The sweeping new standard from OSHA will affect about 6 million workplaces and more than 100 million workers.
Businesses vow to challenge it.
The Clinton administration is expected to issue a final rule Monday requiring virtually all the nation's employers to create programs to protect workers from the repetitive strains and pain of the workplace. The sweeping new standard, eight years in the making, is the most costly ever to come out of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. It will cover some 6 million workplaces and more than 100 million workers in nearly every line of business. Lawyers for trade associations said they will sue to overturn the rule as soon as it is published. OSHA officials said their goal is to cut in half over the next decade the 600,000 repetitive stress injuries that result in lost work time each year.