Will OSHA Ergonomics Standard Go Into Effect As Proposed And Planned?
According to the Labor Department, the much-delayed OSHA ergonomics standard designed to reduce back strains and sore muscles among 102 million of the nation’s workers will take effect on January 16, 2001.
Once implemented, employers must provide the required basic information about the ergonomics standard to employees by October 14, 2001. After that date, employers must begin receiving and responding to employee reports of musculoskeletal signs and symptoms. However, a lawsuit filed by the National Coalition on Ergonomics (NEC) is challenging the appropriateness and legitimacy of the finalized ergonomic standard. The primary grounds for the NEC lawsuit include:
- Medical research does not adequately support the need for this OSHA regulation, which must be grounded in an evidence-based “significant risk”.
- The standard remains too vague and incomprehensible to meet administrative law or Constitutional requirements.
- OSHA has produced a fatally flawed economic analysis.
- OSHA has committed serious procedural violations, including the issuance of a completely altered final standard without a new round of public comment.
Intended to reduce musculoskeletal (MSD) disorders for everyday jobs, the new regulations affect all general industry (except agriculture, maritime and construction), regardless of company size. The final rule, if implemented, outlines the following procedures:
- Employers must inform workers about common musculoskeletal disorders (MSD), signs and symptoms of MSDs and the importance of early reporting.
- When a worker reports a sign or symptom of MSDs, the employer must determine whether the injury meets the definition of an MSD incident — a work-related MSD that requires medical treatment beyond first-aid, assignment to a light duty job or temporary removal from work to recover, or work-related MSD signs that last for seven or more consecutive days.
- If it is an MSD incident, the employer must check the job, using a basic screening tool (provided by OSHA), to determine whether the job exposes the worker to risk factors that could trigger MSD problems. If the risk factors meet the levels of exposure in the screening tool, the job will have met the standard’s action trigger.
- If the job meets the action trigger, the employer must set up an MSD reporting and response system and an ergonomics program, conduct a job hazard analysis, provide training to employees in jobs that meet the trigger, provide access to a health care professional at no cost to the injured employee, provide work restriction protection (100% of earnings and full benefits) to employees who receive temporary work restrictions as a result of MSDs, evaluate the ergonomics program and complete all required paperwork.
It is estimated that the implementation of these standards will cost American businesses $18 billion! With the stakes this high, we encourage you to keep close tabs on the lawsuit and impending legislation. You can find out more about this crucial issue by visiting www.osha.gov or talking with your EMC agent and a representative from our Risk Improvement Department.
