Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 083 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 serious physical harm to employees, in that employees were required to perform tasks involving ergonomic risk factors (including, but not limited to, repetitive motions, force and awkward postures) resulting in stressors that had caused, were causing, or were likely to cause cumulative trauma disorder(s): (a) Department 17, Station 3E where one employee was per- forming punching for glides (operation #422), punch for wheels and notches (operation #201), and rivet wheels (operation #205). The evaluation of these tasks indicates that the employee is exposed ergonomic stressors including: repetition, hand/wrist contact with sharp edges, force applied with fingers, both hands and by bending, stooping- /bending to fit space, work space constraint of worker movement, bending to reach work, twisting to reach objects, reach shoulders forward, reach behind body, reach above shoulder, reach overhead, elbow flexion, elbow extension, hand/wrist extension, flexion, pinch, slight ulnar de- viation, and rotation, finger push, palm pinch, pulp grasp, finger press, and finger pinch grip which are causing or likely to cause cumulative trauma disorders. The employer did not implement an effective control strategy to reduce or eliminate such disorders. The injury and illness records for 1989, 1990, 1991 document a pattern of cumulative trauma disorders associated with this operation. While ultimate responsibility for correcting the hazard rests with the employer, given his superior knowledge of the operation, feasible and acceptable abatement methods to correct this hazard include, but are not limited to, the following: ABATEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS: OPERATION 422/201 1) Provide mechanical ejector to move shell on and off conveyor. 2) Provide adjustable machines to avoid stooping for notch punch activation. 3) Pad sharp edges of glide/wheel punch. 4) Provide adjustable machines to prevent stooping to use controls. 5) Use appropriate, shock absorbing, footwear to reduce stress of legs and feet. 6) Instruct employee to wait until the conveyor delivers the material to him/her to eliminate reaching for the objects. 7) Provide adjustable machines to minimize reach distances and the amount of bending required. ABATEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS: OPERATION 205 1) Reduce disparity between incoming and outgoing conveyors by lowering incoming conveyor. 2) Use ejector mechanism to move shells off incoming conveyor. 3) Provide adjustable height and orientation machines to reduce wrist deviations. 4) Position parts bins to reduce reaching upwards and forwards, and wrist deviations. 5) Use appropriate footwear to reduce stress and fatigue on the lower body due to standing and walking on a concrete floor. 6) Expand and rearrange work space to reduce reaches. SEE ABATEMENT NOTE: "ERGONOMICS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM"