Representative sampling is a strategy to adequately characterize exposure of a group of Employee(s) (i.e., Employee(s) in a problem job) by analyzing the exposure of a subset of that group rather than all members of the group. The Employee(s) selected for representative sampling analysis must be those who are reasonably believed to have the greatest exposure to WMSD hazards in the problem job, including each work shift, to correctly characterize and not underestimate the exposure of any employee in the problem job.
Resources mean the provisions necessary to develop implement and maintain an effective ergonomics program. Resources include monetary provisions (e.g., equipment to perform job hazard analysis, training materials, controls) as well as other provisions (e.g., time to conduct job hazard analysis or review safety and health records).
Safety and health records are information generated at or for your workplace. Records include, for example, OSHA 200 and 300 logs, workers' compensation claims, WMSD-related medical reports and infirmary logs, employee reports of WMSDs or WMSD hazards, and insurance or consultant reports prepared for your workplace.
Signs (of WMSDs) are objective physical findings that are the basis for an OSHA recordable MSD. Examples of signs of WMSDs include:
Similar jobs are jobs that involve the same physical work activities as a problem job, even if they are not defined by the same title or classification.
Symptoms (of WMSDs) are physical indications that your employee may be developing a WMSD. Symptoms can vary in their severity depending on the amount of exposure the employee has had. Often symptoms appear gradually as muscle fatigue or pain at work that disappears during rest. Usually symptoms become more severe as exposure continues (e.g., tingling continues when your employee is at rest, numbness or pain makes it difficult to perform the job, and finally pain is so severe that the employee is unable to perform physical work activities).
Examples of symptoms WMSDS include:
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