OSHA's Ergonomics Rule 'Long Overdue'

The fight for a nationwide workplace ergonomics standard is more than a decade old. Yet, at hearings on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s proposed ergonomics standard, lawyers for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the United Parcel Service called the new workplace rules “a rush to judgment.” “I think it’s clear that OSHA’s proposed rule making is not a rush to judgment, it is long overdue,” said Peg Seminario, director of the AFL-CIO’s Department of Safety and Health, as she kicked off the federation’s testimony March 24 on the proposed new standard with a 1990 videotape of then-Labor Secretary Elizabeth Dole calling for action on ergonomics. The new rule, proposed in November, is designed to reduce work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) that injure nearly 2 million workers a year and force some 600,000 to take time off from work. The AFL-CIO was the first union group to appear at the hearings, which began March 13 in Washington, D.C. Sixteen national unions and 100 local union members will be among the more than 1,100 witnesses who will testify in three cities during nine weeks of hearings. The hearings will enable workers and employers "to come forward and tell us how to make the standard we have proposed better and stronger," said Labor Secretary Alexis Herman as the hearings opened. The AFL-CIO suggested changes to strengthen the proposed rule, including expanding its protections to cover construction, maritime, agriculture and other workers; better workplace training; and quicker “triggers” for employers to act on hazards. Representatives of the Letter Carriers and Postal Workers also testified March 23 and AFT testified March 24. The hearings began with 13 OSHA witnesses outlining the need for a new rule and some 20 scientific witnesses providing evidence. Marthe Kent, head of the safety agency's regulatory program, testified that OSHA projects "300,000 MSDs will be prevented among general industry employees every year in the first 10 years after the standard is implemented." The first round of hearings concludes April 7. Hearings also are set for Chicago, from April 11 to April 21; in Portland, Ore., from April 24 to May 3; and will wrap up back in Washington, D.C., from May 8 to May 12. Many employers and powerful employer groups have fought new workplace safety standards for more than a decade, and their backers in Congress blocked efforts by OSHA to pass ergonomics rules in the 1990s. Some of these same groups will testify during the hearings; they are expected to attack the need for an ergonomics standard. The federation's testimony is available on this site in full text as well as in summary form. To find out whether your union is testifying or for more information on the hearing locations, schedules and witnesses, visit www.aflcio.org/safety/ergo0300.htm.

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