OSHA Inspection: DATA COM INC.

Issued

May 3, 1988

Abate by

Dec 30, 1988

Penalty

Initial $320 · Current $240 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 injury from lifting tasks without administrative or
engineering controls; an evaluation of the following lifting tasks
indicated that employees are exposed to an increased risk of
musculoskeletal injuries in populations exposed to similar lifting
conditions. Injury and illness records for the fiscal years 1986 and
1987 indicated that there was a pattern of musculoskeletal injuries
associated with the manual lifting of paper and cartons of finished
product in this establishment:
a) Shear operation, Pad Department, employee lifting sheets of white
scratch paper from pallet on floor area to bed shear, April 7, 1988.
b) VT-1 line, Pad Department, employees packing tablets, 6 dozen per
box on the work table at the end of the conveyor line, and lifting
boxes from table to pallet on floor area, 4 tiers high, 7 cases per
tier, April 7, 1988.
c) VT-3 line, Pad Department, employees packing tablets 6 dozen per box
on the work table at the end of the conveyor line, and lifting boxes
from table to pallet on floor area, 3 tiers high, 7 cases per tier,
April 7, 1988.
d) Slitter #4, Comm Department, employees packing rolls of adding
machine paper, 4 layers high, approximately 32 rolls per box, on the
work table at the end of the conveyor line; and lifting boxes from
table to pallet on floor area, 5 tiers high, 9 cases per tier, April
7, 1988.
STEP 1 - Effective administrative protection such as employee training,
physical assessment, job rotation, ect. 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 muscle 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 aides.  This plan shall include at a minimum, target
for 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 measure(s).
3) Procurement, installation and operation of selected control measures.
4) Monitoring to assure effective utilization of the contorl measure(s).
STEP 3 - Abatement shall have been completed by implementation of
feasible engineering or administrative controls, upon
verification of their effectiveness in reducing the occurrence
of musculoskeletal injuries.

Issued

May 3, 1988

Abate by

Jun 2, 1988

Penalty

Initial $320 · Current $240 Reduced

Issued

May 3, 1988

Abate by

Jun 2, 1988

Issued

May 3, 1988

Abate by

Sep 15, 1988

Penalty

Initial $320 · Current $230 Reduced

Issued

May 3, 1988

Abate by

Jun 2, 1988

Penalty

Initial $320 · Current $230 Reduced

Issued

May 3, 1988

Abate by

May 8, 1988

Penalty

Initial $320 · Current $230 Reduced

Issued

May 3, 1988

Abate by

Jun 2, 1988

Penalty

Initial $320 · Current $230 Reduced

Issued

May 3, 1988

Abate by

May 18, 1988

Issued

May 3, 1988

Abate by

Jun 2, 1988

Issued

May 3, 1988

Abate by

Jun 2, 1988