Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 256 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 6 where one employee was perform- ing rivet hinges and rivet skid plate, rivet lock and pad catches, rivet ribbon hooks (operations #519/376/520,419) and drilling top groove for hinges (operation # 290). The evaluation of these tasks indicates that the employee is exposed ergonomic stressors including: repetition, hand/wr- ist contact with sharp edges and vibration, force applied with fingers, with one or both hand and with one or both shoulders, work space constrains movements, bending to reach and see work, stretching to reach objects, reaching forward, shoulders at different levels, elbow flexion and extension, hand/wrist extension, flexion, pinch, radial deviation, ulnar deviation and rotation, finger push and palm pinch, 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 1988, 1990 and 1991 document a pattern of cumulative trauma disorders associated with these 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: OPERATIONS 519/376/520/419 1) Provide more space for worker. 2) Provide uniform anti-fatigue mat over entire work area or use shock absorbing footwear. 3) Ensure all rivet machine bins are tilted and padded to reduce contact stress. 4) Provide support platforms on rivet machines. 5) Reduce the number of job tasks to increase rest time and reduce repetition. 6) Provide mechanical ejector to move cases on and off conveyor. 7) Design an autofeed device for rivet machines. 8) Provide sit/stand/lean option with adjustable work station. 9) Redesign work station layout to reduce horizontal reaches. ABATEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS: OPERATION 290 1) Provide appropriate footwear or cushioned mat over work space area. 2) Provide adjustable work station. 3) Provide vibration dampening for tool and preventative maintenance. 4) Reduce the number of job tasks to increase rest time. 5) Design multi-hole punch or drill machine to eliminate manual drilling. 6) Provide mechanical ejector to move cases on and off conveyor. 7) Provide a rotating support fixture with clamps for shell to elimin- ate using body as a brace to hold shell to conveyor. 8) Provide sit/stand/lean option with adjustable work station. 9) Ensure counterweight mechanisms are adjusted properly. 10) Provide vibration dampening. 11) Provide preventative maintenance for drills. SEE ABATEMENT NOTE: "ERGONOMICS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM"