September 25, 2002—The American Furniture Manufacturers Association (AFMA) and the North Carolina Department of Labor have formed a unique alliance designed to produce a voluntary guideline that will help furniture manufacturers reduce ergonomic hazards and injuries in their industry.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will provide support for the alliance as well as providing promotion and publication of the voluntary guideline.
This alliance is unique because it is the first to bring federal and state government together with industry to develop voluntary ergonomic guidelines for a specific industry. It is also the first example of a state stepping forward with an industry group to develop a voluntary ergonomic guideline based on OSHA’s four-pronged approach to reduce ergonomic injuries.
OSHA says that furniture manufacturers, their employees, and their families throughout the country can benefit from the collective experience of the alliance participants, and that their example serves as an outstanding model for other states interested in reducing ergonomic-related injuries.
