A group representing over 33,000 safety engineers located throughout the U.S. told U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) officials at a hearing in Chicago on April 20th that an ergonomics standard is needed, but not the one proposed by OSHA. 

Representing the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), John Cheffer, CSP, and Chair of the ASSE Governmental Affairs Committee, testified, We believe there needs to be an ergonomic standard. However, ASSE is concerned that the flaws in the proposed rule such as the single incident trigger and its interference with established state worker's compensation programs and the rule's complexity may result in the rejection of the entire standard. It's just poor policy. 

These comments were presented in the final day of public hearings scheduled by OSHA in Chicago on a proposed ergonomics standard. They start again in Portland, OR the last week in April and end in Washington, D.C. in early May. Once the hearings are concluded and comments are in from all the key stakeholders, Congress may hold additional hearings. 

The ASSE has provided OSHA with a counter ergonomics standard, based on input from its 33,000 safety engineer members, which offers a more reasonable and user friendly approach to the control of workplace musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and ergonomic exposures than the current OSHA proposal. 

The ASSE also believes that the 'one case' trigger called for in the standard is poor policy because many ergonomic problems arise off the job and in the absence of a clear triggering incident, getting at the root cause is extremely problematic. If the cause is not in the workplace, trying to fix the workplace will not reduce or eliminate injuries. 

ASSE's comments on the OSHA ergonomics proposal and a copy of ASSE's counterproposal are posted on ASSE's web site at http://www.asse.org/. 

Founded in 1911, the ASSE is the world's oldest and largest professional national safety organization. Its 33,000 members manage, supervise and consult on safety, health and environmental issues in industry, insurance, government and education nationally and globally. 

SOURCE American Society of Safety Engineers 

CONTACT: Diane M. Hurns of American Society of Safety Engineers, 847-768-3413, dhurns@asse.org