California established a regulation covering occupational ergonomics in 1997. The State of Washington enacted an occupational ergonomics standard in 2000. When the U.S. federal government briefly enacted an occupational ergonomics standard in 2001, several states had already begun the necessary legal steps toward either adopting the federal OSHA standard, or drafting their own equal or more stringent regulation. When the federal government rescinded the OSHA ergonomics regulation, most states withdrew their related state level regulatory proposals. Now, at least two states, Alaska and Minnesota, are contemplating new laws of their own.
The Minnesota proposal is short and straightforward. If passed, the law will require the commissioner of labor and industry to adopt a “standard regulating workplace ergonomic hazards