WASHINGTON, DC - The Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) filed a petition for review of the Occupational Safety & Health Administration’s (OSHA’s) rule on an ergonomics standard with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Nov. 29, 2000.

ACCA has been joined by nearly 70 other trade associations and companies in challenging the rule because it fails to establish a connection between musculoskeletal injuries and workplace activities, according to John Saucier, chairman of ACCA’s Government Relations Task Team, and president of Temperature Inc. of Memphis, TN.

“This is a bad regulation that will cost billions of dollars and put thousands of jobs at risk while not guaranteeing that a single injury will be prevented,” he continued.

ACCA has urged OSHA to wait for scientific evidence to justify the regulation but in the nearly 20 years the rule has been in development, it has failed to do so, said Saucier.

The rule becomes effective Jan. 15, 2001, barring further congressional, administrative, or legal action. Compli-ance enforcement is scheduled to begin October 15, 2001. According to attor-neys on the case, it is expected to take more than a year before a court might rule on the validity of the standard.

Publication date: 12/11/2000