Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 253 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 3 where one employee was perform- ing frame to shell (operation #513), wire stitching (opera- tion #514), and drill holes for skid plate and bottom tongue for rivets (operations #322 and 291). 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 hand or both hands, from one or both shoulders, force by bending, stooping/bending to fit space, work space confines movements, bending to reach work and to reach objects, stretching to reach objects and to reach work, reach shoulders forward, elbow flexion and extension, hand/wrist extension, flexion, pinch, ulnar deviation, radial deviation and rotation, finger push, pulp pinch, palm pinch and finger press, 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, and 1991 document a pattern of cumulative trauma disorders associated with these operations. An employee who was exposed to undue repetitive motion trauma, excessive force and awkward finger, hand and arm positions had a history of CTD related problems. There was no documentation of job reassignment or modification used as a therapeutic approach for conservative medical treatement to address the CTD problem. The employee was returned to the same job stressors which were causing the condition as evidenced by a flare up of the medical condition. 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 513 1) Prohibit performing the operation on a moving conveyor since it requires additional finger and wrist force. 2) Design press to align and push frame to shell with powered assist 3) Provide height and angle-adjustable fixtures for frame to shell assembly. 4) Install mechanical ejector to move case on and off conveyor. 5) Perform the operation on work table that has adjustable height, is close to worker and has a back stop to prevent case from sliding backward. 6) Provide uniform cushioned mat or use shock absorbing footwear. 7) Reduce the number of job tasks performed to increase rest time and reduce repetition. 8) Use tilted fixture to reduce wrist deviations. 9) Provide sit/stand/lean option and adjustable work station. ABATEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS: OPERATION 514 1) Provide adjustable height mechanism for stitching machine to reduce wrist deviations. 2) Provide appropriate footwear or cushioned mat over work space area. 3) Provide fixture to rotate machine automatically to reduce the number of wrist deviations. 4) Reduce the number of job tasks performed to increase rest time. 5) Use mechanical ejector to move case on and off conveyor. ABATEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS: OPERATION 322/291 1) Provide appropriate footwear or cushioned mat over work space area. 2) Provide shelf and clamping device for drilling operations to prevent using body as a clamping device. 3) Ensure counterweight mechanisms are adjusted properly. 4) Provide vibration dampening. 5) Provide preventative maintenance for drills. 6) Reduce the number of job tasks performed to increase rest time. 7) Provide a multi-drilling machine to eliminate manual drilling. 8) Use mechanical ejector or diverter bar to move cases on and off conveyor. 9) Provide sit/stand/lean option with adjustable work station. SEE ABATEMENT NOTE: "ERGONOMICS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM"