Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 095 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 13 where one employee was per- forming pop-riveting lift levers (operation #674) and riveting wet pocket snaps (operation #502). The evaluation of these tasks indicate that the employee is exposed ergonomic stressors including: repetition, hand/wrist contact with sharp edges, hands exposed to agents (forced movement), force applied with fingers, with one hand, with both hands, from one shoulder, from both shoulders and by twisting, stooping/bending to fit work space, work space constrains worker movement, bending to reach objects, twisting to reach objects, stretching to reach objects, shoulders reached behind body, shoulder reach forward, reach above shoulder, throw objects over shoulder, elbow flexion and extension, hand/wrist extension, flexion, pinch, radial deviation and ulnar deviation, finger push, abduction, pulp pinch, palm pinch and finger press, and closed fist grip, pistol grip, 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 elimin- ate 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 674 1) Provide uniform fatigue mat. 2) Move rivet bin to right side of machine (for right-handed operators only). 3) Increase work space for safety and convenience. 4) Suspend and counter-weight rivet gun to eliminate forceful ex- ertions. 5) Reduce weight of rivet gun to eliminate forceful exertions. OR 6) Provide an ergonomically designed riveter which allows the employee to perform the operation while keeping the elbow in close to the body and at approximately a 90 degree angle and the wrist in an ergonomical- ly neutral position. (The current tool could be modified to be used in an upside down configuration with the actuator mechanism on the oppos- ite side of the tool.) 7) Add more operators to increase rest break opportunities and reduce strain from repetition. 8) Change shell orientation to more upright position with aid of shell support frame to reduce wrist deviations when using pop-rivet gun. 9) Provide sit/stand/lean option to reduce static posture. 10) Bring lift lever box closer and tilt forward towards operator to reduce reaches. 11) Open front end of box for easy access to reduce reaches. 12) Provide a full adjustable work station for the employee. 13) Provide properly fitting gloves to minimize excess finger pressure while performing manual operations. ABATEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS: OPERATION 502 1) Provide sit/stand/lean option to reduce static posture. 2) Provide an even standing surface. 3) Pad and tilt bins. 4) Provide height and orientation adjustable machine. 5) Provide a mechanical ejector or diverter arm to move cases on and off machine to eliminate forceful exertions. 6) Develop a support frame to support the case during operations to eliminate forceful exertions. 7) Provide an autofeed device for the rivet machine to eliminate awkward posture. 8) Use suitable, shock absorbing footwear to reduce discomfort from static pressure. SEE ABATEMENT NOTE: "ERGONOMICS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM"