Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 135 Hazard: ERGONOMIC

Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970: The emp l employment and a place of employment which were free from recognized hazard s causing or likely to cause serious physical harm to employees, in that empl o to perform tasks involving ergonomic risk factors (including, but not limit e force and awkward postures) resulting in stressors that had caused, were ca u to cause cumulative trauma disorder(s): a) Department 72, Station 13A where one employee was perform- ing installation of handle insert (operation #171) and installation of pull handle (operation #399) . 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, severe impact), force applied with fingers, with one hand and from one shoulder, work space constrains worker movement, bending to reach objects, twisting to reach objects, stretching to reach objects, shoulder reach behind body, reach forward and reach above shoulder, elbow flexion and extension, hand/wrist extension, flexion, pinch, radial deviation, ulnar deviation and rotation, finger push and finger press, and closed fist 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 eliminate such disorders. The injury and illness records for 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 171/399 1) Provide sit/stand/lean option. 2) Provide adequate fatigue mats or use suitable, shock absorbing footwear. 3) Develop surveillance and preventative maintenance program for torque setting of screwdrivers. 4) Provide vibration dampening on handles of screwdrivers. 5) Provide mechanical ejector or diverter arm to move cases on and off conveyor to eliminate forceful exertions and reaches. 6) Use mechanical means of pushing the pull handle to alleviate use of the hands as a hammering device. 7) Avoid use of the hand as a hammer. SEE ABATEMENT NOTE: "ERGONOMICS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM" problem. The employee was returned to the same job stres- sors which exacerbated the bilateral CTS diagnosis of September 1990 at which time the employee remained off work for several weeks.