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

Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational 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 employees were exposed to serious injury from lifting tasks without administrative or engineering controls. The manual lifting task was required for every employee, but was especially noted with the following occupations: A. (1) THE WAREHOUSE MAN WAS OBSERVED PICKING UP AND CARRYING CARDBOARD BOXES OF VARIOUS WEIGHTS AND SIZES FROM FLOOR TO FLOOR AND/OR STORAGE RACKS VIA STEPLADDERS. A. (2) THE WAREHOUSE MAN WAS ALSO OBSERVED PICKING UP AND CARRYING RG- 59, RG-6, RG-611, AND/OR RG-11 DROP CABLE REELS FROM FLOOR TO FLOOR FOR THE PURPOSE OF STORAGE TO VARIOUS HEIGHTS. THE EVALUATION OF THESE MANUAL LIFTING TASKS INDICATES THAT EMPLOYEES ARE EXPOSED TO A RISK OF MUSCULOSKELETAL INJURY. THE EMPLOYEES'S INJURY RECORDS FOR 1987, 1988 AND/OR 1989 DOCUMENTED THAT EMPLOYEE(S) EXPERIENCED MUSCULOSKELETAL/OVEREXERTION INJURIES. ABATEMENT NOTE: THE REVIEW OF EMPLOYEE INJURY RECORDS FOR 1987, 1988 AND/OR 1989 REVEALED AND DOCUMENTED THAT MUSCULOSKELETAL INJURIES ALSO OCCURRED TO OTHER OCCUPATIONS AND OPERATIONS. THE COMMON FACTOR OF THE MANUAL LIFTING IS THAT EMPLOYEES ARE EXPOSED TO MUSCULOSKELETAL INJURIES FROM LIFTING, CARRYING, STORING, AND LOADING BOXES AND CABLE REELS. AMONG OTHER METHODS, FEASIBLE AND USEFUL METHODS TO ELIMINATE OR CORRECT THE HAZARD INCLUDE: 1) TRAINING AND SUPERVISION OF EMPLOYEES IN PROPER LIFTING AND HANDLING TECHNIQUES AND IN THE RECOGNITION AND AVOIDANCE OF HAZARDS ASSOCIATED WITH MATERIAL HANDLING. 2) EVALUATION OF THE LIFTING TASKS TO DETERMINE PROPER WEIGHT RANGES FOR BOXES AND REELS. 3) ERGONOMIC REDESIGN OF WORKSTATIONS TO PERMIT REPOSITIONING OF EMPLOYEES'S BODIES WHICH WOULD ALLOW EVEN LIFTS, CLOSE TO THE BODY, AND AT A HEIGHT TO MINIMIZE THE STRESS OF THE LIFTS. STEP 1 - EFFECTIVE ADMINISTRATIVE PROTECTION, SUCH AS EMPLOYEE TRAINING, PHYSICAL ASSESSMENT, JOB ROTATION, ETC., SHALL BE PROVIDED AS AN INTERIM PROTECTIVE MEASURE UNTIL FEASIBLE ENGINEERING OR ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROLS CAN BE IMPLEMENTED OR WHENEVER SUCH CONTROLS FAIL TO REDUCE EMPLOYEE EXPOSURE TO NOMINAL RISK. 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 MANUAL LIFTING TASKS. ENGINEERING CONTROL TO REDUCE MUSCULOSKELETAL STRESSES INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO, JOB DESIGN, REDUCTION OF THE HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL LOAD DISTANCE FROM THE BODY, REDUCTION OF THE LIFTING WEIGHT, AND USE OF MECHANICAL LIFTING AIDS. THIS PLAN SHALL INCLUDE, AT A MINIMUM, TARGET DATES FOR THE FOLLOWING ACTIONS WHICH MUST BE CONSISTENT WITH THE DATES REQUIRED BY THIS CITATION: 1) EVALUATION OF THE CONDITIONS, LOCATIONS AND MANUAL LIFTING ACTIVITIES THAT EMPLOYEES ARE PERFORMING AT THE ONSET OF MUSCULOSKELETAL INJURIES. 2) EVALUATION OF APPLICABLE CONTROL MEASURE(S). 3) PROCUREMENT, INSTALLATION AND OPERATION OF SELECTED CONTROL MEASURE(S). 4) MONITORING TO ASSURE EFFECTIVE UTILIZATION OF THE CONTROL MEASURE(S). 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.