ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, November 17, 1996 TAG: 9611190008
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The New York Times
After years of debate, California regulators last week approved the nation's first law intended to curb the growing problem of repetitive motion injuries at work.
The law is a narrow, measured step, reflecting the heated politics and complex science surrounding the field of ``ergonomics,'' a discipline that tries to design jobs and tools to fit the physical limits of workers. Labor organizations as well as employer groups said they planned to challenge the California ergonomic regulations.
Yet the California law is likely to revive the debate over whether there should be a federal ergonomics standard to curb repetitive motion injuries, which afflict hundreds of thousands of workers.
The California standard requires employers to provide injured workers with special training, to alter their work routines and to change their work stations or tools, if necessary.
However, the standard does not apply to companies with fewer than 10 employees. And it is only put into effect after at least two workers who perform identical tasks are shown to have similar injuries within a year.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been working since 1990 to develop an ergonomic standard to protect workers. But under pressure from business lobbyists, conservative Republicans in Congress had prevented the agency from moving ahead with its rule-writing effort until recently.
The business opponents of ergonomic regulation say the study of repetitive motion injuries is still in its early stages.
LENGTH: Short : 37 linesby CNB