The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has set summer as a target date for issuing national ergonomics standards. SBN talked to Gary Klatsky, an expert in human factors and ergonomics and a cognitive psychologist at the State University of New York at Oswego.
Why does there need to be a national ergonomics standard?
There were 277,000 cumulative trauma disorder cases reported in 1997. Although the numbers of reported cases has declined the past two years, the costs related to these injuries are tremendous.
Do you think a particular industry will be targeted, or will the standards apply to all sectors?
It is my understanding that OSHA will be targeting those industries where there are the greatest numbers of work-related musculoskeletal disorders. These are primarily in materials handling and manufacturing industries.
Because of the numbers of office workers reporting carpal tunnel syndrome and other repetitive strain injuries, do you think these standards will apply to the office environment?
Although computer related injuries have received increasing coverage recently, there were only only 12.6 injuries reported per 10,000 workers in 1997 compared to the 1,200 injuries per 10,000 meat packing workers. The reports that I have read indicate that keyboarding injuries will not be covered by the ergonomic standards to be released this summer.
What effect will the standard have on businesses, especially smaller operations working with limited budgets?
I expect that proactively reducing the number of these work-related musculoskeletal disorders would have less of an impact than dealing with the costs related to the injuries. The draft standards require the employers to determine the risk for developing these injuries in their operation. This risk assessment will determine the course of action they must take. Many of these injuries can be reduced through training and the redesign of specific tasks.
What are some examples of what the new standards may require?
There will be the administration of a workplace risk check list that will be used to determine the severity of problems at the specific operation. Employers will be required to achieve a minimum score on the checklist. Those employers who do not reach the target score will be given a specific time to correct the problems. In cases where the problems are easily identified, the employers can implement the corrections and then re-administer the check list. The time frame for correcting the problem depends on the size of the operation—60 days for those with 10 or more employees, 120 days for those with less than 10 employees.
In situations where the specific problem cannot be readily identified, a written job improvement plan has to be submitted to OSHA. There is a phase-in for the job improvement plan, again depending on the size of the operation. For example, one-third of the problems must be eliminated in two years for large operations and three years for smaller operations.
The draft regulations also stipulate training for employees regarding work-related musculoskeletal disorders for problem jobs. This training will be on-going. There is also to be medical management, whereby the employer will establish a contact person who will communicate with health care providers regarding the risks and injuries.
Will there be some sort of phase-in period?
Yes, there will be a phase in. For example, the job improvement plan for the serious problems will be required to be fully implemented in four years for large operations (10 or more employees) and five years for small operations.
