OSHA proposes requiring employers to track MSDs

Despite objections from the business community, OSHA recently unveiled its proposal to restore a column on the OSHA 300 Injury and Illness Log that would require employers to list work-related musculoskeletal disorders separately.

OSHA chief David Michaels, a longtime supporter of an enforceable ergonomics standard, said that restoring the MSD column will "improve the ability of workers and employers to identify and prevent work-related MSDs by providing simple and easily accessible information." The move, he said, will also improve the accuracy and completeness of national work-related injury and illness data.

Business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, believe otherwise. They have argued that restoring the MSD column is the first step in resurrecting national ergonomics regulations. OSHA officials said this isn't the case.

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Prior to 2001, OSHA's injury and illness logs contained a column for repetitive trauma disorders that included noise and MSDs. In 2001, OSHA put noise and MSDs into separate columns, but the MSD column was deleted in 2003 before the provision became effective.

OSHA is requesting comments on the proposed rule. The deadline for submission is March 15.

Read more at the WORKERSCOMP Forum^TM homepage.

March 11, 2010

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