Business groups filed a lawsuit in federal court on Nov. 13 to block new rules set by the Clinton administration to establish the first national standards to make workplaces ergonomically sensitive. Advocates say these rules would help prevent hundreds of thousands of repetitive-motion injuries each year. A final version of Clinton’s response to their pleas was set to be published in the Federal Register on Nov. 14. A key component to the dispute in one of the most sweeping – businesses say damaging – initiatives undertaken by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is the study of how to adapt work conditions to the physical capacity of workers, which has gained attention since then-Secretary of Labor Elizabeth Dole raised it in the administration of President Bush. At a minimum, the rules to be published on Nov. 14 would require employers in most industries to notify their employees about musculoskeletal disorders, what causes them, and how to report them. According to the rules, if employers receive a valid complaint of work-related musculoskeletal disorder, they are required to fix workplace or job conditions, with steps ranging from what OSHA calls “quick fixes,” such as adjusting the height of a desk or chair, to more comprehensive steps that employers must take to fix repeated problems. Unless the standards are overturned by legal action, they will take effect Jan. 16. Businesses have to comply by October. OSHA estimates that the rules would cost employers $4.5 billion a year to implement but would save them $9.1 billion in savings in reduced workers compensation and medical costs. About 102 million workers at 6.1 million sites would be protected.