Senate panel OKs ergonomics bill

Leigh Strope

Thursday, June 20, 2002 | 11:11 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- A Senate panel approved legislation Wednesday requiring the Labor Department to create regulations governing the nation's employers in efforts to reduce repetitive-stress injuries.

The Democrat-controlled Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee voted 11-10 along party lines for the bill, which was sponsored by Sen. John Breaux, D-La.

The bill directs the department to create within two years regulations covering all industries, making clear what employers are required to do and when.

Labor Secretary Elaine Chao announced in April that her agency was pursuing voluntary guidelines for certain industries with high rates of injuries instead of the sweeping regulations that labor unions, Democrats and some moderate Republicans wanted.

Last year, Congress repealed Clinton-era regulations that businesses opposed, saying they would be too costly. While Breaux was one of a handful of Senate Democrats opposed to the Clinton rules, he has criticized Chao's voluntary approach as too weak.

Ergonomic-related injuries, or those caused by repetitive motion and strain, account for about a third of the 1.7 million annual injuries in the workplace.

The Labor Department has said it is writing guidelines to reduce worker injuries in nursing homes, grocery stores and poultry processing plants.

"The administration's plan to address this health crisis in the workplace replays failed strategies from the past," said committee Chairman Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass. "They rely on toothless voluntary guidelines that most corporations will simply ignore. These guidelines will be developed piecemeal, industry by industry, rather than covering workers at risk in all industries."

Democrats plan to attach the bill to appropriations legislation instead of offering it for consideration as a stand-alone measure on the Senate floor. Prospects for passage are less likely in the Republican-controlled House.

Sen. Michael Enzi, R-Wyo., said he planned to block a vote on the legislation when it reaches the Senate floor. He opposed the Clinton-era regulations because they were "tainted by rushed rule making, conflicts-of-interest and incomplete science," he said.

"Use spoiled milk and you get a spoiled milkshake," he said. "With the legislation we are considering today, we are still using spoiled milk."

The Clinton administration rules would have required businesses to change work stations to reduce injuries and in some cases compensate injured workers. The Labor Department estimated the changes would have cost businesses $4.5 billion, but would save them $9 billion by preventing injuries. Businesses estimated the cost at $100 billion.