Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 215 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 NP-1, where one employee was performing packing (operation #:599). The evaluation of this task indicates that the employee is exposed ergonomic stressors including: repetition, force applied both hands and both shoulders, bending to reach objects, twisting to reach work and to reach objects, reach forward, reaching above shoulder level, reaching to one side, stooping/bending to fit work space, work space constrains worker movement, elbow flexion and extension, hand/wrist extension, flexion, pinch, radial deviation, ulnar deviation and rotation, pulp pinch, palm pinch, finger press 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 1989, 1990, 1991 document a pattern of cumula- tive 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 599 1. Incline incoming conveyor upwards to deliver cases higher than the packing box to eliminate the distance the case must be lifted or allow the case to be lowered into the packing boxes. 2. Place roll of plastic insert bags in front of employee to reduce unnecessary turning around. 3. Lower outgoing conveyor to same level as platform supporting packing station. 4. Arrange work space to minimize lifting by avoiding movement of cartons and suitcase through different levels. For example, if conveyor and carton are suitably aligned the suitcase can be lowered in to carton using gravity assist. 5. Add curve to handle of nozzle of glue gun to avoid wrist deviations. 6. Use automatic rather than manual labeling of carton. 7. Use directive bar or other mechanism to deliver case from conveyor to operator. 8. Provide sit/stand/lean capability to reduce static stress. 9. Provide employee with label gun similar to the one used to mark prices on items in grocery stores to reduce torso flexion and reaches. 10. Use a palletizer as a work station to apply the labels and to stack the labeled boxes until they are used for shipment. 11. Suspend the glue gun overhead to reduce wrist deviation. SEE ABATEMENT NOTE: "ERGONOMICS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM"