Opinion ID: 577732
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Arduous, Unskilled Physical Labor

Text: 21 The ALJ concluded that because two of Walston's previous jobs, stereotyper and photoengraving etcher, are classified as skilled, Walston could not meet the regulation's requirement of at least thirty-five years of arduous, unskilled physical labor. A literal reading of section 404.1562 supports this conclusion. A Social Security Ruling issued to clarify that section, however, states that semi-skilled or skilled work which does not result in the acquisition of skills transferable to lighter work does not preclude a finding of disability under section 404.1562. The ruling states: 22 Isolated, brief, or remote periods of experience in semiskilled or skilled work, however, would not preclude the applicability of these regulations when such experience did not result in skills which enhance the person's present ability to do lighter work. Also, periods of semiskilled or skilled work may come within the provisions of these regulations if it is clear that the skill acquired is not readily transferable to lighter work and makes no meaningful contribution to the person's ability to do any work within his or her present functional capacity. 23 S.S.R. 82-63, at 205 (Cum.Ed.1982). 24 The first sentence of the quoted paragraph applies to the two jobs Walston held which are ordinarily classified as skilled. Walston worked as a photoengraving etcher for six months in 1971 and 1972. His experience in that job thus was both brief and remote. According to vocational expert testimony, any skills he acquired in that position are now obsolete and not transferable to other work. 25 Similarly, because Walston worked as a stereotyper from 1952 through 1971, more than twenty years have elapsed since Walston held that position. Although stereotyping ordinarily involves skilled work, Walston stated that he never mastered many of the skills involved. In any event, both vocational experts agreed that stereotyping is now an obsolete printing process, and that any skills acquired would not be transferable to work presently existing in the national economy. Thus, Walston's experience in photoengraving and stereotyping did not result in skills which enhance his present ability to do lighter work. 26 The Social Security Ruling quoted above also notes that section 404.1562 may apply to periods of semi-skilled or skilled work if it is clear that the skill acquired is not readily transferable to lighter work and makes no meaningful contribution to the person's ability to do any work within his or her present functional capacity. Walston did very heavy, semi-skilled work as a truck driver from 1972 through 1986, a position from which he acquired the skills necessary to operate a heavy truck. Walston's residual functional capacity as described by the ALJ, however, precludes lifting or carrying more than forty to fifty pounds and exposure to extreme cold or swings in temperature between hot and cold. 27 The Secretary's vocational expert testified at Walston's first hearing that the work Walston performed as a truck driver involved a level of exertion that Walston was no longer capable of performing. He also noted that such work, as performed in the region, necessarily involved exposure to extremes of temperature and swings in temperature between hot and cold. The vocational expert concluded that Walston's skills as a truck driver were not transferable to any work within Walston's present residual functional capacity. 28 The record thus indicates that the skilled and semi-skilled work Walston performed resulted in no skills which are transferable either to work presently existing in the national economy or to work within Walston's present residual functional capacity. The ALJ therefore erred in concluding that Walston's previous periods of skilled work precluded a finding of disability under section 404.1562. 3