women histories, incest sexual abuse. institutionalized. But what if ...
women histories, incest sexual abuse. institutionalized. But what if ...
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Stop the Pain - continued from page 49<br />
much of <strong>what</strong> are called MSIs actually result<br />
from outside activities or aging; that workers<br />
either deliberately malinger or else unconsciously<br />
exaggerate their pain for <strong>what</strong>'s<br />
called "secondary gain" (e.g., workers' compensation);<br />
that "the scient<strong>if</strong>ic proof is lacking" to<br />
link MSIs with workplace conditions (remember<br />
Agent Orange, Love Canal, and, most<br />
recently, the smokescreen of the tobacco<br />
industry?); and that the proposed standard is<br />
both too sensitive to potential hazards and not<br />
spec<strong>if</strong>ic enough about which body parts might<br />
be affected. And of course, they complain<br />
about their cost estimates for retooling.<br />
The American Trucking Associations<br />
estimate that compliance with OSHA's<br />
ergonomic regulations would cost its members<br />
$6 billion, including $2.5 billion in extra<br />
personnel costs. What's really peculiar is<br />
that its cost/benefit chart shows that this $6<br />
billion would barely exceed current "unspec<strong>if</strong>ied"<br />
costs. Costs usually associated with<br />
not fixing ergonomic problems include workers'<br />
compensation, fines, disability claims,<br />
and litigation.<br />
Looking Ahead<br />
Although OSHA inspections and workers'<br />
compensation fines may provide impetus for<br />
employers to implement ergonomics programs,<br />
many employers become converts<br />
when they realize that ergonomics programs<br />
improve efficiency and productivity as well<br />
as safety. Ford Motor Company, for instance,<br />
responded to a 1989 OSHA fine of $1.9 million<br />
by incorporating a new documentation<br />
program into their ergonomics program.<br />
From data collection to line design to monitoring<br />
and review, Ford's program is outstanding<br />
in the automotive or any other<br />
industry.<br />
"We didn't achieve the kind of two-forone<br />
dollar return you hear about with<br />
ergonomics," says Hank Lick, Ford's<br />
Manager of Industrial Hygiene, "but we got a<br />
return in other ways. All of our health and<br />
safety programs help our relations with our<br />
union. It's sort of a jewel in management's<br />
crown."<br />
Ergonomic approaches are even more<br />
beneficial to small businesses. Gail Sater<br />
credited ergonomics programs with helping<br />
her employer, Red Wing Shoe Company, in<br />
Red Wing, Minnesota, survive in competition<br />
with overseas (Asian) manufacturers. This<br />
manufacturer enlisted workers' analyses<br />
and suggestions to revamp old plants into<br />
ergonomic showpieces. Ingenious low-cost,<br />
low-tech solutions for potentially crippling<br />
tasks included tiltable sewing machines,<br />
adjustable tables, and home-sewn forearm<br />
supports, strung from plant ceilings. By<br />
1995, their workers' compensation costs had<br />
dropped to $800,000 per year, down from $4<br />
million in 1988.<br />
Yet for every company willing to think<br />
ahead and prevent injury, there are others<br />
who blame the victim. Joseph D'Avanzo,<br />
attorney for IBM and other defendants in<br />
harmful-products lawsuits, raises one of the<br />
most contentious questions in determining<br />
culpability: non-occupational factors. "How<br />
come nobody integrates into their models<br />
<strong>what</strong> people do outside of work?" he asks.<br />
'Two people work side by side...doesn't mean<br />
that both of them are going to complain of<br />
pain or injury. So <strong>what</strong> is the d<strong>if</strong>ference<br />
between the two?"<br />
"It's the same with tobacco," Dr.<br />
Silverstein replies. "Some people can smoke<br />
for twenty years and not get lung cancer.<br />
That doesn't mean tobacco has no impact on<br />
the development of cancer."<br />
While lawyers haggle and lobbyists<br />
wrangle, <strong>women</strong> in and out of unions insist<br />
that jobs should not require them to do work<br />
that hurts. "When I do something at home<br />
that hurts, I can stop doing it," says Tashlyn<br />
Chase, CAW National Ergonomics<br />
Coordinator for Ford Canada. "When it hurts<br />
at work, I don't have that option. When workers<br />
go home at night, we go home tired. We<br />
can't pick up our children because our arms<br />
hurt too much. The onus has been placed on<br />
us for far too long."<br />
Penney Kome is an award-winning feminist<br />
author and journalist. Her sixth book on<br />
<strong>women</strong>'s issues, Working Wounded: The<br />
Politics ofMusculoskeletal Injuries, is due to<br />
be published next spring by the University of<br />
Toronto Press.<br />
There may be<br />
hidden ingredients<br />
in the<br />
products you<br />
use... cruelty,<br />
pain, suffering.<br />
Rabbit with bui<br />
loxicity study at a product testing lab.<br />
Let us send you a free Cruelty-Free<br />
Shopping Guide so you can make<br />
compassionate choices on your next<br />
trip to the store. To receive a copy<br />
call us toll free at (800) SAY-AAVS or<br />
write to The American Anti-<br />
Vivisection Society, 801 Old York Rd.<br />
#204, Jenkintown, PA 19046.<br />
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