Employer organisations in the US rushed to court on Monday in an attempt to prevent the enforcement of a new rule covering repetitive strain injuries.
The US government's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued what it called its Ergonomics Final Rule on Monday, which it hopes will bring about a further decline in such injuries, which are prevalent among computer keyboard and mouse users.
According to OSHA, about 1.8 million workers in the US suffer ergonomics-related injuries, and 600,000 miss work each year as a result. OSHA classifies these as musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and, while it acknowledges that such injuries are in decline, it claims that the problem still accounts for 33 per cent of all workplace injuries.
Under the new rule, employees who miss work because of MSDs can be paid for up to 90 days before a decision on his or her future is made.
The rule affects about six million workplaces in the US and immediately brought protests from lobby groups such as the US Chamber of Commerce, The Labor Policy Association, The Society for Human Resource Management and the National Beer Wholesalers' Association.
"This rule is a disservice to both workers and employers by ignoring legitimate scientific debate over the causes of repetitive strain injuries and by inflating both the scope of the risk and the number of jobs covered. If the rule isn't stopped, it will waste billions of dollars and provide little or no benefit to workers," said Thomas Donohue, president and chief executive at the US Chamber of Commerce.
The lobby group filed an immediate legal challenge to the rule, hoping that if the Republicans gain control of both Congress and the Presidency, they will reverse its implementation.
See also:
A mouse of a different design that should take all the strain out of dragging and dropping. 07 Dec 2000
All Other
del.icio.us
Digg this
reddit!
