OSHA Inspection: COMFORT DESIGNS INCORPORATED

Issued

Jul 6, 1988

Abate by

Jan 1, 1990

Penalty

Initial $450 · Current $250 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
excessive risk of physical 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 couches and sofa beds in this
establishment:
a) Couch upholstery, Upholstery Department - Employees lifting couches
from work table to floor, April 25, 1988.
b) Couch upholstery, Upholstery Department - Employees lifting sofa
beds from work table to floor, April 25, 1988.
Abatement Schedule
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 of 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 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 measure(s).
3) Procurement, installation and operation of selected control measures.
4) Monitoring to assure effective utilization of the control 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

Jul 6, 1988

Abate by

Aug 21, 1988

Penalty

Initial $450 · Current $250 Reduced

Issued

Jul 6, 1988

Abate by

Aug 21, 1988

Issued

Jul 6, 1988

Abate by

Aug 21, 1988

Issued

Jul 6, 1988

Abate by

Jul 9, 1988

Issued

Jul 6, 1988

Abate by

Jul 25, 1988

Hazardous substances 1720

Issued

Jul 6, 1988

Abate by

Jul 25, 1988

Hazardous substances 1720

Issued

Jul 6, 1988

Abate by

Jul 25, 1988

Hazardous substances 1720

Issued

Jul 6, 1988

Abate by

Jul 25, 1988

Hazardous substances 1720