ERGONOMICS

Designing Jobs and Tools to Fit People...

Do your shoulders ache after a hard day at work? Have you ever noticed pain, tingling or numbness in your hands or wrist that is present day after day? Have you ever leaned over to pick up something light, like a pencil, and found that you couldn't straighten up because of shooting back pains? Clearly, the pencil wasn't too heavy to lift. You were probably suffering what is called a "cumulative trauma disorder" or "CTD", a problem that took months or years of repeated strain and incremental damage to your back from lifting, bending, and spending prolonged periods of time in an awkward posture or combination of factors.

This Alert reviews the problems of CTDs and how the field of ergonomics can help workers analyze their jobs and come up with practical solutions to make them safer.

What are Cumulative Trauma Disorders?

The human body is meant to move and do a variety of tasks, Sore muscles from overuse are not a serious problem if the body is given time to rest and heal. But when minor wear and tear on the body goes on for a long time, the damage can add up to, and lead to, painful, and often permanent disabling injuries called "cumulative trauma disorders" or CTDs.

What are symptoms of CTDs?

Typical CTD symptoms include pain, swelling, cramping, burning, stiffness, tingling, numbness, and weakness. Often, symptoms appear gradually and last longer over time. At first, you may notice the symptoms only while you do different tasks, and later symptoms will last through the day or night. If not properly treated, symptoms can be constant, making it difficult to do even simple household tasks.

Just as it takes a long time for problems to develop, it also takes weeks, months or years for the body to fully heal, depending on the severity of the symptoms. In some cases, time off or treatment or surgery can provide some relief, but if you return to the same high risk tasks, the symptoms will start again. Our goal should be to reduce the injury causing risk before severe or permanent disability occurs. This requires that we: (1) pay attention to early symptoms of problems and get proper medical care from a qualified provider and, (2) identify the tasks at work that make symptoms worse.

That is why it is so important that we pay attention to early signs and symptoms and get proper medical care from a qualified medical provider.

The Problem is Growing

Repetitive strain injuries and illnesses to oil and chemical workers have been steadily increasing over the last decade. The latest figures (1993) show that 60% of all occupational illnesses among oil workers were due to repeated trauma. For chemical workers, the rate was 30%.

What Jobs are High Risk?

Many OCAW members work at jobs putting them at increased risk of developing a cumulative trauma problem: these are jobs requiring continuous lifting of heavy loads, working in awkward positions or static postures required in confined spaces work, and exposure to vibration from pneumatic tool use. Packing lines in the pharmaceutical industry have repetitive hand tasks associated with increased risk of carpal tunnel syndrome and other arm disorders.

The seven most common job risks are: repetition/frequency, force, awkward position, contact stress, vibration, cold, and poor fitting gloves. The more risk factors you are exposed to, the greater your chance of developing a CTD. The combined risk of force and repetition is particularly serious. Vibration, cold, and poor fitting gloves can all combine to increase grip force and create problems with the hand circulation. Certain hobbies and off-work activities which also include these risk factors can also make matters worse.

Other factors can contribute to CTDs including fatigue, poor work practices, or lack of training. Physical characteristics of the worker can also play a contributing role: people very tall or short may have problems adjusting to work stations made for the average worker. Individual strength, flexibility, or conditioning also plays a role.

What is Ergonomics?

How can "ergonomics" make our jobs safer?

When OCAW members strain their shoulder or back on the job, often they are told it is their fault because they "didn't use proper body mechanics" or "used improper lifting techniques." But on closer examination, we often find that the real problem was that the job was poorly designed.

The main principle of ergonomics is that the job should fit the person; the person should not be made to fit the job. Ergonomics is the study of how people do their work:

  • what movements and body position they use
  • what tools and equipment they use
  • work station design and layout
  • production requirements and pace of work
  • what effect all of these have on their health and comfort.

    Applying ergonomic principles to our work can help eliminate disabling aches and pains. Many solutions are available from redesigned tools to adjustable work stations. Suspending heavy impact wrenches from an adjustable tool balancer can greatly reduce strain to the wrist, arm, and shoulders. Rotating a valve or putting on an extension bar can bring it into a safe zone for turning. A valve maintenance program and replacement of valves requiring more than the recommended 50 pounds of force to turn at the handwheel can reduce force requirements and the need to use valve wrenches. An adjustable chair and proper setup of the computer work station in the control room or in offices can reduce the risk of carpal tunnel syndrome, tendinitis, and neck and back pain.

    We need to become better informed about what puts us at risk for repeated trauma disorders, and negotiate joint labor-management Ergonomic Control Programs that use teams of workers, supervisors, and engineers to evaluate and redesign jobs. Workers are the experts when it comes to job design.

    An Action Plan for Locals

    Don't wait for OSHA to set an ergonomic standard. Your employer is required by OSHA to provide a workplace free from recognized hazards.

    1. Find out if there is a problem in your plant. Start a union ergonomics committee involving members on the health and safety and PSM oversight committees.

    2. Collect information to convince management there is a CTD problem. This can include using job checklists, reviewing records of injuries and illnesses by work area to identify high risk tasks, and surveying the members to identify the most fatiguing or uncomfortable jobs.

    3. Identify weaknesses in current company programs or policies to address the problem. Review company heath and safety booklets, written policies and required work practices, such as guidelines for lifting, tool use and valve turning. To what extent do they focus on worker behavior and avoid looking at workplace design? Are ergonomic problems considered during accident investigation? For example, if a worker strains his shoulder turning a tough valve, do investigators measure the force required to turn the valve and compare the results to published guidelines? Do they consider valve location and access?

    4. Present your plan to management. Push the company to set up a comprehensive ergonomics control program with employee involvement in identifying and solving problems. See box below for elements to include in a model program.

    5. Determine which problems to work on first. Start with a problem that the members agree is important, affects the most people, presents a clear hazard, and is fairly easy and inexpensive to solve. Solving easier problems first helps build support in the plant for your committee's work. Increasing worker enthusiasm and commitment can make it easier to solve big problems later.

    6. Keep the members involved. Involve them in your research of problems, through use of surveys and interviews. Use unit safety meetings to give an overview of ergonomics and then brainstorm to identity problems on that unit.

    For More Information:

    Contact the Health and Safety Department in Denver. We can provide sample symptoms surveys, job checklists, and training materials, and draft contract language for effective joint ergonomics programs.

    A Model Union-Company Ergonomics Agreement

    Local unions in similar industries have negotiated plant-wide and industry-wide agreements to establish joint programs to address ergonomic programs. The written agreement should cover the following areas.

    1. Establish an ergonomics program for each facility covering five elements: a joint committee, job analysis to identify problems, hazard control, different levels of training depending on responsibility, and medical management. More details on each element is described below.

    2. A joint ergonomics committee is established with equal representatives. The union selects its own representatives, and serves as co-chair. The committee meets monthly, receives special ergonomics training, and has access to qualified experts.

    3. Current jobs are analyzed by teams of hourly employees, supervisors and engineers and other needed experts to identify and evaluate problem areas. Includes analyzing plant injury and illness records and using surveys and checklists to identify possible high risk tasks. Next, risks are evaluated on-site, taking measurements for force, awkward postures, etc as needed. The high risk jobs are identified and the team develops ways to improve the job. Timetables are then set for corrective actions.

    4. Hazard Control: Implementing Corrective Action
    The Company agrees to correct hazards within six months of job analysis, using principles of job redesign. Job is then evaluated to make sure interventions are working.

    5. Worker training covers general awareness of symptoms of repeated trauma injuries and illnesses, understanding of job risk factors, importance of early medical treatment, and overview of ergonomics and the plant ergonomic control program. Team members and plant-wide committee members receive more in-depth training.

    6. Medical program is designed to provide early detection and treatment of job-related ergonomic problems and is conducted by medical staff trained in ergonomics. Employees are encouraged to report early symptoms of repeated trauma injuries; a nondiscrimination clause and procedure for handling job restrictions is included. Problems reported by workers and information from periodic plant walk-throughs by medical staff are used to trigger job analysis.

    Additional provisions cover ergonomic audits to document whether corrected jobs have in fact reduced ergonomic risk factors, recordkeeping and sharing information with committee members, reporting the findings of audits with other facilities in the corporation, and outlining a procedure for resolving disputes.

    Contact the Health and Safety Department for examples of draft contract language negotiated by other unions. The approach outlined above not only meets the OSHA draft guidelines, but it had also been shown to work.