Published 3:30 pm Saturday, February 19, 2022
OLYMPIA — Washington farm lobbyists are joining the battle to defeat a bill that would allow the Department of Labor and Industries to regulate workplace tasks that could lead to tendinitis, strains and other muscle and joint injuries.
House Bill 1837 would repeal a 2003 voters initiative that banned the department from writing ergonomics rules. Voters were reacting to an L&I rule that required all employers to identify “caution zone jobs.”
HB 1837 passed the House 50-48 on Feb. 14 after an eight-hour session, in which majority Democrats rejected an onslaught of Republican amendments. The Senate Labor Committee will have a hearing on the bill Feb. 23.
Washington State Dairy Federation labor policy analyst Scott Dilley said Friday the bill would open the way for onerous rules similar to the ones voters rejected almost two decades ago.
“This is something that was a huge battle 20 years ago, and people still remember it. It’s nothing that can be compromised on,” he said. “This really is a hill to die on for all employers.”
The bill’s Democratic sponsors argue that ergonomic rules would reduce injuries and compensation claims related to repetitive motions or awkward postures.
Ergonomics make work safer for everyone, Labor and Industries safety research director David Bonauto told a House committee.
“Basically, it’s about fitting the job to the worker,” he said. “Ergonomics is an expansive field. There is added literature, added solutions every year, every day.”
Critics of the bill, which includes Republicans and just about every business group lobbying in Olympia, note that L&I already offers to advise employers on ergonomics.
They also note that L&I still has the power to regulate repetitive motions and awkward positions that can lead to injuries.
In a clarifying ruling in 2006, the state Supreme Court ruled that while the initiative tossed out the ergonomics rule, employers still have a duty to keep workers safe, including from hazardous motions.
HB 1837 opponents recall the last time L&I imposed an ergonomics rule, on top of other safety regulations.
”A lot of us have been having flashbacks,” Independent Business Association lobbyist Jim King told the House committee. “The rule was probably the greatest overreach in the history of the Department of Labor and Industries.”
The rule reached into every field.
While 57% of agricultural employers reported having workers that lift or lower objects while twisting, that was less than the 76% in “public administration.”
The rule was fairly short, but the “concise explanatory statement” was 127 pages. Workers with “caution zone jobs” had to receive “ergonomics awareness training.” Plus, caution zone jobs had to be further analyzed to determine whether they were hazardous.
If hazardous, L&I had suggestions for modifying the work. For example, ice cream parlors were advised to sharpen scoopers monthly or store ice cream at no colder than 14 degrees below zero Celsius to reduce “hand force.”
L&I advised those “harvesting radishes” to alternate between kneeling and sitting in a chair. The department suggested meatpackers replace “manual deboning” with “machine deboning.”
L&I had more tips for several industries, such as construction workers (use lighter nail guns) and clerical workers (smaller paper files to reduce “grip forces”), but did single out agriculture in its explanatory statement.
L&I adopted the rule in 2000, but before it went fully into effect, voters, by a 53.5% to 46.5% margin, took away L&I’s authority to make it.
L&I said it’s not lobbying to write another one. If the bill passes, however, anyone can petition L&I to think it over.
