Home Treatment for Repetitive Stress Injury

Over the summer, Barack Obama promised that if elected, he would work to improve ergonomics regulations. “We’re going to have a government that makes sure workers aren’t put at unnecessary risk,” he reportedly said on the campaign trail.

But Obama might have a tough time getting started, because of Bush’s new regulations and the struggling economy.

In his last days as President, Bill Clinton passed legislation that would have strengthened regulations and created programs to help prevent the sprains, back problems, carpal tunnel and other injuries that happen on the job.

These never went into effect, because George W. Bush repealed them in his first days in office. The Republican administration created a new law, the Congressional Review Act (CRA), to strike down Clinton’s “midnight regulations.” Since the laws were not yet in effect and had only been passed less than 60 days previously, the new administration gave themselves the rights to veto them.

Before Obama can get the country back on track with ergonomics, he’ll have to find a way to strike down Bush’s own midnight regulations. In the last month, Bush has passed many new laws that could cause other difficulties for workers, including loosening regulations on dangerous chemicals in industry and even making it hard for workers to take unpaid vacation to help relatives with disabilities or illness.

The Obama administration may not even have access to the Congressional Review Act to overturn Bush’s laws. Advisors warned Bush as early as May that he’d have to pass his laws by mid-November, so that the incoming president could not use the Congressional Review Act to strike them down. And by Thanksgiving, reports were already out detailing the new regulations that Bush has already passed. Some reporters, however, have mentioned that Bush’s advisors may have miscalculated the timing, so Obama may be able to overturn them after all –we’ll have to wait and see.

Now that Barack’s getting his team together, he may be able to hit the ground running by his first days in office. But he won’t just be fighting these latest regulations against workers. In addition to the war and foreign relations, another set-back is our awful economy. In tough economic times, struggling businesses could have a hard time adding the costs of new ergonomics and health programs, and adding to their burden could cause even more problems for the economy.

On the other side, the initial costs of starting new programs could also be offset in the longer term, when injuries go down, and companies don’t have to pay as much for workers’ compensation insurance and medical care. With strong health programs in place, their group medical insurance rates could decrease too.

Here are a couple articles that give more background on the legislation:

• 
  Bush Hits Deadline for Midnight Regulations
• Election Ushers in Era of Ergobamanomics
• Get Ready for Ergobamanomics

Related posts:

1. Bush’s Secret Rule Blocks New Workers’ Safety Regulations
2. The Political Fight over Ergonomics Regulation
3. When to Bring in An Ergonomist
4. Blogroll on Ergonomics and Human Factors