Work-Safety Rules Fall in Post-Clinton Era ; with GOP in Control, Congress Is Undoing a Major Labor-Union Victory

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Congressional repeal of workplace-injury rules issued in the final months of President Clinton's term in office would mark a major turning point in one of the longest-running, most contentious regulatory efforts ever undertaken by the federal government.

While it is possible that Bush officials will start over, and again study how to protect employees from health problems caused by repetitive tasks such as data entry or heavy lifting, new regulations proposed by a GOP administration would likely be more limited in scope than those drawn up by Democrats.

If nothing else, the effort to repeal the ergonomics rules shows the practical effect of power …