Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 003 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 in the Kitchen Department were required, as part of their job, to perform repetitive, forceful motions in postures and with upper extremities that resulted in stressors that caused numerous incidents of cumulative trauma or musculoskeletal disorders: In the kitchen, kitchen helpers were exposed to lifting and cumulative trauma stressors to the back, neck, and upper extremities (including hand, arm and wrist) while picking up and hanging sausage product. These stressors include repeated one-handed stick holding while picking up sausage onto stick, repeated hand motions of looping sausage onto stick, cold environment, repeated reaching and lifting while placing loaded smokehouse stick on overhead conveyor. Worker positions: a) picking up sausage, table 1, side 1. b) picking up sausage, table 1, side 2. c) picking up sausage, table 2, side 3. d) picking up sausage, table 2, side 4. e) picking up sausage, table 3, side 5. f) picking up sausage, table 3, side 6. g) picking up sausage, table 4, side 7. h) picking up sausage, table 4, side 8. i) picking up sausage, table 5, side 9. j) picking up sausage, table 5, side 10. k) picking up sausage, table 6, side 11. l) picking up sausage, table 6, side 12. m) picking up sausage, table 7, side 13. n) picking up sausage, table 7, side 14. o) picking up sausage, table 8, side 15. p) picking up sausage, table 8, side 16. q) picking up sausage, table 9, side 17. r) picking up sausage, table 9, side 18. Feasible means of abatement may include, but are not limited to the following: 1) Providing a stick holding device while looping sausage onto stick. 2) Provide a stick lifting device for placing on overhead conveyor. 3) Lowering overhead conveyor hanging height relative to work station. 4) Provide arm/wrist warmers. 5) Rotation of helpers between rope (endless) and link lines. 6) Establish reasonable maximum limits for amount of meat on a loaded smokehouse stick. 7) Provide a resilient pad/mat for workers to stand on.