Democrats have become concerned that the Bush administration has not released a workplace safety plan even though ergonomics rules were repealed a year ago.

Big, labor-intensive businesses want to get rules that weaken unions, and they've already killed the Labor Department's ergonomics rules, which would have protected workers against repetitive-stress injuries.

Democrats said this could prevent OSHA from ever issuing strong ergonomics rules.

"This is a death sentence for ergonomics rules," said Representative Robert E. Andrews, Democrat of New Jersey.

They included the administration's success in repealing ergonomics rules and stripping 60,000 airport screeners of the right to unionize.

Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao said she would consider issuing new ergonomics rules, likely to be less far-reaching and expensive than the Clinton rules.

The agency later announced that the ergonomics rules applied only to home workplaces where other employees besides the home owner worked.

According to the Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal, experts estimated complying with the ergonomics rule would have cost businesses $725 million for the first year alone.

At the time, Washington was the only state with an ergonomics rule.

Mr. Scalia was critical of the ergonomics rules adopted by OSHA in the last year of the Clinton administration.