WASHINGTON, DC — President George W. Bush has signed a congressional resolution, S.J. Res. 6, blocking the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA’s) ergonomics rule originally passed by the Clinton Administration in Nov. 2000.

The resolution reached the pres-ident’s desk after the Senate approved it on March 6, 2001.

On Tuesday, March 20, Bush gave his reasoning behind signing S.J. Res. 6, saying the ergonomics regulation was “unduly burdensome, and overly broad.” In addition, Bush said that, if implemented, the rule would have “cost both large and small employers billions of dollars, and present overwhelming compliance challenges.”

Larry Taylor, president of Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA), said, “This has saved America’s small businesses millions of dollars and thousands of jobs. When the draft standard was going through the public comment period this past year, we raised our concerns. These concerns, as well as those of others, were not addressed in the final draft.”

For more information, visit www. osha.gov (website).

Publication date: 03/26/2001