Workers in danger
A BOSTON GLOBE EDITORIAL
4/18/2002
EACH YEAR 1.8 million Americans suffer workplace injuries
that are caused by repetitive stress or over-exertion.
One-third of the cases are severe enough to cause missed time
on the job. The National Academy of Sciences has pegged the
annual cost of these injuries at $45 billion to $54 billion.
Despite this toll, the Bush administration has decided that a
voluntary plan is enough to get employers to take the
preventive measures that all too many have so far failed to take.
Earlier this month Labor Secretary Elaine Chao unveiled a
toothless plan that does not even identify the industries that
have the most serious problems. Senator Edward Kennedy is
calling her before his Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Committee today to explain the administration's position.
More than a year ago President Bush signed legislation that
repealed an ergonomic safety regulation put in place by
President Clinton. That regulation was the product of 10 years
of research and consultations with health and industrial
experts. It has taken another year for Chao to produce a plan
so skeletal that while it promises new sets of guidelines for
certain industries by the end of the year, no one can say how
many sets or what industries. For health experts, it is no
mystery which places need the most immediate attention:
department stores, hospitals, nursing homes, airlines (baggage
handlers), grocery stores, and trucking and courier services.
Taken together, musculoskeletal disorders are the single most
common job safety hazard, and women suffer a
disproportionate share of carpal tunnel syndrome and
tendinitis cases. A 2001 report by the National Academy of
Sciences' Institute of Medicine left no doubt that workplace
conditions contribute to musculoskeletal disorders of the low
back and upper extremities.
The Bush administration is ignoring this evidence and the
support for a mandatory standard from a range of health and
safety professional organizations. To make matters worse, it
chose Eugene Scalia, who has long opposed ergonomics
standards, as the Labor Department`s top lawyer.
Fortunately, not all industries are ducking their responsibility.
The automakers and some textile manufacturers have studied
their work sites, identified jobs that are hazardous, and often
come up with corrective measures that are as straightforward
as changing the height of a conveyor belt. Among high-tech
and communications companies, Intel and US West have
especially good records.
But these firms will continue to be a minority until there is a
standard for addressing ergonomic hazards that all employers
have to meet. Kennedy should back legislation to achieve this if
Chao's testimony makes it clear that the Bush plan is as
inadequate as it appears.
This story ran on page A10 of the Boston Globe on 4/18/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.
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