The National Safety Council (NSC) said that the new proposed voluntary ergonomics standard is now available for formal public comment.
The Accredited Standards Committee on Control of Cumulative Trauma Disorders (Z365), accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), developed the proposed standard, "Management of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders."
This proposed ANSI standard, unlike the ergonomics standard published recently by OSHA, is a voluntary standard.
Ten years in the making, the proposed standard was developed by seeking consensus among those most affected, with committee representatives from business, labor, academia and professional societies.
NSC said it is intended as a guide for managers and occupational safety and health professionals to voluntarily keep workers safe from work-related musculoskeletal disorders.
The public comment period allows those not represented on the Z365 committee an opportunity to suggest changes to the draft.
The comment period will last 60 days and began on Jan. 12.
This is the second time a draft standard has been available for formal public comment by the committee.
After the comment period concludes, NSC said, the committee will review and respond to each public comment.
A copy of the new proposed standard is available on NSC''s Web site at www.nsc.org.
by Virginia Sutcliffe