Ergonomics

Reading “State Unveils Scaled-Back Standard for Ergonomics” (Dec. 2) one would think the new regulation was A-OK from the employer perspective. Not the case! In fact, as the coalition representing thousands of small and large employers in transportation, health care, manufacturing, agriculture, education and local government, we’d like to go on record opposing the proposed regulation. If adopted by Cal-OSHA, with the stroke of a pen California would become the only state in the nation to require employers to find solutions to problems the entire medical community does not yet understand despite decades of research.

Ergonomic principles--fitting the workplace to the worker--make sense, and employers currently spend millions of dollars implementing them where they are effective. But the inherent problem with any ergonomic regulation is a complete lack of consensus in the medical and scientific communities as to the causes or remedies for “repetitive stress injuries.” It’s guesswork. And, under the proposed regulation, if an employer guesses wrong, he could be subject to stiff fines and lawsuits. The fact is, California would not even be facing this regulation but for a statutory mandate driving the whole process. Until the scientific foundation exists, the only fair approach is repealing the mandate.

TED GREEN, Director

Coalition for Common Sense

Los Angeles