OSHA Inspection: RYMER FOODS, INC.

Issued

Jul 9, 1991

Abate by

Jan 1, 1992

Penalty

Initial $900 · Current $630 Reduced

General-duty citation text

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)  Operations in the Processing Facility such as the Front
Half Departments, Trimming, and Weighing Areas where employees
cut wings, pull skin, pull tenders, and/or trim meat produced
biomechanical stress to the hands, wrists, arms, and shoulders,
resulting in musculo-skeletal disorders such as carpal tunnel
syndrome, tendonitis, and ganglion cysts.  Among other methods,
feasible and acceptable abatement to reduce the hazards may
include the following:
1.  Perform a "methods analysis" to determine high risk
tasks then modify or redesign operations to lessen
biomechanical stress. e.g., reduce the reach dis-
tances and improve the posture of cone loaders;
adjust work station parmeters among employees such
as shoulder cutters, trimmers, and tendon pullers
to reduce wrist deviation and flexion, postural
strain, and reach distances; ajdust the work station
and methods among employees trimming and weighing breast
portions to reduce ulnar deviation of the wrist, as well
as postural strain, and where feasible reduce the fre-
quency of cuts and/or mothion among affected employees.
2.  Redesign or modify associated tools e.g., modify scissor
weight and adjusting such factors as tool length and
handles to reduce mechanical stress on the fingers,
hands, and wrists as well as reduce wrist deviation
and flexion; modify knife handles and design to re-
duce "required" grip strenght and wrist/arm deviation.
3.  Establish a tool maintenance program to maintain sharp-
ness and the proper angle of the cutting edge.  Emphasis
should be places on fitting the blade style and tool
characteristics to the employee and job to be performed.
4.  Selet an alternate method of cutting chicken wings to
eliminate ulnar deviation of the wrist and lesson grip
forces, associated with using straight shanked scissors
when performing rework activities.  Examples would be
to run the wings back throug the automatic wing dis-
jointers or use saws.
5.  Implement a training and conditioning program to increase
employee awareness of factors which contribute to cumula-
tive trauma disorders and enhance musculo-skeletal
strength and fitness of affected muscle groups.
6.  Obtain gloves which improve grip strength when manually
pulling skin.  The fit and flexibility of the gloves
should be tailored to the employee and the job.  Various
sizes and types should be available.
7.  Install automatic skinning machines when the manufac-
turers develop units that do not remove excessive amounts
of back meat.
8.  Implement a surveillance program to appraise th effec-
tiveness of abatement methods and hazard control pro-
cedures.
b) Biomechanical stress to the back was produced by lifting and
carrying excessive weight associated with postural strain when
performing "support operations" such as lifting and carrying
tote bins containing chicken, weighing and palletizing tote
bins containing chicken, emptying the marinator, dumping boxes
of front halves of chicken onto the loading tables, and trans-
ferring totes from the scale areas to pallets.
Among other methods, feasible and acceptable abatement to
correct this hazard may include the following:
1.  Redesign the operation so that the parameters of the
lifting task are within the "maximum permissible limit"
as specified by NIOSDH and adopted to the Nation Safety
Council by:
a. Reducing the weight of the load by decreasing
overall tote/box weight or utilize engineering
controls and/or team lifting when handling heavy
loads.
b. Reducing the horizontal distance from the load
to the employees center of gravity by designing
the work area to eleiminate reaching across pallets
or stacks of boxes.
c. Reducing the vertical travel distance by raising
the load or reducing the height of the destination
by using engineering controls such as mechanical
lifts and/or conveyors.
2.  Decrease the length of time and travel distances involved
with carrying totes and boxes to reduce static loading
3.  Improve the handles and maintain the structural integrity
of containers (boxes) so that the symmetryof the lifting
task is maintained and employees are not affected by
suddenly having to catch the load or adjust their post-
ure.
4.  Install a conveying system and modify existing conveyors
to eliminate double lifting when transferring loads to
and from storage and processing areas and or use carts.
5.  Implement a training and conditioning program to enhance
employee awareness of lifting hazards and maintain
musculorskeletal strength and flexibility.
6.  Implement a surveillance program to appraise the effec-
tiveness of abatement methods and ongoing hazard control
procedures.
The employer is not limited to abatement methods suggested by OSHA;
i.e., methods explained are general and may not be effective in all
cases.  Other methods of abatement may be equally or more appropriate.
Ultimate responsibility for determining the most appropriate abatement
method rests with the employer, given its superior knowledge of the
specific conditions on its worksite.

Issued

Jul 9, 1991

Abate by

Sep 9, 1991

Penalty

Initial $900 · Current $630 Reduced

Issued

Jul 9, 1991

Abate by

Aug 2, 1991

Penalty

Initial $800 · Current $560 Reduced

Issued

Jul 9, 1991

Abate by

Jul 19, 1991

Penalty

Initial $500 · Current $350 Reduced

Issued

Jul 9, 1991

Abate by

Jul 19, 1991

Penalty

Initial $700 · Current $490 Reduced

Issued

Jul 9, 1991

Abate by

Jul 19, 1991

Penalty

Initial $700 · Current $490 Reduced

Issued

Jul 9, 1991

Abate by

Aug 19, 1991

Penalty

Initial $300 · Current $210 Reduced

Issued

Jul 9, 1991

Abate by

Sep 19, 1991

Penalty

Initial $700 · Current $490 Reduced

Issued

Jul 9, 1991

Abate by

Jul 19, 1991

Issued

Jul 9, 1991

Abate by

Jul 19, 1991

Penalty

Initial $700 · Current $490 Reduced

Issued

Jul 9, 1991

Abate by

Jul 19, 1991

Issued

Jul 9, 1991

Abate by

Jul 15, 1991

Penalty

Initial $600 · Current $420 Reduced

Issued

Jul 9, 1991

Abate by

Aug 2, 1991

Penalty

Initial $400 · Current $280 Reduced

Issued

Jul 9, 1991

Abate by

Jul 19, 1991

Penalty

Initial $100 · Current $70 Reduced

Issued

Jul 9, 1991

Abate by

Jul 19, 1991

Issued

Jul 9, 1991

Abate by

Jul 19, 1991

Hazardous substances 8111

Issued

Jul 9, 1991

Abate by

Jul 19, 1991

Penalty

Initial $300 · Current $210 Reduced

Hazardous substances 8111

Issued

Jul 9, 1991

Abate by

Jul 19, 1991

Hazardous substances 8111

Issued

Jul 9, 1991

Abate by

Aug 2, 1991

Penalty

Initial $300 · Current $210 Reduced

Hazardous substances 8111

Issued

Jul 9, 1991

Abate by

Jul 15, 1991

Penalty

Initial $300 · Current $210 Reduced

Hazardous substances 8111

Issued

Jul 9, 1991

Abate by

Jul 19, 1991

Penalty

Initial $300 · Current $210 Reduced

Hazardous substances 8111

Issued

Jul 9, 1991

Abate by

Jul 19, 1991

Hazardous substances 8111

Issued

Jul 9, 1991

Abate by

Jul 19, 1991

Issued

Jul 9, 1991

Abate by

Jul 26, 1991

Hazardous substances 0530