Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 096 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 14 where one employee was per- forming installation of main handle (operation #202) and installation of side handle (operation #116). The evalua- tion of these tasks indicate that the employee is exposed ergonomic stressors including: repetition, hand/wrist contact with sharp edges, hands exposed to agents (vibration), force applied with fingers, with one hand, with both hands, from one shoulder and from both shoulders, stretching to reach objects, shoulder reach forward, reach above shoulder, elbow flexion, hand/wrist extension, flexion, pinch, radial deviation, ulnar deviation and rotation (slight), finger medial grasp, closed fist grip and pinch grip which are causing or likely to cause cumula- tive 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 responsibil- ity 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 202/116 1) Provide sit/stand/lean option. 2) Provide adequate fatigue mats. 3) Use suitable, shock absorbing footwear. 4) Develop surveillance and preventative maintenance program for torque setting of screwdrivers. 5) Provide vibration dampening on handles of screwdrivers. 6) Provide mechanical ejector or diverter arm to move cases on and off conveyor to eliminate forceful exertions and reaches. 7) Relocate jigs that position the case and handle closer to the employee to reduce the reach required to perform the job. 8) Reduce line speed OR provide and electric eye or other stopping mechanism to stop the advancement of cases past a predetermined point to eliminate shoulder, upper arm, and lower back strain from pushing cases back. SEE ABATEMENT NOTE: "ERGONOMICS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM"