Copyright 2000 The Times-Picayune Publishing Company
The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
November 2, 2000 Thursday
SECTION: NATIONAL; Pg. 5
LENGTH: 618 words
HEADLINE:
Workplace safety is sticking point in budget fight;
Employers say rules
costly, poorly written
BYLINE: By Bruce Alpert;
Washington bureau
BODY:
WASHINGTON -- A dispute
over proposed federal rules intended to protect workers from injuries associated
with computer work and other repetitive-motion activities is a major reason that
Congress and President Clinton haven't reached a budget agreement.
Clinton says 300,000 workers a year can be spared from painful injuries
if the rules are adopted. But business groups contend the rules are more
expensive than the $4.2 billion a year estimated by the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration and are so poorly
written that they would hold employers liable for injuries suffered outside the
workplace.
"I'm very concerned about the rush by OSHA
to put into effect what by its own account will be the most expensive
regulations ever imposed on business, based on what may be junk science," said
Rep. David Vitter, R-Metairie, reflecting the views of the Republican majority.
It appeared that the White House and GOP Congress had reached a
compromise Sunday night on a plan that would delay enforcement of the new rules
until June 1, 2001, presumably giving the next president a chance to decide on
implementation.
But House Republican leaders nixed the deal Monday, part
of a $350 billion labor, health and education spending bill,
saying the compromise language would still give Clinton the power to impose the
rules before he leaves office Jan. 20.
Sen. John Breaux, D-La., who has
expressed his own reservations about the proposed rules, said the dispute makes
Congress look bad.
"I think everybody loses," Breaux said. "People think
we're going in circles. We can't even quit and go home."
Lame-duck session likely
With no agreement in sight, it appears that
lawmakers will have to come back for a lame duck session after Tuesday's
elections to try and resolve the final spending issues.
Under the
OSHA proposal, about 1.6 million employers would be required to
implement programs to inform workers about potential problems with
repetitive-motion activities, such as computer work.
Employers with a
history of such injuries at their workplaces would be required to correct
problems, which OSHA estimates would cost about
$150 per workstation.
Business groups lobbied heavily
against the proposal, saying such rules should be based on sound scientific
analysis.
"We believe we are entitled to know how costly these
regulations will be to implement and also get regulations that are clear enough
so we know exactly what is required of business and how we go about training
employees at the workplace to make sure we are following the guidelines," said
Charmaine Caccioppi of the New Orleans Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, said there's nothing wrong with
requiring OSHA to provide a scientific basis for the rules. But
he said Republicans seem intent on "killing off the regulations altogether."
Gift for trial lawyers?
Rep. John Cooksey, R-Monroe, said
he has little doubt that there are problems with repetitive stress
injuries, and that employers should work to eliminate the risk.
"But I'm afraid that what (these regulations) are really about is a gift
to the trial lawyers," Cooksey said. "Someone who has discomfort in the wrists
or shoulders and works with a computer will get a bigger settlement than someone
who has a steel ball dropped on their foot, and that seems unfair and
unreasonable."
OSHA administrator Charles Jeffress said
Republicans are intentionally understating the problem.
"Every day we
delay, there are more Americans hurt," Jeffress said. "Every day we delay, there
are people that aren't going to be able to live the way you and I would like to
live, without pain, without disability."
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November 2, 2000 
