Posted January 30, 2002 Manufacturing News U.S. Manufacturers Spend Billions to Comply with Workplace Regulations A new study, authored by scholars at the Mercatus Center of George Mason University (Arlington, Va.; www.mercatus.org) and based on a survey conducted in conjunction with the National Association of Manufacturers (Washington; www.nam.org), showed that U.S. manufacturers paid $28 billion in 2000 to comply with federal workplace regulations. That's an average of $2.2 million per firm, or $1,700 per employee, to comply. The study also finds that the regulatory burden falls disproportionately on small manufacturing firms that employ fewer than 100 workers. Compliance cost at small firms is about $2,500 per employee, 68 percent higher than cost per employee at firms with over 500 workers. The study surveyed 100 members of the NAM. Firm size ranged from seven to 65,400 employees. In terms of annual receipts, the firms ranged from $600,000 to $15 billion. The survey covers 25 statutory acts and executive orders representing all significant federal workplace regulations. The two most costly compliance categories were worker health and safety regulations, which account for about one-third of the compliance costs. The Manufacturing Report © Copyright 2002 by Lionheart Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. E-mail Editorial Dept: tmr-editorial@lionhrtpub.com Lionheart Publishing, Inc. 2555 Cumberland Parkway, Suite 299, Atlanta, GA 30339 USA Phone: 770-431-0867 | Fax: 770-432-6969 E-mail: lpi@lionhrtpub.com