Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 001 Hazard: ERGONOMIC

Section 5(a)(1) of the Ocupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. The employer did not furnish employment and a place of employment which were free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees in that: a) United Parcel Service employees performing unloading and sorting of packages at the UPS hub facility at 5020 Ivy Street, Commerce City, CO, were exposed to an increased risk of musculoskeletal injuries while performing job tasks involving reptetitive lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling, reaching and bending. These tasks include, but are not limited to: 1.Primary unloading: Emplooyees unloaded packages out of trailer and droop-frame trucks onto a conveyor. 2. Primary sort: Employees took packages from the primary conveyor and transferred them to other conveyor lines. The evaluation of these manual lifting tasks indicated that employees were exposed to an increased risk of musculoskeletal injuries including low back pain and upper extremity cumulative trauma disorder (UECTDs). The injury and illness records for 1989, 1990 and 1991 documented that there was an excessive number of musculoskeletal injuries. FEASIBLE ABATEMENT METHODS: Implement a comprehensive written ergonomics program developed by a properly trained ergonomist to include the following elements: I. Worksite analysis of unloading and sorting operations to recognize, identify and correct ergonomic hazards. II. Implementation of hazard prevention and control measures to include engineering controls and work practice controls, such as but to limited to the following: A. Color code or otherwise identify packages by weight to alert employees to particularly heavy packages. B. Segregate heavy packages to facilitate special handling (for instance, two-person lifts). C. Load drop-frame trucks so that heavier packages are not loaded into the lower level of the truck. D. Identify truck loads from particular customers which routinely have packages which are above average in weight. Evaluate the feasibility of using lifting aids for some loads. E. Place heavier packages on the lower levels of tiers to avoid the hazards of pulling heavy packages from the higher tiers, shoulder level or higher. F. Strength testing of employees to determine their lifting capacities. G. Identify bulky packages as a high risk factor in employee training and train employees to get asistance when lifting heavy/large/bulky packages. H. Install materials handling equipment in UPS trucks which is capable of raising packages to about waist level for unloading. I. Reduce the rates at which employees are unloading and sorting packages to no more than 13 lifts per minute. J. Redesign equipment so that lifts are avoided in favor of pushing, pulling and sliding packages. K. Identify the destination of packages on more than one side so the destination is visible to employees without turning over the package. III. A medical management system which eliminates or reduces the risk of back injuries and upper extremity cumulative trauma disorders due to lifting through early identification, treatment and development of information sources. IV. Training and education programs to include all affected employees, industrial engineers, maintenance personnel, managers and health care providers and which include at least the following information: A. Information about the hazards of lifting at or above the NIOSH action level, including the hazards of lifting heavy loads while using proper lifting techniques. B. Past injury experience in the job or similar jobs within UPS. C. Individual strengths and weaknesses (e.g. their own lifting capacity). D. Importance of avoiding an unexpected situation (e.g. avoiding foot slipping, tripping, sudden loss of grip, snagging clothing, unexpectedly heavy packages). E. Importance of handling aids. ABATEMENT SCHEDULE: Step 1. Effective administrative protection, such as employee training, physical assessment, job rotation and adequate mandatory rest breaks shall be provided as an interim protective measure until feasible engineering or permanent administrative controls can be implemented which will reduce employee exposure to nominal risk of injury. Step 2. Submit to the area director a written detailed plan of abatement outlining a schedule for the implementation of engineering or administrative measures to control employee injury due to lifting and handling packages. This plan shall include, at a minimum, target dates for the following actions which must be consistent with the dates dates required by this citation. (a) Evaluation of the conditions, locations and manual lifting activities that the employees are performing at the onset of musculoskeletal injuries. (b) Evaluation of applicable control measures. (c) Procurement, installation and operation of selected control measures. (d) Monitoring to assure effective utilization of the control measures. Step 3. Abatement shall have been completed by implementation of feasible engineering or administrative controls, upon verification of their effectiveness in reducing the occurrence of musculoskeletal injuries.