The National Academy of Sciences has issued a new report about workplace injuries, “Musculoskeletal Disorders and the Workplace,” which has found that about one million injuries are caused each year by repetitive motions on the job or by other work-related ergonomic factors. The report, which Congress ordered two years ago, estimates the cost of such injuries to be about $50 billion a year.
Republicans and business groups argue that the report provides little justification for the new federal ergonomics rules that the Clinton administration recently established, which they say would cost $120 billion to carry out. Business lobbyists are expected to aggressively urge the Bush administration to rescind the Clinton administrations ergonomics regulations.
Democrats and unions, however, believe that the report supports such rules by stating that modifications of physical factors on the job could help reduce musculoskeletal injuries.
For more information, read the full report online at the National Academy Press Web site.
Based on a report from the New York Times
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