Companies need to get straight on ergonomics.

• Position: Ray Abromitis of Marsh Inc. - Brief Article - Interview - Statistical Data Included

Ray Abromitis is a senior vice president of Marsh Inc., a New York-based risk- and insurance-services company. Abromitis, who works in Charlotte, discussed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration ergonomics standards that Congress ditched this spring following heavy lobbying by business.

BNC: Why were businesses so opposed to OSHA's ergonomics rules?

Abromitis: First, the standard required the employer to incur only one musculoskeletal disorder to reach the "action trigger," which required development of a full ergonomic program. The regulations also required employers to provide 100% of pay and benefits to employees in light-duty programs and 90% of pay and 100% of benefits for employees off work due to MSDs. These levels often exceeded benefit levels of state workers' compensation laws.

What's the benefit in North Carolina?

It's two-thirds of pay. That's a significant gap in what insurance companies would have been required to pay in workers' comp coverage and what an employer would have paid under the OSHA regulation.

What are musculoskeletal disorders?

Disorders of muscles, nerves, tendons, et cetera, affecting the neck, shoulder, elbow, forearm, wrist, hand, abdomen, back, knee, ankle and foot. We're all familiar with carpal tunnel syndrome. It could also be tendinitis, muscle strains, back strains. They probably generate 30% to 60% of the total workers' comp exposure per employer.

Isn't it to an employer's advantage to reduce those kinds of claims, regardless of whether regulations are in place?

Absolutely. Not only is it a workers' compensation savings for employers, there's the issue of broader employee absence. There are things like lost productivity and use of temporary employees, which in some cases can double the known cost of workers' comp injuries.

What about this state's rules?

North Carolina didn't really have ergonomics standards. The state was looking for the federal government to establish those and had then hopped on the standards OSHA had released. When Congress repealed those regulations, North Carolina stepped away.

Does that mean employers can forget about ergonomics?

No. There still are some OSHA standards that could come into play. One is the general-duty clause. Most larger employers are required to complete an OSHA log showing the nature of an injury, number of days an employee is away from work and so on. This information is tabulated by OSHA in the form of an incident rate per 100 employees...