Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 239 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 73, Station 1 where one employee was perform- ing punching top and bottom shell (operation #420) and install tumbler spring (operation #110). The evaluation of these tasks indicates that the employee is exposed ergonomic stressors including: repetition, hand/wrist contact with sharp edges, force applied with fingers, with one hand, with both hands and from both shoulders, applied by bending and twisting, stoop/bends to fit work space, bending to reach objects, stretching to reach controls and work, reach shoulders forward and above, elbow flexion and elbow ex- tension, hand/wrist extension, flexion, pinch, radial deviation and ulnar deviation and rotation, finger push, palm pinch and 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 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 document a pattern of cumulative trauma disorders associated with this operation. (a) An employee who was exposed to undue repetitive motion trauma, excessive force and awkward finger, hand and arm positions while engaged in punching shells and bending frames on Line 73 underwent 2 surgical procedures. No second opinion was sought prior to the surgical procedures and the employee worked at the same job position 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 surgery. The employee was returned to the same position after 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 420 1) Provide uniform anti-fatigue mat over entire work area or use shock absorbing footwear. 2) Make control panel adjustable to eliminate trunk bending. 3) Provide tilt bin or bin with spring loaded bottom to eliminate the bending necessary to remove shells from bin. 4) Provide sit/stand/lean option. 5) Reorient punch machine to reduce height cases must be lifted. ABATEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS: OPERATION 110 1) Provide uniform anti-fatigue mat over entire area or use shock absorbing footwear. 2) Reduce number of job tasks to increase rest time. 3) Use jig and power assist device. 4) Provide two employees for moving bins. 5) Enlarge wheels on the bins to make pushing and pulling easier. 6) Provide sit/lean/stand option. SEE ABATEMENT NOTE: "ERGONOMICS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM"