Bipartisan House members led by Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO) are poised
to smother an OSHA proposal on ergonomics. The proposed rule would
require companies to protect workers who have
"repetitive-motion" jobs that put stress on hands,
wrists, arms, shoulders and backs. Blunt's Workplace
Preservation Act (H.R. 987) would force OSHA to hold off proposing
an ergonomics rule until after the publication of a National
Academy of Sciences (NAS) report on the issue, which is expected
next year.
Blunt and his bill's co-sponsors believe there's an
absence of scientific evidence linking repetitive-motion job tasks
to work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). To help resolve
that question, Congress appropriated $1 million in October 1998 for
the NAS study on the issue.
OSHA administrator Charles Jeffress acknowledges the proposal
will be revised before it's issued this fall for public
comment. A key provision will have to be added that spells out the
concessions for small businesses. While OSHA says there'll be
no exemptions in the rule based on company size, the agency may
allow small companies an extended period to come into compliance
with the final rule, if one is issued.
Content Continues Below
Extra time may not be enough to placate small-business groups,
however. "This standard will impose intrusive regulatory
burdens that will result in massive compliance costs," says
Jo-Anne Prokopowicz of the National Association of
Manufacturers.
Under the proposed rule, manufacturers and companies whose
operations include manual handling tasks would have to develop one
plan for management leadership and employee participation, and
another for hazard identification and information. These plans
would have to be developed no more than 12 months after the rule
becomes final.
If a WMSD is ever reported, manufacturers and material handlers
would have to establish four other program elements: job hazard
analysis and control, training, medical management and program
evaluation. Other types of businesses would have to adopt the
entire six-point program upon the occurrence of a WMSD.
Rep. Cass Ballenger (R-NC), chairman of the House Subcommittee
on Workforce Protection, thinks the draft of the OSHA proposal is
poorly conceived. For example, he alludes to OSHA's proposed
definition of manual-handling operations, which refers to motions
of "considerable force" or when "the cumulative
total of the loads during the weekday is heavy." He complains
terms like "considerable" and "heavy"
aren't defined.
In the past, Congress has written language into annual OSHA
appropriations bills prohibiting the agency from proposing an
ergonomics standard. Look for that repetitive political motion
again this year.
Stephen Barlas is a freelance business reporter who covers
the Washington beat for 15 magazines.
Page 1 |
2 