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It is time to protect American workers from painful and costly musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Every year MSDs cost our economy a staggering 45 to 60 billion dollars. Every working day they rob employees of their vitality, their dignity and their livelihood, and they cheat employers of productivity, experience and profits.

We must set a standard that will give working Americans a fighting chance to prevent back injuries, carpel tunnel syndrome, and other work-related MSDs that, together, represent the most serious occupational health hazards facing our nation.

That is why I am committed to making an ergonomics standard a reality this year.

The hearing that begins today is an opportunity for employers, workers and all who are concerned with the health and well-being of our nation's workforce to come forward and tell us how to make the standard we have proposed better and stronger. We welcome their comments, ideas and suggestions.

Together we will formulate a standard that provides real solutions to the all-too-real problems of MSDs afflicting American workers. It is the right thing to do, and now is the right time to do it.