제 목 : California Passes Ergonomics Standard
일 자 : 1997년 03월
제공처 : Safety ＆ health
California's Occupational safety and Health Standards Board approved
a measure to protect workers from musculoskeletal injuries, which makes
it the first state to adopt an ergonomics standard.
The final standard is far less reaching than similar measures that
the board had previously considered. It covers workplaces with lO or
more workers in which two workers who perform identical tasks have been
diagnosed with repetitive-motion problems within a l2-month period.
Once employers reach the two-injury threshold, they must conduct
work-site evaluations,control exposures to repetitive-motion hazards
and provide employee training.
Earlier proposals required all employers to assess their repetitive-
motion problems and establish preventive programs.But the final measure
did not include this requirement due to the lack of agreement on the
causes of repetitive-stress injuries.
"Because of the lack of scientific consensus as to the direct cause of
repetitive-motion injuries, the regulation adopted today focuses only
on work sites where the problem actually exists," says John D.McLeod,
executive officer, Cal-OSHA Standards Board.
Both employer and labor groups urged the board to reject the measure.
The Coalition for Common Sense, a group of local government and industry
associations, based its opposition on the lack of scientific data to
support the causes of repetitive-motion injuries.
The California Chamber of Commerce says the measure is unnecessary
because of existing Cal-OSHA injury-and illness-prevention regulations.
And the California Labor Federation claims the measure is ineffective
because it doesn't minimize repetitive-motion injurles.
By adopting the standard, the state now complies with a courtordered
Dec. 1 deadline that resulted from a lawsuit the labor federation
filed when the board failed to adopt a standard by Jan. l,l995
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