The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced Friday that it will develop voluntary ergonomics guidelines for certain industries. The announcement pleased business interests such as the American Trucking Associations, who had opposed sweeping Clinton-administration regulations that were reversed after President Bush took office.

OSHA's announcement said its plan was designed "to dramatically reduce ergonomic injuries through a combination of industry-targeted guidelines, tough enforcement measures, workplace outreach, [and] advanced research."
"Bureau of Labor Statistics' data show that musculoskeletal disorders are already on the decline. This plan is designed to accelerate that decline as quickly as possible," said OSHA Administrator John Henshaw. "Thousands of employers are already working to reduce ergonomic risks without government mandates. We want to work with them to continuously improve workplace safety and health. We will go after the bad actors who refuse to take care of their workers."
OSHA expects to begin releasing guidelines ready for application in selected industries this year. OSHA will also encourage other businesses and industries to immediately develop additional guidelines of their own.
To help businesses reduce workplace injuries, OSHA will provide specialized training, grants, and a recognition program.
OSHA also plans to crack down on what it calls "bad actors," and put its enforcement emphasis on industries with serious ergonomics problems. Inspections will be coordinated with a legal strategy developed by Labor Department attorneys that is based on prior successful ergonomics cases.
The plan also includes the announcement of a national advisory committee; part of their task will be to advise OSHA on research gaps.
The ATA welcomed the recommendations, with President William Canary issuing a statement saying, "The American Trucking Associations has long been an advocate for workplace safety and common sense, scientific measures that would help reduce injuries in the workplace. We believe that these recommendations have been arrived at through a carefully studied and open process that asked the right questions of the right people: those who have to work within the rules," including major trucking companies.
The Teamsters union, however, slammed the announcement, calling it "an insult to workers who are injured on the job as a result of these crippling hazards." A Teamsters statement said that considering the amount of time and money spend by business fighting ergonomics regulations, "there is no reason to thing that business would now voluntarily follow 'guidelines' that they have spent a decade trying to scuttle."