Health Hazard Evaluation Report HETA-96-0213-2638, Oscar Mayer Foods, Madison,Wisconsin

摘要

In response to a request from the United Food and Commercial WorkersInternational Union, a health hazard evaluation was begun at Oscar Mayer Foods (SIC-2013), Madison, Wisconsin. The request expressed concern over ergonomic hazards resulting from lifting excessive weight, and repetitive motion due to the excessive line speeds in one of the processing departments where wieners were formed, cooked, and packaged. Thirty one of the 38 workers agreed to be interviewed. Of these, 17 (55%) reported elbow/wrist/hand pain, 15 (48%) reported low back pain, 14 (45%) reported shoulder pain, ten (32%) reported neck pain, and 7 (23%) reported foot pain, occuring at least once in the last year. The OSHA 200 log from December 1, 1990 until August 4, 1996 showed 60 entries. of the 60, 30 (50%) were for musculoskeletal disorders with a total of 47 work days lost and 758 light duty days reported. The authors conclude that factors in the department may produce ergonomic stress. The authors recommend that changes in job design and worker practices be made to further reduce the number of recordable injuries.