Washington Drafting New Ergonomic Rules for Airline Ground Crews

Scheduled airline ground crews, including baggage handlers and maintenance workers, file injury claims for work-related musculoskeletal disorders at more than 10 times the statewide average, according to the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries.

WMSDs, which include strains, sprains and other injuries that come repetitive movement, are among the most common workplace injuries in Washington, according to L&I.

L&I is kicking off an ergonomics rule development process under new laws passed last year by the Washington Legislature to increase protections for workers susceptible to WMSDs.

Airline ground crews will be the first industry for rulemaking under the new laws. With L&I’s filing this week of its intent to adopt rules on this issue, the agency is starting the rulemaking process to gather input on specific issues, concerns, and best practices from industry employers and employees, along with other airline ground crew stakeholders.

L&I also plans to gather input on components of ergonomic rules that could be consistent across all industry rules, and create an advisory committee comprised of business and labor representatives from the scheduled airline industry.

The earliest the new rules can take is effect is July 1, 2026.

Washington Legislature last year passed a law allowing L&I to adopt rules for no more than one industry per year if an industry has workers’ compensation claims for WMSDs at least two times the overall state rate over a five-year period.

L&I reviewed the data and selected Scheduled Airline – Ground Crews, risk class 6802, as the first industry to focus on.