OSHA Releases Ergonomics Standards |
| The Occupational Safety and Health Administration released its ergonomics program
standard in November. It requires all businesses to establish a comprehensive ergonomics
program if an employee is injured by, or at risk of, a musculoskeletal disorder. An earlier draft of the rule originally covered only industries involving material handling and manufacturing. The Newspaper Association of America is one of several groups that have spoken out about the new rules being too broad. NAA asked OSHA to establish voluntary guidelines that will assist employers, especially small businesses, in setting up or refining processes for addressing MSDs. "OSHA has significantly expanded the scope of the standard to include almost every business in America, from the automobile manufacturer to the five-person weekly newspaper to the ice-cream parlor on Main Street," said NAA President and CEO John F. Sturm. The program standard establishes thresholds that are too low and expands the coverage of the mandatory standard beyond what can reasonably be expected for employers, Sturm said. For the first ime it includes specific examples of risk factors and the levels that require implementation of a program. The standard also does not take into account non-work factors, such as playing sports or surfing the Internet at home, that may cause an MSD injury or symptom. |
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