Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 235 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 77, Station 3 where one employee was perform- ing install handle and set escutcheon (operation # 537), install hook and retainer (operatin #408) and install screw to handle (operation #413). The evaluation of these tasks indicate that the employee is exposed ergonomic stressors including: repetition, hands exposed to vibration, tempera- ture changes, hand/wrist contact with sharp edges, force applied with fingers, one hand, both hands, from one shoulder, both shoulders and applied by bending and twisting, bending to reach work, stoop/bends to fit work space, stretching to reach objects, shoulder reach forward, elbow flexed and extended, hand/wrist extension, flexion, pinch, radial and ulnar deviation and rotation, fingers push, palm pinch, finger press, medial grasp, closed fist 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 1989, 1990, 1991 document a pattern of cumulative trauma disorders associated with this operation. While ultimate responsibil- ity 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 537/408/413 1) Provide uniform anti-fatigue mat over entire work area or use shock absorbing footwear. 2) Provide counterbalancing for screwdriver. 3) Provide vibration dampening for screwdriver. 4) Set and maintain appropriate torque setting for screwdriver. 5) Increase grip size of screwdriver and escutcheon tool to enhance power grip. 6) Reduce the number of tasks to increase rest time. 7) Devise alternative method to install springs. 8) Adjust height and tilt parts bins toward operators. 9) Provide sit/stand/lean option. SEE ABATEMENT NOTE: "ERGONOMICS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM"