Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 086 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 5N where one employee was per- forming frame to shell (operation #513) and wire stitching (operation #514). 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, with one hand, with both hands, from one shoulder, from both shoulders and by bending, stooping/- bending to fit space, bending to reach work, bending to reach objects, stretching to reach objects, stretching to reach work, reach shoulders forward, elbow flexion, elbow extension, hand/wrist extension, flexion, pinch, and rotation, finger push, palm pinch, finger press, and finger pinch grip which are causing or likely to cause cumulative trauma disorders. The employer did not implement an effec- tive control strategy to reduce or eliminate such disorders. The injury and illness records for 1989, 1990, and 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 513 1) Arrange machinery and work table to avoid retracing steps during the operation. 2) Design press to align and push frame to shell with powered assist (instituting the same principles as "fit" machine in Department 73). OR 3) Provide height and angle-adjustable fixtures for frame to shell assembly. 4) Provide employees with specially designed gloves for this operation with padding in the heel of the hand area to provide cushion, with the fingers removed to facilitate manual dexterity. 5) Provide fatigue mat or use appropriate footwear. ABATEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS: OPERATION 514 1) Provide adjustable height mechanism for stitching machine to reduce excessive back bending. 2) Provide appropriate footwear or fatigue mat over work space area. SEE ABATEMENT NOTE: "ERGONOMICS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM"