July 5, 2000
Thompson Calls for GAO Investigation of OSHA-Paid Witnesses
for Ergonomics Regulations
WASHINGTON — Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Fred Thompson
(R-TN) today asked the General Accounting Office (GAO) to investigate
allegations that the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) improperly paid witnesses to testify in support of their
proposed ergonomics regulation and coached them on how to prepare their
testimonies.
"Serious concerns have been raised about the fairness of OSHA’s
rulemaking process for their proposed ergonomics regulation," Chairman
Thompson said. "As the eyes and ears of Congress, GAO can provide an
objective and nonpartisan investigation into allegations that OSHA paid and
coached the expert witnesses who testified in support of the proposed standard.
"OSHA has rushed to finalize the ergonomics regulation," continued
Thompson, "and in the process they have raised serious questions about the
objectivity and propriety of their rulemaking. Since this far-reaching
regulation puts millions of workplaces and billions of dollars at stake, it
seems to me that we should take a careful look at OSHA’s work before the
horse gets out of the barn."
Procedural concerns raised about the ergonomics rulemaking include OSHA’s
failure to wait to use the National Academy of Sciences’ study on ergonomics;
the unusually brief public comment period for the proposal; and OSHA’s
failure to carefully analyze the economic impacts of the proposed regulation on
state and local governments, the Postal Service and railroads, accounting for
over 10 million employees. Senators James Jeffords (R-VT), Chairman of the
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee; Kit Bond (R-MO), Chairman of
the Small Business Committee; and Mike Enzi (R-WY), Chairman of the
Subcommittee on Employment, Safety and Training; cosigned the letter requesting
GAO to conduct the independent investigation.
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