SMALL  BUSINESS  EXEMPTION  IS  STRUCK FROM  ERGONOMICS  STANDARD
 
On September 5, Sacramento Superior Judge James Ford struck down four
important provisions of California’s new ergonomics standard.  All four
provisions contained protections for small businesses with less than 10
employees. Judge Ford rejected the regulatory requirement that the
injury be predominantly caused by workplace activity (predominant cause
is defined as being more than 50%).  Also struck down was the provision
that the ailment be “objectively identified” as a repetitive motion
injury (RMI). Judge Ford, however, upheld that a doctor must make a
diagnosis and that an injury, not just systoms, be present before a
company carries out a training program.  Representatives from
businesses, who were present at the hearing, agreed to appeal the
ruling.  Part of the appeal may focus on challenging the court’s legal
authority to “rewrite” the regulation from the courts.  Most employers
feel the court only has the authority to uphold the regulation as
adopted by the Cal/OSHA Standards Board, or strike the entire regulation
and order the Standards Board to start over again with the public
hearing process and rewrite a new ergonomics standard.

Most small business owners operate on a slender margin of
profitability.  The potentially high compliance costs of the proposed
ergonomics regulation would have been an undue hardship for small
employers. For nearly four years of legal battles and controversy, the
Cal/OSHA Standards Board adopted the nation’s first ergonomics standard
in November, 1996.  The board was forced by both legislative mandate and
court order to develop and implement the regulation, which went into
effect July 3, 1997.  Under Judge Ford’s ruling, all companies will be
required to comply with the standard aimed at reducting painful
disorders linked to repetitive tasks at work.  Leaders of organized
labor were delighted with Judge Ford’s ruling.  UHCA will continue to
work, along with other business groups, to protect small employers on
California’s ergonomics regulation.  Watch for further updates in future
HIGHWAY newsletters.

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 Back to:    Vol. 34. No. 3

Jan., 1998