Bush kills off hard-won workplace ergonomics standard

We know that under President George W Bush, the United States administration will back out of the 1972 Anti Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty. Mr Bush's administration has also refused to submit to the Kyoto protocol on climate change. It says the International Criminal Court will have no jurisdiction over US citizens, opposes the convention on germ warfare and has boycotted the UN convention on racism in Durban.

But we are less aware in the Republic of another highly controversial decision taken by Mr Bush last March to repeal the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's ergonomics standard.

The proposal for an ergonomics standard arose due to the extent and cost of injuries to workers. It sought to reduce work-related injuries to muscles, tendons, nerves, ligaments, cartilage, joints and the spine.

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders account for more than one-third of all occupational injuries and illnesses that cause work absences.

In the US, where more than 600,000 employees were absent from work due to such disorders, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration estimated musculoskeletal disorders cost US business at least $45 billion (€49.5 billion) a year in direct costs, including at least $15 billion in workers' compensation.

Musculoskeletal disorders are relatively easy and inexpensive to prevent. Solutions include adjusting the height of work surfaces, providing appropriate tools for the job, encouraging short rest breaks or using telephone headsets.

Substantial scientific evidence supported the publication of Occupational Safety and Health Administration's ergonomics standard. Scientific research confirmed a clear link between musculoskeletal disorders and work, and the relative ease with which musculoskeletal disorders could be prevented. The ergonomics standard covered manufacturing jobs, manual handling jobs and jobs in general industry where a covered musculoskeletal disorder occurred.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration argued that good ergonomics made good economics. It estimated that the annual cost to individual businesses covered by the standard would be only $700 and $150 per problem job fixed.

The standard mandated that, by October 14th, most industrial employers would have given their employees the information needed to recognise and report work-related musculoskeletal disorders.

Once musculoskeletal disorders were reported, employers would have been required to provide medical care and paid leave to injured workers, and eliminate or reduce the risk of injury occurring to other workers.

Employers feared they would be held responsible for non-work-related musculoskeletal disorders. They feared the costs involved in compliance with the ergonomics standard and suggested the Occupational Safety and Health Administration had underestimated these. They also questioned the scientific basis for the standard, citing opposing scientific views.

The US Supreme Court had ruled that a regulation could not be rescinded just because a new administration disagrees with its predecessor. So, in an unprecedented act, the Bush administration killed off the ergonomics standard under the Congressional Review Act.

In a summary statement not dissimilar to his brief announcement last week to a group of schoolchildren that the US would withdraw from the ABM treaty, Mr Bush said on March 20th: "The safety and health of our nation's workforce is a priority for my administration. Together we will pursue a comprehensive approach to ergonomics that addresses the concerns surrounding the ergonomics rule repealed today. We will work with the Congress, the business community and our nation's workers to address this important issue."

As the Occupational Safety and Health Administration website puts it: "With these words, President Bush signed a joint resolution of Congress disapproving Occupational Safety and Health Administration's ergonomics standard and, at the same time, pledging to find a solution to ergonomic-related problems affecting the nation's workforce.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's ergonomics program standard was issued on November 14th, 2000, and took effect on January 16th, 2001. Congress acted under authority of the Congressional Review Act of 1996. As a result, the standard is no longer in effect, and employers and workers are not bound by its requirements."

And, not unlike the ABM treaty, the ergonomics standard that had taken some 10 years to construct was repealed in one fell swoop.

Unions were aghast at Mr Bush's action. They saw the 10 years' work to protect workers from preventable injuries debated in the Senate for only 10 hours, while the House of Representatives gave it only one hour, passing the measure 223 to 206. Then, Mr Bush made the final decision, in effect wiping the standard from the Code of Federal Regulations.

In light of Mr Bush's overturning of the standard, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration hopes to determine a course of action on ergonomics rules by this September. It has been holding national public forums over the summer. It is hoped that whatever will emerge will be supported by employers and the Bush administration.

For more information, visit www.ossa.go.

jmarms@irish-times.i.e.