OSHA Releases Draft Ergo Guidelines For Shipyard Industry

When finalized, Ergonomics for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders: Guidelines for Shipyards will provide practical recommendations for employers to reduce the number and severity of workplace injuries in their facilities by identifying, evaluating and controlling hazards and using best practices that have been successful in shipyards.

The public is invited to submit comments to the draft guidelines until Nov. 13, the agency said.

“These new guidelines, when finalized, will help us continue to meet OSHA's commitment to publish industry-specific ergonomics guidelines.” said OSHA Administrator Edwin Foulke, Jr. “Many shipyards have made substantial proactive efforts in recent years to address work-related musculoskeletal injuries. These guidelines will be another resource to help them succeed in those efforts.”

Bureau of Labor Statistics data show that in 2005, the injury and illness rate for the shipyard industry was 10.9 per 100 employees compared to an injury and illness rate of 4.6 per 100 employees for all private industry. In 2005, 31 percent of injuries and illnesses that resulted in days away from work for shipyard employees involved musculoskeletal disorders.

In April 2002, Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao announced a comprehensive plan to reduce ergonomics-related injuries through a combination of industry or task-specific guidelines, enforcement, outreach and assistance and research. The new guidelines are the fourth in a series. In 2003 and 2004, OSHA published the final ergonomics guidelines for nursing homes, retail grocery stores and poultry processing industries.

In June 2006, Occupational Hazards analyzed how effective OSHA's ergonomic guidelines have been so far. To see what experts and people working in such industries had to say, please read After the Storm Weighing in on the OSHA Ergonomic Guidelines.