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The Labor Department''s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has forged hundreds of agreements with companies and business associations to improve their safety records while rulemaking has been drastically shortened. OMB Watch, a nonprofit group, found in a series of reviews that 24 rules that were in some stage of development on OSHA''s agenda were withdrawn by the administration. Nine rules were completed, but several of the rules were recordkeeping and none of the rules was considered major.
When examining OSHA''s regulatory agenda in December 2003 and June 2004, OMB found that since last December , OSHA has revised a rule on commercial diving operations, reexamined one on mechanical power presses and changed how musculoskeletal disorders are reported. The agency completed one rule, which was to protect shipyard workers from fire hazards and just proposed new standards to protect workers from hexavalent chromium under court order.
OSHA''s 231 long-term alliances with trade associates and companies since 2002 have been criticized because of the minimal union participation. The claims by the agency that injuries and illnesses are decreasing are also questioned because the unions do not believe the reports furnished by employers are dependable. Major changes in the way employers collect injury illness data since 2002 have been made, which some people believe makes it difficult to compare to earlier years. The incidence of musculoskeletal injuries on the job, which are injuries from repetitive work and poorly designed workplaces, are no longer reported separately.
According to data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on days missed from work because of illness in the last several years, the percentage of work missed because of ergonomic related issues has remained constant, accounting for roughly 34 percent while the overall number of injuries and illnesses has actually decreased. The U.S. Chamber of congress, OSHA and unions have all argued different stances on ergonomic citations and other work regulated measures.
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