Published December 2002

State ergonomics rules
a pain for employers

In mid-November, WE CARE, a coalition representing private and public employers, hospitals, business associations and chambers of commerce from around the state, filed opening briefs to the Washington Supreme Court in its petition of the state’s new ergonomics rules. WE CARE — Washington Employers Concerned About Regulating Ergonomics — clearly sees the ergonomics regulations as prohibitively expensive, not to mention unnecessary.

“The brief very clearly states the significant violations of the 1995 Regulatory Reform Act by the Department of Labor and Industries in adopting this rule,” said Carolyn Logue, Washington state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, a WE CARE member.

“Faulty cost-benefit analyses, lack of implementation plans and (an) inadequate standard of review for significant rules show a disregard for this important act by L&I. We urge the Supreme Court to put things to right and send a message to all state agencies that they cannot adopt rules while ignoring administrative procedures passed by the Legislature,” Logue said in a news statement to media.

Washington state’s ergonomics regulation, one of only two ergonomics regulations in the country and the only one of its scope and magnitude, will cost Washington businesses $725 million per year to implement, according to NFIB calculations.

“Washington is already one of the most heavily regulated states in the country, with a myriad of exorbitant costs that undermine our competitiveness. The cost of complying with this ergonomics rule will further erode our state’s competitiveness and make it more difficult to pull out of our economic slump, something our state cannot afford,” said Amber Balch of the Association of Washington Business, also a WE CARE member.

Noting the difficulties Washington state is having in shoring up its sagging economy, it seems ironic that government agencies continue to try to impose expensive new rules on the state’s businesses.

For more information, contact the WE CARE Coalition (Washington Employers Concerned About Regulating Ergonomics), P.O. Box 658,Olympia, WA 98507-0658, call 800-521-9325 or send a fax to 360-943-5811.

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