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“BUSH ADMINISTRATION FAILS TO PREVENT ERGONOMIC INJURIES” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E594-E595 on April 22, 2002.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
BUSH ADMINISTRATION FAILS TO PREVENT ERGONOMIC INJURIES
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HON. GEORGE MILLER
of california
in the house of representatives
Monday, April 22, 2002
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, the Bush Administration's failure to promulgate rules to protect America's working men and women from the leading cause of workplace injury--
musculoskeletal disorders--is disgraceful. The Congress last year unwisely repealed the ergonomics safety standard developed by the Clinton Administration after years of study by the leading medical researchers in the country. At that time, Labor Secretary Chao pledged to develop a scientifically sound standard expeditiously.
Now, more than a year later, with the findings of three major studies confirming the need for an ergonomics standard, the Bush Administration has proposed a replacement ergonomics policy that provides for no rule, but asks for voluntary compliance instead and, so far, targets only a single industry.
As a result of the Administration's dilatory and simplistic approach, millions of workers will suffer preventable injuries and disabilities, and costly lawsuits will be used to resolve individual cases of injury.
The Bush Administration's serious failure to protect our neighbors and friends who live with the pain of preventable ergonomic injuries has been the subject of extensive and justified criticism. I want to share the views of the Contra Costa Times (April 12, 2002) on the need for a sound ergonomics standard, and the failure of the Bush Administration to address the hazards that injure nearly 2 million Americans every year. (Excerpts from the editorial follow:)
Safe Job Not a Lot To Ask
The Bush Administration has let the working person down by allowing workplace rules, such as those regarding ergonomics, to become voluntary. It would be going too far for the government to mandate the brand of pens, the type of chairs, the make of computer a company must provide. That's not what safe-workplace laws are about. However, enforceable rules that protect employees and make the working environment safer are not too much to ask, and that should be law, not choice.
And that's what the administration pulled back from last week. For 10 years the nation's been improving regulations to help prevent muscular and skeletal disorders brought on or intensified by working conditions. In fact, attention to such matters as ergonomics can actually prevent much more serious injuries and maladies that can cause substantial absenteeism.
So why stop now? Why reverse a positive and still-necessary thing? The government estimates 1.8 million U.S. workers per year suffer ergonomic injuries; yet that's an improvement.
The Labor Department will develop new guidelines for safe and healthy work environments. Companies will be able to use or ignore these and the present regulations at their discretion.
It is, of course, in companies' best interests to make the job a place where the workers can work comfortably. It's expensive when employees have to draw on their health benefits, disability and workers' compensation. In the long run it is more costly to have employees suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome, repetitive strain injury, herniated discs and other work-related illnesses than to create a worker-friendly environment.
But many companies, especially those in highly competitive industries, will choose to watch today's bottom line rather than worry about long-term expense. Those people running publicly traded companies may well feel additional pressure to cut ergonomic costs so as to offer short-term profits to the stockholders.
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