Copyright 1999 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.
St.
Louis Post-Dispatch
October 8, 1999, Friday, FIVE STAR LIFT
EDITION
SECTION: NEWS, Pg. A6
LENGTH: 341 words
HEADLINE:
BOND LOSES BID TO DELAY SAFETY REGULATIONS;
HE WANTS MORE RESEARCH BEFORE
MORE RULES ON REPETITIVE STRESS INJURIES
BYLINE: Nahal Toosi; Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
BODY:
Republican leaders withdrew Thursday an amendment from Sen.
Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo., that would have barred new federal regulations on
work-related repetitive stress injuries until more research is
conducted.
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., pulled the
amendment from the Senate floor after about two hours of debate. He said
Congress would revisit the matter later this year.
The amendment would
have stopped the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
from imposing workplace standards designed to reduce injuries such as carpal
tunnel syndrome until the National Academy of Sciences completes a study.
Bond, R-Mo., had tried to attach the amendment to a spending bill for
the departments of labor, health and human services and education.
Several labor and health groups opposing Bond's proposal say 600,000
workers annually suffer work-related injuries, including wrist, muscle and back
pain. Those groups have accused Bond of pandering to businesses that do not want
to spend more money on employees.
"If it comes up again, we'll continue
to fight it," said Deborah Weinstock, a safety specialist with the AFL-CIO.
Advocates of the amendment insist that until more research links the
workplace and repetitive stress injuries, businesses should not
have to spend millions of dollars enforcing federal regulations.
"This
is a very complicated issue, and we must have more reliable cost and benefit
estimates - not to mention sound science and thorough medical evidence - before
we push the nation's small businesses into another maze of red tape," Bond said.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., spoke against the amendment. Durbin mentioned
his college job in a meat-processing factory, where employees had a daily quota
of processing 1,920 hogs. "I saw injuries in that workplace because of the
repetition and the speed," he said.
After he withdrew the amendment,
Lott said, "We will find a way for the content of this amendment to be in some
legislation that is passed through the Congress this year."
LOAD-DATE: October 8, 1999 
