Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 251 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 16, Station 1 where one employee was perform- ing punching for skid plate bottom (operation #360), punching for glide plate (operation #422), punching for glides (opera- tion #423) and punch top shell notches (operation # 210) and install glides (operation #472). The evaluation of these tasks indicates that the employee is exposed ergonomic stressors including: repetition, hand/wrist contact with sharp edges and vibration, force applied with fingers, with one or both hands, from one or both shoulders, force applied by bending, bending to see work and fit work space, work space constrains worker movements, bending to reach objects, twisting and stretching to reach objects, reaching forward and behind body, elbow flexion and extension, hand/wrist extension, flexion, pinch, radial deviation and rotation, finger push, abduction, palm pinch and 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 document a pattern of cumulative trauma disorders associated with similar operations. 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 360/422/210/329/423 1) Divide station into two work areas for two employees so machines and conveyor are closer together to reduce the amount of shell manipulation and carrying that is necessary. 2) Provide uniform anti-fatigue mat over entire work area or use shock absorbing footwear. 3) Eliminate the need for stacking materials and excessive lifting. 4) Provide more space for worker. 5) Provide adjustable work station to provide uniform point of operations. 6) Lower and tilt glide punch controls towards operator to eliminate wrist radial deviation. 7) Reduce the number of tasks to increase rest time. 8) Develop multi-punch machine to reduce the number of punching operations. 9) Use spring-loaded or tilt bins to reduce bending forward at waist and neck to retrieve case shells from coffins. 10) Redesign coffin bins for easier movement of use fork lift. 11) Provide mechanical ejector or diverter bar to move shells on and off conveyor to station. 12) Eliminate the need for worker to hold shells by providing automatic clamping mechanism with a multi-punch system. 13) Expand work station area to eliminate need for manual shell manipulation. 14) Provide adjustable work stations to achieve uniform points of operation that do not require wrist deviations or shoulder flexion. ABATEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS: OPERATION 472 1) Provide uniform cushioned floor mat over entire area or use shock absorbing shoes. 2) Provide vibration dampening for tool. 3) Ensure appropriate torque setting and maintain with preventative maintenance program. 4) Reduce the number of job operations to increase rest time. 5) Provide sit/stand/lean option with adjustable work station. SEE ABATEMENT NOTE: "ERGONOMICS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM"