OSHA Update:
Ergonomically Speaking
On November 14, 2000 the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a national Ergonomics Program Standard. The New Federal ergonomics standard outlines six elements to be included in an employer's ergonomics program:
- Management Leadership and Employee Participation
- Hazard information and Reporting
- Job Hazard Analysis and Control
- Training
- Musculoskeletal
Disorders (MSD) Management- Program Evaluation
According to OSHA, these disorders reportedly affect 1.8 million workers a year. The Rule is designed to cover all work sites that involve manufacturing and/or manual handling, as well as any other work site where a single work-related MSD has been reported. The only work sites exempt from the standard are construction, agriculture and maritime facilities.
The Rule requires all employers with over 10 employees to provide training in identifying, reducing and promptly reporting work-related musculoskeletal problems.
Safe Harbor
The Rule provides a "safe harbor" for employers who voluntarily sponsor employee involvement
programs and enter into agreements with OSHA to correct potential violations. Employers who have this type of program and correct any deficiencies found during a compliance inspection will not be cited for violating the standard.
Focus On MSDs
The rules focus on work-related musculoskeletel disorders (MSDs). The Rules require employers to train their
employees to identify, reduce, and promptly report MSDs. MSDs are defined as an injury or disorder of the muscle, tendons, ligaments, joints, nerves, blood vessels or related soft tissue including a sprain, strain, or inflammation, that may be caused or aggravated by work. The Rule requires employers to reduce or eliminate reported employee exposure to MSDs by making changes such as the types of tools used in a job, the work station where a task is performed, the order of work, rotating job responsibilities, workplace exercises or breaks, or other changes which are "economically and technologically reasonable and feasible."
When OSHA first began working on the ergonomics standard, they set out to protect employees from repetitive-motion injuries. The new rules focus on MSDs which many critics feel encompass several sorts of aches and pains that have nothing to do with repetition.
Business Reaction
Businesses ranging from large corporations to small business are not pleased. Employers feel the rules are too broad and too vague and claim that compliance will cost billions more annually than OSHA first anticipated. Also, many of the ailments listed under the MSDs category could happen at home yet may be reported by the employee as occurring on the job. Neither the employer or even a medical examiner can prove otherwise.
Even the term "ergonomics" is broadly defined. In theory, it refers to ways that workplaces can be modified to fit workers, such as adapting tools, workbenches or computer keyboards to produce less strain. However, in practice, there is no universally recognized guidance supporting best practices in this area, and the medical community is divided on the causes of repetitive motion injuries and how to prevent them. Business and industry groups indicate the new rules are complex and expensive to implement and there is no assurance that future injuries will be avoided.
Please contact OMNI for our new Ergonomics brochure
800-951-7625 |
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