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When work is a pain
Monday, November 27, 2000
The injuries are not as dramatic as falls from ladders or mangling caused by machinery, but the millions of hurts caused each year by repetitive stress can be just as painful and debilitating.
In one of the most far-reaching workplace regulations ever issued, the Clinton administration would require millions of employers to deal with the structure of work and the design of workplaces in an attempt to prevent 460,000 such injuries each year.
Employers are irate, estimating that the aggregate cost of compliance between $18 billion to $120 billion a year. But the Occupational Safety and Health Administration believes those numbers are wildly exaggerated and that when worker's compensation, sick leave, medical treatment, reduced productivity, replacement and retraining costs are factored in, the new regulation will actually save businesses money.
The agency argues further that if the pain and suffering of the workers is considered, the benefit far exceeds the cost.
There will be an up-front cost, and for some businesses it may be hefty. Many of those companies would rather take their risk with possible injury costs down the road than lop a considerable sum off the bottom line in the next quarter.
It is because some businesses make such calculations that regulations to protect worker safety are needed. And those regulations must keep pace with the changing nature of the workplace, where high-tech miracles have resulted in old-fashioned backaches, stiff necks and throbbing arms.
The rules cover 102 million workers at six million workplaces. Many of those companies would be required only to inform their workers of the new ergonomic standards. If one worker reports an injury, the company would be allowed to do a "quick fix" to address the specific problem. But if two employees doing the same job report injuries within 18 months of each other, then a larger response is needed.
Those companies would have to screen for ergonomic problems and then take steps to resolve them. It could mean lowering desks or raising assembly lines or restructuring a job to limit harmful repetitions.
The regulations do not require companies to bankrupt themselves to address the problem, nor do they expect that businesses will be able to eliminate all such injuries, which number between 600,000 and 1.8 million annually, depending on the definition.
Many companies are already putting resources into ergonomics, trying to design the workplace and the work to minimize injuries. And some are finding that a relatively minor investment can yield significant savings.
But it's absurd to expect that voluntary compliance will lead to the worker health and safety improvements that are needed.
The future of the rules is still murky. They have already been challenged in court, and George W. Bush is not sympathetic and will not fight attempts to overturn the requirements if he is elected president.
The rules are broad and affect so many workplaces because the problems are pervasive and prevalent. Today, workers are not at risk the way a turn-of-the-century coal miner or steel worker was. But the hazards and need for protection are just as real.