Congress Axes OSHA Ergonomic Rules | |
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Dateline: 03/07/01
The U.S. House of Representatives this afternoon put Congress' final stamp of approval on a resolution canceling the controversial final regulations on ergonomics created by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration's (OSHA) and set to take effect in October, 2001. [Also See: Federal Regulations: Laws Behind the Acts]
The resolution to disapprove the ergonomic regulations, S.J. Res. 6, was passed by the Senate on March 6, by a 56-44 vote and in the House by this evening's 223-206 vote. President Bush has stated that he will sign the resolution.
The 9-page final rule with over 600 pages of tables, formulas and instructions, would have required American businesses to design and implement an ergonomics program for their workers, analyze problem jobs for ergonomic risk factors, conduct extensive training and compensate workers forced to take time off or receive light duty due to repetitive stress injuries.
Many business, either voluntarily, or in compliance with state laws, have already implemented ergonomic safety programs for their employees. Those businesses, along with businesses without ergonomic programs would have been forced to comply with OSHA's final rule, had it stood.
The regulations would have covered carpal tunnel syndrome and similar injuries related to repetitive motion, vibration and stress associated with workers' job duties.
While
the original impetus for the development of ergonomic safety regulations came
from Republican labor secretary, Elizabeth
Dole, who served under President
Bush's father in 1990, the new Bush Administration and most Republican members
of Congress opposed the final regulations as written by OSHA. "We have a new rule that's been promulgated
that would cause extreme damage to our workplace," stated Rep. Anne Northup
(R-KY), in debate on the House floor. Republican
backers of the resolution of disapproval argued the rules
were overly complex and would be too expensive for most US businesses to
implement. Cost estimates for American industry to implement the program varied
widely, from OSHA’s $4.8 billion to the Employment Policy Foundation’s
$126.6 billion. OSHA
analysts countered that the rules could prevent up to 460,000 injuries per year,
resulting savings that would exceed the cost. According
to the National Academy of Science, musculoskeletal disorders (MSD), the medical
problems most often associated with repetitive stress, afflict about 1 million
workers at a cost of from $45 billion to $54 billion in compensation, reduced
production and lost wages annually. Congressional
Democrats opposed to the resolution to disapprove argued that quashing the regulations
represented an abandonment of the government's support for the safety of
American workers. "We should not turn our backs on progress just
because private interests think it's the right thing to do for their bottom
line," argued Minority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-MO), in the House debate. To quash
the new ergonomic regulations, Republican congressional leaders invoked the
Congressional Review Act of 1966 giving Congress the
power to repeal major rules issued by executive branch agencies with the
approval of the president. The repeal of the ergonomics rule marked the first
successful use of the
Congressional Review Act by Congress.
