REVIEW OF PAPER BALER RULES PLANNED

JOANNA RAMEY

WASHINGTON (FNS) -- Federal regulations governing the operation of paper balers, which supermarket operators claim are antiquated, will be reconsidered this spring by the U.S. Department of Labor, according to the agency's top enforcement officer.

"One thing we're trying to do is take a fresh look at these," Maria Echaveste, administrator for the Wage and Hour Division, said in an interview. "I have heard the argument the paper baler of the 1950s is not the one currently used."

The supermarket industry has been hit hard with fines recently for violating the 1954 regulation that prohibits anyone under the age of 18 from throwing anything into a baler, even if it is turned off. Unlike their predecessors, new balers do not have moving jaws when they are open.

Modern-day balers pose no hazard when they are idle and otherwise protected by safety mechanisms, according to industry officials.

"What we have been constantly advocating is that teenagers under the age of 18 should have the ability to dispose of things in a baler if it is inoperable," Tom Wenning, senior vice president and general counsel of the National Grocers Association, said.

NGA, Reston, Va., and the Food Marketing Institute, Washington, have been lobbying Labor officials and Congress to get the baler regulation changed.

According to FMI, the existing baler regulation was designed for the paper industry and covers a circa 1950s piece of machinery.

"While we might agree that pushing a button to operate a baler and unloading the bale should probably be reserved for adults, it makes absolutely no sense to prohibit teenagers from placing materials into a baler," FMI said in a statement.

Echaveste said the Labor Department will ask for industry comment on baler regulations as early as April as part of its consideration of revamping regulations covering hazardous occupations.

As part of Labor's enforcement of child labor laws, at least three chains were fined by the agency a total of $2 million for baler violations.

Additionally, supermarkets were among businesses cited for violating regulations covering working hours of 14- and 15-year-olds. That age group can work no more than two-and-a-half hours on school days and can't work past 7 p.m. on a day preceding a weekend or holiday.

Echaveste said this regulation will likely not be included in this spring's scrutiny of its hazardous occupation regulations, but the agency is still considering making future changes.

"It's one of the [regulations] I think is worth looking at," she said.