Text For Citation: 03 Item/Group: 007 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 increased risk of cumulative trauma disorders from the tasks that they were performing and administrative or engineering controls were not provided. a) Sheet and Tin Division 1) Four and Five Stand - Employees must lift a 227 pound shim, one side at a time, in preparation for installing new rolls, and an evaluation of these manual lifting tasks indicates that employees are exposed to an increased risk of musculoskeletal injuries based upon studies of populations exposed to similar lifting conditions, observed July 17, 1989. Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable method to correct this hazard is to employ the use of mechanical handling aids and/or the redesign of working station heights. Step 1: Effective administrative protection, such as employee training, physical assessment, job rotation, etc. shall be provided as an interim protective measure until feasible engineering or permanent administrative controls can be implemented which will reduce employee exposure to nominal risk. Step 2: Submit to the Area Director a written, detailed plan of abatement outlining a schedule for the implementation of engineering or administrative measures to control employee injury due to manual lifting tasks. Engineering controls to reduce musculoskeletal stresses include, but are not limited to, job redesign, reduction of the horizontal and vertical load distance from the body, reduction of the lifting frequency or weight, and use of mechanical lifting aids. This plan shall include at a minimum, target dates for the following actions which must be consistent with the dates required by this citation: 1) Evaluation of the conditions, locations and manual lifting activities that the employees are performing at the onset of musculoskeletal injuries. 2) Evaluation of applicable control measures. 3) Procurement, installation and operation of selected control measures. All proposed control measures shall be approved for each particular use by a person trained in the evaluation of workplace conditions which cause musculoskeletal disorders. Thirty day progress reports are required during the abatement period. Step 3: Develop a rehabilitation program for injured workers. The program is expected to include exercise, building stamina, training in safe lifting techniques, work conditioning and demonstration that the worker is able to resume work. Step 4: Abatement shall have been completed by the implementation of feasible engineering and/or administrative controls.