"It's time for the rhetoric to stop. It's time for us to be safety professionals again," stressed Hank Lick, industrial hygiene manager at the Ford Motor Company.
What's the strategy? NIOSH has priorities in three areas, says Rosenstock. The organization plans to get the word out on the magnitude of the problem-reported cases have gone up 800 percent in the last decade. NIOSH also aims to conduct more research and promote prevention programs. OSHA's Greg Watchman assured attendees that the agency will continue Joe Dear's efforts. The government doesn't always have the answers and wants to hear what pros are doing with ergonomics, he said.