Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 201 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 76, Station NG-6, where one employee was performing kitting of cases (operation # 324). The evalua- tion of this task indicates that the employee is exposed ergonomic stressors including: repetition, force applied with one hand, bending to reach work and objects, worker twisting to reach work, stretch to reach objects and work, shoulders at different levels, reaching forward and above shoulder level, elbow flexion and extension, hand/wrist extension, flexion, pinch, ulnar deviation, rotation, finger abduction, pulp pinch, pulp grasp, 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. 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 324 1) Automate incoming conveyor. 2) Provide more room for worker. 3) Redesign work space to achieve more uniform height distribution of parts bins. 4) Provide part chutes which will automatically dispense all of the required parts with activation of single mechanism. 5) Reduce height of outgoing conveyor to approximately 30 inches. 6) Use tilting of bins toward operator to reduce need for wrist flexion and deviation. 7) Provide uniform, even padded walking surface to relieve stress. SEE ABATEMENT NOTE: "ERGONOMICS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM"