Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 241 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 3 where one employee was perform- ing center strip double face tape (operation #567), Drill bottom shell for snaps (operation #219), rivet apron snaps (operation #590), and rivet button to slide bracket (opera- tion #38). The evaluation of these tasks indicates that the employee is exposed ergonomic stressors including: re- petition, hand/wrist contact with sharp edges and vibration, force applied with fingers, with one hand, applied by bending, from both shoulders, by bending, bending to reach work, bending to reach objects, stoop/bends to fit work space, stretching to reach objects, reach shoulders forward, elbow flexion and extension, hand/wrist extension, flexion, pinch, radial deviation, ulnar deviation and rotation, finger push, abduction, press, lateral pinch, palm pinch and finger press, pistol, closed fist 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, and 1991 document a pattern of cumulative 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 567 1) Provide uniform anti-fatigue mat over entire work area or use shock absorbing footwear. 2) Provide machine to cut the exact material needed to strip to elimin- ate use of scissors or provide holster for scissors. 3) Automate stripping process. 4) Raise rotating fixture to reduce bending and leaning. 5) Reduce number of tasks to increase rest time. ABATEMENT RECOMMMENDATIONS: OPERATION 219 1)Provide vibration dampening and preventative maintenance for drill. 2) Provide drill of alternative design to eliminate the need to activ- ate lever. 3) Reduce the number of tasks to increase rest time. 4) Provide clamp for fixture or extend the horizontal platform base. 5) Provide sit/lean/stand option. 6) Provide uniform anti-fatigue mat over entire work area or use shock absorbing footwear. 7) Fixture used for vertical drilling should be applied to other drilling operations. ABATEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS: OPERATION 590/38 1) Provide uniform anti-fatigue mat over entire work area or use shock absorbing footwear. 2) Provide adjustable work station. 3) Provide adjustable machines. 4) Pad and tilt bins to reduce contact stress. 5) Provide support platform for rivet machine. 6) Provide sit/stand/lean option. 7) Provide easier access to conveyor to eliminate reaching. 8) Reduce number of job tasks to increase rest time. SEE ABATEMENT NOTE: "ERGONOMICS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM"