Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 230 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 13, Station 13N, 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 with fingers, with one hand, both hands, one shoulder, both shoulders and by bending and twisting, stoop/bends to fit work space, work space constrains worker movements, bending to reach objects, twisting to reach objects, shoulders different levels, reach forward, reach behind body, reach above shoulder, reach overhead, throw objects over shoulder, elbow flexion and extension, hand/wrist extension, flexion, pinch, radial deviation, ulnar deviation and rotation, finger push, abduction, pulp pinch, palm pinch, finger press and medial 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. The injury and illness records for 1989, 1990, 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 performing packing operations on Line 13 underwent 2 surgical procedures. No second opinion was sought prior to the first surgical procedure. The employee worked performing frame to shell operations which have similar job stressors 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 conservative medical treatment to address the CTD problem prior to the first surgery. The employee was returned to work at the same position after the first surgery without modifications of 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 599 1. 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. 2. Add curve to handle of nozzle of glue gun to avoid wrist deviations. 3. Use automatic rather than manual labeling of carton. 4. Use more than one employee for this operation to increase opportunities for rest breaks. 5. Use directive bar or other mechanism to deliver case from conveyor to operator. 6. Provide sit/stand/lean capability to reduce static stress. 7. Provide employee with label gun similar to the one used to mark prices on items in grocery stores to reduce torso flexion and reaches. 8. Develop a conveyor that gradually ramps up so the case is higher than the packing box to eliminate the distance the case must be lifted. 9. Suspend the glue gun overhead to reduce wrist deviation. 10. Provide a sloping walking surface where platforms meet. 11. Modify box folding to eliminate the force necessary to open and fold boxes. SEE ABATEMENT NOTE: "ERGONOMICS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM"