Calif. Issues First Ergonomics Fines

The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health issued fines of $1,500 for the first violations under its ergonomics standard.

Ampco Parking and the San Francisco International Airport were issued citations for failing to address ergonomic hazards, particularly how cashiers were positioned at their keyboards and in front of close-circuit televisions. Ampco was issued a second citation for not providing proper ergonomics training to cashiers.

Ampco was fined $750 for each violation. The airport will not have to pay because state law prohibits California OSHA from fining government entities.

According to the agency, about 20 other ergonomics cases are under investigation.

The state’s ergonomics standard went into effect in July 1997. It applies to companies with more than 10 employees where a work-related repetitive motion injury occurs within a year’s time involving two or more employees performing identical jobs.

Employers who meet these conditions must establish a program that includes the evaluation and correction of ergonomic hazards and employee training.

American Trucking Associations and the California Trucking Association have filed a lawsuit to block the standard. They argue that it is not based on science and that state regulators did not take into account the standard’s potential costs to employers, as they were obliged to do. The associations will file briefs with the California Court of Appeal next month.