At first blush, that just sounds like applied common sense. According to a new study by Richard J. Mahoney and Milka S. Kirova published by the Center for the Study of American Business, the proposed standard could become the new millennium's first major regulatory confrontation between government and business. Almost nobody agrees with OSHA's numbers. The breadth of the ergonomics standard's coverage would be awesome, and its costs equally impressive.
Private estimates are higher still.
The development of the ergonomics standard is a fascinating case study of how regulators expand their role. Improvements Already Underway Regulators have a natural tendency to underestimate the costs they impose on the rest of us. They also tend to overestimate the benefits of the burdensome rules they impose. OSHA claims its ergonomics program rules will cut the incidence of MSDs in half over ten years. In a recent five-year period, the overall incidence of MSDs declined by 31 percent, falling from 110.6 cases per 10,000 in 1992 to 76.6 cases in 1997.