Ergonomic experts boycott conference

by David Cohn
Published on Monday, January 26, 2004 by the Baltimore Sun

For more than two decades, Barbara Silverstein has studied work-related injuries. Among her many subjects have been nurses, meatpackers, truckers, foundry workers, autoworkers, poultry processors and loggers.

So was she happy when the federal government decided to sponsor a two-day symposium on workplace ailments?

Quite the contrary.
"It's an incredible waste," said Silverstein, an epidemiologist who works for the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries.
I think it's a political show, not a scientific meeting. It's using science in a very cynical way.

She's not the only scientist who feels that way: 11 of the country's leading ergonomists are boycotting the meeting, which begins tomorrow. They accuse the Bush administration of distorting science for political ends.

The highly unusual action has set off a harsh dispute between the administration and the researchers, who say more than enough evidence exists linking work to a variety of injuries.

They accuse industry and the administration of trying to avoid a debate over workplace regulations by questioning accepted ergonomic research. "It's a stall tactic," Silverstein said.

In a letter to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which is sponsoring the meeting, the 11 scientists say it will only rehash questions that have been exhaustively researched and resolved.

"We were invited to participate in a symposium that isn't necessary," David Wegman, dean of the School of Health and Environment at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

Gary Visscher, OSHA's deputy administrator, defended the meeting, saying it will cover new ground. "Time passes. There's new stuff coming in all the time," he said.

The boycott is the most recent round in a continuing fight over workplace-safety standards. Most ergonomic scientists, unions and workplace-safety advocates argue that some types of work and a variety of musculoskeletal injuries are clearly linked.

But many business and industry groups, the Bush administration, and a few scientists say the link remains unproven.

"There's got to be a certain level of proof before the government steps in. We're not there yet," said Randel Johnson, vice president for labor issues at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The stakes are enormous. Each year, at least 1 million Americans suffer significant work-related injuries, according to a 2001 report by the National Academies of Science.

These injuries, including wrist and hand problems among computer users and back, knee and shoulder ailments in construction workers and nurses, cost the economy about $50 billion a year, the report said.

Public health groups have long argued that federal ergonomic rules - the so-called ergonomic standard - would significantly reduce these injuries