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Ergonomics: Guidelines |
OSHA Protocol for Developing Industry-Specific and |
Objective To establish a fair and transparent process for developing industry and task specific guidelines that will assist employers and employees in recognizing and controlling potential ergonomic hazards. Description Each set of guidelines will address a particular industry or task. The industry and task specific guidelines will generally be presented in three major parts:
Information Gathering Prior to developing an industry or task specific guideline, OSHA will review existing practices and programs, as well as available scientific information regarding ergonomic hazards and control methods, for the particular industry or task. The sources of this information will include trade associations, professional associations, labor organizations, the medical community, and individual firms. In addition, information will be obtained from the literature, OSHA's records, and settlement agreements. Analysis In assessing the assembled practices and programs and developing the guidelines, OSHA will consider factors such as the following:
The public will be involved at several points in the guideline development process. During the initial drafting of a guideline, one-on-one meetings with representatives of major stakeholder groups will be conducted. The purpose of these meetings will be to gather the best available information on the hazards that are present in typical operations and on practices, programs, and processes that have been successfully used in the particular industry or for specific tasks. In addition, OSHA will ask for information and clarification regarding programs that these groups have developed. OSHA will publish a Federal Register notice announcing the availability of each draft guideline on OSHA's website. The public will be invited in the Federal Register notice to submit written comments within 30 days and to participate in a stakeholder meeting. The stakeholder meeting will be conducted if the public expresses sufficient interest. OSHA will provide a facilitator for this meeting and will prepare meeting minutes to be posted on OSHA's website. Comments from stakeholders will be reviewed and considered by the Agency. Once finalized, each set of guidelines will be posted on OSHA's website and issued in a paper format. Footnote (1) This Protocol is intended to guide OSHA's development of industry and task specific guidelines. OSHA may amend this Protocol in the future as it continues to gain experience with the guideline development process. |
Revised: 16 December 2002 |
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