ANSI Board Rejects Bid to Block Construction Ergonomics Standard
The American National Standards Institute Board of Standards Review today rejected an appeal seeking the withdrawal of the adoption of the ANSI/ASSE A10.40-2007 standard addressing musculoskeletal problems in construction, the American Society of Safety Engineers announced. ASSE is the standard's secretariat; the appeal was made by the Construction Industry Employer Coalition, a coalition of five trade associations.
ASSE said a hearing was held May 1, 2007, to hear the coalition's formal complaints. On May 25, 2007, the appeals panel found unanimously that the complaints had no merit and that ASSE had complied with ANSI due process requirements in developing the standard, according to ASSE, which said the standard was approved by ANSI’s Board of Standards review on July 23, 2007. The coalition then appealed. Now, A10.40 stands as an American National Standard.
"We are pleased with ANSI Board of Standards Review's decision to uphold the approval and publication of the A10.40 standard," said James D. Smith, CSP, ASSE's vice president, Council on Practices and Standards. "At ASSE, we are committed to the protection of people, property, and the environment, and this standard is an excellent step in protecting workers from injury and in helping to create safer and more healthy workplaces."
The standard includes elimination, substitution, engineering and administrative controls, training, use of PPE, assessment of individuals’ physical capabilities. It also contains a list of non-occupational risk factors associated with work-related MSDs, such as age, strength, and gender.