 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
|
| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Michael Foley, MA and Barbara Silverstein, PhD. SHARP Program, Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, PO Box 44330, Olympia, WA 98504, 360-902-5429, folm235@lni.wa.gov
Washington State adopted a prevention-based ergonomics rule in July 2000. The SHARP program of the Department of Labor and Industries has conducted two large employer surveys: one in 1998 before the initiation of rulemaking, the other in 2001 after the adoption of the rule but before the enforcement of the rule’s requirements. Survey questions covered musculoskeletal injuries, worker exposures to work-related musculoskeletal disorder (WMSD) hazards, steps being taken by employers to address WMSD risks, reasons for these steps, results observed, and resources used by employers. Since the rule is being phased in over a six year period, with large businesses in high-hazard industries required to fully implement the rule’s requirements first, we were able to compare responses to the same questions before and after the change in the regulatory environment. Our results show that more large businesses in high-hazard industries were “taking steps” in 2001 than was true in 1998. However, worker exposures to WMSD hazards, as measured by duration of time performing each of 15 separate work tasks, had not changed as of mid-2001, roughly one year after adoption of the rule. Employers who did report taking steps to address musculoskeletal hazards observed successful results.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Ergonomics, Regulations
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.