Document 2NJO1rndGYdGkvLRZBQ4vdEGp

388 Txirenty-third Annual Safely Congress--National Safety Council The concerted effort 'i the part of all railroa<h to reach the safety goal gave a tremendous impetus to safety activities. Then began the publication of great quantities of statistical information showing graphically the standing of the re* sjiective roads and many railroad executives, seeing their properties lagging on safety. rrvanqxxl their safety organizations. Those that were alrcadv well organized ittu-nsifutl their activities. During the years following tltc setting of the safety coal, something luipjicned that was unprecedented. and tltat was a continuous down ward mix! in the employee casually rate for ten consecutive years. I do not know of a single railmad that did not make substantial gams for safety during that pcrnxt. You will retncmlKT that the rate dropped front the peak of 31.15 in 1917 to a low of 24.84 in 1931: tltat the rate then rose to 30.89 in 193.?. and from that date on showed a continuous drop each year down to ami incltnling 1931; in which vear the rate was 7.53 or 76 per cent under 1933. Nothing like this was ever aecomplisltcd for safety licforc. I'atal injuries to employees <f Class I roads actually dropped from 1.866 in the year 1933 to 488 in 1933. Non-fatal injuries dropjxxl imm 148.146 to 14.136. On a man-lwuir basis, tltat is. making due allowances for fluctuations in tlsc nnmlter of employees in the service, the reduction in employees on duty killed in 1933 under 1933 was 43 jut cent awl tltc reduction in injured was 78 tier cent. We ltave iitr some time leeii in a period of marking time in safety, so to speak, preparing for what I believe will lc a m<rc intensive aiul effective campaign (luring the coming years. In this respect the history of the aecideut situation is analogous to |lx* history of many oilier aspects of railroad o|eration. .Ml through the vear* m which tlte railroads were so wonderfully developed there were icriods wiicti hiprnvcmcnts in locomotives. cars, rolling stuck, signalling systems, sltoji machtncrv. and methods of operation, respectively, were at a temporary standstill, btit in due course and in every direction we find a revival of activity and snt>sc<|ticfit im provement. We therefore crane to the question as to the extent of improvement in the acci dent record of the American railroads it is reasonable to expect. That it is possible to further improve the record is obvious. On this head, the president of the American Railway Association recently stated: "The employee casualty rate lias been reduced 77 per cent during the last ten years. A large reduction in casualties to passengers lus also taken place. Not withstanding this reduction in employee casualties, there is still quite a spread be tween the high and the low rates among railroads of the same class, indicating that further improvement is possible in the accident record. For example, among the larger carriers (reporting 100 million or more man-hours1. the lowest rate in 19.13 was 1.6S employee casualties per million man-hours, while the highest was 10.02. Among the smaller carriers (rcjmrling Jess than two million man-hours), the $l>rcad is between 1.01 employee casualties per million nsui-hotirs. and 43.97.** One prominent railroad executive believes tliat accidents can lie prevented "to the point of almost total elimination." Safety mm pruhablv have different opinions about the nutter. It is a tart, however, that can he readily pro\*cd hv the causes of accidents, tltat the hulk of all injuries Iteing sustained hv railroad employees today, as in former times, result from cause; over which the officers, supervisory forces and employees, individually or collective!**, do ltave control; that is, front man failure. What arc the general preventives of man failure? The first preventive is to select the right men for the job. In. times past, this was not always possible be cause the supply of applicant* was frequently inadequate. This, however, is not likely to lx* the ease in the near future, so our troubles in this direction should he at an end for a long time at least. ^ The second preventive is right thinking and right acting. A man must first think bow he should act to lx* safe ami then lie must act as he thinks. The diffi culty comes in getting jicnple to think and act as they should. Now. the way to get people to think and act as they should is as old as civilization: it is by training. a. ?^ot,cht we have crane to express in the phrase, "training, supervision and dis cipline.** although supervision and discipline are merely two of many phrases of training. Now. what is the first requisite to training? Knowledge of the subject on Safely Section, AKA--Steam Kailroad Section. .XSC .W) which one is to iraiii another. In said}-, it is knmvkdKc of safe practices. These arc shown by the causes of accidents and by job analysis. When sate practices are reduced to writing thev arc usually called rules, or at least tliey arc equivalent to rules. Therefore, if all safe practices in any occupation were reduced to rules ami ii complete obedience to such rules were secured, it would insure complete immunity from accidents imm man failure. This means that the first step m satety is to provide adequate rules; the second step is for local officers and supervises (the teachers) to know and understand the rules: and the third step is to see that the employees know, understand and obey the rules. In consonance with these ob servations. the following items are presented for the consideration ot the Safety Section as some of the essential elements in an effective safety pmgrnm: 1. A comprehensive set of safety rules outlining the safe ways ot working. 2. A practical, working understanding of the rules or safe practices by all local officers, supervisors ami employees, to he assured by suitable examinations. 3. Invariable olwdiencc to all rules, violations not resulting in accidents repre senting the same degree ot culpahilhy as when accidents do result from such violations. , , ,,, . 4. Definite and not perfunctory oliservations in* local rdheers and siqiervisors to detect violations of safely rules and formal re|mrt of violations detected as a req5u.iremFoernmt aol f dmisacnipalgineamreynta. ction on proven v.io.la.tions, wi.th. entry on disc.ip.l.ine record covering every ease. ...... ,, , 6. A monthly and cumulative record of the violations of rules or unsafe prac tices detected by cadi local officer and supervisor, and a imcithly summary hv (ieiartments for divisions and system. .... ... , 7. All accidents, regardless of how trivial, shall lie reported and investigated promptly to dctcnninc cause, rcsjrnnsihility and disciplinary action to lx? taken wlicrc responsibility is shown. & Investigation sltnuld invariably develop an answer to these two questions: (a) Was accident due to the violations of a rule? fh) It not. slmuld a rule lx* provided? TUESDAY AFTERNOON SESSION October 2, 1934 The "Green Book*' By LEW R. PALMER Secretary, Committee of Award, Railroad Employee** National Safety Contest and Conservation Engineer. Equitable Life Assurance Society, New York City The speaker said in jart: The vear 1933 ended the ten year period of the Railroad Employees* National Safety Contest as set up by thc^ National Safety Council and recorded in the respective issues oi tltc "Green Bonk.** ^ \ constant studv of railroad safetv contest records during a period of ten years lias established what I believe to be a fundamental fact: that it is necessary to break down our gntfro Class I railroad exposure into a sufficient numlier ot competing grouiis so that there will not lie t(*o wide a variation between the man-hour exposure <,f the largest group contender as comiarcd with the man-hours of the smaller contenders in the same group; otherwise, the larger unit, with its more uniform casualty rate, will he handicapped by the more widely fluctuating rates. of the smaller contenders; for it is generally recognized that under normal conditions the greater the man-hour exposure the more uniform the casualty rates are year hv year. For that reason, the revised plan suggested for the 1934 Railroad Employees* National Safetv Contest includes six groups for standard Class I railroads ami two groups for switching and terminal roads, it being a matter of record in connection with switching ami terminal roads that a great deal more interest has been developed in our annual contest since these roads were given what was considered a fighting chance for competitive honors.