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Legislative Weekly
November 22, 2002
Ergonomics
“Working Group”
The 12 person working group authorized by the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board to look at the need for a revised ergonomic standard met on November 15 at the Elihu Harris State Building in Oakland, CA. Only nine members were present and public attendance was light. The meeting was in response to a petition filed by the California Labor Federation AFL/CIO to adopt a new ergonomic standard.
The focus of the meeting was to address the basic issue underlying the petition, which is whether it is necessary to revise Section 5110, Title 8, California Code of Regulations and to consider the merits of the petitioner's requested changes. A corollary question also considered was whether the Division's enforcement of section 5110 could be improved without making changes to the existing standard.
Virtually no new information was presented to justify a new ergonomic standard. Information presented was largely anecdotal and relied almost exclusively on citing examples of repetitive motion injury (RMI) cases with bad outcomes. Proponents also voiced strong opposition to the existing provision in the standard that requires two identical RMIs before the employer is required to develop and implement a full fledged ergonomic prevention program. This is one of the main complaints of the Labor Federation - that the standard fails to protect workers because the threshold is so high that Cal-OSHA has been unable to issue citations. Employers maintained that without some objective standard of measurement, every tingling of the hand, pain or discomfort in the upper extremities would trigger a visit to the physician and potentially qualify as a RMI.
The Division presented a statistical overview of California's RMI incidence rates. However, CMTA believes (and the Division did not deny it) that the data presented was virtually useless as a true indicator of RMIs as required by Section 6357 of the Labor Code because the data included all types of musculoskeletal injuries including sprains and strains. Employers correctly pointed out that one of the primary problems with trying to assess the RMI incidence rates is the lack of clear definitions and recording instructions that would allow physicians and employers to properly identify and record such injuries. Only after these changes have been made will there be relevant and accurate data being collected that is suitable for statistical analysis by the Division.
Division staff also presented information to illustrate why it is difficult to issue citations for repetitive motion injuries under the current standard. For example, in order to establish a citation, they have to find more than one identical injury that has been objectively identified and diagnosed by a licensed medical doctor that was predominantly caused by repetitive work activities and was reported to the employer within 12 months of another qualifying injury. Because not all physicians under the labor code are licensed medical physicians, the reports of non-licensed physicians are not useable by the division. These specific requirements were placed in the standard in response to employers' fears of a single incident triggering an expensive overhaul of the entire workplace based on a non-objective finding of a RMI.
The Division provided an interim briefing on the working group meeting to the Standards Board on November 21 in San Diego. The full report and any recommendations by the Division will be submitted to the Board and discussed at a December meeting.
If you have questions or comments about the proceedings, contact Willie Washington at CMTA at (916) 498-3322.
Legislative Analyst Reports Additional Deficit
Governor Calls for Special Session
 Hill LAO report |
On Thursday, Governor Davis announced that he is calling the legislature back for a special legislative session on December 9th to close the budget gap by $5 billion. While the Governor and key legislators have not ruled out any potential sources of revenue to close the gap, the Governor indicated that during this session tax increases would not be part of the solution. Democratic legislators and the Governor have made it clear that every option will be on the table for consideration next year, including cuts to education.
California is one of few states that requires a 2/3 vote of the legislature for passage of the budget. On November 5 Assembly Republicans picked up at least two additional seats and Senate Republicans picked up one. The daunting task of closing the latest budget gap and passing a sound budget bill will be all the more challenging as democrats in both houses will now need additional republican votes.
CMTA Urges Reforms to Help the High-Tech Economy
CMTA urged members of the World Trade Commission and the Assembly Subcommittee on Information Technology to take steps to stem the continuing loss of manufacturing jobs in California. Also speaking at the November 21 hearing in Santa Clara were Ross DeVol of the Milken Institute, Jon Haveman of the Public Policy Institute of California, and Lon Hatamiya, Secretary of the Technology, Trade and Commerce Agency. CMTA’s Vice President of Government Relations, Dorothy Rothrock, suggested that reducing the cost of electricity, worker's compensation reform and a sales tax exemption on the sale of equipment used in manufacturing, research and development and telecommunications would stimulate the economy and help overcome projected future budget shortfalls.
“The cost of business in California is 32% above the national average, higher than we can tolerate and keep high-paying manufacturing jobs in California” Rothrock said. “It is critical that economic recovery be part of the California budget debate, equal in importance to discussions about cuts in spending and revenue enhancements.”
The high-tech sector has been particularly hard hit in the downturn - exports of high-tech goods decreased 25% last year, making Texas a bigger exporter than California. Other ideas presented at the hearing to stimulate this sector include providing access to financing for small start-up firms, a sales tax holiday on the purchase of computers, an investment in broadband infrastructure, and lowering the tax on capital gains. There was general agreement that while strong consumer spending has fueled economic activity lately, there are signs that this is now slowing and recovery will depend on business investment and an increase in global demand for high-tech products.
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