any new ergonomic standards until that study
was finished. But the Senate has not approved the legislation, so the Labor
Department is free to issue its rules.
Federal officials said they would
try to reduce the burden of the rules on small businesses. But business groups
and their allies in Congress still vehemently oppose the rules, saying the costs
will far exceed the benefits for most employers.
In a draft of the new
rules, OSHA, the federal agency that regulates workplace
safety, insisted that "ergonomics programs are cost-effective and feasible"
because they can reduce specific types of workplace injuries known as
musculoskeletal disorders.
These disorders include strains and sprains,
lower back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, hernias and other ailments caused by
repetitive motion, overexertion, bending, climbing or crawling. They cut across
blue-collar and white-collar jobs and account for more than one-third of all
serious occupational injuries and illnesses in the United States.
While
more research is always welcome, OSHA says, hundreds of
scientific studies in recent years have produced "overwhelming evidence" that
these injuries are linked to workplace activities.
OSHA
says that more than 600,000 Americans suffer work-related musculoskeletal
disorders each year.
Under ergonomics programs, employers must
systematically analyze the risks of various jobs, change work practices to
minimize or eliminate hazards and provide treatment to employees for
work-related medical problems.
LOAD-DATE: November 23,
1999 
