Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 165 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 9, Station 4 where one employee was performing riveting of hinges/lock and pad catches/ribbon hooks (opera- tion #519/520/419), and pop-rivet lift levers (operation #674). The evaluation of these tasks indicates that the employee is exposed ergonomic stressors including: re- petition, hand/wrist contact with sharp edges, force applied with one hand, with both hands, work space constrains worker movements, bending to see work, twisting to reach objects, stretching to reach objects, reach shoulders forward, elbow flexion, elbow extension, hand/wrist flexion, pinch, radial deviation, ulnar deviation, and rotation, finger push, and palm pinch, 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 elimin- ate such disorders. The injury and illness records for 1988, 1989, 1990, and 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 installing draw bolts/lock/hinges and engaged in spray glue operations on Line 9 underwent several surgical procedures. No second opinion was sought prior to the surgical procedures and the employee worked at the same job position until surgery. There is no evidence that job reassignment or modification, days off work or restricted work activity was used as a therapeutic approach for conservative medical treatment to address the CTD problem prior to the surgeries. 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 519/520/419 1) Provide uniform anti-fatigue mat or use shock absorbing footwear. 2) Ensure all bin edges are padded. 3) Install support platforms for rivet machine. 4)Reduce number of job tasks to increase rest time. 5) Provide mechanical ejector to move cases on and off conveyor. 6) Provide wooden platforms to support case during operations. 7) Relocate hinge bin to eliminate excessive reaching and twisting motion. ABATEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS: OPERATION 674 1) Rearrange parts to improve access and reduce reaches. 2) Provide part chutes to improve access. 3) Provide uniform anti-fatigue mat over entire work area. 4) Provide lighter and redesigned pop-rivet gun. 5) Suspend and counterweight pop-rivet gun. 6) Provide tilting fixture for shell to reduce deviations. SEE ABATEMENT NOTE: "ERGONOMICS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM"