WASHINGTON, D.C. - The House of Representatives was poised to follow the Senate on Wednesday in repealing a rule aimed at curbing repetitive strain injuries that affect 1 million workers.

The White House has said it supports repealing the rule. If President George W. Bush signs the measure, it will be the first scrapping of a workplace safety under the Congressional Review Act of 1996, a legislative weapon for snuffing executive branch rules Congress doesn't like.

Amid fierce lobbying by business groups, the Senate voted 56-44 on Tuesday to scrap the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) ergonomics regulation that covers 102 million workers at 6.1 million work sites.

Six Democrats joined all 50 Senate Republicans in voting to undo the new ergonomics standard, which OSHA began to explore 10 years ago, but which the was only made final on Nov. 13 and implemented in the final days of the Clinton administration.

The OSHA rule requires companies to advise their workers of possible injury risks and the importance of promptly reporting symptoms. They are not required to change the way work is done unless an employee is hurt on the job or has symptoms of a work-related injury.

OSHA had said the rule would prevent 460,000 such injuries a year and the savings from fewer injuries and higher productivity would exceed the cost. One business group put the cost of the regulation as high as $125.6 billion a year.