Regulatory Ventilation

The Oversight and Government Reform Committee of U.S. House of Representatives has been looking into whether and how governmental regulations hurt business operations and job creation.

In a recent hearing chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa of California, representatives from business and industry were given the opportunity to present their views on how federal regulatory oversight affects their companies.

Many of the complaints focused on the Environmental Protection Agency, new federal financial oversight, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s workplace rules, according to an Associated Press report.

While it’s always a good idea for government — and businesses — to assess the effectiveness of their practices and policies, a close look at OSHA workplace rules and regulations seems especially appropriate as the industry “celebrates” the 100th anniversary of workers’ compensation insurance.

Businesses in general were not opposed to OSHA’s emphasis on workplace safety, but proposed regulatory modifications such as a change in workplace noise standards and requiring businesses to have an injury and illness prevention program were not well-accepted.

It is a good thing to take a hard look at how governmental policies affect both businesses and citizens. However, lawmakers should take care not to “throw the baby out with the bath water.” Federal standards promoting workplace safety are there for a reason — to help make sure that employees don’t have to fear for their life and limbs when they go to work.

Some House Democrats complained that Issa’s committee focused more on how governmental regulations hurt businesses rather than on those policies that help facilitate growth and a level playing field. Perhaps that is a topic for another hearing.

But governmental regulations are not the only factors that will place pressure on the nation’s workplaces and the workers’ compensation insurance industry in the future.

As noted by the National Council on Compensation Insurance’s Stephen J. Klingel, a contributor to Insurance Journal’s look into the future of the workers’ comp industry, there are a number of non-governmental factors that will be influencing the workplace of the future. Among them: rising health care costs and changes in the nature of the workforce.

A national obesity problem, too, bodes badly for the country’s workplaces. Excess medical care costs caused by being overweight and obese is tallied at $127 billion. And economic loss of productivity caused by overweight or obesity for totally disabled workers costs $72 billion, according to a recent report by the report by the Society of Actuaries.