On-the-Job Injuries
Are workers paying a high price for productivity?
No one is pretending this won't cost employers money: OSHA puts the probable cost to business at $4.2 billion a year, while the Small Business Administration says it will be more like $18 billion. Representatives of food wholesalers say they face an initial cost of $26 billion in their industry alone.
"It's going to be a big battle," says Miriam McKendall, J.D., an employment law expert with the Boston law firm of Holland and Knight. "I think some [regulation] will pass," she adds. "A lot of it depends on the political climate and where we are before the election." She says Congress is likely to press OSHA to delay installing the new regulations until after the new NAS study is complete.
OSHA is accepting public comment on the proposal until March 2nd and in March and April will conduct hearings on the issue in Washington, D.C., Portland, Ore., and Chicago. Written comments, postmarked no later than March 2, 2000, must be submitted in duplicate to the OSHA Docket Office, Docket No. S-777, Room N-2625, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210. Telephone: (202) 693-2350. Comments of 10 pages or fewer may be faxed to the Docket Office at (202) 693-1648.
On-the-Job Injuries
Are workers paying a high price for productivity?
No one is pretending this won't cost employers money: OSHA puts the probable cost to business at $4.2 billion a year, while the Small Business Administration says it will be more like $18 billion. Representatives of food wholesalers say they face an initial cost of $26 billion in their industry alone.
"It's going to be a big battle," says Miriam McKendall, J.D., an employment law expert with the Boston law firm of Holland and Knight. "I think some [regulation] will pass," she adds. "A lot of it depends on the political climate and where we are before the election." She says Congress is likely to press OSHA to delay installing the new regulations until after the new NAS study is complete.
OSHA is accepting public comment on the proposal until March 2nd and in March and April will conduct hearings on the issue in Washington, D.C., Portland, Ore., and Chicago. Written comments, postmarked no later than March 2, 2000, must be submitted in duplicate to the OSHA Docket Office, Docket No. S-777, Room N-2625, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210. Telephone: (202) 693-2350. Comments of 10 pages or fewer may be faxed to the Docket Office at (202) 693-1648.