Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 142 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 19, Station G where one employee was per- forming operation of the grinder (operation #905). The evaluation of these tasks indicates that the employee is exposed ergonomic stressors including: repetition, hand/wr- ist contact with sharp edges, force applied with fingers, force applied with one hand, with both hands, with one shoulder, with both shoulders and by bending, stooping/bend- ing to fit work space, work space constrains worker move- ment, bending to reach work and objects, twisting to reach work and objects, stretching to reach objects and work, shoulders different levels, reach behind body, reach should- er forward, reach above shoulder, throw objects over shoulder, elbow flexion and extension, hand/wrist extension, flexion, pinch, ulnar deviation, radial deviation and rotation, finger abkuction, pulp pinch, palm pinch and medial grasp, and closed fist 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 1990 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 working as a grinder on Line 19 underwent 2 surgical procedures. No second opinion was sought prior to the surgical procedure and the employee worked at the same job position until surgery. There was not evidence that job reassignment or modification, days off work or restricted work activity was used as a therapeutic approach for conserative medical treatment to address the CTD problem prior to the surgeries. The employee was returned to work at another position with similar stressors which has exacerbated the medical condition. 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 905 1) Provide conveyor for moviing scrap into grinding machines. 2) Redesign grinding room to provide more space for worker and reduce poten t sharp edges and moving parts. 3) Pad all sharp edges. 4) Provide a lighter tool for manipulating scrap. 5) Provide lift mechanism for bins to tilt bins and provide easier access. 6) Provide more than one worker to perform this task to increase rest time. 7) Design mechanical means of moving scrap from storage bins to grinder chutes. 8) Improve noise reduction controls. 9) Improve ventilation to reduce heat and dust exposure. 10) Change design of elevator control to eliminate need for operation with long stick. SEE ABATEMENT NOTE: "ERGONOMICS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM"