Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 002 Hazard: ERGONOMIC

Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970: Rhe 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 physcial harm to employees in that: A) EMPLOYEES IN THE SEROLOGY DEPARTMENT WERE EXPOSED TO EXCESSIVE ERGONOMIC STRESS CAUSED BY REPETITIVE HAND, WRIST AND ARM MOTIONS RESULTING IN DISABLING CUMULATIVE TRAUMA DISORDERS. THERE ARE FEASIBLE ENGINEERING ADMINISTRATIVE AND MEDICAL APPROACHES TO PREVENT OCCURRENCES OF CUMULATIVE TRUAMA DISRORDERS, AMONG OTHER METHODS, A FEASIBLE AND ACCEPTABLE ABATEMENT PROGAM TO REDUCE CUMULATIVE TRAUMA DISORDERS WOULD INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING: 1) EDUCATION AND TRAINING OF EMPLOYEES IN THE RECOGNITION OF THE ERGONOMIC STRESSORS PRESENT IN THEIR JOBS. TRAINING IN SYMPTOM RECOGNITION OF CUMULATIVE TRAUMA DISORDERS AND TRAINING IN THE POSTURES, WORKSTATION ADJUSTMENTS, AND WORK PRACTICES THAT ARE KNOWN TO REDUCE THE INCIDENCE OF CUMULATIVE TRAUMA DISORDERS. 2) EDUCATION AND TRAINING OF SUPERVISORS IN THE ABOVE. SUPERVISORS SHOULD HAVE RESPONSIBILITY TO NOTE AND CORRECT POOR WORK PRACTICES. 3) FREQUENT REST BREAKS FOR ALL EXPOSED EMPLOYEES. 4) ROTATION OF EMPLOYEES AMONG JOBS THAT REQUIRE THE USE OF DIFFERENT MUSCLE GROUPS AND ARE NOT THEMSELVES THE CAUSE OF REPETITIVE MOTION INJURIES. 5) ALLOW NEW OR REASSIGNED EMPLOYEES TO CONDITION THEIR MUSCLE/TENDON GROUPS PRIOR TO WORKING AT FULL CAPACITY (A CAPACITY WHICH HAS BEEN DETERMINED TO BE SAFE AND CAUSE NO ADVERSE EFFECTS). 6) SET UP A MEDICAL MANAGEMENT PROGRAM TO MONITOR EMPLOYEES AND PREVENT EARLY SYMPTOMS FROM PROGRESSING TO INJURIES. THIS PROGRAM SHOULD INCLUDE: ENCOURAGING EARLY REPORTING OF INJURIES AND DISORDERS; INSTITUTING A FORMAL, DOCUMENTED, TRACKING AND SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM TO MONITOR INJURY TRENDS. PROVIDING ADEQUATE TREATMENT OF ERGONOMIC RELATED CASES, INCLUDING NOT REASSIGNING EMPLOYEES TO A JOB UNTIL IT HAS BEEN MODIFIED TO MINIMIZE THE HAZARDS THAT RESULTED IN INJURY; ALLOWING ADEQUATE TIME OFF FOR HEALING AFTER SURGERY OR OTHER INTERVENTION; AND UTILIZING PHYSICAL THERAPISTS TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT CONSERVATIVE TREATMENT MEASURES UPON DETECTION OF EARLY SYMPTOMS. 7) CONTINUE EFFORTS TO REPLACE THE ABBOTT COMANDER WITH AN INSTRUMENT THAT HAS A DETACHABLE KEYBOARD. 8) REDESIGN WORKSTATIONS TO BE ADJUSTABLE, TO ELIMINATE STATIC WORK POSITIONS, AND TO MINIMIZE DISTANCES BETWEEN EMPLOYEES AND OBJECTS BEING HANDLED. 9) INVESTIGATE THE FEASIBLITY OF PURCHASING COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE MOTORIZED OR ELECTRONICALLY OPERATED PIPETTES AND PIPETTE/DISPENSERS AND ELIMINATING USE OF INSTRUMENTS WHICH REQUIRE EXCESSIVE ERGONOMIC STRESS. 10) INVESTIGATE THE FEASIBLITY OF PURCHASING OR DESIGNING A DEVICE FOR REMOVING TEST TUBE CAPS. 11) PROVIDE ERGONOMICALLY DESIGNED CHAIRS WITH ARM RESTS. 12) HIRE A PROPERLY TRAINED ERGONOMIC CONSULTANT TO: REVIEW ALL OSHA AND OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS MADE; PERFORM A SYSTEMATIC EVALUATION OF EXISTING AND NEW OWKR PRACTICES, EQUIPMENT, AND WORKSTATIONS DESIGN FOR ALL OPERATIONS WITH CUMULATIVE TRAUMA DISORDER HAZARDS; RECOMMEND ENGINEERING AND ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROLS TO REDUCE OR ELIMINATE ERGONOMIC HAZARDS; EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE CONTROLS IMPLEMENTED; ERGONOMICALLY ASSES NEW EQUIPMENT OR WORK STATION LAYOUT IN THE PLANNING STAGES BEFORE EXPOSING EMPLOYEES TO POTENTIAL CUMULATIVE TRAUMA STRESSES. 13) SET UP AN ERGONOMICS TEAM CONSISTING OF MEMBERS FROM MANAGEMENT, SAFETY, MEDICAL, AND EXPOSED EMPLOYEES TO: EVALUATE HEALTH DATA; DETERMINE, MODIFY AND EVALUATE INTERVENTION STRATEGIES. STEP 1- Administrative controls shall be implemented so that employee exposure to repetitive motion trauma is reduced. These controls could consist of employee rotation, mandatory frequent rest breaks, elimination of instruments which require excessive ergonomic stress, or other methods to rectify the situation. STEP 2- Submit to the area director a written detailed plan of abatement outlining a schedule for the implementation of engineering, administrative and medical measures to reduce employee exposures to repeated trauma. STEP 3- Correction shall be completed by the implementation of feasible engineering and/or administrative controls and their effectiveness at achieving compliance verified.