Senators Push Ergonomics Issue in Hearing

Washington, D.C. — At a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing yesterday, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa; Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Penn.; and others questioned Labor Secretary Elaine Chao on the administration's approach to ergonomics. Although Chao has promised to address workplace injuries caused by repetitive stress, her department has set no clear deadlines for developing an ergonomics rule to replace a rule that Congress recently repealed. Determined to spur action on the issue, a bipartisan group of senators, led by Louisiana Democrat John Breaux, has introduced bill S. 598 to require the reissuance of an ergonomics rule within two years.