Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 245 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 8 where one employee was perform- ing riveting portfolio to shell (operation # 650), rivet portfolio straps to shell (operation #676) and repair case (operation #595). The evaluation of these tasks indicate that the employee is exposed ergonomic stressors including: repetition, hand/wrist contact with sharp edges, exposed to vibration, force applied with fingers, with one hand, with both hands and from both shoulders, force applied by twist- ing and bending, work space constrains worker movements, bending to reach work, twisting to reach objects, stretching to reach objects, shoulder reach forward, shoulderreach forward, elbow flexion and extension, hand/wrist flexion, extension, pinch, radial deviation, ulnar deviation and rotation, finger push, palm pinch, pulp pinch and finger press, pulp grasp and medial grasp, and pinch grip, pencil grip and closed fist grip which are causing or likely to cause cumulative trauma disorders. The employer did not implement an effective control strategy to reduce or elimin- ate such disorders. The injury and illness records for 1988, 1989, 1990, 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 650/676 1) Rearrange work station to prevent twisting to put shells on or take shells off conveyor. 2) Provide adjustable machines. 3) Provide uniform anti-fatigue mat over entire work area or use shock absorbing footwear. 4) Pad all bins or cut out the front contact edge. 5) Provide platform for riveting machine on snaps. 6) Decrease number of tasks to increase rest time. 7) Suspend and counter weight drill and provide vibration dampening. 8) Provide sit/stand/lean option. ABATEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS: OPERATION 595 1) Suspend and counterweight drill and provide vibration dampenig. 2) Provide mechanical ejector tomove cases on and off conveyor. 3) Provide movable fixture to support and move case during inspection. 4) Provide sit/stand/lean option. 5) Design support fixture which will support case during manipulations. SEE ABATEMENT NOTE: "ERGONOMICS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM"