Document 2qEBwRD1ZgoyN6RvQ2B7mQ09L

2*0 Twenty-third Annual Safety Cnugrcss--National Safety Council cx|RToticed. have i*rnved ninst successful. rulers from the National Safety Coun cil arc also extensively used. However. bulletin Ixcirds mav lose a great portion of their effectiveness, in M'lte oi regular changes of materials. We felt that a new method should be tried, and tlie moving nicturc with sound reprKlucli<ms was adopted. We now have tour or five imtlergmuml theatres. equip|>ed with permanent bcndics, a ten foot screen, and electric lights. Notices of scheduled shows, which arc held before the men start their shifts, are io>ted a day or two in advance, and as the men enter the inim- they are greeted with music amplified from ]thonograph rcconls placed on an ordinary tuni-tahle equipjR-d with an electric pick-up. Lively marclies and iiopular pieces are played as the men gather at the theatre. Tin- first film is usually a comedy which makes for a feeling of good fellow ship and creates in the group, a responsive mood for the discussion of safetv, health, or other similar subjects. To illustrate or clarify smite accident, stercoptiron slides are extensively used, l'olli iwing the saictv red, a second eonKxlv or eduraliuat film that might fit in is usually given. Tltc entire program takes about .r? to 4 minutes. It lias licen noted that all employees, whether engaged in uiulcrgroiunl t Mirtacc wrk. make every effort to lie present at Uicsc shows. Through ibis method of publicity and education by sound movies, it lias been a great deal easier to sell the Men to the men of the desirability not only of indi vidual |*iTs*mal saiety. hut also the necessary coojlenitive spirit for a well rounded program oi watching out for the safety of fellow workers. All of mir underground men now use safety liats ami shoes, and our statistics show that since the adoption of tln-se two devices, many accidents to the head and feet have been eliminated entirely am! ullicrs greatly reduced in severity. Having mice obtained tltc coo|Rrration ami confidence of the employees, manv suggestions for making o]ierations more sate have been volunteered bv tltc men. Accidents on the haulage lines at one time occurred in frequent numbers. but one by one they liavc lieen eliminated, as liavc the scriims accidents caused bv falling rock. A great iiart of the credit is due to the individual employee: but do not forget tint results would not have l>ccn obtainable if management had not awakened his interest and his desire to have for himself and his associates a safe place to work. Tliat our Missouri safely pre-gram is successful from a monev point oi view is shown hv the total costs, including the Safety Department expense, of $2J9 per $100 <ii payroll. and it is Indioed that from a human point of view we also have a right to lc very pleased, as tlie comparative mnulnTs of lost-time accidents awl deaths prove. In 1<>28 we had 320 lost-time accidents and five deaths: in 1929, 438 lost-lime acchkiits and no deaths: in 1930. 304 lost-time accidents ami two deaths: in 1031, 174 b>st-tinic accidents and two deaths: in 1932. 123 lost-time accidents and oik* death: and in 10.13. 70 iost-lime accidents and no deaths. In inatiy small cities and towns throughout the United States, one of the large American eomjianics may lie the sole employer, and if so is usually the principal taxjciyiT. When snrh conditions exist, it is just as imjiortant to consider die safety of the ommranity as it is to improve the safetv of the individual employee. The management, therefore, must take an active interest in the general welfare of tlie locality. In the lead belt of Missouri the St. Joseph Ixad Company is the principal employer, and in order that ihe communities in which the men and their families live might have the lienefit of pure wajer. it Ins constructed an extensive system wlicrehy the chlorinated mine water is delivered to the house and stores. The com pany lias also huilt a dairy or jmsteurizing plant, for the purpose of snpplvmg a suffi cient quantity of pure milk for the people. c.|*ccially for the children. Vi3 per cent of tin* local real estate and property taxes liavc been used for building and main taining schools, ami in this way the primary and secondary schools in the lead belt have been develop! until they are today among the best in Missouri. With the assistance oi the company, a local health unit was organized on July 1. 1*>22. in order to demonstrate the efficiency and economy oi adequate health service iw the preventin of disease and the promotion of public Itcaltli. Tlie group life insurance plan tliat was adopted by the company and given to its employees in 1919. and the formation of a definite pcnsim program in 1914, have also proved valuable aids hi tlie saiety program, as they have aided in reducing the 1al>or turnover. Section 281 It is also to Ik* realized that a safety program or method tliat is suitable for one company or location may not be desirable tor another company. For example in our two New York state mines, which have the same regulations regarding safety liats. shoes. giggles, etc., aud where tltc primary rule is also enforced tliat each anil every man is responsible for his own saiety and iir the saiety of his iellow worker, great emphasis is placed on housekeeping nr cleanliness about the mines and mills. l%ach department of tlie two divisions lias a metal sign, ruled in three columns: otic (icing lor the month of the year, while the other two arc for the house keeping rating and lost-time accidents. If tlie conditions arc good, a gold star is placed on the sign: it only fair a green star is awarded, while lor |mr cleanliness a red star is given. A gold star counts ten. a green five, and no score is given for reel These scores arc posted monthly on the bulletin hoard, and the basis of coml>arison lictwccn the two mines is thereby made ]nssihlc. If a scre is not perfect, or at a reasonably high figure, the department which is negligent receives consider able adverse publicity. If there arc no lost-time accidents, a gold star is placet! in the accident column. The results of our New York safety program arc reflected 1>v the achievement of operating 102.912 man-hours with only fine lost-time accident {which incapacitated a worker for two days), and this record resulted in the 1932 award of the ``Sentinels of Safety Trophy." THURSDAY MORNING SESSION October 4t 1934 The Dust Problem in Mining Operations By D. E. CUMMINGS Assistant Director, The Saranac Laboratory for the Study of Tuberculosis. Michigamme, Michigan Tlie siR*aker said in part: Kefugc can no longer 1m: taken under the shelter of ignorance tliat the prolonged inhalation of dust may lead to serious disease, for tlie medical, technical and lay press is filled with accounts describing the dangers associated with breathing certain dusty atmospheres. What. then, should Ik* the prn|RT course to pursue in meeting this problem and dealing with it in a satisfactory manner; Doth industrial and laltoralury studies prove that only certain dusts are dangcrons when inhaled, and dial quartz or other forms ui pure crystalline silica arc most dangerous, constituting a sjiocific tissue ]oison. Where men arc exposed to a suffi cient quantity ut very fine pure crystalline silica dust only. a true hazard always exists. The dusts of silica in combination with other elements generally give rise to pulmonary reactions which differ in many respects from those caused by pure silica, and which vary rather widely among themselves in their liarmfulncss. As a class, and with the notable exception of nslicslos, silicates arc less dangerous Ilian pure crystalline silica. Not only arc certain dusts apparently incapable of producing a specific harmful reaction when inhaled by themselves, but when asso ciated with silica favorably modify tlie usual response to this tlangcrous dust. The effective size range ol particles causing disease is now regarded as three microns and smaller, while the qualities of hardness and sharpness `arc no longer regarded as of significance. The term pneumonokoninsis is intended to descriljc the changes arising out of the prolonged inhalation of any dust, harmful or otherwise, and docs not necessarily imply tlie presence of disability, nor a predisposition to pulmonary infections. Tlie term silicosis refers sjiecifically to the disease which results from the prolonged inhalation of harmful silica dust, am! is diaractcrizcd by a generalized nodular fibrosis in tlie lungs and pulmonary lymph nodes, and increased susceptibility to pulmonary infections. Pure silicosis fhould be regarded as a gcniunc occupa-