Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 088 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 6 where one employee was perform- ing riveting of hinges (operation #519) and rivet lock and pad catches (operation #520). The evaluation of these tasks indicates that the employee is exposed ergonomic stressors including: repetition, hand/wrist contact with sharp edges, force applied with one hand, with both hands, work space constrains worker movements, bending to see work, twisting to reach objects, stretching to reach objects, reach shoulders forward, elbow flexion, elbow extension, hand/wr- ist flexion, pinch, radial deviation, ulnar deviation, and rotation, finger push, and palm pinch, and 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 1988, 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 519/520 1) Pad bins of pad/lock catch machine to eliminate worker contact with sharp edges. 2) Reduce number of job tasks to increase rest time. 3) Develop mechanical ejector or diverter arm to move cases on and off conveyor. 4) Develop support frame (jig) to support the case during rivet operations to eliminate forceful exertion. 5) Develop an autofeed device for the rivet machine to eliminate awkward posture. 6) Provide a sit/stand/lean option to reduce static posture. 7) Develop a catch to be placed onto the rivet machine to eliminate the need for the employee to hold the catch in place and place the entire unit on the machine to reduce wrist deviation and finger force. 8) Provide height and orientation-adjustable machines to eliminate awkward postures and torso flexion. SEE ABATEMENT NOTE: "ERGONOMICS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM"