Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 128 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 72, Station 9 where one employee was performing rail riveting (operation #532). The evaluation of these tasks indicate 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 both shoulders and by twisting, stooping/bending to fit work space, bending to see work, bending to reach work, twisting to reach objects, stretching to reach objects, stretching to reach work, shoulders differ- ent levels, shoulders reached behind body, shoulder reach forward, reach above shoulder, reach overhead, elbow flexion and extension, hand/wrist extension, flexion, pinch, radial deviation, ulnar deviation and rotation, finger push, pulp pinch, palm pinch and finger press, 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 1989, 1990, 1991 document a pattern of cumulative trauma disorders associated with this operation. An employee who was exposed to undue repetitive motion trauma, excessive force and awkward finger, hand and arm positions while engaged in Rail Riveting operations on Line 72 underwent 2 surgical procedures. No second opinion was sought prior to surgery and the employee worked at the same job position until surgery. The employees exposure to this ergonomic hazard was not reduced in that prior to the surgery, no offer of job reassignment, as adequate number of days off work or restricted work activity was made. The employee was returned to work at the same position after surgery without modification of the job duties or the work station. 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 532 1) Provide rotating fixture to support shell while riveting. 2) Redesign rail riveting machine for automatic operation. 3) Reorient shell to horizontal and substitute gluing process in place of rivet machine. Rail could be pre-formed. 4) Increase rest opportunities eg. by increasing the number of operators performing this task. 5) Decrease number of tasks operator is required to perform. 6) Provide sit/stand/lean option. 7) Reorient rivet machine to be operated at approximately a 30 degree angle to allow employee to rest the case on their shoulder, eliminating holding the case above shoulder height. 8) Provide adjustable height and orientation rivet machine. 9) Ensure walking surface is even and provide adequate fatigue mats or shock absorbing footwear. SEE ABATEMENT NOTE: "ERGONOMICS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM"