Safety Board Rejects Ergonomics Proposal : Workplace: California’s action is expected to slow national efforts to combat cumulative trauma disorders.

In an action expected to slow national efforts to combat rapidly spreading workplace injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome, California’s occupational safety standards board Thursday rejected what would have been the country’s first comprehensive ergonomics program.

The 6-0 vote against the regulations surprised even some of the proposal’s ardent critics. It means that officials will almost certainly miss a year-end deadline imposed by the Legislature for adopting a program to curb the painful ailments known as cumulative trauma disorders, or CTDs.

Jere W. Ingram, chairman of the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, said the board vetoed the proposal because “there is virtually no agreement among the affected groups on a means to effectively regulate the prevention of cumulative trauma disorder.”

Ingram added that the proposed regulations, which would have set a standard applying to every employer and employee in the state, were “overly broad and would have imposed a costly regulatory burden on a vast number of employers where the occurrence of cumulative trauma disorders have not been identified.”

The California proposal had encountered blistering criticism in recent months from employers expressing such concerns. They also argued that it would be premature to impose an ergonomics standard when there is still little scientific evidence showing how CTDs, the nation’s No. 1 occupational illness, are caused or how they can be corrected.

Julianne A. Broyles, director of insurance and employment issues for the California Chamber of Commerce, said she was “extraordinarily pleased to get a unanimous vote. It shows that the standards were not of benefit to anyone, to labor or management.”

Labor groups, on the other hand, complained that the final proposal from the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration--a toned-down version of an earlier plan--was riddled with loopholes. Still, the groups expressed frustration that they could not win approval of even a softened proposal.

“We do need to have tough standards, and we’re concerned that it’s going to go by the wayside,” said Pat McConahay, spokeswoman for the California State Employees Assn., a union of government workers.

“Federal OSHA and OSHAs around the country have been looking to California to see what we would do,” she said. “We think California needs to lead the way on this. . . . We’re concerned that business always seems to be taken into account and not the needs of workers.”

The Cal/OSHA board’s vote in San Diego comes as federal OSHA regulators have become bogged down in an effort to draft a national ergonomics standard. Many observers said the California decision is likely to make federal officials more reluctant to come out with a strong proposal.

But Joseph A. Dear, director of federal OSHA, said he will not be deterred by the criticism.

“Carpal tunnel syndrome and other cumulative trauma disorders are still the fastest-rising occupational diseases in America,” he said Thursday. “OSHA will continue working to determine how it can best help employers and workers to reverse this trend.”

Labor’s disappointment was shared by state Sen. Patrick Johnston (D-Stockton), who was co-chairman of the legislative panel that imposed the year-end deadline for an ergonomics standard as part of a workers’ compensation reform package. CTDs are a major source of costs in workers’ compensation injury claims.

“Establishing standards may be as difficult as defining pornography, but the job ought to be pursued in order to reduce the incidence of workers’ compensation claims that are bad for everyone,” Johnston said.

“The board has stepped back from its responsibility and said nothing is better than something,” he said. “I would urge that the effort go forward and incrementally build ergonomic standards into the fabric of our regulations.”

However, Johnston said it is very unlikely that the Legislature will impose a new deadline, given the probable opposition, particularly from Republicans. Further, he dismissed the idea that anyone could force the Cal/OSHA board to act by suing the agency to meet the existing deadline.

“I doubt a judge would want to supervise the writing of an ergonomics standard,” Johnston said.

Nonetheless, labor leaders are expected to take the matter to court.

Among other things, the California standard would have required employers to train all workers to alert them to the early symptoms of CTDs. For employers with workers experiencing such problems or in danger of developing CTDs, remedial measures would have been required. However, the employers would have had a relatively free hand in coming up with solutions, which in some cases would have been as basic as providing longer rest breaks or stepped-up training.

Stuart Silverstein reported from Los Angeles and Chris Kraul from San Diego.