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The Risk & Insurance Management Society (RIMS) has become a party to a motion filed by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) seeking review of OSHA''s ergonomics rule, which took effect Tuesday.
"RIMS would much rather negotiate than litigate, but they have left us no other alternative," said Lance Ewing, RIMS vice president for external affairs, regarding the society decision to join the NAM suit.
The NAM suit is one of roughly a dozen court filings seeking to challenge the controversial standard.
The NAM action and others brought by employers say that the standard lacks sufficient scientific justification and is the product of a faulty rulemaking process.
Another action, filed by a group of major insurers, challenges the rule on the basis that it represents an unwarranted federal intrusion in state-based workers'' compensation systems because it mandates specific benefits for ergonomic-related injuries.
Other motions filed by labor unions, which strongly support the idea of a federal ergonomics standard, question whether the rule goes far enough to protect workers.
All of the motions were consolidated before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
by Virginia Sutcliffe