Nancy Pelosi: “Mr. Chairman, my amendment to the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill would delete the rider that bans OSHA from…”

“Mr. Chairman, my amendment to the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill would delete the rider that bans OSHA from protecting workers from musculoskeletal disorders which represent America's fastest growing workplace health problem. What we are talking about is the legislative rider bans any ergonomic guidelines. Ergonomics is the study of force in motion. What we would like to see the ergonomics look at is how to redesign the workplace so as to put less force on the body. This is the force that is causing so many musculoskeletal disorders and represents the fastest growing workplace health problem, having multiplied sevenfold in the past 10 years. Current estimates range from over 700,000 lost work day injuries to 2.7 million accepted worker's comp claims annually, affecting meat packing, poultry workers, computer programmers, auto workers, and supermarket employees, among others. Affected workers suffer pain, restricted life activities, lost work time, and often permanent disability. These repetitive motion injuries include carpal tunnel syndrome, of which you may be familiar, Mr. Chairman.”