Just hours before President Obama’s State of the Union speech in which he focused on job creation, OSHA withdrew its second major proposal in a week and said it would seek more input from small businesses on a change to injury logs.
On Tuesday afternoon, OSHA announced it temporarily withdrew from review by the Office of Management and Budget its proposal to add a column for work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) on injury logs.
The press release said OSHA withdrew the proposal “to seek greater input from small businesses on the impact of the proposal and will do so through outreach in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy.”
“It is clear that the proposal has raised concern among small businesses,” said OSHA administrator David Michaels, “so OSHA is facilitating an active dialogue between the agency and the small business community.”
The Bureau of Labor Statistics says MSDs account for 28% of all workplace injuries requiring time away from work in 2009.
OSHA says it will hold a meeting to listen to small businesses’ concerns about the MSD column proposal. Details on the meeting will be announced within a month.
Six days earlier, OSHA withdrew its proposed interpretation of the noise standard that would have forced companies to use more engineering and administrative controls to limit employee hearing loss, rather than relying on hearing protection.
Business groups had complained that such proposals from OSHA would hurt U.S. businesses and cost jobs.
What do you think about these recent OSHA actions in light of the Obama administration’s attempts to be more business friendly? Let us know in the Comments Box below.
