Got hazardous work conditions around your shop? You'll probably pay a little more to protect your staff soon.

Last week, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration held hearings on a proposal spelling out what protective equipment goes on the company tab and what employees buy themselves. Existing standards are apparently unclear.

OSHA's new plan calls for employers -- large and small -- to buy most protective equipment: hard hats, gloves, goggles, safety shoes, safety glasses, welding helmets, faceshields, and equipment to block falls, etc. The exceptions: steel-toed boots, prescription safety glasses, and logging boots, which get worn off the job.

OSHA estimates the 800,000 U.S. businesses that need such equipment will pay about $62 million more annually -- offset by the $288 million in savings from avoided injuries. Small businesses with 20 to 500 employees won't shell out more than 0.1% of annual revenues or 1% of profits, the agency says. The National Federation of Independent Business, which never met a cost increase it liked, grumbles in its online newsletter that unions are lobbying to include exempted items, "sticking employers with such costs as logging boots, steel-toe boots, and prescription glasses."

Sounds dastardly, but as anyone who works at an Internet startup (or any other computer-intensive business) knows, eye strain is definitely an occupational hazard of staring for hours at a terminal. How 'bout it, boss? I've got an awful headache.

By Jeremy Quittner in New York
jeremy_quittner@businessweek.com