Opposition could be formidable to an OSHA ergonomics standard

I wrote earlier this month that OSHA appears to be heading towards reissuing an ergonomics standard – a step that I think is ill-advised given the extensive efforts already underway in industry to address the problem and the fact that OSHA has other fish to fry.

Now it is clear that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce senses the same possibility and that the Chamber will mobilize against it.

The clue to OSHA’s thinking? OSHA gave notice that it is proposing to revise its recordkeeping regulation by restoring a column on the OSHA Form 300 to better identify work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).

“Attempts to put this recordkeeping requirement in place represent the first efforts to return to the ergonomics question,” said Marc Freedman, the Chamber’s director of labor law policy. “We will be very involved in this rulemaking as it goes forward. We have a history with this issue,” Freedman was quoted as saying in article written by Pro Publica.

The Chamber was at the forefront of opposition to an earlier OSHA attempt to issue an ergonomics standard – an attempt that was rejected by Congress in 2001. I testified before OSHA at that time against putting such a standard in place.