NEW YORK— The American Hotel & Motel Association is locking horns with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration over the government agency’s press for ergonomics standards that are expected to impact the industry— along with almost all other American business— when they go into effect Jan. 16, 2001. Last month OSHA released its final ergonomics program standard, a 600-plus page, broad-based regulation crafted over the course of a year that immediately drew brickbats from AH&MA and a sea of other enterprises. “It doesn’t say how many beds a housekeeper can make, how much weight a bellman can pick up, how many times a doorman can open the door. What is does say is that the employer must put in place a program to prevent these injuries, ” said John (Jack) Connors, executive vp/governmental affairs for AH&MA. He faulted the standard for being vague and trying to encompass almost all industries under one umbrella regulation. At its core, the standard’s purpose, according to OSHA, is “to reduce the number and severity of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) caused by exposure to risk factors in the workplace.” It doesn’t concern such injuries caused by “slips, trips, falls, vehicle accidents or similar accidents.” The standard covers all “general industry employers,” with the exception of the construction, agriculture, maritime and railroad industries, which OSHA expects to address at a later time. The massive document also has been termed premature, issued in advance of a $1 million, congressionally mandated study on ergonomics by the National Academy of Sciences. “AH&MA’s position is that OSHA’s premature in issuing final regulations; they should wait for the NAS study,” said Connors. Since proposed in November 1999, the standard elicited more than 8,000 written public comments and the agency heard testimony from more than 700 witnesses, including the AH&MA. Although the collective input served to drive changes yielding the final standard, AH&MA remains “strongly opposed” to the standard, said Connors. It actively lobbied against the measure, including testifying before OSHA and conducting letter-writing campaigns to elected officials, and has been monitoring ergonomics initiatives for three years. OSHA estimates 102 million workers at 6.1 million worksites will be affected by the regulation. Once in effect, employers have until Oct. 14, 2001 to provide basic required information to employees about MSDs and what are symptoms and signs. OSHA offers basic information sheets employers can distribute and post in the workplace to comply with the requirement. “Employers are not required to take any other action until an MSD incident is reported,” according to the agency. The OSHA standard states an MSD incident is work-related and requires days away from work, restricted work or medical treatment beyond first aid, or involves signs/symptoms that last seven consecutive days after reported to the employer. Employers can call in a health care professional to determine whether the reported condition is an MSD. Employers are not responsible for MSDs that are not the result of exposure to workplace risk factors. The risk factors covered by the OSHA standard are: awkward postures, contact stress, force, repetition and vibration. Once an MSD incident is determined, a series of steps and timetables kicks in, ranging from seven days to four years and from “quick fix options” for isolated cases of MSDs to implementation of full-blown ergonomics programs that include management leadership and employee participation, job controls, training and program evaluation. [HOTEL BUSINESS® readers may view the full OSHA Ergonomics Standard at website http://www.osha-slc.gov/ergonomics-standard/]. Connors said it was premature to predict ramifications from a dollars-and-cents standpoint for the industry. OSHA estimates the overall total annual costs of the standard to employers to be $4.5 billion; however, AH&MA questioned the cost analys
