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OSHA reviving ergonomics rule

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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is reviving the prospect of an ergonomics standard that could force employers to revamp employee workstations, the Washington Post is reporting.

Ergonomics standards, or rules for workstation design, would aim to protect workers across a wide range of industries from repetitive stress injuries.

But employers have opposed ergonomics standards in the past, fearing they would get a one-size-fits-all mandatory standard for all workplaces without scientific proof that the cost would reduce injuries.

Insurers have also opposed implementation of an ergonomics standard, arguing it would adversely impact state work comp systems, according to a 2002 Business Insurance story.

OSHA issued an ergonomics standard during the last weeks of the Clinton administration, but Congress and President Bush later rescinded it.

Now, according to the Washington Post, current OSHA acting head Jordan Barab is reviving the issue. Mr. Barab led OSHA's enactment of the ergonomics standard adopted during the Clinton administration, according to the Washington Post story.

The Post report says several federal regulators under President Obama are stepping up enforcement. That story is available here.