Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 157 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 8 Station 13S where one employee was perform- ing inspection of and repair of case (operation #595) and installing wet packet (operation #262). The evaluation of these tasks indicates 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 one shoulder, from both shoulders, by twisting, and by bending, stooping/bending to fit work space, bending to reach work, bending to reach objects, twisting to reach objects, stretching to reach work, reach shoulders forward, reach above shoulders, elbow flexion and extension, hand/wrist extension, flexion, pinch radial deviation, ulnar deviation and rotation, finger push, abduction, pulp pinch, palm pinch, finger press, pulp grasp and medial grasp, and closed fist grip, pencil 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 eliminate such disorders. The injury and illness records for 1990 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 595/262 1) Use adjustable work stations to accommodate sit/stand/lean feature. 2) Provide vibration dampening for power tools. 3) Provide shelf support for drilling operations. 4) Suspend and counterweight drill and screwdriver. 5) Provide lighter and redesigned pop-rivet gun. 6) Provide holsters for hand tools. SEE ABATEMENT NOTE: "ERGONOMICS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM"