OSHA hearings will stress need for workplace ergonomics standard

"These painful and sometimes crippling illnesses now make up 48 percent of all recordable industrial workplace illnesses. We must do our utmost to protect workers from these hazards, not only in the meat industry, but all U.S. industries."

Secretary of Labor Elizabeth Dole in a press release Aug. 30, 1990.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) West Coast hearings on proposed ergonomic protections for workers will open in Portland, Monday, April 24, with testimony from the Oregon AFL-CIO, Washington State Labor Council, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Oregon Council 75, Service Employees International Union and Painters District Council 5.

Representatives of 14 other international unions and several injured worker groups will testify over a period of two weeks.

The fight for a nationwide workplace ergonomics standard is more than a decade old. Yet, at OSHA hearings earlier this year in Washington, D.C., and Chicago, lawyers for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the United Parcel Service called the new workplace rules "a rush to judgment."

"I think it's clear that OSHA's proposed rule making is not a rush to judgment, it is long overdue," said Peg Seminario, director of the national AFL-CIO's Department of Safety and Health, as she kicked off the federation's testimony on the proposed new standard with a 1990 videotape of then-Labor Secretary Elizabeth Dole calling for action on ergonomics.

The AFL-CIO was the first union group to appear at the hearings, which began March 13 in the nation's capital.

Members of 16 national unions and 100 local unions will be among the more than 1,100 witnesses who will testify during nine weeks of hearings held in the three cities.

The hearings are enabling workers and employers "to come forward and tell us how to make the standard we have proposed better and stronger," said Labor Secretary Alexis Herman.

Tim Nesbitt, president of the Oregon AFL-CIO, will be the first to testify at 8:30 a.m. at the Mark Hatfield Federal Courthouse, 1000 SW Third Ave., Portland, Courtroom 16. The state labor federation is planning a press conference prior to the opening of the hearings.

The new rule, proposed by OSHA in November 1999, is designed to reduce work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). More than a decade's worth of scientific research and government surveys - some 2,000 studies and articles, according to OSHA -�show that poorly designed workplaces, and jobs that require constant repetitive motion, awkward posture and forceful movements, are significant safety and health hazards.

Each year, more than 1.8 million workers suffer from painful carpal tunnel syndrome, injured backs and other musculoskeletal injuries, and more than 600,000 workers are forced to take time off from work so their injuries can heal, according to OSHA.

According to Bureau of Labor Statistics, 9,539 Oregonians recorded lost worktime because of overextension and repetitive motion injuries, while in Washington State the number reaches 19,159 workers.

The national AFL-CIO has already suggested changes to strengthen the proposed rule, including expanding its protections to cover construction, maritime, agriculture and other workers; better workplace training; and quicker "triggers" for employers to act on hazards.

The hearings began in Washington, D.C., with 13 OSHA witnesses outlining the need for a new rule and some 20 scientific witnesses providing evidence.

Marthe Kent, head of the safety agency's regulatory program, testified that OSHA projects "300,000 MSDs will be prevented among general industry employees every year in the first 10 years after the standard is implemented."

For the fifth year in a row, business groups and their conservative Republican allies in Congress have launched a major attack on ergonomic protections. This is part of an unrelenting attack on worker safety and health in which blocking OSHA's ergonomics standard is an industry priority.

On Aug. 3, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 217-209 to pass House Resolution 987, the so-called "Workplace Preservation Act." The bill not only would block OSHA from issuing an ergonomics standard, but would even prevent OSHA from issuing voluntary guidelines for at least 24 months, until a second National Academy of Sciences study is complete.

Contrary to claims of those leading the attack, a large body of scientific evidence shows that workplace factors cause musculoskeletal disorders and that these injuries can be prevented.

Most of Oregon's congressional delegation voted against the bill, with the exception of Republican Greg Walden. Democrat Brian Baird of Vancouver, Wash., also voted against the bill.

Missouri Republican Senator Kit Bond has introduced a companion bill in the Senate. S. 1070 currently has 44 co-sponsors.

But anti-worker S. 1070 has its detractors. Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden, Washington Democrat Patty Murray and 16 other U.S. senators have signed on to a letter demanding that Congress let go of the bill and move forward with the proposed ergonomics standard.

"Claims have been made that there is no scientific evidence or proof that workplace factors cause musculoskeletal disorders," the letter said. "To date, there have been more than 2,000 studies of this issue, including the well-publicized 1998 National Academy of Sciences study that directly linked MSDs to physical forces in the workplace. This study is supported by the American Occupational Therapy Association, the American Public Health Association, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses."

The National Academy of Sciences, as a result of a congressionally requested review of work-related musculoskeletal disorders completed in 1998, found that:

* Musculoskeletal disorders are a serious national problem.

* The scientific literature clearly demonstrates that musculoskeletal disorders in workers are caused by exposure to ergonomic hazards at work.

* Scientific research clearly demonstrates that effective work place interventions are available which can reduce ergonomic hazards and prevent musculoskeletal disorders. * There is evidence that interventions are cost-beneficial for employers.

The American Public Health Association's position - first stated in a 1997 resolution and reiterated in a February 1999 letter to OSHA is that "Scientific evidence has established a cause-and-effect relationship between poor ergonomics in the workplace and chronic musculoskeletal disorders."

Labor Secretary Herman said that many employers have told OSHA that ergonomics programs produce a net economic gain because they reduce injuries and improve performance.

"Eliminating those hazards and redesigning jobs and workplaces can spare an average of 300,000 workers from painful potentially disabling injuries each year, and $9 billion can be saved annually under the proposed ergonomics program standard," Herman said.