OSHA Abandons Rule for Recording Workplace Ergonomic Injuries

CWA-represented nurses are among those deeply concerned about OSHA's withdrawal of a reporting requirement for job-related ergonomic injuries. Pictured on a no-lift device is Local 1168 Safety and Health Director Dana McCarthy, with two Kaleida officials.

Giving in to pressure from businesses, OSHA has halted plans to restore a rule requiring employers to keep a record of job-related ergonomic injuries by simply checking a box on a form they already fill out.

The decision is deeply disappointing to CWA health and safety staff and activists, who fought to revive the rule and say employers have as much to gain as workers by identifying and fixing ergonomic problems.

In Buffalo, N.Y., for instance, CWA Local 1168/Nurses United persuaded Kaleida hospitals to invest in mechanical lifts (pictured at left), adjustable-height beds and other equipment to help nurses avoid injuries caused by lifting patients. Doing so has dramatically reduced the nurses' number of lost work days, saving the hospital system millions of dollars over the last five years.

"In working with our employer, we realized that the majority of Workers' Compensation claims were strain and sprains to the soft tissue," said Dana McCarthy, the local's safety and health director. "There is a great deal of hard scientific evidence that workers should not lift more than 30 pounds or they eventually will be injured. To ignore these facts and not study MSDs (or musculoskeletal disorders) in the workplace is to ignore real solutions to the problem."

From 1970 until 2003, OSHA forms for employers to record workplace injuries and illnesses had a separate column for MSDs, such as the injuries the nurses routinely suffered. The column was removed during the Bush administration.

After Obama took office, OSHA moved to restore it. But the business community howled, claiming it would be too burdensome for small businesses even though it doesn't apply to employers with fewer than 10 workers.

OSHA says withdrawing the rule from its review process is a temporary measure to give the agency more time to hear from small businesses. CWA and other unions say they will be commenting, too, and intend to ensure the rule is restored.