HACCP Workplace Ergonomics & Health 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A sanitation worker in a HACCP facility must scrub floors using a long-handled brush in a push-pull motion for two hours. Which body region is at greatest risk for overuse injury?
- Feet and ankles
- Shoulders and cervical spine (Correct answer)
- Knees and hips
- Eyes and wrists
Correct answer: Shoulders and cervical spine
Sustained push-pull scrubbing elevates and loads the shoulder girdle repeatedly, risking rotator cuff and cervical muscle overuse injuries.
Question 2: Vibration from handheld cutting tools used in food processing facilities is associated with which specific occupational health condition?
- Raynaud's phenomenon / Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) (Correct answer)
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- Contact dermatitis
- Noise-induced hearing loss
Correct answer: Raynaud's phenomenon / Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS)
Prolonged use of vibrating tools causes HAVS, characterized by blanching, numbness, and circulatory damage in the fingers.
Question 3: A food manufacturer implements a stretching program at the start of each shift. According to ergonomics best practices, this measure is classified as:
- An engineering control
- An administrative control (Correct answer)
- A PPE-based control
- A regulatory compliance requirement
Correct answer: An administrative control
Stretching programs are administrative controls that modify work practices to reduce injury risk, ranking below engineering controls in effectiveness.
Question 4: When evaluating ergonomic risk for knife use in a meat processing plant, which grip style significantly increases tendon strain?
- Power grip with a straight wrist
- Pinch grip with wrist deviation (Correct answer)
- Whole-hand grip on the handle
- Two-handed grip on large cuts
Correct answer: Pinch grip with wrist deviation
A pinch grip combined with wrist deviation places extreme tension on forearm tendons, rapidly increasing the risk of tendinitis and CTDs.
Question 5: A HACCP audit reveals that QC inspectors spend 6 hours daily using a microscope at a poorly positioned bench. Which ergonomic risk is most likely present?
- Whole-body vibration
- Prolonged neck flexion and static loading of the cervical spine (Correct answer)
- Lower-limb deep vein thrombosis
- Chemical exposure from reagents
Correct answer: Prolonged neck flexion and static loading of the cervical spine
Sustained forward head posture while viewing a microscope statically loads cervical spine muscles, causing neck and shoulder pain over time.
Question 6: Which indicator should a HACCP facility track to evaluate whether its ergonomics program is effective?
- Daily production output per worker
- Trend in OSHA 300 log entries for musculoskeletal disorders (Correct answer)
- Number of product recalls per year
- Monthly sanitizer usage volumes
Correct answer: Trend in OSHA 300 log entries for musculoskeletal disorders
Tracking MSD-related OSHA 300 log entries over time shows whether the ergonomics program is reducing occupational injuries.
Question 7: In a frozen food facility, workers wear insulated gloves that reduce grip sensitivity. From an ergonomics perspective, this PPE adaptation most likely causes workers to:
- Apply less force when gripping tools
- Compensate by gripping harder, increasing forceful exertion risk (Correct answer)
- Improve their posture automatically
- Reduce their repetition rate
Correct answer: Compensate by gripping harder, increasing forceful exertion risk
Reduced tactile feedback from thick gloves causes workers to unconsciously increase grip force to feel secure, elevating MSD risk.
HACCP Workplace Ergonomics & Health 4
A sanitation worker in a HACCP facility must scrub floors using a long-handled brush in a push-pull motion for two hours.
Which body region is at greatest risk for overuse injury?