Labor Dept. postpones action plan on ergonomics

WASHINGTON (Sept. 24)—The Labor Department has issued a notice saying the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon will delay issuance of its action plan on ergonomics, which it had scheduled for the end of September. The department and its Occupational Safety and Health Administration have been too involved in rescue and recovery efforts to give their full attention to ergonomics, the notice said. Congress invoked the little-used Congressional Review Act in March to repeal the Clinton administration's final rule on ergonomics, which the tire industry and other business interests insisted would ruin them. OSHA held public forums on ergonomics this summer in Virginia, Illinois and California.