|
 |
|
|
|
AWB-Led Coalition Files Suit to Overturn State Ergonomics Rule |
|
|
|
Written On: October 18, 2001 |
|
|
|
Written By: Richard Davis |
|
|
|
Olympia – The Association of Washington Business, has joined a broad-based coalition of business organizations and employers to file suit in Thurston Superior Court in an effort to overturn Washington’s ergonomics regulations.
The suit was filed Wednesday, Oct. 17, by Washington Employers Concerned About Regulating Ergonomics (WE CARE), a coalition of more than 230 business organizations, companies and individuals affected by the ergonomic rules adopted by the state Department of Labor and Industries.
The ergonomic rules were adopted in May 2000 and are scheduled to go into effect July 1, 2002.
“Going to court is our last resort,” said AWB President Don Brunell. “We have tried to work with L&I on these rules and even attempted to have legislation passed to have them overturned or modified, but we were blocked in every instance.”
The suit maintains that the state rules should be overturned on several grounds:
> Under the 1995 Regulatory Reform Act, agencies are prohibited from creating new rules. That can only be done by the Legislature.
> L&I did not conduct a proper benefit/cost analysis on these rules. The agency maintains that the rules will cost businesses collectively $80 million in the first year to implement. However, independent studies have shown that the true cost to business is estimated at $725 million.
> The rules themselves are not based on sound science. Repeated studies and testimony from ergonomics experts showed that these rules would not significantly reduce ergonomic injuries. A study by the Mayo Clinic, for example, contradicted the rules.
“It is our hope that this suit will cause L&I to reconsider implementation of these rules,” Brunell said. “An expensive, protracted court action serves no one’s interests.”
|
|
|
|
