Learn about the repeal of the OSHA Ergonomics Standards, the reasons for its early demise and the telling results of a recent e-commerce study conducted by the Department of Commerce.

Earlier this month, both the Senate and the House of Representatives voted to repeal the OSHA Ergonomics Standards approved in the final days of the Clinton administration, and slated for enactment in October 2001. Members voted primarily along party lines, with Democrats upholding the Standards while Republicans overwhelmingly opposed them. The result was in favor of the repeal, and it is expected that President Bush will ratify it shortly. Business advocates across industry greeted the repeal enthusiastically, while labor organizations reacted to the decision with disappointment.

In the House of Representatives, during the brief debate that took place before the repeal, Republicans expressed concern that the Ergonomics’ Standards would cost US businesses up to $100 billion annually — a sum that could lead to worker layoffs, and thrust companies into bankruptcy. Democrats countered that business would realize savings by eliminating up to one-third of the injuries American workers suffer annually due to repetitive motion syndrome. Republicans pointed out that they were not opposed to OSHA developing an Ergonomics Standard, but insisted that the version former President Clinton passed during was too strict on businesses. Additionally, Republicans purported that many corporations have already implemented their own ergonomics guidelines, but supporters of the repealed Standards retorted that such corporate initiatives were rarely enforced. News of the repeal has refocused discussions on ergonomic injuries, and the OSHA standards, with no shortage of opinions on either side.

According to a recent US Department of Commerce report, “Measuring the Electronic Economy”, during 1999, business-to-business transactions comprised over 90% of Internet sales. The report shows that in almost every facet of industry some degree of business was transacted over the web. The amount, however, varied considerably across industries. In comparison with B2B’s, e-commerce retail sales were surprisingly lackluster — accounting for a mere $15 billion, or the equivalent of one-half of one percent of total retail sales. The findings of the report seem to underscore the hypothesis of many experts that the Internet, ultimately, would offer more in the way of business-to-business transactions than consumer-oriented commerce. Some commentators have even suggested that while the “shakeout” of business-to-consumer dotcoms was the stuff of headlines, business-to-business sites were, however, quietly and steadily making progress.

Sources: House Joins Senate in Repealing Rules Issued by Clinton on Work Injuries
Steven Greenhouse
New York Times, March 8, 2001
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/08/politics/08WORK.html?searchpv=site01

Boring Old B2B Steals E-Tail’s Thunder
Keith Regan
Yahoo Technology News, March 8, 2001
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/