U.S. Department of Labor Occupational
Safety & Health Administration

New Proposals for Preventing and Treating Repetitive Strain
and other Work Related Injuries

The Labor Department proposed new rules today (Nov. 22, 1999) that would mandate employers  to correct injury-causing workplace conditions that entail repetitive motion, overexertion or awkward postures. This is of relevance to the many fibromyalgia patients who struggle to remain employed, despite a work aggravated aggravation of their pain.

Each year, 1.8 million workers have musculoskeletal injuries related to ergonomic factors and 600,000 people miss some work because of them, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OHSA). Some of these injuries eventually lead to the development of fibromyalgia.

Labor Secretary Alexis Herman commented: "Work-related musculoskeletal disorders...are the most prevalent, most expensive and most preventable workplace injuries in the country and it is time we do something about it."

However the proposed rules, published in the Federal Register, will not become final until next year at the earliest, after a series of public hearings in Washington and other cities. It is anticipated that there will be a strong opposition from business groups and some lawmakers who are concerned about the cost. OSHA estimates that employers who have to correct problems will spend about $150 a year for each work station that is modified. The total cost was estimated at $4.2 billion a year. This figure has to be compared to the estimated cost of these injuries which is $15 billion to $20 billion annually for workers' compensation and $30 billion to $40 billion in other expenses such as medical care.

Under the proposed rules, a worker who has an ergonomic injury diagnosed by a doctor would be entitled to have the work environment modified to correct the inciting problem. Other proposals include:

1. A worker who must be assigned to lighter duty during recovery from ergonomic injury would be guaranteed normal pay and benefits.

2. A worker who must leave the job altogether would be guaranteed 90 percent pay and full benefits during recovery.

3. Employers operating workplaces with numerous incidents of ergonomic injury,  would have to provide medical help and safety retraining for workers in addition to correcting physical problems.

4. All manufacturers and companies with workers doing manual heavy lifting would be required to provide preventive training.

See occupational injury recording and reporting requirements