Safety rules repealed

Wednesday, March 21, 2001 | 10:48 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush signed a repeal Tuesday of ergonomics rules imposed by the Clinton administration aimed at preventing workplace injuries.

The repeal measure sailed through Congress earlier this month with help from business interests that criticized the rules' cost and scope.

"The ergonomics rule would have cost both large and small employers billions of dollars and presented employers with overwhelming compliance challenges," Bush said.

The rollback was a big political loss to labor unions, which had worked for a decade in support of the regulations and were caught flat-footed by Republicans' attack on the rules.

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