A work in progress.

OSHA releases draft ergonomics standard

OSHA HAS PUBLISHED A "WORKING DRAFT" OF ITS proposed Ergonomics Program Standard.

The draft will be reviewed and public hearings held before a formal proposal is issued in September. These are the first steps in a regulatory process that is expected to yield an official standard next year, says Gary Orr, an ergonomist with OSHA.

The draft targets manufacturing and manual handling operations, such as long term care facilities. Approximately 60 percent of all lost workdays from work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) occur in these settings, OSHA officials say.

The standard's six elements are management leadership and employee participation; hazard identification and information; job hazard analysis and control; training; medical management; and program evaluation.

Under the draft proposal, employers must establish the first two elements within a year after the final rule becomes effective. The remaining four would e required after a WMSD is reported or if a known hazard exists.

"The key to any standard is flexibility," says Marsha Greenfield, public policy attorney with the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging. AAHSA appreciates OSHA's efforts to address workplace injuries using outcomes-based regulations rather than imposing specific workplace policies and procedures, she says, but the draft raises several concerns.

Chief among those concerns is that any outcomes-based measurement requires inspectors specifically trained in health care. "We are not simply moving cardboard boxes around. People are unpredictable and you never know what will happen," says Greenfield. Best practices may require that solutions be tailored to the individual resident or individual employees rather than the job.

September's final standard may address such concerns, says Orr. "This is a working draft. As a draft it will go through a lot of changes before it gets to a proposal." The final proposal will reflect comments gathered between now and September. While the general elements will be the same, specific requirements are likely to change.

Under the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement and Fairness Act, proposed regulations must first be reviewed for their economic impact on small businesses before being published in the Federal Register for public review and comment. The SBREFA panel's review began in early March and is expected to be complete early this month.

A copy of the draft is available on OSHA's Web site at [less than]www.osha.gov[greater than].