PORT ANGELES — An ergonomics program being implemented by the state Department of Labor and Industries has been misunderstood and actually will save employers money by reducing workplace injuries.
That’s the contention of Risk Management Specialist Dennis Essig, who spoke before the Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce at its weekly luncheon at the Port Angeles CrabHouse restaurant Monday.
Washington state’s ergonomics rules were adopted in May 2000 and took effect July 1. Enforcement will be phased in beginning July 1, 2004, Essig said.
They require employers to protect their employees from such work-related injuries as back strain, tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome. Only Washington and California have adopted such a program.
“Ergonomics can be described as fitting the job to the worker,” Essig said.
Employers with more than 50 employees must comply by July 2004, and those with fewer than 11 employees must participate by July 2005.
Work-related musculoskeletal injuries — soft tissue injuries to tendons, muscles and blood vessels — are a common problem, Essig said, usually resulting from actions over an extended period, rather than a single, traumatic incident, such as a fall.
These injuries make up one-third of Labor and Industries worker’s compensation claims — about 50,000 — a year, Essig said. They cost employers $410 million annually in direct costs and an estimated $1 billion a year in indirect costs, he said.
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The rest of the story appears in the Tuesday Peninsula Daily News Jefferson County edition. Click on SUBSCRIBE, above, to get the PDN delivered to your home or office.
