Text For Citation: 02 Item/Group: 001 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 death or serious physical harm to employees in that employees were exposed to: a) The Select and Pack Department, the In-Line Tempering Units-Shop number 1-1 and 1-2; In-Line Heat Treat for pressed beverage ware-Shop number 1-4, 1-5, and 2-1; In-Line Crack-off/Heat Treat Line-Shop number 5-2; and Lahrs numbers 1-3, 2-2, 2-3, 2-4, 2-5, 2-6. The employer failer to provide an effective program to protect workers performing glassware inspection and packing from ergonomic injury and disease and packing free ergonomic injury and disease. Representative ergonomic injury and disease that the workers suffered over an extended period included low back strain, strains of the upper back, neck, and shoulders; repetitive motion disorders including Carpal Tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, tenosynovitis, epicondylit; (elbow and rotator cuff shoulder). There is an established recorded history of workers suffering the injuries including extended lost work time and surgeries to correct body damage. The ergonomic injury and disease problems among the glassware inspection and packing workers can be abated by a two part program. The first, and listed immediately below is a progressed effort to control and reduce the ergonomic stressors affecting the workers. 1) To facilitate inspections with less stressful glassware handling install non-breakable Lexan or other appropriate translucent plastic where the wood Lahr tables are presently. Install flourescent lights under the translucent plastic. Glassware would be lifted from the conveyor and set atop the table for inspection. 2) Provide padded wrist supports for workers who must lift glassware for inspection. In practice, the workers would hold the glassware in with the wrist in a neutral position and rotate the formers while the wrist is allowed to rest against the wrist rest. 3) For rejected heavy glass items such as pitchers, cake domes, and oven pans, there is considerable hand and arm stress associated with lifting the glassware and throwing it typically at eye level and with 3/4 area extensions into the waste glass return conveyor. An alternative would be to place a wheeled reject box beside the inspection station, possibly with a slide chute at waist level. Periodically, the box with reject glass could be brought to a return conveyor that allowed the glass to be dropped from waist height and close to the body, or alternatively dumped much like a wheelbarrow. 4) For workers packing glassware into boxes, provide box holders. A batter box holder location is beside the Lahr board not stop it and the box flap nearest the workers is foleded down and held out of the way. Workers can then place glassware into the box with hands and elbows held in close to the body. The hand maximum height while putting glass into the box should be armpit height or less. 5) Workers can reduce back and lifting stress by rotating their whole body using their feet when they transfer glassware from the Lahr board to the large box or container typically behind them. This posture position is called an "erect neutral body position" and it is recognized to represent minimum muscle and tendon stress for a standing worker. 6) Some ovenware pans and bowls were observed coming down the Lehr lines with the rounded bottom upward, and the glassware rim resting flat on the conveyor. It is possible to ease finger and hand stress by mechanically lifting the front rim of the glassware 1/4 to 3/8 inch. Investigate using fixed raised strips stretched across and just above the surface of the conveyor. In practice, the flat smooth edge of the raised strip would go under the advancing glassware and raise it. The raised strips could be removed and stored beside the Lahr inspection station when not needed. 7) Workers can ease back and hand stress by waiting for the glassware to come to them. Provide a light beam, paint stripes or other guides to workers where glassware is to be unloaded from and require that workers use the "unload" zones. 8) Heavy glassware causes less body stress if it can be slid sideways into its container. Candidate items include ovenware, pitchers, and cake dome sets. Provide boxes and instructions to make this possible. 9) Inspecting glass tumblers and goblets by leaving them is less stressful. The glass tumblers are not lifted; but can be leaned first forward then away from the worker. The inspection of the glassware is broken into a series of steps; (a) first the glassware is lifted from the conveyor, (b) lean-inspected, while the workers lifting arm muscles relax, then (c) finally the glassware is liften for placement into a box or container. 10) Worker foot and lower leg stress can be reduced by providing resilient walking mats or by providing cushioned shoe inserts. 11) For side inspection and pack work station such as Lahr 1-2, the second and third inspector-packers have less lifting stress if divider can be place up stream of them to move their glassware side ways to a closer position similar to that provided at the first inspector-packer station. The diverters can be hinged to move out of the way when not needed. 12) On Lahr 5-2 there is a backlighted worker glassware inspection and rejection station. Provide an ergonomically adjustable chair for the worker. The chair shall include a waterfall shaped seat pan, adjustable height back with lumbosacaral support pad, and height adjustment of the seat, and back support. Provide arm supports for the worker. Because the workstation is elevated, provide a foot support attached to the chair along the lower front edge of the glassware inspection window. Provide a low rounded 4 inch wide wrist rest for the worker. The second major element of the plantwide ergonomic injury and disease control program includes consideration of the management need to support the workers. Suggested elements include, but area not necessarily limited to: 1) Worker training and information. The key to helping workers protect themselves from ergonomic injury and disease is information. Establish an education program to inform the workers about lifting related stresses, posture related stresses and repetitive motion related disease. The program should be addresses to both new workers, injured workers, and to long term workers who need to maintain and apply the knowledge. Ideal ways for educating workers is (a) the traditional small classroom study group, and (b) self teaching video tape. 2) Job Stress Analysis. If necessary using the assistance of a consultant, conduct a rapid ergonomic hazard assessment of the jobs at the workplace. Use a short survey form and ask both the supervisor and worker performing the job to participate. Couple the consultant, supervisor and worker job assessments with five years of OSHA 200 Logs, OSHA 101 Accident Reports (or equivalent company reports) and Worker's Compensation reports to rate the jobs as "A" medium and "C" low hazard. 3) Formal Worker Questionaires. Workers can give information that cannot be gained any other way about their own experience in performing their jobs. Establish a formalized worker questionaire program comparable to that used by OSHA. The workers and their representative need to be carefully informed that their information is seriously being sought. They need to be assured that personal pain and problems information will not be used against the workers, but only be used in establishing which jobs are stressful. Of very great importance are the workers comments and suggestions about: (a) what specifically is it about your job that is stressful or hazardous, (b) what are your suggestions for ways and methods that the job and your work station can be improved to reduce the stress while maintaining productivity? The worker's questionaires are suggested to be computerized and input sought every 6 months from high stress rated jobs, and once every year from workers performing medium and low rated jobs. It would be effective for information review and decision making if the questionaires were given to workers spread evenly across the 12 months of the year. 4) Work station and task low hazard procedure: using information from 2 and 3 above, establish the preferred low ergonomic hazard method for performing tasks. It is most effective and easily done if a video tape can be made of a worker performing the task. The worker can give a 5 minute demonstration of the job, and the worker can provide verbal comments. Other workers can be shown the tape when needed to refresh them in the established method for job performance. If worker suggestions for further improvement of stress reduction, that can be video documented and a side by side decision made of which method will be used. workers need to be informed that a low hazard method of job performance, once selected is mandatory. 5) Computerized accident and injury records: establish a computerized employee health and medical monitoring program. The program can greatly ease required OSHA recordkeeping. It can also be used to sort health and safety problems in the workplace through sorting information and comparing information with previous periods. The computer program can be run on a desktop computer software such as Lotus 123 or D Base III can be adopted and used. 6) Establish a worker's wellness program: for those workers who require it, provide early conservative therapy and medical assistance. It is possible to cure lifting and repetitive motion body, hand, and arm strain by proper rest, medication, strengthening weakened and out of balance muscles, and by reducing workplace stressors. -A written lockout policy shall be established including procedures for locking out equipment or machinery. Employees involved in implementing the program shall be trained in all elements thereof. -There shall be regular enforcement and periodic evaluation of the program to ensure usage and adequacy of the program.