Although no formal announcement has been made yet, the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (DOL/OSHA) are expected to issue guidelines, rather than new mandatory standards, to address workplace-related musculoskeletal injuries. The DOL’s decision, which is expected to be announced soon, was revealed in the Department’s fiscal year 2003 budget proposal.
After the Clinton Administration’s controversial ergonomics standard was overturned by Congress last year, Secretary of Labor Elaine Y. Chao announced that DOL would launch a “comprehensive effort” to review the issue, and would either issue a new standard, or draft voluntary guidelines. It comes as no surprise that the Bush Administration would choose to deal with the issue on a more management-friendly basis. Industry adamantly opposed the Clinton standard, and the Bush Administration has maintained that it will provide a more consultative, less adversarial, atmosphere concerning health and safety issues.
Chao is expected to testify in detail on the ergonomics decision before a hearing of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on March 14.
Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), the Committee Chairman, has requested a large number of DOL documents concerning its internal deliberations on the ergonomics issue. The Department is mulling the request, but in the past, the Bush Administration has been hesitant to provide much Executive-branch information on internal deliberations to congressional committees.
