Advocates urging passage of a workplace ergonomics bill recently reported favorably out of the state General Assembly's Labor and Public Employees Committee told BNA April 10 both employers and workers would benefit if the measure passes.

"Our position is very clear because no matter what employer you're looking at, musculoskeletal disorders are traumatic injuries, they leave you with chronic pain and remove people from the workforce a lot earlier than they would be," Mary Jane Williams, Connecticut Nurses Association government relations chair, said. "If the industry really looked at and did a cost-benefit analysis of what it costs them to support someone who has been injured on workmen's compensation, and injured repeatedly, then they would understand the value of this program."

Yet opponents said the measure would impose unrealistic burdens on small business owners. Kyra Nesteriak, Connecticut Business and Industry Association Government Affairs manager, told BNA April 7 the proposed bill was not an appropriate way to address the problem.

"We do believe that ergonomics is important and we do see the correlation between it and ergonomic-related worker injuries resulting in workers' compensation costs," Nesteriak said. "However, we think this bill would be too onerous on companies."

Bill Contents.

Connecticut House Bill 5740, similar to one introduced and later defeated in 2003, would require companies with 100 or more employers to develop written ergonomics policies and procedures (33 OSHR 127, 02/6/03). It authorizes company safety and health committee--which would be required for organizations with 25 or more workers--to develop the policies.

Under the proposed bill, employer safety and health committees must review and analyze private employee medical records to determine whether there is a pattern of ergonomic-related injuries or illnesses; review and analyze jobs/work tasks to identify potential ergonomic risks that contribute to MSDs; seek input about ergonomic problems by reviewing complaints, interviewing employees, conducting surveys or distributing questionnaires; and develop a written ergonomics policy that contains:

•  procedures for joint evaluation of the extent and cause of any work-related ergonomic issues and to make improvements in job design;

• procedures for providing ergonomics training in order to prevent or minimize MSDs; and

• incentives for employees to report early symptoms of MSDs.

H.B. 5740 has been placed on the House calendar after it successfully cleared the Labor and Public Employees Committee April 6. Lawmakers can send it back to another committee for further deliberation, bring it up for a vote, or take no action before this legislative session ends May 3.

Pros, Cons.

CNA, which testified on behalf of the bill during a public hearing in committee March 14, has been looking at safe patient handling measures for nurses in the state, an approach endorsed by the American Nurses Association. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, nursing personnel are among the highest at risk for MSDs, with nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants ranked first and registered nurses listed as sixth among at-risk occupations for strains and sprains.

Williams said an estimated 12 percent of nurses leave the profession annually because of back injuries, and more than 52 percent complain of chronic back pain. The trend has led other states, most recently Washington state, to enact safe patient-handling legislation (36 OSHR 290, 3/30/06).

Yet Nesteriak and others opposing the measure say having company safety and health committees review private employee injury and illness records, such as group health insurance records and absentee and turnover information, is a violation of current state and federal medical privacy laws. Moreover, she said, the committees are not adequately prepared for such a task.