The House Workforce Protections Subcommittee held a hearing last week on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) ergonomics plan, and the panel’s chairman took issue with recent "cavalier statements," suggesting that Republicans in Congress do not "take ergonomics seriously." Rep. Charles Norwood (R-GA), chairman of the subcommittee (pictured), said that many Republicans are business owners who indeed care about the well-being and safety of their employees.
OSHA Administrator John Henshaw told the panel the Agency believes that musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are real, and they cause pain and suffering. He added, "There are real ways of ... reducing that pain and suffering, [and] reducing hazards that cause that pain." Henshaw added that OSHA’s comprehensive ergonomics plan could achieve those goals.
Chairman Norwood urged OSHA to concentrate its efforts in areas where such MSDs are most prevalent, especially when the Agency will never have enough resources. Rep. Norwood added it is better for OSHA to use its limited resources to make the ergonomics plan work, rather than spending money on another rulemaking. He expressed some concern, however, about the Agency’s use of the “general duty clause” to cite employers for ergonomics hazards.
Subcommittee Democrats were not as supportive of OSHA's ergonomics plan. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) wanted to know whether OSHA agrees with a recent letter to Labor Secretary Elaine Chao from a group of doctors and scientists opposing an ergonomics standard. Rep. Major Owens (D-N.Y.) requested that OSHA submit a list of all the ergonomics general duty clause cases that the Bush administration has pursued.
Now that OSHA has issued its long-awaited ergonomics plan, which failed to satisfy labor groups' call for a standard, the AFL-CIO said it will renew efforts to obtain protections for workers who are exposed to MSDs. Peg Seminario, AFL-CIO director of occupational safety and health, said the labor group will continue to push for a federal standard. "That will require legislative action. It will not happen if it is left to [OSHA] and the Bush Administration," she said.
In addition to looking to Congress for a legislative remedy, the AFL-CIO will look to the states and will try to achieve standards there, although the group has not identified the states. The labor group also will continue to try and secure ergonomics protections through contract language.
