AFS Joins Lawsuit Against OSHA's Ergonomics Regulation.

AFS has officially joined 80 other major trade associations and companies in pursuing legal action against OSHA to block its ergonomic regulation. OSHA's ergonomics rule represents the most far-reaching and costly rule in the agency's history and was finalized in a record 11 months--just in time to meet the 60-day deadline before the inauguration of President Bush. Unless it is blocked by Congress or the courts, the ergonomics rule goes into effect October 2001. The litigation is being led by the National Coalition on Ergonomics, a broad-based coalition of small and large business trade associations in Washington, D.C. AFS supports the business community's decision in pursuing a legal remedy since the final published standard is significantly different from OSHA's proposal and has done little to eliminate original concerns. The basis for the lawsuit will be that OSHA's rule is unsound procedurally, scientifically and legally. A legal decision will not be reached until some time in early 2002. AFS' key concerns with OSHA's ergonomics rule continue to be that it reaches beyond the workplace to make employers liable for injuries aggravated but not caused by work. In addition, it overrides existing workers' compensation laws and creates a 90% mandated wage replacement for employees removed from work because of a repetitive stress disorder and a 100% replacement for those workers placed on restricted or light duty work. AFS filed formal comments in March and testified before OSHA in April arguing that the proposed rule placed unwarranted compliance burdens on foundries and had unrealistic goals that conflicted with the National Labor Relations Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act and state workers' compensation laws.