Ergonomics: Waiting in the Wings

The events of Sept. 11, the resulting reinsurance capacity crisis, and an increasingly hard market have kept risk managers working at a frantic pace to place commercial coverage and survive the renewal process. Yet, many of the issues that occupied so much of our focus before September are still very much alive and waiting in the wings. Chief among these issues are ergonomic injuries in the workplace, and the role, if any, that the federal government will play in preventing these injuries. Last spring, labor advocates were dealt a serious setback when the intensely debated federal ergonomics regulation, finally promulgated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and signed into law by President Clinton shortly before his term expired, was overturned by a legislative tool called the Congressional Review Act.