Ergonomics Ban Faces Likely Veto

July 12, 2000 9:30 AM, EDT

House and Senate votes have stopped funding for the proposed ergonomics standards starting Oct. 1, but the workplace safety issue covering an estimated 27.3 million workers is far from being dead in the water.

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Though lawmakers do not want to see the proposal go into effect, the White House has drawn a line in the sand about the standards that would affect hundreds of thousands of workers in trucking from those manning assembly lines to docks to cabs.

A Labor Department spokesman, who wished to remain anonymous, told Transport Topics July 5 that President Clinton promised to veto any bill that would stop the Occupational Safety and Health Administration from completing its work in developing policies that would involve manual labor and manufacturing tasks.

“It’s going to be an interesting two or three months ahead, but once it reaches the president’s desk it will be vetoed if the ban is in it,” said an OSHA spokesman, who requested not to be identified.

For the full story, see the July 10 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.