Document 3LNMprjqGr1pLJqad92MGRay
PROCEEDINGS
of the
National Safety Council
EIGHTH ANNUAL SAFETY CONGRESS
Held at the HOTEL STATLER
Cleveland, Ohio October 1-4, 1919
INTRODUCTION
"The 1919 Congress was the greatest Congress ever hvl<l in the history of the National Safety Council." This was the unanimous verdict of the 3,000 representatives who attended the Congress in Cleveland, September 29 to October 4. Previous congresses have been characterized by great enthusiasm, splendid programs of speakers and round-table discussions, but there was a new spirit manifested at this Congress resulting doubtless from the war experience, a spirit of the faith in the cause of Safety, a vision of the future, a convic tion of certainty of the future development of the Council and the Safety movement, and a spirit of determination to grip the accident problem and to solve it just as we gripjied and solved the difficult problems during the war.
This volume of 1460 pages will bring to the members who were at the Congress something of the spirit which animated that great gathering and will place in their hands the valuable experience which was contributed by the various speakers and in the round-table dis cussions. The proceedings represent the best piece of literature on Safety which will be published this year---the most valuable com pendium of experience for any* individual or concern to use in devel oping Safety work in Industry*.
This volume constitutes one of the important items of service which the Council, as the clearing house of information, is able to furnish to its members.
INDEX
The Proceedings of the 1918 Con gress included a cumulative index covering the Proceedings of all the Congresses held up to that time-- 1912 to 1918 inclusive. As a measure of economy, this cumulative index is not included in the present volume. By referring to the index at the end of this volume, covering the 1919 Congress only, and referring also to the cumulative index at the end of the 1918 Proceedings, covering the other Congresses, you will readily find a great variety of information on almost every phase of accident prevention and allied subjects.
CONTENTS
PAGE
Annual Meeting of Members............................................................--:...........-
7
General Session: Employees' Representation.............................................. 39
General Session : Americanization........................
97
General Round-table Meeting.................................
127
Safety Education Section.....................................-......................................................... 141
.Banquet ........................................................................
183
I.oc-al Council Officers.......................................................................................................... 19P
Gocal Council Reports..............................-...........-........................................................... 267 Safety .Bulletin Cunclieon................................................................................................. 285 A.. B. C. Session.....................................................-----------------------------------------........ 287
Automotive Section.................................................................-.............................................. 315 Cement Section ......................................................................................--........................... 363
Chemical Section...................................................................... --.................. Construction Section..............................................................-..........
485 483
Electric Railway Section...................................................
533
Employees' Benefit Association Session............................................................... 575
Employees' Publications........................................
601
Health Service Section..................................................................................................-- 613 Metals Section....................................................... .........................................-........................ 7J7
Mining Section..............................................................................
803
Meat Packers' .Section...........................................................................-......................... 953
Paper and. Pulp Section............................................................................................-....... 957
Public Safety Section..............................
1003
Public Utilities Section.........................................................................................................1089
Rubber Section.........................................--.....................--.......-.................................1 167 Steam Railroad Section...................................--.....................................-...................1171
Textile Section,...........................................
1341
Women in Industry Section.....................:..........................-.......-................................137 1 Woodworking Section...........................................--........................................................l H7
Index ....................................................................................................................-.....................1443
National Safety Council
Annual Meeting of Members
Cleveland, Ohio
October, 1, 1919
PRESIDENT DAVID VAN SCHAACK, Presiding Officer
WEDNESDAY' MORNJNO SKSSIOX
'T'HE meeting convened at 10:15 A. M., Mr. David Van Schaack, President of the National Safety Council, presiding.
President Van Schaack: The Eighth Annual Meeting of the National Safety Council will please come to order.
Our deliberations will be opened by prayer by the Rev. Dr. Blanchard.
INVOCATION
Rev. Dr. Blanchard (President, Federated Churches of Cleveland): Almighty God, Our Father, Thou the source of all life and power and love, by Thy wisdom do we come to acknowledge that by Thy life do we see light. We thank Thee that Thou hast led the children of men through all the years into a wider understanding of the value of life, and we thank Thee that Thou dost guide us In this day and generation by Thy spirit of compassion to care for others, and we pray that Thy blessing may rest upon this great convention as it seeks to make life richer and fuller and more safe and that Thou wilt guide all the deliberations and all the plans that are formed that there may come throughout this nation, through Industry and through education and through all the ways of life in which, men move, a deeper sense of personal responsibility and a wider and greater understanding of Thy value upon life. And so by the spirit that hast led and art ever leading men to understand Thy will, may that spirit keep all these, Thy servants, and may It b.e granted unto us all to hear without fear and without shame the words that shall be
7
Eighth Safety Congress
spoken, "Inasmuch as Ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren. Ye have done it unto me." We ask it in the name of Jesus, Amen.
President Vajt Sciiaack: It gives me pleasure to introduce Director Waite of the Department of Parks and Buildings of the city of Cleve land who. in the unavoidable absence of Mayor Davis, will welcome us to the city of Cleveland. Mr. Waite.
ADDRESS OF WELCOME
Mr. Fi.oyw Waite: Mr. Chairman and Delegates to this great conven tion: It is not only a pleasure from the standpoint of hospitality, but it is also a great privilege to welcome you to this city. Cleveland has endeavored throughout the years to place herself as one of the leading municipalities of these L'nited States. We have endeavored always to look forward, to strive to attain the best in municipal government and in the things of life. We feel that you are going to bring to us rich blessings for being here. We know that you are going to inspire the people of this city to better things in the way of human life.
I wish that I could express to- you the feelings of the people of this great city. T wish that I might be able to let you know the hospitality that is within their hearts, but I do feel that as you go about this city and as you meet om- people, you will really understand that we are not only glad to greet you, but that we want to do everything in our power to make your stay here a happy one and a profitable prosperous one.
I have the great honor to be associated with you in this great move ment for safety. The. Mayor has seen fit to appoint me as Chairman of the Public Safety Committee,, and I feel that in doing this he has extended to me one of the greatest honors that has ever come to me In my life, and I want to say that we are going to carry this great work forward--the work that you are going to leave here with us.
The Committee that Is being appointed is a committee of men who have the reputation of doing things, and when you come here again tor one of your meetings you will find that Cleveland is not only one of the cities in the forefront in this great work, but I am going to prophesy to you that it is going to be the first city in this great work of safety.
We have learned a great many things during the last few years. We have learned a lesson that we thought we knew, that of cooperation. We believe here in this country that we understood what It meant to stand together, and yet we never realized for one moment the great possibilities oi this great. Republic until we were called together to face the enemy, and then we began to see what it all meant. We never dreamed of the great preparation that could be made by American business until the hour came that we were compelled to prepare through bloodshed and war, and then we learned the lesson of what we actually could do. and it seems to me that as we go forward in these days of peace we should understand our powers and our resources. If we work together, and if a great body like this, united throughout this country.
innual Meeting of Members
9
will, only continue with enthusiasm to do the work they have started and to get others interested in It, the time will come when people will look back on the days when men and women and children were maimed and killed as days of barbarism comparable only to the days of witch craft Of old New England.
Everything moves toward the rising sun. It is the organization and the man with a vision, who look forward and see the things that lie beyond, who succeed. It is that spirit that has made this young Republic the greatest power in all the world. It is that spirit that has carried us forward through every -contest victorious, and it Is going to he the same spirit that makes these United States the leading nation In the accomplishment of all good things for humanity and for civilization.
We ought to he proud and happy that we are permitted to undertake a great work of this kind. We ought to be happy that we have such an organization as this in our country; but we should never be satisfied until we have interested in this great movement every man, woman, and child in these United States. That work can be done; it is being done. It is marvelous the work that is being done right here in Cleveland today. Every school child you talk with has but one subject of conver sation, and that is safety. Every policeman you meet talks about the same thing, and it has gone into every home until today the great subject in Cleveland is SAFETY. We don't want to allow this thing to become a great message just for one week, or for one day, but we want the message to endure; we want to keep on and on in this great work until it becomes a part of a man's religion, a part of his life to be careful, and to be careful of the lives and the rights of others.
We are learning through this great Safety Council a lesson here in Cleveland. It is going to teach us how we can work together for the common good. It is going to teach the various municipalities how they can work together for the public safety, and it is going to leave behind it a great record of achievement.
I welcome you on behalf of the Mayor of Cleveland. I welcome you on behalf of the people of this great municipality; I welcome you for the lives of the men, women, and children that you will save in this city through your deliberations. I say to you that you are bringing a rich benediction to our community and I wish you every success In your great endeavors. I thank you.
RESPONSE BY PRESIDENT
:President Van Schaack I cannot tell you, Mr. Waite, how much we appreciate the hearty welcome you have given us, just the kind of welcome which, I may-say, we felt sure we would receive. Cleveland has long and deservedly been noted for unfailing and warm hospitality to her guests, upon whatever errand they may come.
Any organization may well be glad to hold its meeting here, but especially such a one as the National Safety Council, for both Cleveland and the Council stand for the initiation and furtherance of progressive ideas. The inventive genius and organizing ability of Cleveland men
10 Eighth Safety Congress
have done much to revolutionize business and industry in many .lines and thus to advance our country to the commanding- position which it now occupies, and in civics and in sound philanthropy your city is second to none. So. too, is the National Safety Council a pioneer and leader. With a mission which is both humanitarian and economic, it seeks, through practical methods only, to conserve life and limb and health, to diminish suffering, to reduce privation, to promote efficiency, to fur ther a better industrial understanding between those whose interests are essentially common, to make a real and a large contribution to the well-being of both industry and society.
There is another striking point of similarity between Cleveland and the Council. Both are firm believers in the principle of cooperation as the best means of advancing a purpose. Your churches were the first of any city to federate. Your activities for promoting the public health are coordinated. Your welfare work is carried on through a Federation of Charity and Philanthropy. The achievements of your Chamber of Commerce are a notable example of what can be accomplished when the
leading: men of a community pull together. Every branch of tlie INationaJ.
Safety Council's varied work, whether industrial, public, or educational, is based likewise upon cooperative effort, and whatever measure of suc cess that work has attained has been due primarily to the whole hearted concert of thought and action of the Council's membership.
I feel. .Mr. Waite, that acknowledgment of your kind welcome would be incomplete if l did not take this opportunity of expressing our deep gratification at that other welcome which Cleveland is giving us, in con ducting an active "Safety Week" campaign while our Congress is here, a campaign which I am sure will be followed by continuous organized effort along the same lines.
Permit me to offer to you, Mr. Waite, and to the City and people whom you represent, our sincere and appreciative thanks.
The next item of business is the roll call of members. The Secretary and the Registration Committee, having advised the Chairman that a quorum of members entitled to vote are present in person or by proxy. The Chair will be glad to entertain a motion to dispense with the calling of the roll. Do I hear such a motion?
(A motion was made that the calling of the roll be dispensed witb. The motion was duly seconded and carried.)
The Chair would suggest that the members present who have filed proxies may withdraw them if they so desire to avoid duplication in voting. All proxies not withdrawn before the first vote is taken will be considered as in effect.
The Executive Committee having appointed three Inspectors of Elec tion at its meeting yesterday, The Chair will appoint those men also Tellers of Election, which will take place today. The gentlemen are Mr. Davidson, Chairman. Mr. Stanlon, and Mr. Case.
The next order of business is the annual address of the President. I am sorry 1 am not a ready public speaker, but I must ask you to bear with me with a manuscript.
Annual Meeting of Members
11
PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS
David Vast Schaack, President National Safety Council, Director.
Bureau of Inspection and Accident Prevention, Aetna Life
Insurance and Aetna Casualty Company, Hartford, Conn.
Ladies and Gc?itlc?ncn: It gives me profound pleasure to have again the privilege of welcoming you to an Annual Meeting and Congress of the National Safety Council and of reporting to you, on behalf of your Di rectors, Executive Committeemen, and Officers, upon the manner in which they have cared .for your affairs, and upon the progress of your organiza tion, during the past year.
As I note the large number present, I am once more deeply impressed with a keen sense of the constantly increasing interest taken in the cause which you are all endeavoring to serve, and of your clear understanding that, only through general personal participation in the conduct of your Council, and through cordial cooperation of all its members, can that cause he advanced as it should be and can the Council take its proper and important part in. that advancement. Without such, participation and such cooperation), the best efforts of those to whom you have entrusted the active management of your affairs could not have achieved anything like 'the measure of success with which the Council has met, and the safety cause would not be what it is today, a national movement of already wide range and with practically unlimited possibilities.
Time does not permit my reviewing the really marvelous progress of the Council since its formation only a few years ago, or my describing in detail the work of'the past year, but those twelve months have been so marked by both accomplishment and unfolding of opportunity that I must call your attention at least to the broad lines of development.
THE HEADQUARTERS
As you know, the growth of the Council and the expansion, of its activi ties have necessitated the removel of its Headquarters to larger offices which, I am happy to say, involve no greater rental than that paid for the offices which had become insufficient. You know, too, of the changes in our official staff made necessary by the resignation of the General Man agership by Mr. Cameron, that far-seeing enthusiast whose works justified Ills faith and to whom both the Council and the safety cause are greatly indebted. We were fortunate in having available as his successor Mr. Price, another man of vision and faith, whose administration of his new office has proved, even in a few months, that we made no mistake in ad vancing him to a field of wider opportunity. We were fortunate, too, in being able to associate with Mr. Price in the administration of the Coun cil's affairs a Secretary and Chief Engineer of the fine technical training and sound judgment of Mr. Williams, and a Treasurer and Business Man ager of the capacity of Mr. Pardee, who, to our great regret, has recently found it necessary to resign his office.
Our headquarters' staff has been further reorganized and expanded by appointments of a new assistant secretary, an additional safety engineer.
12 Eighth Safety Congress
a new librarian, with more assistance, a director of publicity, two regional field secretaries, and a public safety field secretary, the last three being W. R. Rasmussen, Frank E. Morris and . Carl ~L>. Smith, men favorably known to you all through good work they had already done for the Cotincil.
These additions to our headquarters' staff, together with a further increase in membership and an improvement of the sound finan cial condition which was developed during tlie previous year, have done much to enable the Council, to carry out its plans for improving its service and extending its activities and influence. We have not been able to do all that we would have liked to do, but I believe that we have done about everything possible within the scope of the funds available. It is both unfortunate and encouraging that the Council never has enough money to avail itself of all its opportunities--unfortunate because good work must he left undone, encouraging because the field in which the
Council is operating always presents new possibilities of good work to be
done. A YEAR OF l'UOOUICSS
Though we may wish that more could have been accomplished, we can look back upon a year of real progress, and in many respects. Our direct service has been notably improved. General bulletins have been of better quality and wider range, large-size ones have been issued more frequently, sectional bulletins show improvement in both nature and appearance, and a useful catalogue of bulletins has been prepared. A Safe Practices pamphlet has been issued every month, as against eight in all the previous year, and two sectional pamphlets have been puli* lished. The supply of films, slides, and phonographic records has been enlarged and a catalogue of slides has been issued. Our information bureau and library have increased largely in quantity and value of material, especially on industrial relations, and extensive progress has been made in proper cataloging.
In making use of its industrial relations material, the Council has followed, and very properly, a conservative policy. It has not attempted to give expert advice, but it has endeavored, to bring together all that is really known upon this subject and to place it at the disposal of its members. This latter object has been accomplished in two ways; hun dreds of inquiries have been answered by sending the inquirer printed matter relating to his question, as, for Instance, on various employees' representation plans now in effect, and the Council has Issued sixteen executive series bulletins, designed principally to stimulate the interest of its members in industrial relations subjects.
All of this improvement in direct service has been made possible largely by the continuance of that cordial cooperative effort on the part of the entire membership which has always heen a distinguishing characteristic of the Council, and the value of which I wish to emphasize once more, and more strongly than ever. I think it no exaggeration to say that there has never been a finer illustration of close and hearty coSperation fhan that given by the membership of the National Safety Council from
Annual "Meeting of Members
IX
its organization to the present day. As I said to you a year ago, you yourselves have made the Council what It is, and only you yourselves will make it whatever it is to be. You have always given to the Council freely, or more so, than you have taken from it. You have viewed the opportunity to give as an obligation to a worthy cause.
Your concert of effort is reflected in every phase of the Council's activities, in each feature of its service, whether headquarters or field,
as well as in the formulation of its policies and the furtherance of its propaganda, and I cannot adequately express the deep gratitude which your Executive Committeemen and Officers feel for the warm support and invaluable aid .which so many of you have given, as committeemen, in Local Council and sectional work, and as Directors, and which literally all of you have given in counsel and contribution, both voluntarily and upon request.
EXTK.NSIO.N OF WCAL COL'.VUI. OKG A NIZATIOX
In three essential directions other than the service already mentioned the Council's work has developed rapidly and most satisfactorily during the year--in the extension of permanent Local Council organization, in the promotion of public safety, and in the advancement of safety educa tion.- Just as the Chicago headquarters are the heart of organized safety effort, so the Local Councils are the arteries and veins which carry life-giving blood throughout the entire body of the national safety move ment. They bring the Council into direct and intimate touch with its membership, permeate communities with a real safety atmosphere, and spread far and wide the gospel of care for humanity. A. year ago we noted with appreciative interest the earnest of success for the Local Council permanent secretary plan given by the progress of the experi ments being conducted at Pittsburgh and St. Louis. Today we can feel, with more than reasonable assurance, that the promise afforded by these experiments has been fulfilled, that the permanent secretary idea is thoroughly practical and of far-reaching value. The Local Councils at Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Rochester are now well established on this basis and doing excellent work. The plan has been put into effect also at Cleveland, covering Northeastern Ohio, at Cincinnati, at Kansas City, and at Portland, Oregon. Movements are actively in progress, and some of them nearing completion, for permanent secretaries in Chicago, San F'rancisco, Detroit, and Springfield, Mass. The Council has also assisted in. organizing the Border Cities Local Council in. the Canadian towns opposite Detroit and in. coaching its new permanent secretary.
Not only are these developments highly encouraging In a general way. and demonstrative of the Council's wisdom in initiating the permanent secretary plan, but there is a feature quite common to them which is particularly significant. This is the manner in which it Is undertaken to- supply the funds necessary to support a permanent organization during the first year. The achievements of the first Local Councils to adopt the plan have made such an impression upon the more progressive men in industry in other communities that they are not waiting until
14 Eighth Safety Congress
their Locals become of such size as naturally- to demand permanent secre. taries, but, under the leadership of one or more of them, are grouping themselves in small syndicates to underwrite the first year's expense and thus enable the permanent organization not only to start earlier, but to be fully equipped from the very beginning both to render service and to increase membership. With this financial backing the officers of the Local Council are able to make such a demonstration of the value of the work as will win the confidence of the business men generally and thus assure continuous support. There could be no better proof that the permanent secretary plan is sound and fills a real need, and no more convincing indication of a rapid increase in the Council's membership and, therefore, a correspondingly larger opportunity to render the service to industry and to humanity which I believe it has shown that it Is qualified to give.
Local Council activities have by no means been confined, however, to this development of the permanent secretary plan. The many Locals which necessarily are without such secretaries have shown a lively Inter est both in their immediate work and in extending their influence, and several new ones have been established.
SCHOOLS FOB SAFETY SUPERVISORS
One of the most striking features of Local Council work has been the schools for safety supervisors, four of which have been conducted during the year, at St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Rochester, and Cleveland. In these schools a course of fifteen lessons has been given and 464 men have been graduated. Not only have these schools been of much direct, benefit to those attending them, but they have had a notable influence upon other branches of the Council's work. A most gratifying develop ment, for instance, has been the cooperation of the students in stimulating attendance at foremen's meetings. Taking St. Louis as an illustration, the average attendance for such a meeting in 191S was about 150. After the opening of the safety supervisors' school, the attendance at foremen's meetings ranged from 1,200 to 2,000. It is believed that the graduates of these schools will also be of much assistance in securing large attend ance at the similar schools for foremen which are one of the Council's new plans for the coming year.
PUBLIC SAFETY WORK
Closely connected with the development of the permanent secretary plan for Local Councils, in fact dependent upon it so far, has been the expansion of the Council's public safety work, which promises to become a real factor in many communities. The experiment conducted in Roches ter early in 1918, now a permanent enterprise, pointed the way to work along generally similar lines in St. Louis which, ever since its mem orable Safety Week at the time of the 1918 Congress, has conducted an active public safety campaign, and has led to the recent inauguration of such a campaign in Pittsburgh. The impulse given by the present Safety
Annual Meeting of Members
la
Week here will doubtless result in Cleveland likewise undertaking to
establish systematic public safety work.
The Council's public safety plan is based upon right principles- While the Local Council undertakes to stimulate public safety interest in a com
munity, and while its permanent secretary takes an active part in the resultant campaign, the fundamental basis of the plan is to bring to
gether in a comprehensive safety organization representatives of those
departments of the municipal government which would properly be con
cerned, and representatives of the leading organizations naturally inter
ested in the welfare of their city and its people, and to give this organ
ization the benefit of definite knowledge of what has been done elsewhere
and how it has worked out. Your Council is thus attempting, and I
believe successfully, to fill a need which has hitherto remained unsatisfied,
and I say this with all due deference to previous public safety efforts.
It encourages a genuine and wide appreciation of, and demand for, public
safety, aids in the creation of an organization which will be fully repre
sentative of the community, and then lays before this organization a carefully thought-out plan of action based upon all the experience
available.
This method is exactly in line with that so successfully followed In
industrial safety work and is in full keeping with the Council's general policy. There is no attempt by an outside agency to impose its individual
theory or to arrogate to itself the practical application of such a theory. Cooperation by all interested, and by all who should be Inter
ested marks the Council's public safety work just as distinctively as it
does its industrial safety efforts. In each field representative commit
tees decide upon the plan and carry out its details, and there is the same
endeavor in both to arouse that deep and general interest which can come
only from every one feeling that he has his own particular bit of work
to do, and that the success of the plan as a whole depends upon his
doing it.
-
'The efficacy of this method is evident from the results, of which, in order to avoid burdening you with details, I shall give only . a
couple of illustrations. In St. Louis the Coroner's report for the first
eight months of 1919 showed 90 less inquests than In the corresponding months of 19i8. Deaths from automobile accidents were 11% per cent
less, notwithstanding a 25 per cent increase in the number of automobiles
in use. In Rochester the accidental deaths during the first six months
of 1919 showed a reduction of 1S% per cent from the figures for the
same months of the previous year.
SAFETT EDUCATION
In many." respects perhaps the greatest advance made by the Council during the year has been in the matter of safety education, though not so much, in the way of what has actually been done as in. that of building a-solid foundation, for future accomplishment, bfo branch of the Council's progress is. In my opinion, more deserving of our keen interest. Pro moting safety education in the schools and colleges is reaching to the
1 <j Eighth Safety Congress
fundamentals of the safety problem and is in the natural line of develop ment of the Council's work. What has been our chief task during our six years of active existence? Has it not been education? Admitting the great value of the Council as a bureau of exchange, as a collator and distributor of the best experience in safeguarding and m safety organ ization, has not the Council's chief mission been to carry the message to Garcia, to educate both employer and employee?
We have been trying, and with ever-increasing success, to educate the employer to a sense of appreciation of the need for accident prevention on both humanitarian and economic grounds, and of the value of the safeguards and organized methods which experience has shown to be the most effective. We have been endeavoring, and I believe with equal success, to educate the workman to an understanding of what accidents mean to him and to his, and of the fact that if they are to be reduced to the- minimum, lie must personally cooperate in the work of prevention. We have had to do this because unfortunately safety has so far been largely an afterthought, because it has been in no sense a factor in the ordinary education of either employer or workman, and because, in the absence of an instinctive tendency to think for safety, we could only try to get them to think against danger.
We soon came to appreciate that, necessary as this education was and for a long time will be, it was at best but a stop-gap, and that the safety movement must go deeper. Our experience was the same in this respect as it had been in the matter of safeguarding. While our first effort naturally was to see that existing buildings, machinery, and other physi cal equipment lacking elements of safety were safeguarded as well as possible, it quickly became apparent that the ultimate solution of this problem would be to make them right from the start, designed, con structed, and installed with due regard for every safety consideration. It is the same with safety education, and 1 am happy to report that the Council has made real progress during the year in approaching a solu tion of this problem.
A handbook on "The Principles and Practice of Safety," prepared by the Council for use in technical schools and universities, will be applied | in many such institutions during the coming year. Mr. Keefer, of our ! Safety Engineering staff, has made a successful trip to eighteen Eastern and mid-Western colleges, and special lectures have been given by mem bers and employees of the Council at. several engineering schools.
The most distinguishing feature of our safety educational effort, how ever. has been the working'out in St. Louis, by jDr. E. George Payne and his associates, of a definite plan for safety education in the common .schools of the country, and the publication, at the request and with the endorsement of the Council, of a book describing and illustrating this plan, which has been brought to the attention of the National Education Association and which it is to be hoped will soon have wide circulation. In this plan the problem has been approached with full appreciation that it is psychological, that the object is to get people to think- in terms of safety, and that if this object is to be attained, if regard for safety is to
I imiKil Mrt'duff of Member#
37
have a controlling influence upon tlie lives of men and women, it must be developed in their minds while they are children, throughout the formative period of their school education, so that it will permanently
affect their way of thinking. As it has been so ably put by Mr. Whitney in his illuminating address
before the National Education Association, from which I am taking the liberty of freely borrowing both thoughts and even, the manner of their expression, education is the building up in the child, through the ac quisition of certain processes, principles, and point of view having a direct application to life, of a mechanism for grasping the world. This cannot be done through abstractions. Materials in the child's life must be used. Principles must be developed from experience. The school should be approximately a working model of life, and both the principles and the facts of life should be got at the same time.
It is upon this theory that Dr. Payne's plan of safety education is based. Safety is not introduced into the curriculum as a new subject, b.ut is made a part of all subjects. The child's knowledge and intuition of safety and danger figure as a part of that body of experience out of which the mechanism for right thinking is to be constructed. Safety thus becomes one of a considerable number of interests having equal im portance and occupying an organic place in the body of experience which is used as a medium for teaching.
Safety has been handicapped by being misunderstood. It has been too commonly looked upon as merely a system of inhibitions, and, as we all know, a negative appeal stirs only with difficulty and incompletely either the heart or the imagination. This misunderstanding is due to the fact that: safety is a bilateral idea. It has its positive as well as its negative sides, but, like most people with two faces, it presents only one to the public. We are thoroughly familiar with the face "Safety from," but we have not seen clearly enough the face "Safety for." We have been too apt to ignore the fact that safety puts something in as well as takes something away, that it is not a process of deprivation but a process of substitution. I can think of no better, no larger, illustration of this than that furnished by the Great War. In the first flush of the French soldier's hot resentment against the invader, he threw himself intoClhe fray with the utmost recklessness. His fine patriotism gloried in the sacrifice of his life. As the months and the years passed, he increasingly made use of every means of protecting that life. He had come to see that the safety of his country demanded all possible safety for himself and that he might the longer and the more effectively stand between her and the barbarians who were trying to destroy her. He sought safety, not from the enemy, but for France.
Safety gets its true meaning from the fact that life has a value. The
positive side of safety lies in the thought that nothing must be allowed to interfere with full realization of this value. The St. Louis plan for safety education is based upon recognition of the need for furthering this positive side of safety. It seeks to avoid letting Safety appear as a deprivation, as robbing life of the characteristic of adventure; on the
18 Eighth Safety Congress
contrary, viewing life itself as the great adventure, its object is to sub stitute a worthy adventure for a mean one. This is a new thought in the conception of the safety movement, and I hope and believe it will go far. It lifts the safety movement from the material sphere to a spiritual one. Jt makes the fight for safety a fight for a real, a worth-while adventure, a fight which shall make life the measure of a purpose, and not the marred result of purposeless chance.
xationat. ix Tire score of its ACTivrrTES
It is unmistakably evident, I think, from this general review of what the Council is doing, that it is national in the scope of its activities. It is just as clear, from many events of the past year, that it is steadily becoming more and more national in reputation. Its cooperation has been more generally sought and, of course, it has always been freely given. To cite only a few instances: The State of Washington asked and obtained the Council's aid in training the staff which will put into effect the provisions of that State's new safety law. The Federal Board for Vocational Education has continued to call your organization into counsel upon certain features of its work. So, too, has the Working Conditions Service Bureau of the Department of Labor. The American Red Cross has increased its endeavor to work with the Council in every practicable way. Such organizations as the National Association of Em ployment Managers have felt that the Council should have a place on the programs of their conventions to explain how safety is connected with other national movements. I have just come from Pittsburgh, where, as president of an organization recognized to be national in both purpose and scope, I was invited to serve on the honorary committee in charge of the exercises incident to the dedication of the Bureau of Mines' mag nificent new buildings. The Bureau of Standards has asked the Council to work with it in the formulation of certain standards. The American Engineering Standards Committee has invited the Council's representa tives to advise with it regarding the whole standards situation.
These last two instances of appreciation of the Council's national char acter lead me to emphasize the fact, as I see it, that we must face im portant new problems during the coming year. We are called upon to take a responsible part in the standardization work which has been a cry ing need for a long time. It is natural that we should be, for we repre sent in larger numbers than any other organization the industrial inter ests upon whose application of standards their practical success must depend, and because those interests are in the best position to know the extent to which theory can be converted into practice and the degrees by which this should be done. In the fulfillment of our plain duty to our members, to industry generally, and to the cause of safety at large, we must meet this call, and fittingly. There has arisen, also, an urgent demand for engineering research in connection with safety as applied to certain industries and groups of industries, and I believe that, in some at least of our sections there must be early development along more
minimal Meeting of Members
]9
technical lines. Such work is in precise accord with that logical evolu tion of the Council's activities which has led us to the endeavor to place safety education upon a more scientific basis. It would be unbecoming for me, when about to retire from your presidency, to undertake to pre scribe the manner in which these calls should be met, but I cannot refrain from expressing the feeling that meeting them is an imperative necessity and that the best means of meeting them should receive early and most careful consideration.
Speaking of nay retirement from office, which will be within a day or two, I hope you will pardon my taking a moment of your time to ex press my appreciation of the honor you have done me in twice electing me your president, and my gratitude to my fellow members of the Execu tive Committee, and to you all, for the pleasant relationship, as well as the unselfish and wholehearted cooperation, which it has been my privi
lege to enjoy. It is indeed an honor to be chosen to head such an organization as
your Council, an organization national in the scope of its activity, national in reputation, and, from the nature of its self-evident mission and the manner in which it endeavors to forward it, destined without question to be a vital national force.
Little did any one foresee when the Council was started a few years ago by a small group of men who sought help from each other in the details of what is now hut a part of our work, that from such, simple and restricted beginnings there would develop a society, the several but homogeneous activities of which would influence our national life in so many ways and would have an enduring effect upon, the true welfare of mankind. This development has been normally gradual, as well as aston ishingly rapid, for it has come from the attempt to fill one need opening up the existence of another. Serving those already interested in safety, has pointed out the way to interesting others. As industry is but a pari, of community and national life and its interests are inseparably in terwoven with both, the forwarding of industrial safety has been fol
lowed closely by efforts along public safety and safety educational lines'. We have unavoidably been led into fields other than our own immediate
one, but we have entered them only in a eodperative way, or, as in the case of preventive and curative medicine, to enable a closer, and wider, application to industry than would otherwise be possible, to intensify in one- specific direction the work of others.
Inasmuch as it is you members of the National Safety Council who really have done all that-has been done, and who have built up an organ ization of such possibilities, there can be no tinge of self-gratulation to my inquiry as to whether you do not derive a keen, satisfaction from what you have already accomplished, and do not feel an increasing en thusiasm to grasp the opportunities which lie before you.
In what more useful, what nobler effort, could you engage? In what way, or ways, could any one, or all, of you take part in a movement of more lasting benefit to humanity? Through your Council you are pro moting better conditions tinder which men and women in industry may
20 Kighth Safety Congress
work and better working conditions inevitably lead to better living con
ditions. By bringing employer and employee together, man to man you
are furthering a better feeling between those who too often, unfortu
nately, have considered themselves as belonging to different classes, and
are doing much to forward that new industrial day. the first rays of
whose morning sun we hope we see creeping above the horizon. By sav
ing thousands of men and women each year from accidental death and
maiming, yon are conserving the greatest resource of any nation, you are promoting our national efficiency, you are reducing the suffering,
grief, and privation of which at best the world must have too much, and
you are preserving to many of the rising generation the educational oppor
tunity which will give them their chance in life.
1 cannot Imagine a better, a more soul-satisfying, work, and again 1 say,
let us rededicate ourselves to our cause, let us strain every nerve to ren
der the personal service, and raise the funds, necessary to take advan
tage of every opportunity' that logically presents itself to us. Let us go
further and seek for opportunity. Let us with renewed and constantly renewing vigor wage the battle until not only every individual, not only
every community, but the American people as a nation shall think in
terms of safety. Let us carry on with ever greater enthusiasm to the
time when it can and will be universally said of the men and women wUo
are the National Safety Council. "Well done thou good and faithful
servants." President Van- Sciiaacic:
The next item on our program is the ap
proval with, or without, corrections of the minutes of the last Annual
Meeting. As those minutes have already been printed a motion is in
order to dispense with their reading and to approve them as printed. Do
I hear such a motion?
(A motion was made that the reading of the minutes of the last
Annual Meeting be dispensed with. The motion was duly seconded and
carried.)
President Van Scjhcaaok: We have next to hear the reports of our officers and conmiittees. I will call first upon Mr. Price to report as
General Manager.
General Makaceb Price: 1 think that in view of the fact that my
report was published in our weekly letter which was circulated some
ten days ago and which probably every man in this room has read,
that I may well follow the custom of my honored predecessor, Mr.
Cameron, and I therefore suggest that we omit the reading of the
General Manager's Report.
(On motion the General Manager's Report was accepted as printed and
placed on file.)
REPORT OP THE GENERA!. MANAGER
In looking back over the year which has passed, the outstanding event which comes first to our minds is the resignation of our much esteemed General Manager, TV. IT. Cameron. We who are left to carry on the work which he organized appreciate more than anyone else what an invaluable
Annual Meeting of Members
21
contribution be made to tbe Council and to the Safety Cause. He did more than any one man to make the Council possible and to develop its work. '
But Mr. Cameron is not lost to the Council nor to the Safety Move ment because he is now an active member of the Executive Committee of tins Council and in his new field is doing most valuable work in Safety.
LOCAL COUNCILS
At the time of the last Congress three cities, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Rochester, had organized local councils with paid secretaries. During the past year Cleveland, Cincinnati, Kansas City, and Portland have been added to the list.
The paid secretary plan has solved the problem of local councils in large industrial centers. The thoroughgoing and effective work which has been done by these local councils has attracted wide attention and is encouraging the officers of local councils in other large cities to employ paid secretaries.
I-ocal councils without paid secretaries have been organized In Dela ware, with headquarters at Wilmington, and in Bellingham, Washington. Aggressive work is being done in these new councils as well as in many of the older councils in other cities.
FIELD SECRETARIES
Three new field secretaries have been added to the Council's staff during the past year, Mr. W. R. Rasmussen, Mr. Frank E. Morris, and Mr. Carl L. Smith. Mr. Smith is specializing in public safety.
The efforts of the field men have been largely centered on the large cities where they have helped to organize the work and train the new secretaries.
SCHOOLS FOR SAFETY SUPERVISORS
In Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Cleveland, and Rochester, Schools for Safety Supervisors have been conducted during the qiast year. Four hundred, and sixty-four students have been graduated and given diplomas after finishing the course of fifteen lessons covering the fundamentals of safety. In view of the fact that the students are all picked men--men who occupy responsible positions in their respective plants--these schools have undoubtedly rendered a more direct and tangible service to the members of the Council than any. other activity of the local councils.
PUBLIC SAFETY
The demonstration of public safety which was made in Rochester last year has borne good fruit. The Safety Week in St. Louis last September, which was made possible by the Rochester experience, has resulted in a. most successful campaign in public safety during the past year. Strong public safety organizations are now being developed in all of the cities mentioned above where paid secretaries are employed and steps have been taken to encourage the smaller local councils to emphasize
22 Eighth Safety Congress
public safety. The thought is rapidly gaining ground among all people interested in safety that Safety must be incorporated into the life of the community. When safety is systematically taught in the schools and in the homes, and when the public officials, the police force, the churches, the commercial clubs, and other organizations cooperate in promoting safety, then not only will the appalling increase in public accidents be checked, but the industries will be directly reached because of the wide spread awakened thought on safety.
school SAFETY
The most significant feature of the public safety work in St. Louis has been the development in the public schools of a plan for the sys tematic teaching of safety. This plan was developed by Dr. E. George Payne, Principal of the Harris Teachers College. The demonstrations of this plan which have been witnessed by the officers of the National Safety Council have been so convincing that the Executive Committee has decided to do everything in its power to secure the adoption of this plan in all the public schools in the United States. Some four hundred copies of the syllabus, which Dr. Payne has published, will be distributed to a selected list of members. A bulletin outlining the plan will be sent to all of the members of the Council and, through the efforts of our publicity department and other methods, it is hoped that within the next twelve months the schools of every city of any considerable size will be induced to add safety instruction to their curriculum. The response of all of the cities which have been approached thus far has been most cordial.
1 NPUSl'IUAI, RELATIONS
The enlargement of the service of the Council along the lines of indus trial Relations has been a most significant and encouraging development. The widespread interest In employees' representation and kindred sub jects has brought to the Council hundreds of requests for information and help. The Council has not sought to give expert advice, but rather to stimulate interest and furnish information.
THE LIBRARY
The Library and Bureau of information at our headquarters has grown steadily with the growth of the Council. During the past year valuable additions have been made covering industrial relations subjects. Our efficient Librarian, Miss Mary B. Day, has visited the best libraries in the East and has gathered much valuable data along new lines.
Through the weekly news-letters and other means the Council's mem bers are being constantly encouraged to avail themselves of the services of the Library.
PUBLICITY
From the inception of the Council the officers have looked with longing eyes on the great field of publicity and have keenly appreciated the pos
Annual Meeting of Members
sibilities of promoting safety through, publicity but, owing to lack of funds, only limited efforts in this field were possible.
On August 1, a publicity director, Mr. Louis Resnicli, was added to the staff of the Council. Through weekly letters to hundreds of news papers !and periodicals, and other methods, a nation-wide publicity cam paign is now being launched. Thus far the response of the press has been most encouraging, which promises much for the development of this work in the future.
SERVICE TO it EMBERS
The bulletins for workmen have been improved in quality and the sectional bulletins are now being printed in two colors. Large size bulletins have been issued every two weeks.
A catalogue of bulletins has been prepared, including some 1100 minia ture cuts of bulletins which have been issued. This catalogue will be valuable fo members in ordering back numbers of bulletins covering hazards which may arise in their plants from time to time.
The weekly letter has been enlarged to a four-page publication and includes not only the current news items covering the Council's work and the development of the safety movement, but also the news-letters of the sections which heretofore have been sent out in. separate forms to members only of the respective sections. The enlargement of our engineering staff and increased efficiency have made possible the issuing of twelve "Safe Practices" pamphlets as compared with eight during the previous year. Two sectional "Safe Practices" pamphlets have been issued. The Executive Series bulletins have included industrial relations subjects. The bulletin on. employees' representation recently published brought many letters of appreciation from our members.
SAFETY INSTRUCTION IN TECHNICAL SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES
A handbook has been published entitled "The Principles and Practice of Safety," for use in technical schools and universities. This handbook includes suggestions covering equipment and safe practices in. college shops and outlines of lectures which are to be delivered by the members of the faculty in their regular courses on machine design and labor relations.
In June, Mir. W. D. Keefer of our engineering staff visited all of the larger colleges between Chicago and the Atlantic Coast and had con ferences with the faculties of the engineering departments. He met with, most cordial response. Forty-four colleges have indicated their intentions to include at least a part of the safety Instruction outlined in the handbook.
SAFETY CALENDAR
One hundred and sixty thousand copies of the 1919 calendar were printed and distributed. The 1920 calendar is now in preparation.
THE STAFF
In addition to the appointment of the three field secretaries and the
24 'Eighth Safety Congress
director of publicity previously named in my report, the following changes have been made in the Council's staff:
Mr. Sidney J. Williams, Chief Engineer, has been given, the added title of Secretary and his duties have been increased to include the supervision of the Library and the Publicity Department.
On January 11, Mr. F. W. Pardee was appointed business manager and later was elected treasurer. I regret to report that during the past two weeks he has severed his connection with the Council to take the position of secretary of a newly formed national trade organization, including steel foundries. Mr. Pardee's ability and experience as a busi ness man has enabled him to render a valuable service to the Council in organizing and systematizing the work at our headquarters and in guiding the financial policies of the Council. His work in conducting membership campaigns and in organizing the Congress Safety Exhibit, and his helpful cooperation with the local councils' officers are examples of his service to the Council which deserve special mention.
Mr. R. T. Solensten has been appointed assistant secretary to succeed Mr. Laniont. Mr. Solensten has made a special study of industrial rela tions and kindred subjects and will devote a large part of his time to the development of the service along these lines.
Mr. W. D. Keefer has been added to the engineering staff. His experience in practical safety w'orlc along industrial lines lias equipped him to share in the work of drafting "Safe Practices" pamphlets and bulletins.
Miss Mary B. Day has succeeded Miss White as librarian. Miss Day was formerly the librarian of the Portland Cement Association and has had unusual experience in industrial library work.
Mr. J. W. Bready has recently been appointed director of printing to succeed Mr. Seaman. Mr. Bready has had a number of years experience in handling printing and advertising in several of the large concerns of Chicago.
STEW OFFICES
On May first the Council's Headquarters were moved to 168 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago. The new offices occupy practically double the space of the old--but at a saving in rent and insurance of over $300 per year. This increased space was absolutely necessary to carry on the increased work of the Council.
MEMBERSHU'S
The present membership is 3.761, including 16.700 representatives and 6,275,000 employees; gain, in membership for the fiscal year ending July 31, 1919, one hundred sixty-one.
Income $153,000; surplus $45,000; no debts. C. W. Price, General Manager.
Annual Meeting of Members
25
statement of receipts and disbursements
JULY 31, 1919
BECEIPTS
Membership Dues-- Active ..............-.................................................................................$134,898.56 Associate ........................................................................................ 1,390.47
$136,289.03
Less: Refund of dues......................-.................................
154.55
Sales of Pamphlets, Bulletins, Calendars and
Miscellaneous Receipts .......................................................
Revenue, account 1919 Annual Congress Exhibit
to date ......................................-----------------------------------------
Sale of Louisville Gas and Electric Company Bonds--
Cost .....................................................................................................$ 4,923.33
Gain _____
89.17 .
Refund of Advances to Field Secretary.................. Cash Balance, August 1, 191S--
On Hand .......................................................................?
In Bank .....................................................-....................................
200.00
6,755.13
$136,134.48 14,796.62 2,04o.00
5,012.50 308.60
6,9o5.13
DISBURSEMENTS
Salaries of General Manager, Assistants and Office Staff ............................................................................--
Office Printing and Supplies .....................................--Additions to Office Furniture and Equipment-- Postage -------------Rent of General Offices -----------Traveling Expenses ..................................................................... Telephone and Telegraph ........................................................ General Office Expense ...............-........................................... Library Expense _____ Membership Solicitation Expense ............. National Committee Expense .............. Shipping Room Expense .................. Service Account, Reprints' of Bulletins, Slides,
Films, etc........................................................................................ Expenses of various Local Councils ....................... "Safe Practices" Pamphlets ............................................... Annual Congress Expense ..........
$165,252.-33
$ 50,532.38 2,893.99 ,152.34 2,369.75 6,202.50 3,725.33 1,001.07 2,605.35 436.25 1,165.30 647.63 192.66
' ._
2,705.55 10,640.11
1,592,18 11,229.42
26 Eighth Safety Congress
Expense to date of 1919 Annual Congress Exhibit ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Expense to date of 1920 Calendar _________________ Weekly Bulletin Service ----------Sectional Activity Expense (Including Printing
Bulletins) ......................................--____________________ Public Safety Account .................. Moving Expense --------------Rochester Public Safety Campaign ................................
841.09 .94
20.S75.52
3,895.44 S55.30
1,367.51 134.60
investments
If. S. Certificates of Indebtedness ..................................$ 10,000.00 U. S. Victory Bonds ................................................................... 10,000.00
Loans to Local Safety Councils.......................................... Advances to Local Councils for Petty Expenses,
Net ...............-................................................................................... Advances to Field Secretaries ...................--,............... Cash Balance, July 31, 1919--
Cash on Hand ............................................................................. ? Cash in Bank ..............................................................................
500.00 8,564.00
20,000.00 2.S57.90
866.74 1,401.48
9,064.00
5165,252.33 We have examined the above Statement of Receipts and Disbursements of the National Safety Council, have compared it with the books and vouchers and have found it correct.
Arthur Young & Co.,
Certified Public Accountants. Chicago, September 5, 1919.
President Van Schaack:
Will Mr. C. P. Tolman report as the Chair
man of the Committee on Business and Administration?
Mr. C. P. Touiax: The General Manager sets a very fine example.
The address oC the President, together with the General Manager's
Report and the report of the Treasurer thoroughly cover the field of
business and administration. Possibly one thing that I would like to
add is that I have had occasion to visit the Chicago Office of the Council
a great many times in the course of the last few months and I know
you would all be immensely gratified at the enthusiasm and efficiency
displayed in the execution of your work in that office. I know of no
business office maintaining as high a standard as you will find there.
President Van 'Sciiaack: What is the pleasure of the Congress in
connection with this lengthy report which we have Just heard?
(On motion the report was adopted.)
President Van Sciiaack: I will call upon Mr. H. H. Robertson to
report as Chairman of the Committee on Internal Development.
Annual Meeting of Members
2?
report op the committee on internal development
Mr. H. H. :Robehtsox Your committee on Internal Development begs to report as follows:
The details of the work of this committee as outlined upon the Com mittee's appointment last year, contemplated a close and intensive study of tlie council's service and its plans for further activities in the follow ing departments:
The increasing of mem'bersliip. The establishment, financing, and control of additional
Local Councils. The activities and future needs of the various Sections. The development of the council's efforts in the field of Indus
trial Relations and kindred problems. The inauguration of a more active Health Service program. It was not contemplated that this Committee would he called upon to do any of the actual work of carrying out its recommendations result ing from the study of these various branches of the Council's work, but rather that the Committee should act as a planning board which would by intensive study of each individual problem place itself in a position of being able to offer constructive suggestions to the Executive Com mittee, and through the Executive, the headquarter's staff of the Council, In order that greater service might be rendered to the membership at large. Meetings of the Committee have been held from time to time, and specific recommendations have been made upon the various activities referred to. Those of value and practical application ha.ve resulted in departmental activities already covered in the reports of the President and of the General Manager. Frequent conferences with the various members of the headquarters staff have been held from time to time. While your Committee feels that its accomplishments during the year are less than had been hoped for, it realizes the fruitful possibilities of the sub-committee method of planned and "thought out" suggestion. It recommends that greater activities of this character he arranged for during the coming year.
B. F. Tilt.son Marctjs A. Dow W. E. Wortit C. R. Hook C. A. La-offer, M. D. If. II. Roff.rtsox, Chairman (On motion the report was adopted.) President Van Scitaack: The next item is a report from the Com mittee on Public Cooperation. Inasmuch as Dr. Frederick L. Hoffman, the Chairman of this committee is in Europe, I will ask Mr. C- M. Talbert, ranking member of that committee to report for the committee. Mr. C. M. Talbert: I think, Mr. Chairman, I can well follow the pre cedent that has been set and make it very, very short. I would like
28 Eighth Safety Congress
to say for the benefit of the membership at large that the President's very able address has covered almost completely the activities of the Public Cooperation Committee. It has been the policy of the Council ill every manner possible to cooperate and coordinate with public authorities and with those particular municipalities in furthering the work of the Council, and as to the different items that have been taken up, R3 to the manner of carrying out that policy, as I said before, the President's Address has much more fully covered it than I could in any short statement. We have endeavored to formulate that in municipalities, in the schools, in conjunction with engineering societies, with the Bureau of Standards, with the Bureau of Mines, and with two or three others along that same line. As to whether or not those general policies have been successful the address of Mr. Waite as to the conditions in Cleve land can best be its own answer. We believe that we have secured that cooperation and that we are going still further to secure it. We will, in the various sections, take up the manner of doing that much more in detail and hope to he able to present at the end of this Congress the outline mentioned by the President that will cover this system of coopera tion in municipalities and those other educational features. Those will develop as the Congress proceeds and will be brought put in the next annual report and will be laid before you then much more in detail and in a manner that we hope will prove beneficial to those who are interested in it.
I merely want to say that the report of the Committee itself will be embodied in those various proceedings as they are brought out during the sessions of the Congress and to say that Dr. Hoffman has done a great deal of work on that during the past year, and I am very sorry that he cannot be here to tell what has been done along that line. We hope the proceedings will answer that question when they are published.
COn motion the report was adopted.) Pkksidknt Vais' Sciiaack: The next, item is a report from the Com mittee on Service to Members. I will ask the Chairman of that Com mittee, Mr. Sinn, to report on that.
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON SERVICE TO MEMBERS
Mu. F. P. Siss: Your Committee on Service to Members has the privi lege of presenting to you the following report which has been made possible through the active cooperation and the continued effort and initiative of the headquarters staff.
Safe Pntct ices Pamphlets: Twelve of these have been issued in the general series--one each month. A similar schedule will he maintained during the coming year. It is believed that the pamphlets have been considerably improved in their scope and thoroughness. Their value is largely due to the continued good work of the Safe Practices Con ference Committee, under the able Chairmanship of Mr. R. J. Young, of the Illinois Steel Company. Too much credit cannot be given Mr. Young and his co-workers for the time and detailed effort put into this work. In addition to these, a Sectional Safe Practices pamphlet was
Annual Meeting of Members
29
published last winter on "Cleaning and Finishing Rooms in Foundries." Two other Sectional pamphlets are now in preparation, one for the Mining Section on "Underground Cars and Haulage" and one for the Metals Section on "Blast Furnaces." In each case the Sectional pam
phlets are reviewed before publication by the officers and committees of the Section. During the coming year, we hope to issue at least an eaual number of Sectional pamphlets, turning now to those Sections which have not previously had. any of this service.
Bulletins: During the year we have distributed 177 bulletins In the general series and 312 Sectional Bulletins. In accordance with the wishes of a considerable majority of the membership, as shown in a referendum vote, we have continued to distribute our large-sized bulletin (17 inches by 22 inches) every, alternate weelt. We have continued to include occasional bulletins on health topics. A start has been made in issuing Executive Bulletins on Industrial Relations subjects other than safety. These and the Executive Bulletins dealing specifically with accident prevention have been distributed on alternate weeks. Great care has been taken to keep these Industrial Relations bulletins on a conserva tive basis. Sectional bulletins have heen produced and distributed varying in frequency, according to the size of the section and the amount of material contributed by members. If any section is not getting a sufficient number of Sectional bulletins, it can get more by furnishing the headquarters with a greater quantity of material.
Bulletin Catalogue: There has been prepared a Bulletin Catalogue which contains miniature reproductions of about two thirds of all the bulletins ever issued, including all those which are of practical value as at present. These have been arranged according to the subject, with a classified index, which will enable any member to select from the catalogue, the bulletins on almost any subject desired. It is believed that this will be of the greatest value to our members in securing bulletins applicable to particular situations, especially new members who are not familiar with bulletins previously issued and which are available upon request.
Weekly Letter: This letter made its first appearance in printed, form last winter, and has now increased to four pages, placing the Executive Series Bulletin on- the last page and using the inside pages for Sectional and Local Council news, for the monthly Safety Engineer's round table letter, and for. miscellaneous announcements and information. This change has been widely commended.
Films ancl Lantern Slicl-e Service: This service has been continued, the collection of lantern slides largely increased, and a catalogue thereof issued. Slides are furnished to members without charge except for transportation. Members are urged to take advantage of this oppor tunity to secure a fine set of lantern slides on almost any phase of accident prevention. The phonograph records of safety talks which were demonstrated at the St. Louis Congress have also been furnished to members desiring them.
Library an <3, Information Bureau: The work and service of this divi
30 Eighth Safety Congress
sion has been considerably developed during the year, especially during recent months, under the supervision of Miss Mary B. Day, our new Librarian. In particular, this division has accumulated a very valuable collection of data on industrial relations subjects, including employees'' representation, and has answered many inquiries relating thereto, in addition to continuing to supply information on specific accident preven tion problems, to the extent of some 3,000 inquiries. Members who have made use of this part of our service are, iu many cases, most enthu siastic about the results obtained and those .members who have not tried it are urged to write to the Council headquarters the next time they are confronted with some particular problem.
In closing, I wish, on helialf of this Committee, to commend to you in the highest terms, the work of Mr. Sidney ,T. Williams, the Secretary and Chief Engineer of the Council, that of Messrs. F. M. Rosseland, R. H. Guerrant, and W. D. Keefer, Safety Engineers of the Council, and that of Mr. It. T. Solensten, the Assistant Secretary, all of whom have given their best thought and effort to this branch of the Council's a.ctivlties.
Further, I wish to emphasize strongly, the self-evident fact that all of the work being carried on under the supervision of this Committee, is for the benefit of the Council's members and it is only through the con tinued cooperation and help of the individual members, that the Com mittee and headquarters staff can furnish the kind of service desired by the membership at large.
President Van Schaacic: Will Mr. A. W. Whitney report as Chairman of the Committee on Education?
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Mr. A. W. Whitney: The Educational Committee can report material progress during the year and the promise of still greater results during the coming year. Our two main attacks have been upon the engineering schools and the public schools. You will remember that last year we got out a pamphlet for the use of universities which gave a preliminary view of the field to be cultivated. This formed the basis for a pamphlet of some 200 pages which was gotten out this year, entitled. "The Prin ciples and Practice of Safety." The additional matter included first a brief outline of the work of making university shops safe. Second a. syllabi of five lecture courses as follows: First, a few lectures and an inspirational course for freshmen on the general field and problems of engineering, which is being given by many technical schools. Second, several lectures in a junior or senior course in industrial management. Third, fourth, and fifth, matter to be included in courses on machine design, building design, and construction and electrical design. Later pamphlets will include similar material for such courses as chemistry, mining, transportation, home economics, etc.
The National Safety Council is also prepared to give as part of its university service, first, assistance in sectiring experts to aid in the work of getting university shops in good condition, and second, outside speakers who can address the students in the various schools on psrticu-
A.nnual Meeting of Members
31
lar aspects of the safety problem. During the year visits have been, made by members of the staff to more than twenty of the leading universities and technical schools and correspondence has been had with 224 persons on the faculties of S2 educational institutions, as well as a considerable correspondence with people interested in education but not directly connected with institutions. Thirty-four universities and technical, schools have signified their intention of using the pamphlet on "Principles and Practice of Safety" in their university work, thereby definitely incorporating safety instruction into their curricula. In some universities this work is being developed very extensively. For instance the University of Cincinnati has appointed an experienced safety man to take care of the work, who is also acting as Secretary of the Local Council in immediate connection with this work. This university is establishing a department of industrial medicine.
I will not report on the most remarkable educational work for shop
foreman and safety supervisors which has been carried on this year by
several of the local Councils, as this has not been under the direct charge of the Committee on Education.
This opportunity should be taken to note the most admirable work that the Federal Board for Vocational Education is preparing to do along the lines of safety and hygiene in the vocational schools. The work will be made compulsory in all such schools. The Board has recently issued its bulletin No. SI which is practically a textbook on safety in the building trades. Other similar bulletins for other trades will follow. The Federal Board is represented on our Educational Committee and is cooperating with the National Safety Council in every possible way.
The greatest advance during the year in the educational field has been made in the work in the public schools. I will do no more than briefly to summarize this as it is to have a whole afternoon for itself--Satur day afternoon. While we were talking in the National Safety Council about how to teach children safety, St. Louis "up and did it" and did it so successfully that our efforts have been directed toward getting this most excellent plan before the country. For this purpose we have appeared before the National Educational Association at its general meeting in Milwaukee and have formed a section on Safety Education in connection with the Mid-winter Meeting of the National Education Association--that is the National Association of School Superintendents, the next meeting of which, by the way, will occur here in this city.
There is also to be formed at a luncheon on Friday of this week, to which all interested parties are invited, an educational section, of the National Safety Council. The most important step has, however, been the publishing by Dr. Payne of the Harris Teachers' College, St. Louis, and under the auspices of the National Safety Council, of a hook on, "The Theory and Technique of the St. Louis Plan." Copies of this book are to be had at this convention. The plan is now therefore avail able for introduction into any school in the country.
The next problem is to get this hook into the hands of the teachers in every school and to push the movement hard. Neither the Committee nor the officers of the National Safety Council can accomplish this result
32 Eighth Safely Congress
alone. The help is needed of every member. Every member should see that this book and this work is introduced in their own home schools.
(On motion the report was adopted.) Presidbnt Van Sciiaack: I would like to ask Mr. G. F. Tolman, as Chairman of the Resolutions Committee to report any resolutions which in the judgment of that committee should be entertained by this Con ference. Mr. C. P. Tolman : Mr. President, to do proper justice to part of the field covered by the Resolutions Committee I have asked a far more eloquent speaker to cover that portion of it, Mr. Arthur Morey, after which I will cover certain other phases of the work.
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON RESOLUTIONS
:Mr. Arthur Mori;y Mr. Chairman, we know that where there is a great accomplishment there must have been great thought and great effort. The appearance on all sides here in Cleveland, the experiences that we have already had, and from the program's indications the experi ences yet to come, should cause us 'to offer some form of appreciative resolution. Therefore. Mr. Chairman, the Resolutions Committee would like to offer the following, and having made inquiry as to some of the chief conspirators for our comfort, convenience, and safety and who have thus expedited the important work of our Congress:
RESOLVED that we express the extreme gratification of the National Safety Council in Annual Congress assembled to the city of Cleveland and to its citizens, particularly to the Mayor, the Hon. Harry L. Davis, and to all City Departments that have generously cooperated for the success of Safety Week. In like manner also to Hon. W. .11. Pattison, Mayor of East Cleveland and to the late B. M. Cook, Mayor of Lakewood. We understand that Mayor Cook could not be gainsaid doing all he could, and that he raised up on his deathbed to sign the safety proclama tion, and we offer to the citizens of Lakewood and to his bereaved family our loving sympathy and condolences. We thank the Chamber of Com merce, the Convention Bureau, the industries of Cleveland and its en virons, the Cleveland Advertising Club with is especially cordial co operation, Col. E. E. ..Puller of the V. S. Army, the splendid and com plete efforts of the Public School Authorities and the Parochial Schools, the Federated Women's Clubs, the Boy Scouts, the splendid help the Police and Fire Departments have given, the Church Federation, the Auto mobile Club, the very fine support of all the Cleveland Newspapers and the officers and employees of the Statler Hotel. And last, but not least, to S. W. Tener, President, and Adam H. Lintz. Secretary of the North eastern Ohio Division. Oscar McXab, Chairman of the Arrangements Committee, B. W. Nutt, Chairman of the Reception Committee and their associates, and the members of the splendid Northeastern Ohio Division of the National Safety Council and the many other organizations and citizens too numerous to mention specifically, and it is expressed as our trust and our hope that Cleveland and its citizens thus aroused to welcome
A.nnual Meeting of Members
33
the Safety idea, as represented by this Congress, may he permanently blessed by the spirit of the Safety Movement which, as it enters the hearts of men and brings them into cooperative agreement, touches and inspires them with that fundamental truth that is the precursor of Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men, and be it further
RESOLVED that the grateful appreciation of this Congress be offered to its President, Mr. David Van Schaack, for the constructive guidance and inspired leadership and able executive direction he has brought to bear upon the activities of the National Safety Council which, during the past year, has registered such spiritual and material growth, and made such substantial progress toward the goal for which It was organ ized, and be it further
RESOLVED that the hearty thanks of this Congress be unanimously extended to our former General Manager, W. H. Cameron, our General Manager, C. W. Price, and to all of the Headquarters Staff of the National Safety Council for the faithful devotion and painstaking efforts with which they have fulfilled the various offices and duties committed to them, during the past year.
(On motion, the resolution was adopted.) Mb. Tolsun: I will continue the report of the committee. Section 5 of Article VIII was amended sometime ago to make the fiscal year of the Council end on July 31. Other sections relating to the treasurer's report -and to the reports of local councils should be changed to con form to the section first mentioned and for that purpose the following motions should be offered: "(1) .That the last paragraph of Section 7 of Article VII of the. By-Laws be amended by striking out `thirtieth day of June' and insert ing `thirty-first day of July'; and that the same section be amended by striking out the word `sixty' and inserting the word, `thirty' cthe latter refers to the number of days prior to Annual Meeting, when
Treasurer's Report is to be mailed to members). "(2) That Section 16 of Article III be amended by striking out the
word sixty' and inserting the w'ord `thirty' for the same reason as above. "(3) That Section 5 of Article XI be amended by striking out the
word `July' and Inserting the word `August'; and by striking out the words `Thirtieth day of June' and inserting the words `thirty-first day of July'. (This refers to the reports of local councils.)
Section 10 of Article V was amended sometime ago to add the Gen eral Manager to the list of officers to be elected by the Executive Com mittee each year. For the sake of uniformity, the third sentence should be amended in like manner, by the following motion:
"(4) That the third sentence of Section 10 of Article V be amended by inserting the words `General Manager' before the word `Secretary.' "
The next change is in order to permit the General Manager to sign checks:
"(5) That Section 2 of Article VIII be amended by inserting the
words `General Manager or' before the words 'Assistant Treasurer' in line 3, and likewise in line 5."
(On motion the resolution was adopted.)
34 Eighth Safety Congress
PbeSident Van- Svmaack: The next-item is the report of the Nominat ing Committee. Will Mr. Geo. E. Morgan report as Chairman Of the Nominating Committee ?
REPORT OF THE NOMINATING COMMITTEE
Me. Gkouoe E. Morgan: The undersigned Nominating Committee of the National Safety Council, appointed by the President and approved by the Executive Committee as provided by the By-Laws, reports the following nominations for election, at the annual meeting, as Directors of the National Safety Council, to succeed the Directors whose terms of office expire at the said annual meeting, and to hold office for three years:
David S. Beyer, Vice-President, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, Boston, Mass.
L. H. Burnett, Assistant to the President, Carnegie Steel Company, Pittsburgh, Pa.
W. H. Cameron, Manager, Industrial Relations, Eastman Kodak Com pany, Rochester, N. Y.
C. L. Close, Manager, Bureau of Safety, Sanitation, and Welfare, United States Steel Corporation, New York City.
Robert F. Coleman, Director of Personnel, Pierce Arrow Motor Car Company. Buffalo, N. Y.
J. B. Douglas. Manager, Claim Department, United Gas Improvement Company, Philadelphia, Pa.
A. F. Duffy. Chief of Safety Section, United States Railroad Admin istration, Washington, D. C.
Dr. Otto P. Geier, Manager, Employees' Service Department, Cincin nati Milling Machine Company, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Isaiah Hale. Safety Superintendent, Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Rail* road, Topeka, Kans.
Julien H. Harvey, The Bracken Company, Kansas City, Mo. Dr. F. L. Hoffman, Statistician, Prudential Insurance Company of America, Newark, N. J. Arthur T. Morey, General Manager, Commonwealth Steel Company. Granite City, III. B. W. Nutt. Strong. Kennard, and Nutt Company, Cleveland. Ohio. Lew R. Palmer, Director, Safety and Personnel, The Equitable Life Assurance Company New York City. R. C. Richards. Chairman, Central Safety Committee, Chicago A North Western Railroad, Chicago, 111. H. H. Robertson, President, H. H. Robertson Company, Pittsburgh. Pa. Francis P. Sinn, Assistant to Vice-President, The New Jersey Zinc Company, New York City. Philip Strenunel. National Enameling and Stamping Company. Granite City, 111. Stephen W. Tener. Manager, Accident and Pension Department. Ameri can Steel and Wire Company. Cleveland, Ohio.
A.nnual Meeting of Members
35
E. G. Trimble, Manager, Employers' Indemnity Exchange, Kansas
City, Mo. James E. West, Chief Scout Executive, Boy Scouts of America, New
York City. Arthur Williams, President, Safety Institute of America, New York
City. N. M. Wilson, The Associated Companies, Pittsburgh, Pa, Mrs. Joseph R. Wilson, Albuquerque, N. M. J. M. Woltz, Safety Director, Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company,
Youngstown, Ohio. George E. Morgan, Otis Elevator Company, Buffalo H. G. Ellerd, Armour and Company, Chicago R. S. Sperry, Scoville Manufacturing Company. Waterbury John R. Brownell, Equitable Life Assurance Society, San Fran
cisco R. W. Campbell, Illinois Steel Company, Chicago (Chairman)
(On motion the report of the Nominating Committee was adopted.) :Pkesident Van Schaack No members' ticket having been nominated, under, the provision of our Constitution and By-Laws a motion to close the nominations is now in. order. (A motion was made that the nominations be closed. The motion was seconded and carried.) Pkf.sidf.st Vax Schaack: As there have been legally nominated just enough men to take the place of those directors whose terms expire and to fill other vacancies. The Chair suggests, in order to facilitate the transaction of our business, that the Secretary be directed to cast one ballot for the candidates named for the terms for which they have been nominated. (The suggestion of the President was put in the form of a motion and adopted.) , Pkf.sidknt Vas S.chaack: The Secretary has cast the ballot. The in spectors of election who are serving as tellers will report the result of the vote. Secretary Williams: Mr. Davidson has handed me the report of the Inspectors of Election and Tellers showing that there are 1,973 votes cast in favor of the nominees as read, and no votes against. President Van Sciiaack: The report of the tellers shows that 1,973 votes have been cast for the nominees and none against. It therefore gives me pleasure to announce that these gentlemen have been unani mously elected directors of the National Safety Council for the terms for which they have been nominated. I would like to take this opportunity of asking all the directors to attend a meeting of the Board of Directors to be held at five o'clock this afternoon in Private Dining Room No. 3 on the mezzanine floor. Is there any unfinished business to come before this meeting? Mr. Litti.e: There is the report of Special Committee on the Forma tion of an Engineering Section in the National Safety Council.
36 Eighth Safety Congress
REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON THE FORMATION OF AN ENGINEERING SECTION IN THE NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL
In accordance with a resolution adopted by the Executive Committee. President Van Schaack appointed Messrs. Little (Chairman), Tolman, DeBlois, Talbert, and Sinn as a special committee to report on the ad visability of forming an Engineering Section in the National Safety Council. This committee, together with Mr. C. C. Rausch, Assistant Director of the Safety Institute of America, and Mr. Sidney J. Williams, Secretary and Chief Engineer, National Safety Council, met and dis cussed the subject at considerable length.
The Safety .Movement has, in our opinion, now reached a point where definite technical information must be developed and accumulated just as rapidly as possible in order to secure maximum results from the splen did educational propaganda which the Council has carried on with such notable success.
Furthermore, the work on Safety Standards, to which the Council is now definitely committed, can he carried on much more satisfactorily if there is established within the Council a Section which will he recog nized without question as equal in professional attainments and dig nity to the great national engineering societies.
An Engineering Section will give an opportunity for men of recognized standing in the profession to meet frequently for the exchange of IdeaA and information upon strictly engineering problems related to Safety, for a larger recognition of their professional status, and the service which they can render the Safety Movement.
For these reasons vour committee recommends the formation of an 'Engineering Section, on substantially the following general basis: .V ember.'th ip
Tlie membership of the Engineering Section shall be composed entire ly of Individuals who are members of the Council or who are employed by or affiliated with members of the Council, and who in addition have the following qualifications: Either (1) they must be members of the American Society of Civil Engineers. The American Society of Mechani cal Engineers, The American Institute of Electrical Engineers, The Ameri can Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, or the American So ciety of Chemical Engineers: or (2) they shall have had at least ten years' experience in engineering work and shall have been for at least live years In responsible charge of such work--a degree from a recognized college of engineering being accepted as equivalent to two years' experience. Persons who are members of the Council, or employed by or affiliated with mem bers of the Council, may become associate members of the Engineering Section If they are either (1) associate members of the American Society of Civil Engineers or the other engineering societies above mentioned or (2) if they have had five years of practical experience In engineering work--a college degree being given the same credit as above. Such asso ciate members shall have all the rights and privileges of members except the right to vote or hold office in the Section.
~i.nn.ical Meeting of Members
S|
Orr/anization The Section shall have a Chairman, a Vice-Chairman, and a Secretary,
the Secretary being a member of the engineering staff of the National Safety Council; and an Executive Committee of not more than twentyfive. including the officers: and including at least one member represent ing each of the industrial sections of the Council. Among the sub committees of the Executive Committee there shall be a committee on Membership, with five members, which shall pass upon all applications for membership in the Section. Your Committee recommends that Messrs. D. S. Beyer, J. R. Brownell. A. P. Costigane. E. A. DeBlois. G. T. Fonda, H. tv. Forster, E. B. Morgan. L. R. Palmer, C. E. Pettibone, C. C- Rausch, M. A. Schultz. F. P. Sinn, Thos. Stanion. C. M. Talbert. R. F. Tillson. C. P. Telman. E. B. Tolsted. and S. J. Williams be constituted a tempo rary Executive Committee to perfect the organization of the Section.
Fund ions The functions of the Engineering Section shall be: (1 ) To help to meet the technical demands of the various industrial
sections and furnish them technical information as desired: (2) To perform technical service for the Council, on request of the
Executive Committee ofnhe Council, such as the development of Stand ards or participation therein: the solution, by inquiry or through re search, of special engineering problems arising in safety worlv; and help ful cooperation with the casualty department of Underwriters' Labora tories, with the National Engineering societies, etc.
(3) To conduct one or more meetings as a part of the Annual Con gress, at which engineering problems shall be discussed, being grouped with respect to the engineering operations involved rather than with, re spect to the industry--as, for example, a discussion on the collection of injurious dust, the guarding of transmission, etc.
(4) To conduct, if considered desirable, one or more additional sec tional meetings throughout the year, or in different localities.
(5) To carry on such other activities as will, in. the opinion of the Executive Committee of the National Safety Council, promote the Safety Movement and the best interests of the Council
Upon motion the report of the Committee was approved in principle and the engineers named in the report appointed to perfect the plan for the Engineering Section and report to the Executive Committee of the National Safety Council for final ratification.
President Van Sciiaack: Is there any other new business to come be fore this meeting?
If there is no other new business. It is the privilege of The Chair to call your attention to a fact with which you may not all be familiar. You of course all know that the National Safety Council is constantly seeking members. Perhaps you do not all know of one way in which we have endeavored to secure a larger membership. Some few months
ago it occurred to your Headquarters Office that the personal efforts Of the men directly engaged in safety work in connection with the member ship of this Council might be productive of a considerable -increase in our membership, and they therefore offered prizes to such safety men
38 Eighth Safety Congress
as would fay their direct efforts secure new members for the National Safety Council. I may say that the result has been so encouraging that we look forward to much greater results next year.
CIST OF MEN RECEIVING MEDAI-S FOR SECURING MEMBERS DURING MEMBERSHIP CAMPAIGN
Mr. H. P. Heyne. United Alloy Steel Corporation. Canton, Ohio. Mr. G. E. Clarkson, Secretary. Western Pennsylvania Safety Council, Pittsburgh. Pa. Mr. A. H. Lintz. Secretary. Northeastern Ohio Council. Cleveland. Ohio. Mr. M. L. Fellmer, Secretary. Central Mississippi Division, N. S. C., St. Louis, Mo. Mr. L. A. DeBlois, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Wilmington, Del. Mr. R. T. Read, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Wilmington, Del. Mr. Clarence Parker, Safety Engineer, Everett, Wash. Sir. R. C. Paul, State Workmen's Insurance Fund. Harrisburg, Pa. Mr. T. H. Boyd, Safety Engineer, Seattle, Wash. Mr. J alien H. Harvey, The Bracken Company. Kansas City, Mo. Mr. H. W. Donald, American Mutual Liability Insurance Company, Boston, Mass. Mr. W. L. Myers, Tebo Yacht Basin Company. Brooklyn. N. Y. Mr. R. A. Shaw, Ford Motor Company, Detroit. Mleh. Mr. A. B. Sherlock, American Mutual Liability Insurance Company, Portland, Maine. If any of these gentlemen are here and will kindly' come forward it will give me pleasure to present the medals. Those who are not here can procure their medals from Mr. Williams who will have them in his possession. We are beginning to attract the interest of other cities which would like to have the Congress meet with them. I wish to advise this meeting that I hold in my hand a very cordial invitation from the Governor of the state of Indiana, front the Mayor of the city of Indianapolis and the Chamber of Commerce, inviting the National Safety Council to hold. its Congress in 1920 in the city of Indianapolis. It is in order at this Annual Meeting that reports should be presented, from the several Local Councils. Those reports have all been received and inasmuch as they' will be included in the Proceedings of this Con gress in connection with the Meeting of Officers of Local Councils, The Chair takes the liberty' to facilitate the proceedings by not calling upon the representatives of those Councils to read their reports at this meet ing. The business of this meeting having now been transacted it is in order to adjourn, but before entertaining a motion to adjourn. The Chair would like to ask all those present to remain and join in singing America. The audience arose and sang two verses of America, after which the meeting adjourned.
General Session: Employees' Representation
October 1, 1919
ARTHUR H. YOUNG, Chairman Manager, Industrial Relations, International Harvester Company, Chicago
HAIRMAN YOUNG: The interest in this meeting and the subject
C to be discussed this afternoon is manifest by the assemblage here.
It is eminently fitting that employee representation--that particular phase of industrial relations--should be discussed in the Annual Congress of the National Safety Council, for after all the Safety Movement and the Safety Committees -are the parentage of the employee representation plan. It was through the non-controversial medium of safety that em
ployers and employees found they could group themselves to mutual
advantage around a Council Table, and in the discussion of safety which, in every aspect, is non-controversial, they came to know that they were of the same common clay and that their ideals, aims, and purposes were after all the same.
The splendid success obtained through employee representation in safety made it an easy and natural step to go further and include other possible controversial points such as wages and hours anti working con ditions generally for discussion and for determination in conference--in family conference. The movement of employee representation may be termed a movement of such recent origin that those who have been in dulging in experience with it for only a few months are almost termed pioneers. Probably the great war had a very substantial effect in hastening the rapidity with which employee representation has been taken up so generally both directly and indirectly, indirectly because it was only natural and logical that after four years of concentration of thought by all of the ejviiized people of the world for the destruction of autocracy and for the establishment of democracy, that the culmination of that effort and the return to industry of the millions upon millions of men who had fought and suffered and worked together for a common cause should bring about a new change in industry. It is probable that there had been such autocracy in industry prior to the war as existed in Prussia, and therefore the democratization of industry was necessary to follow upon the return of these men to industry.
There was also a further direct effect. Abroad the formation of the Whitley Council and its reports lead definitely to the information of Inter works Councils and Industrial Councils. Here in this country the
39
40
Kujhth
Corifjraxa
National War Labor Hoard's pronouncement and their adoption of the
policy of employee representation had a eery specific effect. It Is true,
however, that the voluntary assumption of employee representation in
Industry has been muck greater than that forced through the War Labor Board.
The program this afternoon will give ns a discussion of the subject
from several different ar-sl'n The Br>; to numbers on the program
are by men who nr- int< r-'t-d in producti<>r. the production managers
in large industrial i-faWbhmmt*. nd then we have a slant at the
problem from an <.ng:twr. rr<m a f**-press-nt*Tlvt of organized labor, and
then from the stan>'.point
in- ts>Tr,*r n.arjigrr. It wotild be unfair for
the Chairman to tnU up foerbr'-t nsar -a a general discussion of the
subject when it will l>-- so Mv p-,eejiiei by the speakers.
In introducing the i;r^t
t? 1 tib to indulge In personalities,
which are hardly within
provi-m-T- of The Chair. I feel that I could
preach a real s*-rir:or. Iwjw' of fc-.jr eb'se relationship with Mr. Mc
Cormick in the llrvt->! >t- 'irr^f:itatton To those of you who know the
Harvester organ l sai ;oi: and t n tti^ of you who do not. I can sum it all
up in the simp;, ptiruw* that tt- wcormick is "a Harvester man," and I take y*t,ecwur,* :n tut-oct u< Inc to you Mr. Cyrus McCorxntck, Junior;
Works Mating, r of the 3t:*-rt!a; buml Harvester Company.
cxpj:i;.\t!<*n am> imunti.mai, progress
Crsrs MrCutMi' k. -In-. Work.?- Mimokk. Isrx'RSatioxal Harvester
i'<> M I*A > T. ClIKlW
What I shall say here today ist not propaganda: it is explanation, and for those of you who .-are to listen, the facts, purely from, the standpoint of a man engaged in production and not in the social economics of industry, arc as I am going to give them to you.
Some people Ida me the present industrial unrest as due to the war; some the cost of living; some this and r-ome that: and some say it is merely a revolt due to conditions which they frequently hesitate to describe, a revolt against the older order of things.
Through every opinion there Is, in one form or another, clear evidence of a realization that the war has brought home to us all the final chapter of the long lesson that individual workmen must be regarded as human beings. This new element lias claimed for itself a permanent place in industrial thought and practice. "We are now realizing what we saw before but perhaps not so clearly, that th! human question is para mount. Industry is becoming humanized and the workmen are conscious of that fact. The man. as opposed to the machine, has the power to think and Is endowed with a soul. He is at last seeking recognition of that fact.
This trend toward humanization in industry is expressing Itself in the expressed desire of labor to share in the management of a business. The desire has taken various forms in various parts of the world. In. Russia we have Bolshevism, Bolshevism being a practical application of the
Employees' Representation
41
theories put forward several years ago in this country by the I. W W. and translated Into a very fiery, but essentially--as they see it--practical farm. Bolshevism seeks to establish the superiority of the workman upon, a class basis, upon a basis from which everything else except actual manual labor is excluded. They tell us now that they are em ploying entrepreneurs to help them out of the difficulties under which they first labored, but at any rate the theory remains the same. I am told by people who ought to know that 65 per cent of the strikes which have swept over central Europe--and I am going farther west now, I am no longer referring to Russia--over France, over Germany, over Italy, have been of Syndicalist origin. That is to say, not merely with the de mauds for wages or hours or this or that, but with a political purpose in view.
In England the unrest first showed a definite reaction in the Whitley Report. That report was an answer to a very definite unrest, and since it was published last April, we have had many manifestations, fand now see one in progress) in which the plea for nationalization Is put for ward as the only solution of the unrest. Behind it all, as I have said. Is this desire for self-expression, and one more thing, a demand for a realization of the fact which we must now admit, that the relations of employer and employee can no longer be based solely on a cash founda tion. That is to say, the transaction is not complete when wages have been paid. Again, there is a man. endowed with a soul, who is asking for recognition.
t Ot.I.KCTIvK BARCA in isc
In answer to this, management in this country is beginning seriously and has In many large companies and many small ones, begun, to take the men into its confidence. This, of course, applied through the terms of employee representation, involves a recognition of the principle of collective bargaining. Properly speaking, collective bargaining involves bargaining with groups rather than individuals; but the form the group may take is not restricted. Collective bargaining is a spirit rather than a form. Every company which has employee representation In any one of its forms is an advocate of collective bargaining. Nov that theory of collective bargaining is condemned by many of the older economists. They fear it is going to get us into trouble. I feel that it Is going to let us out of trouble. We are not defj'ing economic laws when we set up a system of collective bargaining, but we are permitting other laws to operate which, through the weakness of the individual, to adopt a "wellknown phrase, cannot operate unless that individual is enabled to re enforce himself collectively. Collective bargaining is with us now, and we might as well recognize it. It is the one great change that an oldstyle employer has to face when he adopts employee representation.
REASONS FOB KMl'I.OVI.K UEl'BESKXTATIOX
There are various reasons why employers are turning to employee rep resentation. In the first place, there may be a fear of syndicalism, a tear*
42 K if/hi h Safc t;/ ('o n <7 r< jcjs
that if legitimate interests of employees are not recognized in this or some other way, or that because of repression they are unable to get things which they believe are legitimately theirs, they will have resort to revolution ill order to secure a new state of things in which, they shall be on top.
Secondly, 1 might compare the growth of employee representation, to" the growth of democracy, and call to your mind the history of the eighteenth century when Frederick the Great ruled over Germany. Frederick was a despot because he held the only reins of power. He was responsible to nobody. He did what he pleased, how he pleased: but he was a benevolent despot because lie chose to be a despot in a good way. He built fine schools, colleges, roads, public works, and bad a pretty decent system of taxation <ts it was understood in those times. Of course it was all for his own ends. It was despotism veiled sufficiently by fair deeds to be called benevolent. Xow up to a very few years ago our industrial system was also benevolent despotism, it was benevolent because large corporations tried to do the best they could to start safety campaigns, to start scientific employment, to start welfare work, give recreation, and the like: but because all this came from the top and had no reference to the opinion of the governed, in other words amelioration without consent of the governed, that benevolence was still tinged with despotism.
There is another point, another reason why this is being considered, with which some practical men may quarrel, and that is what might he called the ethical side of the question. Are you willing to do something on a new and different basis simply because you no longer desire to operate in the materialism that is part and parcel of the lives of .so many of us? Are you trying to accomplish something simply because it is right? You will find many men take that view of industrial democ racy. They believe they see in employee representation an answer to the materialistic domination of industry, whether that domination is by the management or by the men. They wish to substitute principle for that domination which has for its end the mere accumulation of dollars.
A fourth and final reason ts that employee representation is good business for the company and for the man. Scientific industry has just one more step to take. We have done about everything we could in
progressive machinery and assembly. We have secured such experts as
we could find to study the technique of our operations, including many things that were never thought of fifty years ago--safety work, for example. We must now endow scientific management with soul. When this Is done, industry can claim to he for the benefit of management and men alike and the community as well. When this is done, when industry is endowed with soul, it oa.11 at last claim to be fully and finally scientific.
WHAT UKfUICSKNTATHlX SIK.IXS
Xow what Is employee representation? Rather than attempt to define
it. I will try to describe the conditions that must obtain in order to
secure it-
Of course. mechanically, employee representation is
Employees' Represeniation
43
the institution of one or another kind of shop committee or legis lature or council in which representatives o the management and men sit together and discuss problems of mutual interest. Well now, how may that be made effective? In the first place there must be full representation in all questions affecting wages, hours, ana on through the whole list of industrial activities: don't leave out one. if the men do not have a share in the control of wages, the plan has no vitality. If you start with wages you might as well include hours, and if you con tinue with hours you might as well put them all in--they are all there. Every question that affects the relations of man and management must be susceptible of discussion between the representatives of the employees and of the management.
That does not imply, in my mind, any demand for executive control; that does not necessitate the bringing into your Board of Directors of representatives of the employees. It simply means that in questions which affect the men directly, that is where you want to put committee men--call them what you will--who ,-will represent the men and give the management the innermost feeling of the men in every decision affecting important questions.
Secondly, there must be joint conference. If your committees meet separately you lose the personal contact of man and management. The object is to get together, seated around a common table, not on each side of a common table but all together around a common table, and then face the subject in hand and debate it. See what you can find out about it. Go down to the vitals of the idea, lay every card on the table, see what the innermost feelings of the men and of the management are, and then as a result of that debate get together and understand each other.
There is something very refreshing, something very different in a point of view that the men have of the management and that the management have of the men after a discussion which has lasted hours. I have sat through these discussions which have gone on for hours, and after it is over you say, "Well, before I didn't quite understand his point of view." In the average case both sides can say as much if they will go to the limit, get right down to fundamentals, and explore the vitals of the subject. When they get through the debate, then let the agreement come by itself, because in each or both of two reasonable beings (and I assure you, Gentlemen and Ladies, that the average American, workman and the average American manager is more or less of a reasonable human being), there is something which can be appealed to by one side or the other, if you only go at it hard enough and long enough. Ultimately you will find it, and the agreement--after all the debate and understanding that must arise from frank debate--will come by itself.
There must be easy, secret elections. You can well understand that a real representation is more indicative of the real feeling of the employees than representation where thoughts may have been influenced. There must be secret election in order that the unfettered opinions of the men can be brought to light. There must be no red tape. Red tape will tie up any plan and cause it to fail. The simplest plan is the best. Any
44 Kifjhlh S<ifi 1;) ('oh<jr*ss
plan whi- h oati wiirf the ri-sulis for which I am asktng ---and just these
lYw jmint.-.- - any jUan that secures those through an absence of red. tape
tU.it ill jn-rniit quick. instant operation, that is a satisfactory plan, no
n;art>r ah;*.; tuny In it.- details.
,
T:i r- r.iij't i -* :i1im ! iitclv no iti.-crinsination at any time on the part of
?ii.- .:::{*!*> '! a-* ;iK...in'-t any or.e or any nurutier of the employees for
ti% sue!. ihiajr a-, tin . s.-v. religious affiliation. and a* it Is stated in
our jii..n "pi-lit.jiaJ or other organizations." -- in other words there is
nothing sr: mir jibin that -would permit us if . ts> desire (when we
o!.vi..ii>l'. do in-! to dircharge a man or to refuse- to liscren to him simply
ha;>je-ti~ to be a member of some labor union. When we
tuk- a man n n ear -mph y. and if we are willing to take him into our
employ . tiiai!
tile matter. He is then one of the family and. he is
able fe cuier- ?:p, after he has qualified by the brief period of residence
that is needed. and to sit in council with us If he is elected. Take care
in tbr Writ, nlr.se, lieeause after a man is in. under a plan of this kind,
you hate no right to consider for a minute what he Is or what he be
lief. ~ he is one of the family and you had better treat him as such.
The last irujuirtant point is that there must be executive supervision, of
such a plan. Just as we have experts in heat treating or progressive
assembly or any of our thousand and one mechanical tasks, employment
work, or safety work, so must we have experts in industrial relations.
It may be difficult in these days of the birth of this new science to find
these men, but they must be found. The best man in the country (indi
cating the Chairman. .Mr. Young--Applause) is none too good to guide
such a plan as this.
The management must understand the men and the men must under
stand the management. As soon as any such plan is in smooth opera
tion it is going to operate both ways. It is not simply a question, as I
have heard some employers say, "How can we get the men to understand
our point of view?'' The converse is just as true and the management,
through this plan, must be able to understand the point of view of the
men.
Contact between management and men used to be very close. Now,
sorry to say, tilings are changed; yet we cannot ask or want to go hack to
the time when the owner of _a business knew every man In his factory.
Society demands large units because it needs large production, so we
cannot go hack to the small shop. Society is looking to employee rep
resentation to re-establish the contact between men and management.
The man in charge of production of any great corporation cannot know
every one of his employees, hut through employee representation, if it is
fairly and freely operated, lie can feel the pulse of his employees and
they can feel liis pulse.
Olt.IKf'TloN.s To RlzrRKSKNTATIOV
There are certain objections that have from time to time been made to employee representation and I would hardly be frank if I failed to mention them. It is said, for example, that employee representation is merely an invitation to the men to come along and boost the wage scale.
Employees' Representation
45
Some people believe that. Some people say to us, "You have Increased your wages since you instituted employee representation. Look, we told you so!" But as I have sat in these discussions I have found, fre quently as not, a demand not so much for higher wages as for shorter hours; frequently, as many times as not, a demand for shorter hours even at the expense of higher wages. I can show you many decisions reached by our Works' Council in which hours have been shortened and wages decreased because that was the way the men wanted it.
A great many workmen, and perhaps they are the majority, think that they will get something while the getting is good, as it seems to be at the present time; but others--and many believe them to represent the thinking majority--aren't so much interested in mere wages as they are in the philosophical side of industry. They want decent living con ditions. They want real life. They want something else besides hours of toil and high pay from sunrise to sunset.
In the second place, many people say to me, "Well, how do you prevent yotir men from electing poor representatives'? How do you keep a hunch of radicals out of these councils? How do you know what you are going to get?'' To all those questions I would answer, "We do not." We do not endeavor to keep radicals out of our-conference. We do not endeavor to insist upon our men. electing good representatives. We do not put up to them a strong propaganda to keep the best onl5r on the councils. We do not need to because they take care of that themselves.
Among our employee representatives, for those who may doubt, the average age is 37 years, a pretty good average and not indicating in any way a bunch of young radicals as some people say, or a hunch of old pensioners as other people say. Three-quarters of them are married. There again Is an indication of desirable stability. The average employ ment, is over seven years. In other words, although they were not in any way restricted in their election of representatives except by the requirement for employment of more than one year, they have chosen to select men who have been' with the company long enough to under stand some of its ideals, and to feel that its ideals are not positively detrimental to their own Interests. The majority own either stoek in the company or their own homes.
As an example of the responsibility of the men of the kind that I have just described to you, the very first demands that came in were for Increased wages. The workmen thought "Well, we have here a toy that will give us whatever we want.'' The representatives pnt up these de mands. We examined them. We showed them our books, told them we regretted very much that our business could not stand an increase ia wages, in the first place, and in the second place that the cost of living as it was at that time was lower than at the time of the armistice.
So with that explanation before them the men. considered the They went back to their constituents and in every case the demand for higher wages was withdrawn. Again later on in the summer when the cost of living went kiting upwards again, they returned with other demands for higher wages, and at that time the management representa tives were convinced of the sincerity and the reasonability of the rr-
46 Eighth Safety Congress
quests and demands put forward by the men, so they were granted. There you have the thins operating both ways.
We were also enabled to discover some things which, while we probably would have known of their existence if it had occurred to us to look up the records, had never really been driven borne in. our minds. We found that we had some men working for us seven days a week, twelve hours per day. Somebody kicked. He had a legitimate channel through which a complaint could come. Those particular men who were then relieved of that long work were, in order to find relief, willing to accept shorter hours combined with lower wages.
In other cases we have had piece work rates raised because the existing rate n one place wasn't right. In other cases we have had piece work rates lowered because they realized that that man was getting more than this one on a similar task and that this rate was the correct rate. That may seem unbelievable--workmen agreeing and telling you that they expect and agree to a reduction in wages--but they are the facts.
It is also sr id that employee representation, inasmuch as It Is a com mittee system, ruins discipline. The average person who says so will quote the experience of the Russian army, during the time of Kerensky, when through the institution of committees the discipline of the Russian army was shot to pieces. There is no reason why discipline should be in any way affected by employee representation or any shop committee system, if the effort is sincere and fair on both sides. Discipline is intelligent obedience, not skill in executing the goose-step. If a foreman is absolutely fair and square and acts on principle and not on personality, if he disciplines a man or discharges him because he has done wrong, then employee representation lias nothing whatsoever to say against him. If, on the other hand, he discharges a man because he doesn't like him or because of some petty spite or because of something he doesn't under stand, the man has a recourse. Several years ago the average employer In big factories took away from the individual foremen the right of hiring and firing and gave it to the employment manager. At that time it was said that that would ruin the foreman's ability to discipline his men. It didn't, and no more does employee representation, provided (and it is a big proviso) that the effort is sincere on both sides. I know a factory where the discipline is ruined because the formen, every one of them, are afraid of the representatives and the representatives, every one of them, think that they have something on the foremen because of this new way of doing things. They don't realize that neither knows any thing at all about what they are talking. They don't realize that they don't understand the scheme. They don't realize that the people they are hurting most are themselves.
ATTlTunK OF OKGAX1ZKD tABOIt
At the Atlantic City convention in June of this year the American Federation of Tabor took considerable exception to shop committees in general. They said, for example. In the resolutions which were there parsed, that the elec' ons as a rule were unfair, that democratic organ-
Employees' Representation
47
Ization was not permitted, that committeemen were intimidated by the management, and that the employee in pleading his case before the shop committee was not allowed such expert aid as he received through the person of the business agent.
I take it that experience means something. I have sat through meet ing after meeting, not in one factory but in a half dozen, and I have talked with representatives of other factories and other companies besides ours, employee representatives as well as management representatives, and yet I have never seen a single reason why any one of those charges should be made or can be upheld. I do not know whether the American federation of Labor would have that same view today as it did last June. A lot of water has gone' over the dam since then and people are more skilled on. this thing now than they were, but the Tacts are that commit teemen are not intimidated, that the elections are not unfair, that demo cratic organization is permitted, and as for the employee representatives needing advice--let me tell you that the average employee representative, after tie has had a little experience, can put up problems that it sometimes takes a lawyer to unravel. I know. I have sat up all night trying to match the intelligence of some weighty question, and 1 have gone the limit i:n trying to give the best possible answer. They are clever; they
are brainy, and they are that because they are good Americans.
The object of organized labor, I take it, is to Improve the conditions of men through the institution of a system of collective bargaining. Employee representation gives the same results more quickly and more intimately. I have no battle of any kind to fight with organized labor; neither do I think that organized labor has any legitimate cause for an attack upcn the shop committees. They are different things; they are both seeking good results. If there are two ways of doing things it does no harm to go at it In both ways. I do not pretend for a moment that employee representation is a panacea for eveTy ill. You can't institute a plan of employee representation and then throw- tip your hands and say, "Ail our troubles are over," because it is not any plan that counts, it is not the particular system that you happen to choose, it Is the way you work whatever plan you choose--that is what counts.
You can't expect to get results too quickly. You can't expect to put something in and get dividends right away. You can't expect that the momentum of mutual education, the training of men by management and the training of management by men to produce results all at once. We have been doing things in the other way ever since the eighteenth century when the Industrial Revolution made big business possible. Now we are changing. You can't expect that transition to take place In a minute. Give It time; give it a sincere chance to work out.
THE It A RVKKTER STRIKE IX CHICAGO
Possibly it might be of intei-est if I said a few words on. the so-called Intemational Harvester strike in Chicago and its relation to employee representation. You all know that In July we had 10,000 men. out on the streets. It happened in this way. We have committees tn nineteen
48 Eighth, Safety Congress
of our twenty plants. In the one plant where there 5s no committee 400 men started to strike. AVhai the strike was about, I don't think anybody to this day knows. Some demands were presented fifteen days after they went out. They were made up fourteen days after they went out, and as I say. I doubt very much if any of the 400 men who started the trouble knew why they stirred things up so that 10.000 men were soon out of work. In a few hours the 400 had the whole of this plant out on the street. Then a gang of excited men. joined by some strikers from a neighboring plant, marched over to our next plant. Xothing happened, except that about twenty or thirty men were pretty badly beaten up.
Xexi morning this other plant started to work. Every man, with four exceptions, reported for work, every man out of 1.S00. So there can hardly be said to have been any quarrel with the company. The disorder outside was such and so many were slugged that the Works' Council recommended cessation of work. The company agreed because we did not propose to have any violence if we could help it. We told the men there was going to le partnership in wages and hours, so we thought they might as well help us settle the strike. In another works, three days later, the same thing happened. An augmented crowd of about five i housand clamored around in the streets and pretty soon a few of them went out and more men were beaten up. The Works' Council recommended cessation. But notice there was no strike except in the first plant which had no Council. Then, unfortunately for us, the street ear strike and the race riots in Chicago intervened and it was abont three weeks before we operated again, hut we operated again at the end of three weeks because the Works' Councils in the various places asked the company to operate. We promised them we would not operate until they agreed it was safe to do so. We opened at their request and inside of one week were running normal again. That I call a tribute to the employee representation way of handling industrial disputes.
I was asked yesterday what I thought of employee representation in view of the fact that our steel mill in Chicago was just as much closed as any of the rest. The obvious answer is that there also the Works' Council invited us to close, and remember that the AVorks' Council is composed not only of representatives of the employees but of the man agement as well. That was forty-eight hours after the strike had begun, and I venture to say that if every other steel mill in South Chicago had been equipped with a Works' Council there would have heen no strike because the morning the steel strike was called we had just exactly ninety per cent of men in our mills working. If every steel mill in Chicago had had ninety per cent of satisfied men working there wouldn't have been any strike.
Till'. WITITI.KY COfXCTLS
I don't pretend that our plan of employee representation is the only plan. There is the Leilch plan, organized as a kind of legislature. There are other plans beside that. All of you have heard of the Whitley plan in Kneland. Many people say, "Why not adopt the Whitley plan and go
Employees' Representation-
49
the same way England is going?" Personally I wouldn't want to go the way England is going, but that may be immaterial. The Whitley plan, presupposes complete organization on the part of industry and complete organization on the part of labor.
I do not know how many laborers there are in this country. I do not know how many are members of one or another of the organizations which constitute organized labor, hut it is safe to say that there is a minority of the men in this country who are organized. In England it is about 90 per cent, so I am told. In England it is lawful for corpora tions to organize for mutual benefit. Here it is said to be dangerous. We in this country are not organized either in industry or on the part of labor.
In the second place the English plan presupposes a large share of par
ticipation on the part of the government. For generations the British government has been skilled in participating in the handling and arbi tration of labor disputes. Here we are just beginning. Our government is not yet skilled enough to participate in, and adjudicate, the differences between capital and labor or men and management. They are much better acquainted with each other, and if one can find some basis of contact where they can meet and work out their own difficulties, they will be far more satisfied than to submit to any intervention on the part of an unskilled government.
Thirdly, we have instituted vertical divisions for horizontal divisions which characterize the Whitley Plan. We have taken--and when I say "we" I mean the whole trend in this country that is giving birth to em ployee representation--our industrial society and divided it vertically. Here is a company from manager down to workman with all its interests, identical. The old idea that capital and labor are deadly enemies has gone by the board completely. We have divided industrial society verti cally and we have made it a family affair. There is no place in this country for anything resembling class division. There is no place In this country for class warfare of any kind or class prejudice.
> IMPORTANCE OF REPRESENTATION '
One final word: I believe that employee representation Is a more im portant subject today than is profit sharing or any other of the many things that are considered in any industrial program. I believe it is Im portant because it is the gateway through which every other consideration, will be approached in the future. If you want a plan of profit sharing you had better wait until you have employee representation first and then the men can understand (which they do not now) the economic aspects of profit sharing. If you want them on the Board of Directors wait until they have gained through employee representation the experience you have acquired from years of endeavor and years of practice. If you want the men to participate heartily in a safety campaign let them help run it. In other words, employee representation is a basis for every future relationship between capital and labor, between men and management. Employee representation is a sincere endeavor to find a point of con tact and to work upon that point of contact until the two are drawn, so
50 Eighth Safety Congress
close together that they are no longer two hnt one, striving together for the mutual interests of each and of both. I thank you.
Cu.vikmax Yocxo: Just an ordinary Harvester talk by an ordinary Harvester man.
We were to be favored with an address by Mr. Feuerbach of the Demuth Company giving an outline and a recital of experience under the so-called Leitch Plan of employee representation. We are sorry to say that Mr. Feuerbach has wired that he is unable to attend because of illness and his paper has been presented to The Chair.
HXPKJRIEXCES OF WM. DKMl'TJI & CO. IX INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACY
F. L. Feuerbach, Factory Manager. Wm. Dkmutii & Co.,
Richmond Hir.n, N. Y.
Mo doubt the most important topic in the mind and. on the tongue of every business man today, not only in this great country of ours, but all over practically the entire world, is the existing unrest and unfortunate strife between Capital and Labor. Many of out best thinkers are deeply interested in the solution of this serious problem, feeling that this tide of discontent In its mad rush toward Bolshevism must be stemmed before it reaches the point where it will do a good deal more harm to all man kind than the bloody world-conflict just ended. The various systems under consideration, some old and some new, such as Shop Committees Flan, Employees' Representation Plan. Industrial Relationship and Industrial Democracy, may differ slightly or essentially In their application, to prac tical business, but they all aim toward a better understanding toward representation in industry, which is the problem of the hour with business owners and executives, as well as the workers.
The plan of representation Wm. Demuth & Co. adopted at their factory in Richmond Hill, Long Island, in April, 1017. is that known as Industrial Democracy, introduced by John Leitch, whom most of you probably" know as the author of the very interesting book. "Man to Man," which deals with this very important subject, and gives a very detailed and compre hensive description of industrial democracy.
As practically every man who talked to me about this system, in this" country as well as in England and France, which I visited recently, seems tO' have a different conception of. and definition for. Industrial Democracy, it may be well at this time to give our version of it.
INDUSTRIAL. DEMOCRACY DEFINED
To have Industrial Democracy is to have some internal plan of govern ment in each industrial plant, -whereby the employees may have a direct voice in the formulating of such policies as directly affect their physical, moral, social, and economic -welfare, as well as that of their families! This means length of hours, character of work, physical surroundings under which they work, the moral influences that surround them, the freedom of self expression, and the question of wages or some form of profit and loss sharing. All of these things vitally affect the employee
Employees* Representation
51
and his family. Therefore, he must have a voice in their control, if we are to have Industrial Democracy.
Ethically it means a square deal in wages and working conditions. What a square deal in wages means, no living man can definitely de scribe. Some people consider the living wage as such--if we suppose that this expression can be defined, but under present conditions, and perhaps all future conditions, it appears a certainty that labor will not consider that minimum as a fair wage, nor is there in my mind any justifiable economic or ethical theory which makes it so.
Labor will continue to demand with even greater solidarity and per sistence, collective bargaining with regard to wages, hours, working con ditions, and all those matters which mutually affect employers and em ployees, and .upon which-selfish, interests are bound to conflict from time to time. Whatever may be decided, and temporarily accepted as a fair wage and just working conditions will not stay decided, or really he decided, unless worked out in joint man to man conference between rep resentatives of the two sides. This, in short, is the essence of Industrial Democracy, an organization and a spirit in which all concerned shall have effective voice in matters which concern all.
I do not advance this idea of democratic representation and personal contact, in industry as. a final solution of the so-called labor problem. This problem is too vast, too complex and is enmeshed too deeply in human passions to be settled off-hand by any method or system, however admirable in itself. I am afraid that no one really understands the whole labor problem, but I am convinced that Industrial Democracy is a wonderfully efficient teacher for both the employer and the employee.
The labor problem is much more than a class issue. It has steadily risen to the consciousness of mankind from economics to politics, from politics to ethics, and from ethics to a world issue involving the very safety and sanctity of governments and societies.
Better relations between employers and employees can best be arrived at by granting to the latter a greater share in the consideration of matters with which they are concerned and about which their entire life and existence center to a great extent.
Labor and Capital are meant to be partners, not enemies. Their inter ests are common interests, not opposed, and*neither can attain the fullest measure of success and prosperity at the expense of the other, but only in company and by cooperation with the other. In an accomplishment of this sort the proper relationship of the money-supplying and moneyreceiving forces would naturally involve Industrial peace, which cannot be secured by any conciliation or arbitration scheme thus far practiced or tried out.
Such schemes settle disputes, or at least try to settle them, only after they have arisen. Industrial Democracy means to settle disputes before they arise and by aiming to reduce to a minimum the development and
intensity of hostile attitudes and putting in their place mutual under standing and the effective good-will to cooperate. The full benefits of cooperation cannot be realized unless there exists a. spirit of friendliness wnong those who have come together to work for the common good of
52 Eighth, Safety Congress
all. Not much can be accomplished with a man who persists in believing himself always right, for to him it is ihe whole human race that's wrong. Cooperation means that individually-cherished ideas must at times be shattered and give way to the will of the majority.
In the past, the employer, generally speaking, regarded the laboring man simply as a necessary means to the productive process, whom he would buy as cheaply as possible, just as he would make his purchases for materials, endeavoring to make as much profit as possible out of both. .Fortunately this attitude is undergoing a decided modification, but on the part of a certain type of employer it is still altogether too prevalent. Two influences are bringing about this rapid change in attitude,
In the first place, employers are discerning more clearly the meaning of loyalty, and now can see that this spirit cannot be obtained through the old autocratic attitude. They are beginning to realize that the growth of their business depends upon the growth, of the people in their organ ization, and that loyalty, like electricity, works only when there is a return circuit.
The big man today realizes that up to the present time hands only have been employed, and regrets that he did not see years ago that all the humans in his place had not only hands, but also heads containing brains, capable of adding intelligence to their work, which means a larger quan tity and better quality of merchandise. He realizes that he cannot get the activity and cooperation of these brains unless he first assures these people of a square deal, and. therefore, takes a new attitude that co operation is far better than competition between employer and employee, and that fair dealing is the fundamental and basic principle on which relations between employers and employees should rest.
In these days of efficiency and economy, we all recognize--or will do so before very long--that the greatest waste in the world is the waste of our human resources, and it Is quite natural that we start the big work of economy in our own organization.
Secondly, there is more general recognition of the fact that political democracy without a measure of Industrial Democracy or self-government is somewhat hollow.
The fact that American workingmen have been fighting in Europe to make the world safe for Democracy helps to suggest the ideal of a better, more thorough and truer Democracy at home, and it is generally con ceded that the social and economic destinies of our country In the next few years depend largely upon the attitude of the employers toward Industrial Democracy within, their respective establish meats.
The workingman desires--yes. demands most emphatically in some cases--to be considered a human being, to have proper physical conditions surrounding his labor, to secure a sufficient return to give his family the right kind of a home and education.
Realizing the need of a better understanding between our employees and our selves to stimulate an interest in their work and clear from our indus trial pathway some of the difficulties which you all have faced from time to time, we installed, about two and a half years ago, a system of organiza-
Employees9 Representation
53
tlon government, generally termed and known as Industrial Democracy.
PLAN MOOEI.ED AFTER UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
W'e took as example the United. States Government, which having been successfully established and carried on for more than 140 years, seemed a pretty fair guide. We have a Cabinet, Senate, and House of Repre sentatives- The Cabinet consists of the executive officers of the company, with Mr. Demuth as President of the Company, acting as its Chairman. This, body is not elective, its personnel existing by virtue of position In the organization. It is primarily an executive body, and while it has the power to veto, the same has never been used, there being no occasion for it. It also has the power to initiate legislation, by making suggestions in a message to the Senate or House of Representatives, which, of course, may or may not be accepted.
The Cabinet meetings have before them the bills which have been passed by the Senate and the House, and also the minutes of all meetings and discussions, which give a very clear conception of what is in the minds of our people. The Cabinet deals with the larger and more intimate problems of management, which would naturally come before a meeting of executives. Any desired change affecting employees in the least man ner is not framed as an order, hut put in the form, of a suggestion, stating the reason for same very frankly and clearly, and is sent to the Senate
or House. No matter what its fate may be. It is sure of a full and
complete discussion from, every possible angle, and If the measure be rejected, the executives may rest assured that they have been prevented from issuing an erroneous order and saved from the results thereof.
The Senate also is not an elective body. It is made up of about thirty foremen and heads of departments, who are in positions of authority over the workers themselves. It elects a president, vice-president, secretary, and sergeant-at-arms, and standing committees, and special committees as the occasion may demand. Its power and practices are identical with those of the House of Representatives.
The House is the popular body of government, being elected by secret ballot by the whole body of workers. Each department has representation --thirty workers electing one representative, either man or girl. The representatives are supposed to act as counsellors within their depart ments, receive all complaints and suggestions from their fellow workers, and in turn acquaint them with the doings of the legislative bodies.
The Speaker of the House is elected, and he appoints committees, through whom business is transacted to a considerable degree. Each measure Is generally referred to a committee to Investigate and report, so that when the time comes for open discussion, all available facts will be at hand.
The meetings of the Senate and House are weekly and always in the company's time, which we consider very necessary for the success of the undertaking. A set of by-laws has been devised for the use of both bodies
by a joint committee, and all their business is transacted In accordance with same. Any question affecting working conditions, safety, sanitation,
wages, piece-work rates, etc., is brought up before either of the three
54 Eighth Safety Congress
government bodies, and any recommendation decided upon after a care ful discussion and deliberation is brought to the next body for their action. Xo change becomes a law until it has been approved by all three botiies. In that way we believe we have found a mtich better way of feeling the pulse of our people, in learning what they desire, and in avoid ing difficulties rather than curing them, which is usually the case in the ordinary shop committee plan. We do not wait for the trouble to cul minate, for the sickness to develop. The men hear the report and progress of their respective departments, learn about the troubles of another department, and are helping their fellow workers in getting over any difficulties that they may experience.
We can clearly see the actual formation of a threatening cloud. The open discussion of any dispute has never failed to avoid accumulation of such clouds and outbreak of storm.
Permitting the men to have a say in adjusting their wages removes this perplexing question as a field of dispute. The fairness with which
tne members of* the House have always considered and bandied all ques-
tions of this sort has been most remarkable, and has come to ns as a complete surprise Oi-r experience has shown us very plainly that people learn to be responsible by exercising responsibility; learn to participate in decisions by participating in discussions--even' though the experience may at times seem costly to all concerned.
I will give one little example that will show very clearly how industrial Democracy and the wage question work together.
Last fall twenty-five men of one of our departments were somewhat Influenced by an outsider who had formerly worked for tts and was then working for a competitor. He advised them that this would be an oppor tune time to strike for more money. The matter was brought to my attention. I called the boys together and said to them: "If there is any thing that is not satisfactory, bring it up in your House, through your representatives. That is the place to air all your troubles and bring your difficulties. The next day. I am glad to say, the representatives of that particular shop came to the House and presented their case. A committee was appointed to investigate the matter and report at the next meeting. The committee came back with quite a detailed report, after having gone to the office to obtain figures as to the rate of pay a year ago, six months ago, and three months ago, and having convinced themselves of the true facts, reported back to the House of Representatives:
"We do not favor any change of piece-work rates for this department, because we find that the men are absolutely unfair in their demands."
The House voted to accept this report, and the twenty-five men went back to work.
Any man or woman is eligible for the position of representative, pro vided they have the following qualifications:
FIRST: They must be absolutely on the square, in order that their fellow employees may have undoubted confidence in their fairness and
honesty, so that they may be entrusted with any and every mission which
should be carried to the House.
Employecs' Enp-rcsentation
55
SECOND'. They must be able to speak and understand English, so that they may fully understand what is going on at the meetings and be able to report to their co-workers.
THIRD: They must have been in the employ of the company for at least one year. This gives us the assurance that the man knows enough about the institvition itself and about the work so tha.t he is fairly well qualified to take part in all discussions, by having some fundamental knowledge of the business as well as of his co-workers. This also excludes the possibility of having a labor agitator come into the place for a short time to have himself elected as representative.
We have a large sign hung up in our meeting room reading: "We come here not to convince or convict, but to understand," and white this served as a gentle reminder during the early stages of the game, it has become such a definite habit that this sign today is more ornamental than necessary.
- rt_v X X NTKODL'fKIl IS Y IS.C- JOHN UilTCII
No doubt you wilt be Interested to learn how Industrial Democracy was first introduced into onr organization by its father, Mr. John Leitch. His fundamental and most serious problem, of course, was to get all workers interested in their jobs, to make them one -with the company, to introduce a spirit of cooperation which would reflect higher and happier pay for the men and a better product for the company. Recognizing Justice to be the baste principle of all relations to which every human being willingly responds. It was necessary to lay our foundation on that principle. If we wanted Justice we should have to "show them." All of our people, numbering close to 000. were brought together in the large shipping department of our warehouse, and Mr. Deitch explained the principle of Justice. He then described a dividend system showing just how'we intended to work together--that we should not only govern our selves, but that of all the savings made in the cost of production, onehalf would go to the company and the other half to them. They warmed up a bit to the idea of getting some extra money, but otherwise they remained fairly cold. We held meetings once a week through five weeks, to adopt what was to be the business policy of the whole company--from President to the Office Boy--and which was to guide all our actions. The policy rests on the four cornerstones of Justice. Cooperation. Economy,
and Energy, supporting the capstone of Service, and reads as follows:
j uSTICK
The fullest meaning of this word shall be the basis of all our business and personal dealings--between ourselves as individuals, between our Company and those of whom we buy, and between our Company and those to whom we sell.
-Justice shall be the first cornerstone upon which we agree and determine to construct broader character as individuals and broader commerce as an institution.
We recognize that justice to ourselves necessitates taking advantage of every opportunity to do the best that is in us, and each day improve upon that growing ability.
56 Eighth Safety Congress
We realize that merit must be recognized, whether in. ability or mer chandise. With this certainty, we cheerfully, hopefully, and courageously press forward to certain and unqualified success.
COOPERATION
To accomplish the greatest possible results as individuals, and as an institution, we find cooperation a necessity.
We recognize that business without cooperation is like sound without harmony. Therefore, we determine and agree to pull together, and to freely offer and work with the spirit of that principle--cooperation.
So shall we grow in character and ability and develop individual and commercial supremacy.
Differences of opinion shall be freely and fearlessly expressed, but we shall at all times stand ready to cooperate with and heartily support the final judgment in all matters.
ECONOM Y
As each moment is a full unit in each hour, and each hour a full unit in each day, so each well spent unit of thought and well spent unit of action makes for each victory and the final success.
When the hour, tiie day, the year, or the life, is filled with well spent ability--and an institution is composed of individuals who recognize the value of and so use their time, then success is controlled and governed and is no longer that vague uncertainty of a blind and unreasoning hope.
Recognizing that economy is time, material and energy well spent we determine to make the best use of them and so shall time, material, and energy become our servants while we become the masters of our destiny.
ENERGY
As energy is the power back of action, and action is necessary to produce results, we determine to energize our minds and hands, concentrating all our powers upon the most important work before us.
Thus intensifying our mental and physical activity, we shall "make two grow where one was," well knowing that our Individual and Com mercial crop of results will yield in just proportion to our productive and persistent activity. This power of energy directed exclusively toward sound and vigorous construction leaves no room for destruction and reduces all forms of resistance. Having set in our business policy the four cornerstones of Justice, Cooperation, Economy, and Energy, we are convinced that the capstone of the superstructure must be
SERVICE
We believe that the only sound and sure construction of success as an Individual or an institution depends upon the quality and Quantity of service rendered.
We neither anticipate nor hope to be unusually favored by fortune, but we are thoroughly persuaded that fortune favors the performer of worthy
Employees' Representation
57
deeds and of unusual service. We, therefore, determine that our days and our years be occupied with such performances.
Quality shall always be the first element of our service, and quantity shall ever be the second consideration. Thus shall we establish not only the reputation, bsr the character of serving best and serving most.
Therefore, by serving admirably, we shall deserve and receive proportionately.
After accepting this business policy as a future guide for our work and actions, we then started to govern, ourselves under this new dispensation, with the understanding that all rules and regulations affecting the em ployees were to be in the bands of the Legislature, subject to the con firmation of the Cabinet.
Xo limits to the self-governing zone were set. and subsequent events proved that no limits needed to be set. Employees given responsibility will honestly discharge it.
HOW TIIE PLAN WORKED
At the outset the representative system did not work smoothly. A few of the elected representatives did not attend meetings--some because they dftl not grasp the idea, others because they were afraid they might be called on to speak, and thus expose their curious English. But other members did. catch the theory of representative government from the start. Some of course, at first helieved that the whole idea was a fake, but. they were willing to be convinced; and once they had the conviction of our sincerity, they went to any length to make the experiment a suc cess. They knew and were in touch with the mass, and they learned and appreciated the mass psychology thoroughly in a very short time.
It Is true that their initial interest was purely financial. These people had no practical conceptions of democracy, and democracy in business was something entirely unknown and foreign to them--almost as much as it was to ourselves. Representative government meant nothing to them at the start. They had heard vaguely of various assemblies, but they never had discovered that the form of government made much difference to the individual. They simply came to work to make- a living 2nd to get as much money out of their job as could possibly be extracted. A mighty few of them, like most laboring men, realized their responsibil ity in returning as much as possible for the money which they took out of the business. Each man worked for himself, showing very little con cern about his neighbor in his own or the next department.
Cooperation to them seemed entirely superfluous and had to be taught in a practical manner, as preaching with the labor class usually does not go very far. They have heard too much of that in the past andreceived too many promises which were subsequently not kept, and a lack of response and confidence, in preaching or ethical lessons Is not their fault so much as the fault of those who are responsible for their disap pointment.
The practical way we found to be our dividend system, and this Is how it taught cooperation:
5S Eighth Safety Congress
A number of men desired to celebrate an Italian holiday, and stayed away from work. At the next meeting: of the House of Representatives it was announced that the dividend for the past two-week period would be only 12 per cent, but that it would have been higher had not the men taken the holiday. That is, a man who earned $20 per week, or $-10 for the two-week period, received a dividend of $4.S0 instead of $fi. thereby losing $1.20 because some other fellows did not work.- it is one thing to stay away from work knowing that possibly the company and only your self will lose money by your act, but it is quite a different proposition to realize that you are guilty of a loss of money to your fellow-workers. Dividends are due to mass action and cooperation is a mass force. The mass can bring in and create cooperation as quickly as it can cause disorder.
Our plan for paying dividends on top of wages as an incentive for better work and a pride in the man's or woman's job, and in the product which he or she manufactures is as follows:
At the expiration of a two-week period the efficiency of the entire shop Is determined by the relative value of its output to its cost or production. Standards of production and cost have been established in each depart ment and the savings occasioned by increased production and quality of work, as well as decreased cost and overhead are shared on the 50-50 basis with our employees.
Our first dividend amounted to G% per cent of the salary of each employee and has gone as high as 17% per cent. These dividends are paid bi-weekly in a separate envelope marked "employees' dividend," and represent their share of profits derived by interest and better work--a bonus upon service.
To stimulate their efforts for higher dividends by the element of com petition. we have arranged to award a prize--a large American flag--to that department which shows the greatest saving for the two-'.veek period, in otiier words, the leader in the struggle for higher dividends; and they certainly fight hard for the privilege of displaying the Stars and Stripes in their respective departments for two weeks. The department which succeeds in securing the banner three times during a certain period is honored in some special manner. The last reward was a dinner given! to alt workers in the prize-winning department.
1 recall going through the plant one day during the first month we had our dividend system and noticed, on entering the sandpaper shop, that one of the boys tried to attract the attention of his fellow worker who. however, would not be disturbed. Jack insistently called to Jim until the latter finally turned around quite indignantly and said: "Now, here. Jack, cut it out: you are stealing my dividends." This and many similar instances showed very plainly that the folks were getting interested, and time and again we could see very plainly that the dividend envelope was quite an incentive to them and that in return meant a good deal to us as far as quality and workmanship were concerned.
After the dividend was established for about three or four months, the House of Representatives came to a conclusion that some of the folks did not do as much to earn these dividends as others. For instance, some
Employees' Representation
59
would stay out on Mondays and take it easy, have a good time while those ip the shop were working hard and earning dividends for them. They subsequently suggested in their House of Representatives that a committee be appointed to work out rules for penalty of tardy, careless, and disinterested fellow workers. -The committee brought in the fol lowing recommendations which were unanimously accepted and approved by both Senate and Cabinet and have been in force ever since.
If any employee comes late or stays away without a proper excuse for one* day during the two-week period he loses one-fourth of his dividends. If this happens twice he loses one-half, three times three-fourths, and if it occurs four times during the same period he loses all of his dividends.
This plan, remember, was a suggestion from the men themselves and not a penalty imposed by tbe employers.
In connection with this the question came up as to what should be considered legal holidays. Having a number of different nationalities it was quite natural that at one time a number of Polish people would stay away to celebrate one of their own holidays, and next week Italians would do the same thing. One of the representatives said at the House meeting: "This will never do. Every time a group of people stay away down go our dividends because it interferes with production and the idle machinery and waste of power increases our overhead." He then proposed a list of strictly American holidays, which again found whole-hearted approval of the other two governing bodies, so that any one celebrating any other holiday except those officially adopted would lose dividends.
ENGLISH CLASSES AND AMERICANIZATION
The folks realized in investigating ways and means to increase divi dends that a great handicap was due to the fact that some folks did not understand English well enough, and the Ways and Means Committee suggested in the House that we introduce a rule that we do not employ any people who cannot speak English. Now, we had a good many men in the place who had been there a number of years, who couldn't speak English, so the only thing for us to do was to foliow their suggestion and introduce English classes. The Board of Education established two classes for non-English speaking people, and out of every department quite a few of them flocked to the school.
There again we applied our 50-50 principle, as time spent in these classes is one-half in company time. In other words, school lasts one hour, from 4:30 to 5:30 P. M. We pay those who attend up to five o'clock, our regular closing time. In compliance with a recent request from the scholars the time has been extended to 1% hours under the same arrangements, paying them for 4:15 to 5 P. M., or one-half of the time spent at school, the other half is their own contribution.
Besides the English language, we are teaching the first principles of Americanism, and I point with particular pride to a record of 95 applica tions for citizenship papers, which our Employment Manager filled out recently for some of our foreign-born employees.
60 Eighth Safety Congress
WORKING HOURS CIIA N'GICD
One of the important accomplishments which was a direct result of
Industrial Democracy was the change of working hours. We had heen
working fifty-three hours per week for a number of years, when in
November, 19X7, the question arose in the House of Representatives
whether same could not be reduced to fifty hours. After a long and careful
discussion at a joint session of House and Seriate, followed by a mass
meeting--usually held about once in six to eight weeks--at which the idea
was fully explained to all employees, it was mutually agreed that we should
try the fifty hour service for three months. Every-one pledged himself to
a full honest 50 hours' service, promising to avoid tardiness and idle ma
chinery. furthermore, that if the earning or production would be de
creased, or if for any reason the change did not- work satisfactorily, it
was understood that everybody would be perfectly willing to return to
the 53 hour schedule. Before the .trial period was over the production
was increased by about S per cent, which meant better income and saving
for all concerned. Encouraged by this success and the evident happiness of everybody
around us. the Cabinet, in October 191S, suggested to both Senate and
House to consider the advisability of changing to a 48 houriper week
schedule. Some of our employees were somewhat reluctant as they doubt
ed their ability to produce as much work in 4S hours as they had formerly
done in 53 hours. To show our appreciation of their willingness to put
forth their best efforts in making the change, we adjusted all rates,
guaranteeing them from the start the same income as they had before.
Consequently results showed no falling off in our production and when,
a few weeks ago the 44 hour question came up for consideration there
was little hesitancy on anybody's part to try out this new change. At
this time I am not in a position to give definite figures as to the produc
tion. However, several of our departments have made very satisfactory
individual records so far.
r.IFE IXSCHA.VCE
We have had a Mutual Benefit Association since 1902, which provides for free doctor service, a weekly sick benefit of $6, and death benefit of $100 at an expense to the members of 10 cents per week. As this field was quite well covered, the Senate turned its attention to life insurance, and within a short time after a thorough investigation by Committee^ of Cabinet, Senate, and House of Representatives, a plan for insurance was evolved and installed in December, 1917, whereby in case of death, the beneficiary receives an amount equal to one year's wages, the maximum amount being $3,000. The premiums for same are paid by the employees themselves by one of the percentages of the bi-weekly dividends. In other words if the dividends are found to be 15 per cent for a certain two-week period, 14 per cent is paid in cash and 1 per cent is retained for the insurance. As we have had sixteen deaths since inaugurating in surance, the few who did not believe in the wisdom of insurance at the beginning have been thoroughly and permanently convinced. By the people's vote every employee is thus covered by insurance.
Employees' Representation
61
t-.VBOK TLTIXOVEIt
One of the important and most constructive functions of both. Senate and House is the consideration o the labor turnover. For each meeting --the Senate convenes every Wednesday at 1:30 P. M., the House at 3:30 p. m.--a complete record of employees having left our service is given, on a large blackboard, stating name, department, how long in our em ploy, and reason for leaving or discharge. The foreman of the respective department usually volunteers or is asked for detailed information in any doubtful case.
The men. and girls, realizing that losing experienced help--and replac ing same fay green hand's at an average expense of about $100 in. some places--means a reduction of dividends for all, do their level best to keep them at work. Many a disheartened boy or girl was induced by his or her fellow workers to stick to the job and try it out a little longer, by offering to show them a more advantageous way of handling their work
During the war, when we all experienced a shortage of labor, a few ap peals to the mass to bring along friends to fill vacant positions in order to avoid increase in overhead and decrease in production--and conse quent decrease of dividends--were quite sufficient to fill our depleted ranks, so that when most of our neighbors were constantly short of help, we ac tually had a waiting list of applicants.
RF.NCLTS or tSDl-STBUL DEMOCRACY
Since the installation of this system, of shop government, each em ployee realizes that instead of his being a mere cog in a wheel, to be used or dispensed With at some person's convenience, be has become a useful and intelligent unit of the organization with a voice in its management, something to say about how long and under what conditions his best work can be done, and bow much he shall receive for it. This has the ef fect of increasing his self-respect and respect for his job, together with a sense of his personal obligation to his fellow workers. It is giving him an insight into the problems that harass his employers and it creates re spect for them and makes him willingly share their burdens. Above all, it awakens the sense of civic responsibility, inspires him to study our lan guage and our customs, and in that way strikes a blow at what is perhaps the most insidious evil at the root of our republican form of government-- the ignorance and indifference of the individual of and to the things that are of vital importance.
The reason for the successful operation of the industrial scheme, I be lieve, is due to the fact that the people are being educated to be3 self-reli ant. With welfare work, etc., they think and feel that you are trying to do something for them, and it is looked upon by them as being too pater nal.
We have been asked by business people and workers who are not very familiar with our Industrial Democracy plan, whether we shall continue with this form of government or whether it was simply a war measure used to pacify our men in these turbulent times and to be done away
62 Eighth Safety Congress
with, as soon as possible. I believe I can safely speak for the company, as well as for the employees, when I state most emphatically that our democracy plan is here to stay. Nothing would be more foolish than for either the employees or employers to try to do away with something which has been as beneficial to both sides as the Industrial Democracy plan.
As a sample of the splendid democratic spirit of being one family, I would like to refer to a most wonderful Christmas entertainment which wa^s arranged by a joint committee of House and Senate, and to which the Cabinet and New York office force were invited as guests. It started at 3 o'clock with a minstrel show, followed by a few unavoidable speeches, and a splendid musical program, all carried out by the employees. Under a 10-foot Christmas tree, beautifully decorated, were about 300 presents, which Santa Claus--we had many volunteers for this job--distributed among those present. No one left the place until the conclusion of the program at about 7 o'clock and all the younger folks danced to the merry tunes of our Glee Club until 10 o'clock at night.
This new system of representation does not mean that the workers are to manage the business, any more than it means that shareholders shall manage the business. Management remains a factor by itself, the only difference being, that whereas, management had as its task the direction without personal relationship to the workers, now it directs and coop erates with these men as partners in the business. The management no longer represents only capital. It now represents labor as well. Labor no longer represents only itself, but now represents the community, and in a certain sense, both'capital and management.
Frankly, we cannot say specifically whether or not Industrial Demoo racy has reduced the costs of production during the last two years. Our costs have risen as we expected they would, due to the same war condi tions which affected everyone else. We did not in the beginning have any illusion that Industrial Democracy would keep our costs down to a pre war basis. How much lower they have been than would have been the case if we had not had Industrial Democracy is largely a matter of specu lation. "We honestly feel however, that we have benefited distinctly from this point of view. We are convinced that under the old system we should have had a much more rapidly rising production cost, considerable diffi culty with our employees, all of which would have increased total manu facturing costs far beyond the point to which they did rise.
In addressing the assembly of Mayors and Governors at Washington last March. President Wilson said:
"We are at last learning that the whole matter of the prosperity of peoples runs down into the great body of the men and women who do the work of the world, and that the process of guidance is not completed by the mere success of great enterprise--it is completed only by the standard of the benefit that it confers upon those who in the obscure ranks of life contribute to the success of those enterprises."
This very plainly describes our present conditions and makes clear to us the duty which lies before" every business man. We must get away from our old time industrial autocracy and turn- to a new mode of run-
Employees' Representation
63
uing our business, considering not only ourselves and our profits, but also those who work for us and help to make those profits, and have them share the benefits of their labor in the proper proportion.
Cii.uiimax Younci: The third number on the program is a discussion of employee representation by a man eminently fitted to do so. Mr. Tolsted has had an exceptionally fine opportunity of seeing plans at work and of seeing the plants in which these plans were not at work and through all of that experience, his keen analytical mind, the trained mind of the en gineer. he has set out the high points and I think we are indeed fortu nate this afternoon in having Mr. Tolsted present to us his analysis of the fundamentals of employee representation. Mr. Tolsted.
PRACTICAL ASPECTS OP EMPLOYEES' ' REPRESENTATION
E. B. Tolsted, Independence Btjbeatt, Philadelphia
The annals of the country are full of examples of misused power both on the part of employers individually and collectively and on the part of organized workmen. In the interest of the nation as a whole the disas trous effects of misused power must be eliminated. It must no longer be possible for employers by virtue of their financial resources and solidarity to treat workers unfairly, or for the workers through the open strike or the passive "strike on the job" to cripple industry.
To careful thinkers the solution lies definitely along the lines of a clear understanding by each side of its own attitude and of the problems of the other, and of their joint recognition of their .relation to society. The result is bound to be in many instances the substitution of responsibility for irresponsibility, of cooperation for antagonism, of good will for ill will. This greatly desired result, the securing of industrial peace and efficiency, is so gigantic a problem that even the best thinkers in the economic field have as yet reached no definite practical solution. We are as yet in a state of flux.
Many workers appear not to be satisfied by good working conditions, shortened hours, and high wages; they strike even after these things have been granted them. No doubt some want a voice in the determina tion of these matters, although the dissatisfaction is largely due to the spirit of the times. It may be that the real desire is for first-hand in formation about the conditions which cause managers to come to their decisions. Probably no body of American men, for instance, would delib erately demand wages which they know would bankrupt the business which employs them.
Of the various plans for producing industrial satisfaction which have been advanced up to the present time, the one which is attracting the greatest attention is employees' representation. Some feel that this is just another short-lived fad; others think that it is here to stay, A safety man cannot help recalling the time when the safety movement was considered a fad of the moment.
Many employers, not hostile to union organization, feel that better re-
64 Eighth Safety Congress
suits will be obtained through an employees' representation plan the n through the customary union channels, because of the direct relation and the mutuality of interest which can be obtained. In effect, the usual employees' representation plan creates a company or household union, sometimes alongside a national union. There need be no conflict between the two.
There are at the present time about one hundred and fifty employees' representation plans in operation in the United States. The .details of many of them have been published in pamphlet form or in current maga zines. Ity personal investigation of approximately fifty of these plans, we have found that employees' representation may provide simply an orderly method for the adjustment of grievances; it may include machinery for collective bargaining with reference to wages, hours, and working condi tions; it may be the means of eliciting from workers their hearty coop eration and valuable suggestions regarding processes, organization, and policies; or it may involve all of these or any combination of them. Its structural features may be very simple and the procedure altogether in formal, or these may be highly elaborate. The power possessed by em ployees through their industrial representation may be that of "public opinion"--the authority of the representatives being merely advisory to the management--or the management may delegate to the employees final authority in regard to certain specified matters, or authority may be exer cised jointly by the men and the management. I wish to emphasize the fact that in no plan which we have investigated have we found the meas ure of control implied by the term "Industrial Democracy."
For the purposes of this paper I shall regard as an employees' repre sentation plan any plan which provides for committees of employees elected by their constituents to confer with the management in the con sideration of matters affecting them, no matter how simple or how few. Ignoring wide variations in scope and form, then, I shall discuss in the limited time available some of the generally applicable facts established by personal investigation of plans used; and without attempting to analyze or even to state the underlying principles, I shall attempt to give some practical suggestions which may be found useful to those about to install plans or to those who contemplate doing so.
It must be noted at this point that the shortness of time during which these plans have been operating and the prejudices of their sponsors and opponents make investigation of results complicated and interpretation difficult. Having adopted a plan, the employer wants to believe it desir able; therefore, it is difficult to obtain adverse criticism from any except those who have never tried the plan or who have been forced into it. It is pertinent to mention, however, that many favorable comments have been obtained even from those who have been forced into adopting a plan. My statement of results embodies in it opinions of employees' representa tives as well as of managers, and, as far as it has been possible to make it, is representative of present conditions.
In the following remarks the term "works committee" is used to refer to any kind of representation plan.
E771 ployccs * licp7resen tatioyi
65
RESULTS ACCOMPLISHED BY WORKS COMMITTEES
Several years ago,-Henry T. Noyes of Rochester stated that his own company. Art-in-Buttons, Inc., after over ten years of periodic depart mental meetings during which the company and the employees had been working earnestly for their joint good, found that approximately 90 per cent of all complaints made by the employees were justified in whole or in part. Mr. Noyes hazarded the opinion that there must be under the usual form of management a tremendous aggregate of dissatisfaction in capable of elimination chielly because the management knew little or nothing about it. Consequently we have not been surprised to find that the existence of a works committee not only brings complaints to light before they are too serious to handle, but that it eventually reduces the number and seriousness of complaints.
Almost invariably foremen have undertaken to reform their ways when their attitude of petty tyranny was the cause of grievances, and have en deavored to adjust complaints satisfactorily when first brought to their attention, rather than to allow their negligence to be the subject of dis cussion by committees, and thus also by the rank and file of employees, and eventually the object of a reprimand from the management. This means that complaints are more and more adjusted out of court, conse quently the time of the works committee is reserved for more important matters.
While it is true that a majority of the matters are usually decided in favor of the complainant, it seems to be the feeling of most concerns that decisions are, in the main, altogether just. It should be pointed out, moreover, that in a large proportion of the cases it is immaterial to the management whether the decision is one way or the other, and it is obvi ously wiser to have the decision in such cases in accordance with the wishes of the employees. Many of the matters decided by the committees are such as have heretofore generally been left unsettled and allowed to become the cause of constant complaint and unrest.
Most of these plans are so worded that matters relating to discipline and discharge may be heard by shop or works committees, the samq as other questions. In a few cases, the employees have been given unusually extensive authority in regard to such matters. The management of one company, for instance, granted to the employees permission to lay down the rules governing disciplinary measures. As a result, the conference board of the employees' association adopted rules and penalties govern ing all employees. The penalties imposed are somewhat lighter than is customary in most plants where the management retains absolute author ity. being principally fines or suspension, rather than discharge, but they have the effectiveness due to their representing the judgment of associ ates rather than superiors, and this seems to result in a reduction of the number of offenses. In other cases the employees have imposed penalties more severe than the company would have done, and the company has been forced to request a modification of the penalties.
The Filene Cooperative Association, which for many years has had authority to amend or to initiate any rule affecting the discipline or work ing conditions of the employees of the store, has reduced the number of
66 Eighth Safety Congress
offenses through its "arbitration board," which has final authority with reference to discharges. The Filene management goes as far as- to per mit employees to be represented by legal counsel at hearings. Mr. Cory. Vice President and Store Director, states in his genial way that he and his associates have been subject to some remarkable excoriations at these hearings. That this broad-gauged attitude has paid in an industrial rela tions sense is beyond question. The American Rolling Mill Company re ports that discipline has been greatly improved as a result of the shop committee in its sheet metal and tin shop.
Many companies report that cooperation is greatly increased as a result of their works committee. The committees of the American Multigraph Company urged the management to discharge "Eladcers" at a time when the entire production of the plant was essential for war purposes. The committee of the Midvale Steel and Ordnance Company recently sub mitted a resolution to the management recommending that in laying off men, superintendents give preference to American citizens and in general endeavor to rid the works of radicals, Bolsheviki, and other undesirables. This resolution was passed upon favorably by the general superintendent and incorporated in an order which he sent to all of the department super intendents. The Prinz-Biederman Company attributes to its works com mittee the fact that many better class workers who had left the company returned to its employ.
One very definite advantage of works committees which seems to be re ported without exception is that representatives take back to the em ployees from the meetings a more adequate appreciation of the problems of the management, and that this, together with the increased comprehen sion by the executives of the problems, desires, and ambitions of their workers, results in a much better understanding on both sides.
One board of directors showed its faith in the educational value of a works committee by authorizing the employees of the plant to elect a "board of operatives," to take over the complete management of four hundred houses owned by the company. A sum of money wa's set aside to' be expended by the board of operatives on the rei>air and upkeep of the tenements. The company reports that while the employees have made several somewhat serious blunders In the management of the properties-- such as putting a new roof on a house which should have been torn down --as a whole the education of the employees in the problems of manage ment seems to be worth all that the company is spending on it.
One company reports that during the first few months after the estab lishment of its works committee system, production was Increased about 20 per cent and expenses advanced less than 5 per cent, while another re ports an increase of 15 per cent in production without an advance in wages. Both attribute the increased efficiency largely to the better plant spirit brought about by the works committees. The White Motor Com pany claims that the works committee was responsible for considerable reduction in turnover and absenteeism. The American Multigraph Com pany ascribes to its plan of representation a great reduction in the amount of tardiness. The Leeds and Northrop Company has observed a marked decrease in the amount of time wasted by workers since the shop com mittee was established. The same company reports that its works com-
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mittee appointed a special sub-committee on housekeeping which con ducted clean-up campaigns which greatly improved conditions of the plant. The "house of representatives'' of the Edmund D. David Company estab
lished a suggestion committee and awarded prizes to employees for sug gestions of Improvements in machinery, methods, and designs.
Several concerns report that, while at the first election a number of "radicals" were elected, the employees soon learned to distinguish be tween mere talkers and competent representatives. This resulted In the election the second time of conservative persons who feel the responsibil ity of representing the employees effectively and winning the confidence and respect of the management. Several company officials wltti whom
we talked stated that the employees' representatives were frequently more inclined to be conservative than the management's representatives.
Without exceptiou.'where a works committee has been in operation for several months, the company reports that it has revealed capacity for leadership among employees which otherwise would have been sup pressed or have found an outlet in some undesirable channel. William Demuth and Company has made it a practice to regard its employees' representatives as the natural group from which to select assistant foremen. Its attention was called to this possibility by the recommen dation of the representatives that a certain assistant foreman be removed because of incompetency. The management, after investigation, com plied with their request and appointed the chairman of the wurkers' com mittee to fill the vacancy. The Joseph and Feiss Company reports that their w'orks committee "has greatly developed leadership."
It has been reported that some of the best leaders developed by Indus trial representation have ultimately been forced out of the company by unpopularity. These men, elected by their fellows to represent them, be cause of their intelligence and spirit of fairness, agreed with the man
agement too often to suit their constituents. Do not be discouraged If the representatives of the workmen disagree with the management. The men will distrust their own representatives if they agree too much with, the employer. Do not educate the representatives too far ahead of the rank and file or they will be accused of being "company men."
A classification of cases which were settled during a four months' period of employees' representatives in three plants belonging to a large company is indicative of results in many other companies. Following is the classification:
Apprentice, back pay, charity, deportment, discharge, docking of pay, economy, employment, equipment, health, holidays, lighting, living condi tions, machine equipment, over-time, pay methods, pay time, piece price, police, practice, promotion, quitting time, relief, rules, safety, sanitation, shifts, short pay, su^frension, termination, theft, working condition, work ing hours, time clocks, repairs. The total number of cases for this period wits one hundred fifty-four for the three plants, of which one hundred thirty-two were settled in the affirmative, that is. in accordance with the
request as originally presented to the committee. Our study reveals the fact that while minor matters of complaint involv
ing personal discrimination are likely to he the first matters brought
6S Eighth. Safcty Congress
before the committee, it is not long before the committee is required to consider broader questions involving a discussion of shop practices, effi ciency, discipline, and company policies. Industrial representation has tended, I believe, to make lighter the task of management by reducing the causes of friction between employers and employees, and by arousing in the workers a constructive interest in the progress of the industry in which they are engaged.
INST.vr.I.ATriiX OF KK'I'KKHEXT.VnOy r-r.AXS
Industrial representation is in successful operation in plants varying widely as to in-oeess and products, size and complexity of organization, and as to the character of the working force. None of these factors teems to determine the success, although each of them affects it and must be taken into consideration in working out the application of any plan to particular needs. But here are a tew suggestions which I think it would be well for every one to consider when contemplating a plan:
Install it under peaceful conditions. One large company inaugurated a plan as the result ofl a strike, and the plan ended in another strike some time later. The company is now attempting to make a new start. To propose a plan to men on the verge of a strike is also almost certain to result in failure to win over the men.
To attain its highest success, a plan should be developed gradually, each step in so far as possible resulting from suggestions or requests of em ployees. By all means, do not Impose a ready-made plan; let tlie men belp work it out; it will be a better plan and they will feel that it is their own. Remember the attitude of our forebears toward Knglish-made laws applied to the colonies. And no matter how good the plan seems to be, acUial use will show need for changes.
See that the plan is simple in form so that procedure under it is easy to understand and to carry out. As to the specific form, we find that the best results have been obtained with the joint-committee. But give op portunity for free discussion, that is, discussion without the presence of the management. It has been found good practice to alternate' joint a.nd separate meetings, with final action taken only in joint meetings. At a banquet held recently by the Standai-d Oil Company of New Jersey for the representatives of the men and the management, one of the em ployees' representatives suggested the establishment of separate boards for the management and the men. This action was not especially desired by the representatives, who had already taken up the subject once and voted against separate boards, but the men felt that their delegates would not speak freely before their "bosses."
In some plans the committees deal only with working conditions and welfare work, such as light, ventilation, locker rooms, etc.; in some they deal with all matters which directly concern the worker, including wages and hours. There are drawbacks to both plans. On the one hand, com mittees which have been restricted in their activities have grown rest less and felt that they were deprived of their just rights. On the other hand, committees which have been given free sway have sometimes failed to use judgment in the determination of hours and wages. In one plant.
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it is said that wages were forced up, despite the company's claim that they could not meet an increase. The reply of the men was, "Raise the price of your product." Experience would seem to show that a middle course works best. Give your committee supervision over working con ditions and welfare work; educate them through the use of this function to a better understanding of the position and problems of the manage ment; then as they show themselves capable of handling the more serious problems, extend their authority toward grievances, hours, wages, ab sence, cost of living, community conditions, etc. In most cases, it will be found that the desire for a wider scope of activities will go hand in hand with the growth of ability to handle the bigger subjects.
We advise that every employee, man or woman, citizen or alien, be made to feel as far as possible that he has a part in the operation of the plan. In one plant, voting was restricted to citizens, but all were, of course, allowed to present grievances. A group of foreigners did not understand this point, and struck because they thought they had no means of presenting their grievance. After the plan has been formu lated be sure that every employee knows what it means and who made it. The men first consulted will advise as to the best method to be fol lowed. Use the plant organ again and again to supplement word-of-mouth publicity.. Do not-hurry at this, or, indeed, at any point. Frequently the management fatuously prides itself on its excellent plan, when the men know nothing about it. In a plant which we visited several months after the installation of a representation plan, almost half the men who could not speak English either did not know of its existence or had no idea of its purpose.
It is especially important to make it plain that the plan in no way In terferes with membership in unions or with existing relations of the management with labor unions.
Keep adequate records of all meetings and make them accessible to all. The main decisions should he posted on bulletin boards in each de partment and published in the plant organ.
Usually best results follow holding meetings during working hours. In one case, which, has come to our attention,' the representatives re quested that the conferences be held out of hours, as they would feel less constraint in voting as they pleased. As a rule, however, commit tees which meet outside hours have failed to hold the interest of the representatives.
This lack of interest Is one of the foes of employees' representation. Many feel that after the first enthusiasm attendant upon any new enter prise has worn off, the committee will fall Into the apathy characteristic of so many committees. This has not generally been true. It should never be the case, for the matter is of vital interest to both sides. As with any other form of human activity, the success of a plan is in a large measure dependent upon the standing and capacity of the men who spon sor the plan. The best men and their best efforts are the answer.
SUCCESS OB FAILURE
The degree of success or failure of any plan of employees' representa-
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fvhictL it believes -well designed and best devised to solve tlie problems Df today, to lay the foundation for a better understanding and for a more friendly, fraternal, and cooperative relation In the future, and to remove ill of the iniquities and injustices still present in our body politic. The program outlined by it comprehends an orderly, intelligent, and legal procedure for the removal of those iniquities and injustices, and in a progressive .manner and not by revolutionary policies and t>y a destruc tive procedure.
The American workers realize that one of the first and great principles which will require solution is that one which shall determine to what extent the government shall control industry, regulate our industrial life, and limit the rights and privileges of a free people, or whether we shall revert to voluntary individual or corporate enterprise. It is upon the final decision of this question that many of our future relations and activities must ultimately be founded.
THREE SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT
We have three distinct schools of thought striving for supremacy la the solving of this great problem. We have the socialist, who, as you well know, believes that all instruments of production and distribution should be owned and all of our industrial activities should be controlled by the Government. These good but erring persons would establish an industrial democracy through the ownership of all means of production and distribution by the Government. The American Federation of J-abor, the only organization able to speak for the workers. Is emphati cally opposed to that school of thought. It is opposed to the Government owning all means of production and of regulating all our industrial activ ities. Diverting ownership from private and individtial to government ownership and control does not mean the establishing of industrial democracy, but creates in its stead a bureaucratic autocracy.
THE I. \V. \v. MOVEMENT
Then we have another school of thought known by what Is termed Syndicalism, and it is better known in our country as the I- W. W. movement. The I. W. W, In its philosophy is socialistic. It believes in the paternalistic form of government. It differs only from Socialism in tht it holds that the voting power or the right and exercise of suffrage is not efficiently designed to empower the workers to throw the private ownership of industry into the hands of the Government. It believes that this can be done only through industrial and economic action, and It proposes to organize all the workers into one great big union. Having organized all of the workers into one large group of workers It proposes at a given time to call a general strike and render Capital useless, and then take over the reins of Industries and place them into the hands of the Government.
Since the development of Bolshevism the philosophy of the I. `W. Vf. has altered- It no longer teaches that industries should he owned and controlled by the government. It has come to accept the philosophy of the Soviet form of government, recognized by Bolshevism in Europe.
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Like the Bolshevist of Europe, the I. W. W. now advocates that the state itself should be destroj'ed and that industry should be operated by the men working In these industries, and that only those manually producing should he the dominating factors in our Industrial life. It Is proposed by these men and this philosophy, if it may be termed a philosophy, that the future parliament shall be the factory and the workshops, and that the institutions we now recognize as the state should be forever de stroyed. It needs little on my part to make clear that the American Federation of Labor is unalterably opposed to that form of industrial ownership or industrial democracy. It spells Industrial tyranny of the worst kind and does untold injury to the ideals of freedom. Justice, and the pursuit of happiness expressed by that world hope, democracy.
THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF CABOft
It is the viewpoint of the American Federation of Labor that the greatest happiness and contentment will come to men where the greatest individual freedom is allowed. To the same proportionate degree that individuality is limited and restricted, autocracy Is established. We hold there should he left to the individual as much, freedom as is con sistent with the benefit of the whole. Only where individual freedom may be jeopardized and the collective good of all may be Injured should the government step in and determine the rights of all and do justice to all. Only where certain activities or principles affect all men alike or where either by nature or by virtue of arbitrary rule, special advantages are enjoyed by a certain group, there should the government step in and seek to provide for equal opportunities and privileges. It Is only In such instances and under such conditions that we believe the govern ments should function.
The relation between employers and employees is not a matter of legislation. This is a function properly and rightfully exercised by those directly concerned and interested. Employers and employees should jointly and collectively determine the relations or employment and by conference establish the standards - and requirements which ought, and of right, should prevail. We hold that those Immediately engaged in a particular class of manufacture or production, because of their experience and training and by reason of their Interests and direct connection, are best able to determine the relation which should prevail between employer and employee, and the standards and the requirements which should be observed in the particular industry or craft.
We believe that employers and employees of each particular group of manufacture and of each distinctive process of production should jointly and collectively determine the requirements and standards of their joint enterprise. To illustrate: I am a photo-engraver by trade, a member of the printing industry. Is it not foolish to ask me to deter mine, as a citizen, what particular standards of production, what essen tial trade requirements, shall prevail in the mining industry or In the railroad enterprise, or in the metal industry, and of which I have no practical knowledge whatsoever and with which I am not conversant? So, it would be- equally absurd to ask a miner or to ask a metal trades
7-i Eighth Safety Congress
man or to ask men oC any occupation other than photo-engraving to legislate or to regulate the relations, standards, and requirements -which shall prevail in the photo-engraving craft.
The American Trade Union movement is founded on practical lines, tested by years of experience under the most diverse circumstances. We have builded up a movement based on a policy we believe the most prac ticable. the most efficient method of operation, a movement which is democratic in character, permits of individual freedom of expression and judgment and brings into harmony the hopes and aspirations and desires of all wage earners for an improved life and a higher civilization.
We want to build up our industries and industrial^ relations on a prac tical and not a theoretical basis. Altich as we like to see ideals prevail, we can only give our approval to plans and policies which are practicable and which can he put into successful operation. In giving approval to private initiative and enterprise and disapproving the systems and rela tions proposed by the Socialists, Syndicalists, Bolshevists, and I. W. W.'s, the American wage earners are insistent that the old order of industrial autocracy shall pass and that a new order of industrial democracy shall enter. It is unfair and radically wrong to permit the old order and relation of master and servant to continue. This relation must give way to the more humane and modern relation of cooperators. The em ployer cannot and must not be permitted to say to the workers In the future as he has in the past: "These are the standards, these are the requirements which you are to observe if you are to have employment with me. If you do not like these standards, if you do not meet these requirements, then go on; I shall have .nothing to do with you."
INIlfS'l'KTAT, I)EMOCRACY
To the workers this is industrial autocracy of the same vicious form that was formerly exercised by the Kaiser when dealing with his sub jects. This arbitrary and autocratic rule of employers must be destroyed and the ideal of democracy must be put in its place. The right of the workers to be consulted, the right of the workers to have an impelling voice in the management of business and in the determining of the relation, the standards, and the requirements of employment which should govern, must be permitted a full and free exercise. It is through col lective action and by collective bargaining that the American wage earners intend to establish industrial democracy.
We believe the democratic control of industries can only be enjoyed wherever the workers are thoroughly organized and where they select their own representatives who with the representatives of the employers, determine the relations that should prevail and set up the standards and requirements which will be observed from time to time, and which experience and a thorough knowledge shows to be for the benefit of al' concerned. The American Federation of Labor is not opposed to tin organization of employers. On the contrary it favors the organizatior of employers. In" doing so, it likewise demands for the wage earners
that same right of organization, that same privilege of assisting anc
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helping each other, in determining the conduct of business. I do not fully understand the distinction, made by some persons between, indus trial managers and capital. It is mainly with the industrial managers that Labor comes into a more immediate contact. Dealing with this subject in a practical way the relations and contact between employers and employees have always been in the main with industrial managers, and much to our regret, it has been the hostile attitude of many of these industrial managers, rather than the attitude o the real owners of indus tries, which has made for industrial dissension and conflict. It is a fact that many of these men believe they are serving their masters best by keeping down wages and denying their employees the right to he consulted in industrial affairs. It is this denial of equal rights and opportunities, this denial of representation and participation in our in dustrial life which is the real cause for the disturbance and conflicts in our field of industrial activities.
The right to democracy in industry is coming and is bound to become the prevailing condition in industry. He who seeks to deny that right however well he may manage the shop, however well he may pay the workers, whatever conditions of employment he may establish for them, if the workers are denied the right to organize, to express their ambi tions, their aspirations, to participate in industrial affairs freely and collectively and democratically through their representatives, so long will there be industrial conflict and unrest, and so long will there be denied a proper agency and procedure for the orderly, proper, and happy ad- justment of the relations between employer and employee.
solution of our iotostrial problems
If in dealing with the representatives, of the workers, you find that these men and the workers do not understand your trade difficulties, you have no one but yourself to blame. It is only by inviting the workers and their organizations into your councils, by Informing them of your trade difficulties, by taking them into your confidence and advising them of the trade problems which need to be solved, that you will find in them that intelligent responsibility which is essential for the harmoniz ing of interests and the adjustment of the difficulties and differences. Conferences between associated employers and organized workers having
to do with the regulation of mutual rights are the solution of our indus trial problems. They will make for industrial efficiency and bring into practical existence and application in our industrial affairs the ideal of democracy.
When workmen are given the right to help determine their destiny in life, their conditions of work, and their conditions of,labor, then you will find that happiness and contentment which is so well expressed In our constitutional authority, that governments should be organized for liberty, justice among men, and the pursuit of happiness.
Chairman Young: The next paper on "Labor Management and Col lective Bargaining" is by Mr. William Leiserson, Billy Leiserson, as be is commonly known to us all. Mr. Leiserson has had a unique expedience
76 Eighth Safety Congress
and background for presenting his thoughts on this subject. He has worked in industry and now is a labor manager in industry. He has gone to college as a student and he has also been in college as a professor, expounding theory. He has been a decent, law abiding citizen, for a long time and he has also been a government officer and a minister of the law. It is with great pleasure indeed that we will hear from Billy Lelserson.
Mr. Lkiskkson: That introduction reminds me of a story about Abra ham Lincoln when he was nominated for President. Of course the man making the nominating speech said a lot of very nice things about him. When Lincoln read in the papers about it he was surprised some, and he met the man who made the speech a day or so later and said, "Say, that was a great speech you made about me the other day." -Yes."
"Don't you think you exaggerated a little?" The man replied, "Exag gerated! Why, I lied like the devil."
I have been asked by the committee which arranged your program to apologize for the absence of some of the speakers, that as far as they were concerned until this morning they thought all of them would be here. Hor one of them I can speak. I saw Mr. Matthew Woll in Wash ington yesterday and he was unavoidably detained on account or the hear ing on the Steel Strike there and couldn't come, so that wasn't the fault or your committee.
When you hear me give my paper I am afraid you will think that I should have read Mr. Woll's paper, that I am presenting labor's side In stead of the side of an impartial person, so because you might think that, I want to tell you in advance that I really am an impartial. I hold the position where I am paid both by the unions and by the employers, so I have to be impartial. I warn you in advance because you may not notice It in the paper.
LABOR MANAGEMENT AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
Wir-aiAM: M- Leisebsox, Chaibaiah, Labob Adjustment Board, Clotiuno Ixdustbt, Rochester, N. Y.
Labor management and collective bargaining are two phases of the gen eral problem of industrial relations, and when we discuss them together the exact nature of the difficulties and complexities in the industrial sit uation today can be easily discovered. Labor management means con trol. discipline, and a business organization held together by rules, orders, and authority reaching down from an executive head at the top. Collec tive bargaining implies a questioning of that authority. It is based on the principle that an individual employee cannot effectively question the authority of the management. It says there must be no rules or orders affecting the income and lives of the wage-earners without the consent of those who obey them. It joins the individual employees into a union and forms a democratic legislative body representing both employer and worker for the purpose of giving to those who have to obey the laws of industry a voice in determining what those laws shall be. Labor man agement implies power, authority, and law-making In the bands of the
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employer. Collective bargaining means democratic representation, in the process of that law-making and democratic control of the exercise of that industrial authority.
Here we have the age-long problem of reconciling authority with de mocracy. Law and government we must have in industry as in all other human institutions, but the day of autocratic control is gone, at least in all Western civilizations. To maintain law and government in the indus tries of these Western countries, there must also be democracy, the con sent of the governed. Without such consent, without such democracy, our industrial governors find themselves unable to control their organiza tions, or to have their law's and orders obeyed. This is the essence of the industrial problem today.
But, let me warn you. When we have found the difficulty, we haven't by any means solved it. After a hundred years of trying to reconcile authority with democracy in politics we have not yet solved that prob lem; and in industry the administrative difficulties are much more for midable. We have gone a long way in politics, however, and we have learned to settle political differences by means of legal machinery and orderly methods. We can go a long way in accomplishing the same thing in industry, if we but understand the problem and recognize the Inevitability or democracy.
To get such an understanding, however, it is first necessary to give up the idea of placing blame or praise on individuals for the bad or good that may appear in the industrial situation. Not long ago I had occasion to discuss labor conditions with a group of engineers in New York, and they belabored me with the unreasonableness of trade unions in general and the crookedness and arrogance of certain labor leaders In particular. "Suppose," I said to them, "I were to blame all employ ers for the things I have seen many of them do. I have known employers who made it a practice to seduce, girls who worked for them. I have seen inefficient employers unable to make profits because of poor man agement, who were sweating profits, nevertheless, out of their employees by squeezing down wages below the living point. I have had to prosecute employers for refusing to pay employees their honest earnings, and I have known foremen to graft on their employees and take rake-offs from wages. I know employers who blacklist and employ spies in the most approved fashion of Imperial Germany. Suppose I were to say all our industrial troubles were caused by autocratic, abusive, dishonest, and immoral employers?" No, Ladies and Gentlemen. It is fruitless to blame individuals for industrial conditions. If we try to pass judgment on individuals, then employers will be found more guilty than workmen, not because they are any worse, but because they have more opportuni ties for perpetrating injustices.
LABOR HASACE.MEXT
With the naive notion that industrial ills are caused by bad men eliminated, we may take up the first of the two phases of the industrial
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problem: namely, labor management. The employer borrows capital, buys or builds a plant and machinery and hires labor. He, or his agent, uses these factors in producing marketable goods, and he has to manage and manipulate them so as to leave a profit when all costs and expenses are paid. The title to the money he borrows and to the plant and ma chinery he uses belongs to'the employer. From this lie naturally con cludes that the business is his own. He knows how he worked and sweat ed to build it up, and he gets the idea that the labor he hires is also his own, to do with as he will. If any one does not like the way he manages, he is not compelled to work under such management: but when a person agrees to sell his labor to the employer, he must be prepared to do as the management disposes. Thus the employer learns to treat labor on the same basis as his machinery and materials. They were all bought in the market' and he paid the market rates for them. This was the employer' idea of justice.
But his labor could not be separated from the human beings that did the work; and that caused trouble. They revolted, went on strike, and
asked for living wages, not market wages. The employer fought. If he had a small competitive business, he lost out and had to compromise with the strikers. If he had a large or trustified business, particularly if most of the employees were unskilled, he whipped the strikers and maintained what he called an open shop. It cost him a lot of money, but he was willing to pay the price to keep his business free from inter ference.
Then he discovered that labor had more than one way of revolting against the principle of management which regards labor as a commod ity. He might prevent them from organizing a union and striking, but they could quit, as he had told them. They left as individuals, but at the end of the year when he counted up the people hired and those who had quit, he found that it wasn't a few who left him. His whole force had left. He was hiring as many people in a year as he had working for him. This in ordinary years when there were many unemployed. Then came more opportunities for employment throughout the country, and the supply of cheap immigrant labor was restricted. How his labor did quit then! He couldn't believe it. Instead of a new force every year, he was hiring two, three, four, and even as high as six forces a year. He awoke to the fact of labor turnover, and he saw that it could go as high as t>00 per cent or more a year. It was the new form of revolt against his authority, and it not only cost money, but it caused ineffi ciency and decreased production. Some employers still think labor turn over is due to tl:<_ peskiness of labor and to its roving disposition, but most of them are about ready to concede that management has something to do with it.
Those employers who studied the causes of labor turnover, soon dis covered that management had a lot to do with it. They found that treat ing labor as a commodity led to class wages instead of wages based on personal efficiency, and that hiring, selecting, and handling, of employees on the assumption that they are commodities does not give to wageearners any- incentive to stay on the job and do their best.
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This realization was the beginning of a scientific system of labor management. It came to be called Employment Management or Person*, nel Management and employment managers or directors of personnel were hired to look after labor relations.
This was a long step in advance, but the old system dies hard And it is not dead yet by any means. Foremen, superintendents, and other production officials were not going to give up their traditional authority to what they considered impractical young men with new fangled no tions of kindness and consideration in the treatment of labor. They had come up through the mill, they were practical, they knew how labor had to be handled, because they had learned only too well from the knocks they had received when they were laborers themselves. So, most of the employment managers had beautiful plans and theories and charts and reports; but in actual practical authority they were clerks.
SERVICE ItlOTlJERKn IJY THE E_\l I'l.OYM K.VT MANAKKK
But many of them were high-minded, persevering men and they had faith in the new profession that they were creating. They worked and they talked and they overcame difficulties and they demonstrated, in spite of all the opposition, that they could reduce labor turnover, that they could make labor feel more satisfied, more loyal to the industry-- and that it paid. Then was the practical business man convinced. And from a skeptic he suddenly became an unquestioning believer. What ever it was that the employment manager established successfully, a centralized employment department, a new labor record system, a plan of profit sharing, a bonus system, or a shop committee plan--that be.carne the great remedy, the panacea that would solve all labor troublet But, actually, what the honest and competent employment managers were doing was attempting to deal in an intelligent and scientific way with the personal or human relations between the lahorer and his managers or employers.
They didn't find this a simple problem capable of a single solution. They had to restrict the foreman's power to hire w.hom he pleased and. to in stitute systems of selecting men fitted for the work in hand by means of intelligence and trade tests. Instead of letting the men they hired, learn their jobs without instruction, or by means of shouts and curses from the foremen, they introduced systems of training men and fitting them for the jobs. They heard the men's grievances and tried to find redress for them when they were just. They took away the foreman's power to fire a man from the plant. Instead, the man was sent to the employment department, and, if possible, he was transferred to another department. This, and much more, is what has come to be called em ployment work; and while much has been done on the various phases of it, we still have' far to go before we can say that all the employment problems have been solved.
Long before the employment managers had undertaken this work, the safety movement had made great headway, stimulated very largely by workmen's compensation laws. At the same time, a number of large employers had instituted so-called welfare work. The employment man
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agers saw in these activities another phase of their own work. The health, safety, education, recreation, and general welfare of employees must he looked after if they are to work and live as human beings. The employment managers called all this Service Work and they extended their own activities to include Service.
Today this employment and service work has reached its greatest development. Every plant of considerable size has its employment and service manager or corresponding official. And yet today,, we are hav ing more strikes, more industrial worries and discontent, more revolts of the worker against the employer than ever before. Why? Is it because the development of employment and service work has been wrong? Yes and no. Yes, in the cases of those employers who thought they had in. these activities a cure for all their troubles, a substitute for industrial democracy. lsTo, in the case of those far-sighted employment managers, who saw that they were dealing with only one phase of the industrial problem, the personal relations, and recognized that another phase, the economic relations--that which has to do with wages, hours, bargaiping. and democratic control of industry--would need other methods, other dei lees, other administrative machinery to be handled properly and in telligently.
la non i>k max us voice ix regulating working coxmnoxs
The American employer has pretty well learned the lesson of the em ployment and service manager. He is ready to go the limit in providing the best physical conditions, establishing service facilities, and inaugu rating scientific employment methods. But the industrial world has gone beyond that. Labor is contesting the control of industry today, denying that the business is the employer's own. questioning the em ployer's claim of absolute right to fix wages, hours and conditions of employment, demanding a voice in making the rules and regulations of the factory which the worker must obey, and insisting that govern ment in industry as in the State derives Just powers only From the con sent of the governed.
But this American idea, first stated in our own Declaration of In dependence. that every man has a right to a say in making laws and regulations which ho must obey, some employers are still fighting. They are not ready to give up their absolute control over their employees, to share their power over wages, hours, and industrial law making on an equal partnership basis with their employees. Like the monarchs of old, they offer to treat every employee with equal justice and consider ation and to give to all what they call a square deal. But the King's justice and the King's square deal, was not what the people wanted. They insisted that there were two sides to the justice question, and they wanted and got representation so their own idea of justice might find interpretation in the law. Just so, labor to-day insists that there are two sides to the square-deal-in-industry question. The employer wants to remain an industrial monarch, and offers to his industrial subjects a square deal as he sees it. But the wage-earners idea of
Employees' Representation
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a square deal differs from that of the employer. He insists on his in terpretation and demands an equal, not exclusive {Bolshevist), voice with the employer in determining what square dealing and what justice In industry shall be.
THE ESI) OE ABSOLUTISM IX INDUSTRY
The day is not far off when we shall all be able to see that there is no more reason for permitting the employer to have absolute sway over the income and lives of his employees, even though he assures them justice as he sees it, any more than it would be to give to the employees absolute control over industry on their promise to give the employer a square deal as they see it. When wage-earners control absolutely, we have Bolshevism, the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. When employers have absolute control of industry, we also have Bolshevism, the Dicta tor ship of the Plutocrat! Neither is Democracy or Americanism, and the American people will not stand for anything but democracy. Democracy means no absolute control by any group. All must have a say.
You will agree with this in the abstract; but the real test of your devotion to American Democracy comes in its practical application. Apply the principle to the present steel strike.
The officials of the Steel Corporation are quoted in the New York Times of last Saturday as saying that the real issue in the steel strike is the question of control. "Is the management of the plant to decide conditions of employment in the plant?"
There is no doubt that this is the real issue. But see what this means. The steel worker sees American miners meeting with mine owners to determine jointly what conditions in the mines shall he. He sees the same in the building trades, printing trades, clothing trades, and he sees the American Government itself through Director-General Hines making an agreement with railroad .workers jointly determining labor conditions. In every kind of industry he sees that labor in America is beginning to get a voice in determining conditions in plants either through a company union or a regular trade union. But the Steel Corporation says. "No! In our industry we must decide the conditions in tile plant." The steel work er scratches his head. "Isn't that `All power to the employer?*" he asks. "Isn't the Bolshevist motto the same thing, `All power to the workers?*" He wonders then: "Is Judge Gary a Bolshevist? All power to the em ployer! Dictatorship of Capital!"
And what does the American public see? It beholds mining, build ing. transportation, and most other lines of manufacturing organized on a democratic basis, with employers and workers jointly determining wages, hours, and conditions of employment; but the steel industry re mains in the absolute control of the employer. A similar situation ex isted in Europe before the war. All Western Europe was organized on a constitutional democratic basis. Only Russia and Germany remained behind. From these two countries where absolutism prevailed came the two big dangers to the democratic peoples of the world. They are (l) Benevolent despotism, which treats its subjects well, and (2) Bolshe vism, which means dictatorship by a small group. In tbe steel Industry,
82 Eighth Safety Congress
where absolutism prevails in this country, both these doctrines are pro mulgated. The Corporation refuses to give a hearing to representatives of its employees and says it spends great sums of money on welfare work. It denies that any one or any group of its employees has as much right to hire Fitzpatrick and Foster as labor experts, as the Corporation has a right to hire Close as welfare manager or Gantt or McKenzie King or any one else as labor experts. It- says all power over employees belongs to the employer. This is a dangerous doctrine because of the ideas it breeds among employees.
Realizing that the days of absolute control over employees are fast passing, and that concessions to the democratic movement in industry must be made, many employers have established so-called Industrial Democracy plans, known by various names--Shop Committee, "Works Council or House of Representatives. Whatever the name, they are de signed to head off the kind of democracy organized labor offers and to prevent unionization of the plants. This has led organized labor to oppose company unions, but the movement of employers to establish col lective bargaining plans of their own is not to be condemned simply be cause it is designed to prevent the kind of collective bargaining that the regular unions offer.
COI.I.KCTI VK KA KliAJXI.Vfl Tint ONI.Y UK M OlTtATIC MKritOtJ
The essence of democracy in industry is collective bargaining. Whether it is private or public industry.- democratic control can be secured only by the employees dealing collectively with the executives of the enter prise. Organized labor has developed certain methods and a certain tech nique of collective bargaining which wage-earners have spent years of struggle and sacrifice to establish. Naturally, they are Jealous of any rivals. But we cannot assume that there is only one brand of collective bargaining. The employers' Industrial Democracy plans must be j'udged on their merits, by their sincerity, and by their success in establishing
genuine collective bargaining.
Many of the plans provide for shop committees which deal only with safety, employment, and service problems. They have no power over wages, hours, and discipline. This is legitimate activity, but it is not collective bargaining. When an employer offers it to his employees as industrial democracy, he is either deluding himself or trying to delude his employees. In either case, he is playing with fire; for the wageearners Avill see in the attempt only insincerity and deception on the part of the employer. In the end he will pay for it in opposition and hatred from his employees.
Many other plans have the form of collective bargaining, but not the real thing. Representatives are elected to take up with the employer all questions, but in actual practice the employer's absolute control of wages and discipline is not restricted, and if there Is disagreement be tween the men and the management, no real arbitration of disputed points is provided. Some officer of the company has final authority to decide. This is a travesty on democracy. The employer holds to his
Employees' Representation
83
power, yet pretends to share it with his employees. Confidence between employer and employee, which is the foundation of all good management and proper labor relations, can not be built up on such pretenses. The employer has no confidence in Ms employees when he establishes such a plan, and they in turn will learn to have less confidence in him.
A few of the employees' representation plans are genuine attempts to introduce collective bargaining. The organizations created by these com panies are real unions, but restricted to one plant or to the plants con trolled by a single company. The Brotherhood Organized by the Inter borough Rapid Transit Company of New York proved it was a union by going on strike, and the works councils of the International Har vester Company in Chicago and Akron proved the same thing by voting not to strike when called to do so by a national labor organization.
To the extent that these organizations practice real collective bargain ing, they compete with the regular trade unions and win away mem bers; and this .is a situation which the unions must prepare to meet by more efficient methods. But organized labor has nothing to fear from works committees, by which the employer tries to camouflage the exer cise of bis autocratic power with, democratic forms. The employer may fool himself, but he can't fool the workmen who sense soon enough whether they have a real voice and vote in fixing terms of employment
or not. Sooner or later they will go to organized labor and ask help
to get the real thing, or an organizer will come along and show them what the real thing is. If an agitator can come along and win away the employees from a company union to an outside union, that is pretty good evidence that the company plan did not give them real democracy, just as it is pretty good evidence, when the company union wins away employees from organized labor, that it must be offering real collective bargaining, or else the employees wouldn't be satisfied.
With all the publicity that the so-called Industrial Democracy plans have received and with all the progress of organization of works com mittees, it should be remembered that the typical form of collective bargaining, the vast majority of collective dealings between employers and employees, is that carried on by organized labor. The number of plants having company unions is insignificant compared wttn the number of shops that deal with the regular trade unions. During the last four
years when the works council movement has made such great headway, more wage earners have joined the ranks of organized labor than are included in all the company plans put together. Let us not over-emphasize the importance of these company plans of collective bargaining. Even if all of them were genuine, and most of them are not, they would be far from solving the problem of industrial control. Organized labor is growing very much faster and stronger than the competing movement launched by employers. Labor management, therefore, is face to face with the problem of adjusting its methods to the demand for collective b.-.rgaining as carried on by organized labor.
DEMOCRACY IK THE CLOTHING INDUSTRY
How let me describe an industry where an attempt has been made to put labor relations on a democratic basis, where collective bargaining
84 Eighth Safety Congress
with a union prevails, and where the administrative machinery necessary to make collective bargaining work satisfactorily has been created. I refer to the clothing industry. This industry employs over 200,000 peo ple. It has four great market centers: biew York, Chicago, Rochester, and Baltimore. In all of these markets it is now almost completely organized, and only a few firms are outside the agreement between the clothing workers union and the employers' associations. Observe that both sides are organized. There can be no real collective bargaining if only the workers are organized and enforce their will on the employers, any more then when the employers enforce their will on the employees.
In each of these cities there is an agreement between the employers' as sociation and the local branches of the union. The agreements fix mini mum wages, establish a working week of forty-four hours, provide for open or preferential shops or closed shops, prohibits strikes, and restricts the employer's rights to discharge by making him give a good reason for every dismissal.
The local unions of the various trades in the industry elect delegates to a central body, known as a Joint Board. The Joint Board employs managers and deputies, whose business it is to represent the employees in negotations and in handling their grievances.
On the employers side, there is a similar organization. Each of the large plants employs a labor manager who has charge of all bar gaining and labor control, as well as employment and service functions. .For the smaller plants, the employers' associations employ labor man agers who perform the same duties for groups of employers.
When there is to be a general revision of wages or hours, or when a new agreement is to be made, the Board of Labor Managers and the representatives of the union meet and work it out. When there are ad justments to be made that apply only to one shop, the individual or group of employees affected takes it up with the labor manager of the plant. If a satisfactory adjustment cannot be made, one of the managers or deputies of the union is called in. In the vast majority of cases, amicable adjustments are arrived at. Where such an agreement cannot be reached, the matter is left to impartial arbitration, for which perma nent machinery is created by the industry Itself--in effect an industrial court.
The employer's association of each city, together with the Joint hoard of the union, selects an impartial person to act as judge of all disputes. Technically, he is the chairman of a labor adjustment board, consisting of the labor managers and the union representatives who argue cases before him. His salary and the expenses of his office are paid half by the employers and half by the union. He hc-ars no cases of men who have stopped work. Strikes are illegal. The employer may suspend a worker, but if on appeal to the chairman this dismissal is found unjustified, the employee is reinstated and must be paid by the employer for the time he lost.
Employees' Representation
85
Here we have the machinery of democracy. The institution of the im partial chairman or judge is a recognition that law, order, and govern ment must prevail in industry, that peace must be maintained, and the interests of the public conserved.
How is it working out? Well, it hasn't solved the whole labor problem, nor has it eliminated all labor troubles; but it has shown that you don't have to have abso lutism In industry, that you can get along without Dictatorship of the Plutocrat and Dictatorship of the Proletariat. It has shown that this attempt to maintain a dictatorship by capital is what puts unions on a war basis and fosters bolshevism in the ranks of labor. The plan is beyond the experimental stage. It began five or six years ago lu the Hart-Schaffner and Marx factories of Chicago, and the success of. it in these factories has spread it through the entire industry. It has taught the employers to respect union leaders who they once thought were crooked agitators, and it has made unions and their leaders have confidence in their employers and cooperate with them. It has enabled unions and employers to work together on such problems as tbe elimina tion of strikes, the introduction of machinery, time studies and stand ardization of occupations, increasing production, and maintaining shop discipline. Disputes on all these questions have not been eliminated. They never will be; but they have been settled. In a peaceful, orderly manner according to the laws of the industry, which labor and capital alike have had a share in framing. More than all this, however, the plan has enabled the union to take on a peaceful character and to con cern itself with the questions just mentioned, which are the real prob lems of collective bargaining, instead of emphasizing war policies.
cox CLCSIO.N
What then shall be the conclusion of our discussion of Labor Manage ment and Collective Bargaining? For the reasons outlined In this paper, it is my judgment that labor management must adjust itself to Include within its functions methods and policies .of dealing with its employees collectively through organizations and representatives of their own. Labor relations are of two kinds: personal relations and economic rela tions. The first does not necessarily involve the question of democracy. 1'ersonuel management dealing with employment and service problems lias developed during the last few years methods and policies for handling the personal relations in industry. But the economic relations need other methods and other policies. Representation of interests must be pro vided; machinery for industrial law making, for democratic decisions by majorities, and for interpretation and arbitration must be created. Be cause democracy In industry is inevitable, labor management must in clude personnel management and collective bargaining. The arrange ments existing In the clothing Industry show how the two can be com bined,, how management and authority can be harmonized with, democ racy, and how the two can be made to serve the best interests of all con cerned--employees, employers, and the public.
G Eighth Safety Congress
Chairman Young: I thought, instead of accusing you of reading Mr. Woll's paper, we might accuse you of reading Mr. Fitapatrick's paper, Billy.
One day last week there passed over my. desk a few newspaper clip pings. One of them read as follows: "There are persons who constantly clamor. They complain of oppression, speculation, and the pernicious influence of accumulated wealth. They cry out loudly against all hanks and corporations, and all means by which small capitals become united in. order to produce important and beneficial results. They carry out mad hostility against all established institutions. They would choke the fountain of industry and dry all streams. In a country of perfect, unbounded liberty, they clamor against oppression. In a country of perfect equality, they would move Heaven and earth against privilege and monopoly. In a country where property is more evenly divided than anywhere else, they rend the air shouting agrarian doctrines. In a coun try where the wages of labor are high beyond parallel, they would teach the laborer that he is but an oppressed slave."
This is not a current clipping but an extract from a speech of Daniel' Webster in the United States Senate in 18'3S.
The other clipping referred to the fact that a Y. M. C. A_ worker who was teaching Illiterate Chinese coolies their native language, found among Confucius' characters, more than four thousand years old, very definite instructions to resort to arbitration on all disputes.
Our discussion has been more on the practice of employee representa tion than upon the principle. As a matter of fact, I don't think there is anything new whatsoever in the principle of employee representation. Cooperation, brotherhood, frankness, justice, fairness were all preached by Confucius, by Aristotle, by the Disciples, by the framers of the Magna Charta. and by the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and all men subscribe to them and believe in them today. We are, however, making rapid and definite progress toward a perfection of practice, if not the principle involved.
The open season for the speakers is now on. There are some very simple rules governing the slaughter. Mo marksman is permitted to shoot for more than three minutes without the unanimous consent of the floor and in rising he must state his name and business connection. Cadies and gentlemen, the floor is yours.
DISCUSSION
-
Mb. Porter (Worcester, Mass) : I am requested to ask.the last speaker if safety committees are a good start toward this form of organization, that he speaks of?
Mb. Lkisersox: I think safety committees are a very good start, pro vided you always remember that you are starting and not stopping.
Chairman Young: A. bull's-eye, gentlemen.
Mb. Piiiixips (Central Iron & Steel Co.): I would like to ask Mr. McCormick whether employee representation and efficiency experts can figure with one another?
Mb. McCormick: Yes, they can. The practical application of it Is
Employees' Representation
87
dependent upon the axnoont of Interest that the employees can take in
that pArti<rula form of democracy under which they are operating. I
think there ts no possibility of doubt that a man who has a share in
the control of his own destinies will operate more efficiently because of
that reasonMil ljKts>-ieso*s : May I suggest in that connection that union officials in
the clothing industry have told scientific managers who were working
in some of the plants. "We are pushing up wages: we want to go fur
ther: we know we can't go further unless there is more production, so
so ahead *ts4 show those employers how they can produce more, and
God bless you---for then we can get more."
Mit. J. It !>*-*;*.** (Philadelphia): I would like to ask Mr. Leiserson
what ts the attitude of the garment workers on the question of physical
cumin*? ion ?
Ms.
: There Is no absolute position taken by the employees
officially can the question of physical examination.. They are divided on
the quesrtirm. But just now what the employees tell me is this. "We are in
favor of physical and mental tests, but we want the employer examined
as well as us. i laughter) because he controls our lives and our destiny,
and he examines us when he may not be fit for the indttstry at all."
Mr. -1. B. Dot ;i..\s (Philadelphia): Isn't it a fact that many large em
ployers, in introducing physical examinations, have started at the top
and gone right down the line? Mr. Ijeiskrsox: Probably they have, ir I were Introducing it, that
is what I should do. I don't think you will have any trouble with em
ployees when they know about the whole machinery, when they know
that the employer has been examined, and that the foreman who isn't competent will be fired for that reason.
Mr. M.vvr.oR (Bureau of I^bor' Manitoba! r I want to ask Mr. Leiser-
son a question. I am tempted to believe that the remarkable success of
the arrangement under which he is working is due in a very large meas
ure to the charm of Mr. Leiserson's personality. I want to ask him if he
knows of a similar arrangement working equally well with some one else
in his capacity?
Mr. Lkiserson : I can plead not guilty, because I have been on the
job only one month. It is very true, I^adies and Gentlemen, that leader
ship and personality have a great deal to do with it. The leadership
in the union and the leadership of the employers have been of a very intelligent nature. In Chicago, the clothing industry has emptied the
universities to put men in as labor managers. I can name at least six
men who have left colleges. One man left the' dean-ship of the College
of Commerce of the University of Minnesota to become labor manager
of the Employers' Association of Chicago.
The stove moulders have been working on this arrangement for years
and years. The mine workers have been working on a similar arrange
ment for many years. You hear them talking a great deal, but you don't have a real strike In the industry unless somebody is. trying to destroy
the union. It is easy to arbitrate demands, but you can't arbitrate the
question of the union. So I say that leadership and personality have a
88 Eighth. Safety Congress
great deal to do with the success or failure of such a plan, but that same leadership exists in all of the other industries.
Mb. Hamilton (American Radiator Co.) : Mr. Leiserson has made one statement that struck me quite a perceptible wallop. It may have af fected some of the others in the same way. He says that in this clothing arrangement, organized labor is working to increase production, The opinion that prevails in most circles is that organized labor wants to decrease production and increase the wage. I would like to know whether in your opinion they are actually making the effort to increase production.
Mr. L.KISKKSU.V: I know a case where pressers came along and asked for S35 a week. They were getting $29. The employers said, "If we give you S3', it will break up the business." They had the facts and figures there and showed them. They talked hack and forth and threatened and all that. You know, whenever you do away with real war, you take it out in imagination, in talk. They finally reached an agreement. The increase in one case would have been from eight to ten per cent. If the employer gave $35 it would have been an increase of nearly twenty-five per cent. The employers said, "If you will increase production so iliac the net cost to ns will be only eight or ten per cent, we will give you that." The employees said. "We will try." They have been at it now for more than a month, and they are making good. They have done the same thing now with three other occupations. This is the clothing workers* union that is not affiliated with the American Federa tion of Labor. There is another clothing workers' union, the United Gar ment Workers, which Is affiliated with the American Federation of La bor. In cooperation with the United Garment "Workers, Morris Lr. Cook, a Frederick W. Taylor man, is working in several plants putting In sci entific management. The idea you get--that organized labor Is for de creasing production--is the same that organized labor gels--that all these company plans are fakes. Each is about as true as the other. You don't know anything about their policies, and they don't know anything about your policies: but when you get together and have an impartial Chairman, you find out because you have to talk to one another.
Mr. Rose (Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.): I would like to ask Mr. Leiserson how production is going to be increased when the hours of labor are reduced to forty-four hours a week?
Mr. Leiskbsox: The employers have told me invariably that the reduc tion from forty-eight to forty-four hours a week has not decreased pro duction one iota.
Mr. Gkeexwoop (Carnegie Steel Co.) : Tf I understood you correctly, industrial democracy has been established in the coal mining industry. Why are the coal miners threatening a strike, if there Is perfect har mony between them and the employers?
Mr. Leisersox : There are two answers to that question. When I said industrial democracy has been established in the mining industry, I said it was established just about as thoroughly as political democracy has been established in this country. Why, if political democracy bas
Employees' Representation
89
been established in this country, do we have race riots, and why don't the negroes vote in the South? Because we have not established complete political democracy, it takes years and years to work that o\it. The mining Industry has made a long step in advance toward Industrial de mocracy, but it Isn't anywhere nearly so far advanced as our political democracy; and our xjolitical democracy is not yet complete democracy.
Threatening a strike and actually striking are two very different things. What happens when you want to sell steel? You quote the price as soand-so. The inan says, "No, I can't take It; you ought to take, so much for it." You bargain back and forth. The man tells you, "I won't buy and if you need his trade, you will be a little bit scared, and you will Lry to deal with him. / Now all these threats of strike are just bargaining, manipulation, the bargaining method. Note this, that when you buy coal, the company' quotes a price to you; when you buy steel, the steel corpo ration quotes a price to you. Why shouldn't labor quote its price to the employer? The beginning of industrial democracy is when Labor is per
mitted to quote prices. The mine workers are now quoting prices. The companies say these prices are too high, and they are bargaining.
I would like to bring this very important point out In connection with this matter. The coal companies issued a statement that what the men want (a 36-hour week) is very unreasonable, that it will cut down pro duction, and it will cost the people of the country a billion dollars. The employees came back with the statement, "The only reason we ask this is because we don't want to lie idle three days in the week and make up forty-eight hours on the other three days," or, "We don't want to lie idle for live and six months in the year and then make it all up the other months." The company put up the proposition that continuous employ ment is not possible because there are no facilities for storage.
Now, if you don't have this industrial democracy machinery by which the employers and employees can talk these things over, you do not see that back of the demand of the mine workers is the request that this unemployment be not put entirely on their backs. You can't store coal at the mine. That is the burden that the public and the employer, as well as the -wage earner, should bear; but the employers refuse or find it impossible to store coal, and the public refuses to buy in the summer for winter use. The employees now have to bear the whole burden, but because they have the democratic power to state their case they say, "If you want us to bear this burden, we will work only thirty-six hours a week, and it wdll cost you so much," or, "you will order coal In the sum mer and you will provide storage facilities." In other words, they have the means of bringing up their problem which they would not have without this democratic arrangement.
Mb. French (California Industrial Accident Commission) : I should like to ask Mr. McCormick this question: Imagine, Mr. McCormick, that three other plants were'in close competition with your corporation, that the shop committee system existed in each, and that it was agreed in each shop that the wages and hours should be based on such and such a standard, and that they varied in each of the four corporations; how
90 Eighth Safety Congress
would you stabilize the industry in those very important particulars? Mr. McCormick: The three plants all members of one corporation? Mr. French: Different organizations in close competition with you. AIr. McCormick: Would it not be likely that in all those plants there
would be a certain market value of labor which would in itself economi cally tend to stabilize those wages without resort to any artificial means?
Mr. French: 1 should say that it might not work out that way, and that there might be a difference in the wage rate which would be very Important. The Central Trade Union idea is to have a minimum stand ard, and I wondered how you might arrange for that under the shop committee plan?
AIb. AfcCORMiCK: If the standard of living, or the standard of skill required were different in one plant from the other, I should think that the employers would have a reasonable answer for keeping that wage scale different. When all conditions are similar, and the plants are ad jacent to each other. I see no reason why, economically, there should be a different wage scale. I think the point you are getting at is this: many employers object to a flat wage scale all over the country, because of different conditions in different parts of the country and in different shops. I do not know of any objection to a similar wage scale in ad jacent shops where conditions are identical.
Mrs. Hokk (Printz-Biederman Co.. Cleveland): I wish to say, on ac count of the ciuestion that was asked about the decrease m production when the change is made to forty-four hours, that our production has in creased because the people really have more efficiency when they don't work as many hours. The forty-four hour plan has been very satis factory all the way through In our plant.
Ala. DkBi-ois : I would like to ask Mr. Leiserson a double-barreled question. Afr. Leiserson. you have instanced the fact that political de mocracy after a great many years of effort has not been attained. That is perhaps the largest scale of effort that we could imagine. The shop union Is the small union. The clothing union Is the large industrial union. Why do you expect, as I think you do, better attainments from the large idea than from the small idea when political democracy, which is the wholesale scheme, has not worked out very well. That is one barrel.
Mr. Leiserson: Suppose we take them one at a time. While it is true to a certain extent that Switzerland, a small country, is a purer democracy than ours, I think the reason it is a purer democ racy is because it hasn't the problems that we have. The great prob lems of democracy have been worked out in this country, which is as big as all Europe put together. We have. In my judgment, more de mocracy in this country than there is in any other country, and we have it for one reason: because we have worked it out on a large scale; we have a lot of difficulties and we may not entirely perfect it for two hun dred years, perhaps longer, because our problems are bigger. It isn't quite a question as to whether we have the perfection. The real question is as to whether we have the purpose to allow everybody democracy; and when we see a place where it isn't working out, we ought to fix it
Employees' Representation
91
up right away. The benefit of democracy may not be in efficiency. It is in the development of character, when everybody lias a say. For the same reason you will let your boy of fifteen make a fool of himself and go away and not stick to your apron strings, because It would not be advisable for von in every case to tell him how not to make mistakes. You want to let him be free. You act on the democratic principle be cause yon know it will develop his character. For that same reason I favor the inevitability of democracy: and the more problems the boy has to face, the better character he will be; the more problems a country has to face, the more democratic it will be, the more character among the citizen. The larger the country, the more climates, the more nationali ties, the more problems it has to face, the more democratic it will be. That is why I think America is the most democratic country.
But yon get correctly. I think, that it is my opinion that the organized labor kind of democracy is better today than the company union kind of democracy. 1 judge that, by the experience up to date. 1 am perfectly willing that there be real competition to show which is better. I have myself talked to union people, and I have showed them that there are some things in the company plans that they ought to get quickly or the company unions will get them.
Democracy will be worked out not by any one scheme. We want every body to be experimenting with it, and while today I favor the national union because I see no way of establishing equal conditions of labor except through a national organization, if one can work it out through the company and do it more efficiently and get more democracy--the real thing--then I should be for that.
Now your next question. Mr. DF.Br.ois: This is the second barrel. Bet us take an imaginary industry that has not been unionized, that has no tendency toward it, in which, the employers have not adopted any shop scheme of Industrial de mocracy. Which would you consider the best way to attack the prob lem, by,the union idea, organize your employees into a union, or start in the single factories and introduce the shop principle? Mi*. Beiskrsox: My usual way of answering a question like that in my industrial court is to say, "A judge never answers hypothetical questions." But I don't want to take advantage of my privileges. But there really is something in that, that a judge never wants to answer hypothetical questions, because every one of these things depends upon the circumstances in the case. When I was with the Department of Babor doing consulting work on these things, and I came into a plant and they wanted my advice about organizing shop committee plans. I said, "I don't know whether yon ought to have one or not: maybe you ought to have a union, but I want to look through your plant first and see what the relationship between you and your employees is." Now if the union has never attempted to organize and the employer has never fired people be cause they did try to join the union--you see all the hypotheses we have to bring in--if there is the very best relationship between the employ ers and the employees (which is a very big hypothesis), it might do
92 Eighth Safety Congress
very well. One of the men connected with our Division of the Depart
ment of Habor has actually told an employer. "It would be line if you put
in a shop committee plan, because you can do it better than the union
could in this: parti<~tila_r- plant. Vottr relations are fine, but you are tell
ing these enpl<>>
always. 'Stick to your job. no absenteeism.' But
when the armistice wu* sism**d. and you didn't know where you were
coming out. you laid a burnh oft, and as soon as you lack material in
a certain d*-partyou 1*> them off. In other words you are making
them irregular No* it you will issue a statement to your employees
saying 'FViJow workn-s;. -or batrr<=r yon warn to call them--we, the
firm, acknowledge i hat j-ti the jiust we have In-ea making mistakes: we
have in the j>at t<>ld y - not to lw irregular, hut when our production
methods were such ttur Due <<>uJd't k*ep you regularly, we laid you off
and made ><u lwr tbr- burden. Hereafter we won't do that. If our
production n:< Tb<d>. are skk h that we can't keep you working regularly,
we will j*a> you ior the time.'" He said. "If you will do that, then you
can run a company *mi<m all right, and your men will be satisfied. The
employer did it. ti4 l- has that arrangement now. and It is working
well. Hut for an *-tmjU<>>-r who is not -willing to go the limit on a thing like that. I would kc . itir lw-st way to introduce democracy is to have
it come from ih- outside. fi*rc*-d >m him. because he can't learn the lesson
himself and sotwlody has to teach it to him.
Mk. Gi.-i i nwooi* iCann'sit' i?teel Co.l: When this ideal condition of
democracy is arrived at between the employer and the employee, have
we any guarantee that they, with their combination, will not increase the
high cost of livinz? Have they the power to take advantage of the con
sumer if they si*c lit to do it?
Ms. Lid nsi>: a very serious and important question. You intro
duced it by say ixtg. "This ideal arrangement, etc." We are all standing
for ideals. We are nil working for Heaven on earth. If we are not, there
is something the matter with us: but we are going in different ways
toward it. and w<- are a long way from it, but the fact that we are a
long way from it is no reason for stopping right here.
Xow there is real danger that employers and employees will get-to
gether and hold tip the public--very real danger. But before you come to that danger, you have a very much greater danger: that the employer
himself will hold up the employee first and the public afterwards. Now
that is the first arrangement. When the employer can dictate to his em
ployees and dictate to the public, you have a very bad situation.
Then the union comes along--it is the next step toward tHis Heaven--
and says. "Here you have got to divide this dictation business fifty-fifty."
That is a step in advance, and I am for it. It is a start, like the safety
business, and remember I am for it. The mine workers and the print
ing trades and the building trades usually don't have impartial chairmen
and they are not as far ahead us this clothing industry. To bring in an
Impartial chairman is bringing in an outsider. The clothing industry
Is taking men from public institutions, your teachers and your pro
fessors, who are trained as pttblic employees. That is another step in
Employees' Representation
93
advance. When I make a decision about wages, I always have in. mind that if I have to pay $60 for a suit of clothes--not on your life! And I think the people will think of that. They will frown on such collusion; they will destroy the whole arrangement and take the public point of view into consideration. It is another step in advance.
In connection with taking these men from colleges to act as chairmen, the union in its official weekly paper said, "The clothing workers have not only improved the conditions of the working people in the clothing industry, but the conditions of the professors in the universities as well."
And they need it. Xow the day will come when the public will be on to its job. The pub
lic today is not considered by these industries because the public does not consider the industries and the people in them. It look a strike, a revolt, a revolution of the order-keeping authorities in the person of the police, to show the people of this country that they ought to pay police men decent wages. It was bad, unjustified in my estimation, to have a strike of the law-keeping authorities, but you can't get away from tbe fact that every city in the country today will pay its policemen decently, because they have heard what happened in Boston--and they didn't do it until something happened. Something is needed to wake up the public.
Some day the public will wake up about its teachers, about its profes
sors, about its policemen, its firemen, and about the salaried employees in your industries--and Lord knows they need it. When the salaried em ployees strike, the employers will say, "Those people are on confidential relations with the employers; they know the secrets of their business and they ought not to join a union." Well, if they are on confidential relations, why don't you pay them for it? You pay the common laborer because he forces you; you pay the mechanic because he has a union that forces you. You don't pay the salaried employee because he doesn't
organize and because lie takes your advice. If he puts wages up, why, then the cost of living goes up; so he doesn't put wages up, and he is waiting for cost of living to come down. Some day the public will ap point these judges to take care of the public interests.
Mr. R. M. Lttti.k: I would like to ask Mr. Leiserson to give us a brief definition of democracy.
Mu. Lklskrson: My judgment of democracy is that no one must have absolute control, that every one must have a say. We have worked it
out in the church and in politics; we haven't worked it out in industry. That is all that I can define. Every one, no matter how low he is in your estimation, if he is an adult, normal human being, must have a say: and if he isn't educated, you have got to give him a say because otherwise you will never educate him. In this country we didn't have the public schools when we started. We didn't have the vote for every wage earner in this country until down to about 1S50. Did you know that? In spite of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, a man had to have property to vote. Remember what Ben Franklin said about the mule? A man owned a mule. It was property. It was wrorth a certain amount of money. When the mule was alive the man had a
94 Eighth Safety Congress
vote, but the mule died and be lost bis vote, and he wanted to know whether he or the mule voted. The common people fought and by the end of the first quarter of the nineteenth century they got the right oi manhood suffrage in this country. New York State didn't give it to then: until the Constitution was made somewhere in the fifties. Then wher they got the vote, everybody said, "Oh, what have we done? We have given all these ignorant people the vote; we will have to educate them,' and that is why we have the finest public school system in the world.
-And so with this democracy--every one must have a say. whether he ii ignorant or not, because you will never educate him unless you can set the dangers of his ignorance.
Mr. R. M. Litter: I would like to present this thought: government by the consent of the governed. It comes then to a matter of degree-- every man a say--does every man have an equal say of authority?
Mr. Letserso>- : Every man has a vote, but that does not mean thal every one has an equal say. It means--if what I am saying is making any impression on you people and yott tbink I speak the truth and with authority--I will have more to say in anything you do than any one ol you individually, because I will Influence maybe a dozen of you to vote my way.
In a democracy every man has a vote. In the old country they used to start with the idea that all people are not equally intelligent. "How shall we find out if they are? Well, if they have a business, why they must be more intelligent." That is an assumption that I won't agree with. "If they have land they must be more intelligent." So they gave the landholders three votes and business people two votes and the resl of them one. In this country we say, "Every man Is created equal." 1 don't believe we are created equal. I believe every man is created witt
equal opportunities, and he ought to have them. Every one of you oughl
to have equal opportunity to stand up here and argue the way I am That is all. and by that freedom (of having each individual get one vote), the men who can influence the others by leadership, knowledge and other qualifications, will have more influence, more votes, so to speak but it will work out naturally. Also, there will be danger that men whc are ignorant or passionate might lead other people away. True, but we must never be afraid, because a thing will be abused, that, therefore, we must not use it. No matter how efficient anything is for good, the more efficient it becomes, the more dangerous it becomes if it is abused. The sharper your knife, the better it is when you cut meat with it; but the worse it is when you cut throats with it. But we don't say, "Let's have dull knives because somebody might exit throats with them." We wanl our knives as sharp as possible, and then we want to make people in telligent so they will use them properly. We want as much democracy as possible. Give all citizens the vote, and they will be responsible to the public if we educate them and make them as intelligent as possible.
Mk E. W. C-vsk (New Departure Mfg. Co., Bristol, Conn.): I would like to ask Mr. McCormick whether he has in mind, or can give ns, the percentage of labor turnover he has under his working conditions?
Employees* Representation
95
Mr. McCormick: No, sir, it is small in actual figures. It is smaller tlian it was before we put in the plan. That may be due to the plan, or it may be due to a resumption of somewhat normal conditions following the close of the war. We have only been operating since about April 1, and I doubt very much if we can get any real indication of the an swer to that question until the end. of a suitable period, say a year. My impression is, as in the case of efficiency (having to do with the question which- some one asked a moment ago) that questions relating to Iabor turnover %vill be answered satisfactorily by those who believe in em ployee representation.
Chairman Young: There has been a very definite reduction of the labor turnover but. as Mr. McCormick said, it is not directly attributable to our plan of employee representation.
Mr. Leiserson: Let me tell you what the union does in regard to that. Il makes an agreement with the employers that, "The following shall be the scale of wages for this season." The employers are awfully anx ious to get out their stuff and they go swiping labor from one another. It upsets the wage scales, and the union has. In a case that I know of, issued an order that men who have gone to other places for $r a week more, did that in violation of the agreement. "You must go back to the other place because we have got to keep our word or we can't make this thing work." That is reducing the turnover in spite of the employers.
Mi:. Maci.ac iii.an : In connection with the Whitley scheme as carried out in England at the present time: it might be of interest to you to know that among the forty-three industries in the Whitley Councils, there has not been, a strike. In the Whitley Council the representatives of labor have not had the privilege of speaking except at the request of the chairman or members in the Council.
It has been said a number of times, especially in the United States, that the Whitley scheme necessitated or presupposed complete organiza tion on both sides. If you will change that word "complete" to "reasonable," I think you will get closer to the facts. There are oper ating in Canada at the present time Councils under the Whitley plan in
which complete organization is not the fact. Reasonable organization is all that is necessary.
Mr. McCormick: If you will read the pamphlets on the Whitley Flan, you will find that while the word "complete" may not be one hun dred per cent correct, it indicates a strong desire. 1 do not remember the words, but there are various stages of industry described in the Whitley reports in which the industry can be catalogued until such a time as the organization is complete enough for it to operate under the Whitley Plan. The intent and the direction of the intent is organ ization.
Mr. Palmer: Some little while ago a gentleman asked if there had been other plants operating under joint control, the success of which could not be attributed to the charming personality of Mr. Leiserson. I would like to know if Mr. Leiserson is familiar with the electrical contractors' industry. Some time ago I listened to Mr. Sullivan Jones
96 Eighth Safety Congress
describe their Conference Club and their industrial citizenship, the
definition of which he gave as,."The right of the employee to self-regu
lation and self-direction." Are you familiar with their plan in New
York?
Mk. Lui.si-.Ji.so.v: I am not familiar with the electrical workers' plan
alone, but the building trades of New York City have for many years
had a plan very similar to ours. They had a board of business agents
of the union and a board appointed by the employers, which tried to
settle all difficulties, and if they couldn't agree they had an umpire.
That thing in my judgment was a mistake. They called a person in
who was not familiar with the industry, and he usually split the differ
ence, satisfying neither one side nor the other, and so, when the nexl
case came along, they didn't want the same umpire, and that always
caused difficulties which they never have gotten over. I think that wher
they have a permanent chairman who will be on the job and know tht
industry completely, then they will be able to take their plan verj
much further than they have gone so far. I think they have done
great deal in stabilizing conditions in the building industry in Nev
York, and that has been going on for quite a number of years.
Mu. C- I*. Toi.man: I would like to ask Mr. T-eiserson: Are yoi
familiar with, the practice of conducting balloting in the locals of tic
unions?
*
Mr. I.kiskrso.n : Yes, sir.
Mu. C. I'- Toi.max: Having in tnind your definition of democracy, d
you consider the unions as democratic as the McCormick organization is
Me. I.t;tsr.RsoN: I am not aide to say. h**ca<tse I don't know the M<
t'ormick organization, but 1 will nay that I do fcaw Mr. Young prett
well, and anything that he has to
wi&I be Thoroughly democrats
I will say that balloting in the rmicvfc
ion
the whole is jus
about as honest as the ballot has: for po3?rV-a4
the T'nited State;
Xot a bit better and not a. htt
Mr. R. M.. 1.; i mi; The t-tp rout of democracy hs the consent of th
governed to the will or `hw j.n cwi rol That
leadership. TV
American people
trained to returni* iota of tjp? majority vote whei
one vote counts ju*t
much
a.y>,cbjr. Vt1
vnq come to apply tt
principles of democracy in indu.--.; rv aud you tgtftke it by majority Vote,
it going to work?
Mk. Ln>fBMi\; 1 will say ft will work in tadnstry just abotit s
well as it "worked in po-l-it {ck.
1 lwinw <>f rw> other scheme, i
kind of voting, thfst is half as go**d a* rfe-V*- Th-i* isn't perfect, by at
means, but any other scheme--and matry ^cbemes have been tried fro
Grecian times down--any other ncfcrtcif by which t ou give one man pow
Is bound to fall. Chairman Yorsr,: The keynote of this afternoon's meeting is th
after all it is the spirit of the plans that counts and not the word; it the manner In which they are executed and not the mere phraseology
their structure that counts. Please bear that with you.
General Session: Americanization
October, 2, 1919
RICHARD A. FEISS Chairman Joseph and Feiss Company, Cleveland Ohio
CHAIRMAN FEISS: While It is most unfortunate for me. it is fortunate for you, I believe, that I am forced to leave you very shortly, having
been suddenly called out of town, and Mr. Price has secured Mr. Morey
for my place.
O'o
I wish to add my little welcome to all of you who have come here to
take part in this great meeting. I have Indeeda great privilege and
pleasure, although it is going to be curtailed, in being the presiding
officer of record at this afternoon's meeting, because t think there is
nothing more important than the Americanization movement in connec
tion with the safety work that is the real work of this organization. It is
not only the band saw. the Wade for the rafting machine. That has to
be guarded, but there are a iof of thims? that affect eiffaensbips and the
individual. And so. it I* mentally **= wei4
that we should
safeguard and I believe a*wsg5v#e HVe First" would be a very gvyret ifruwa *?_
"America
I feel sure that the fTrfiwp: jwi scr gwvwr&
tn<fgtv te going to be
of that real kind of Awtef^caawfetMfinfr
wr* By race fear
or race prejudice, bat eft*? kjewi f well as the foreigner. AsnaS-. T be mie
e**
**
hefcerieaft needs as introduce
the subject than Mr. A Ren T
w****-. w> K inw fMg>twei.y headed
up the famous ,f*fwad f'Ewrnftwny
r ***> jcrewt pleasure
in introducing Mr.
Wfwnef =s***4>v "*t Vg*1'*!nfr-
\^offraattetSoto.
formerly of Cleveland add sew **f
f'efSvdf States.
PRINCIPLES ANI> yt&Ym*****
TWn
ft* VAn&Sfcl* ANfZA-
Ai.i.kn T. Brice*, fkarrrtet, #-*>* w Mitrrnew**: *w> ^etwruiz.tnm. >tr* Tefcfc rm
An Americanization worthy of America, same tap the principles and methods of Americanization that are- most effective. An Americaniza tion as broad, as human, as ennobling as America itself, nothing else.
97
9S Eighth. Safety Congress
will compass the task that we think of and should think of under this much used and much abused term of Americanization.
To be sure, during the war we inevitably view the situation in a narrow, prejudiced, and biased way. We cannot take the general, broad, and inclusive view of America's tasks when we need to concentrate on a single great objective, as under the circumstances of the recent war. Doubtless, on that account, with the hysteria and fears growing out of the war. we felt that any difference, any variation, any non-conformity, was a danger to the welfare of our country, and for that reason we have been carrying on definite Americanization and think of it as a means of securing exact similarity or conformity, indentity with some particular type of external form or set of performances.
But, if we think at all of America, we will know that America from the time of its earliest settlement was no such, uniform, homogeneous group of people. America has given its great contribution to the world Just because it drew from the riches and treasures and labors of all the past and has turned them to the good use of humanity.
It is such an idea of America that is adequate and only such that is adequate in fulfilling this task in which all of us are now so in terested.
So, this afternoon let us turn away from some of the narrower views, some of those we have been driven to by war and. its necessities and emergencies, and let us examine some of those great principles and practices of America which must be followed in an Americanization that is worthy of our country.
JUSTICE FOR THE FOREIGN-BORST
Nothing is more fundamental to America than justice. No abstract, obsolete justice is referred to but in this connection an even-handedness and fair play as between native-born and foreign-born. That is what the immigrant expects when he dreams of coming to the land of liberty, and it is with that standard that he judges America after his arrival.
So, whether America becomes the promised land to him or not depends very largely on the justice he finds, and today we are in grave danger on this score,. Among the injustices practiced, upon him, none are greater than that which is now to the forefront of trying to lay our Industrial troubles at his door, attributing to the men who were good enough. Americans to fight for us, to subscribe to the Liberty Loans for us, the underlying cause of our great industrial unrest.
We should all be thankful that Mr. Gary in his appearance before the United States Senate did his part in laying this bogey to rest, for he said, as yon will remember if you read the testimony: "`Throughout the war our workmen were loyal. "While it is true that there is a radical element of foreigners at the present time, it is only doing justice to say that in my opinion the majority of foreigners were good citizens.'
" `Do you mean by foreigners', he was. asked, `those not naturalized?' "`I include all foreign-horn-*" And yet in connection with this, regrettable struggle in the steel industry, the cosmopolitan press is laying the trouble entirely or almost
.Americanization
99
entirely at the door of the foreign-born. A little thought such as Mr. Gary evidently had taken should remove that mistaken idea Irom our
minds. "Will you just stop and think it was only a month ago we were raising
a hue and cry about the demands of the railway organization made tip of over ninety per cent native-born.
In this city last week or week before the miners were meeting, almost as foreign a group of working men as the steel workers themselves and they formulated a demand which is the subject of considerable anxiety and more than that, they formed a very close working alliance with these same foremost, from the native-born point of view, railroad brotherhoods. So that in the very near future it is going to he hard for us to pick between the native and foreign-born American, if we think we can explain our industrial unrest in any such easy way.
If you take the various steel towns affected by the steel strike, you will find that there is no consistency as to the foreign or native-born group in the towns that are closed or operating. To be sure Gary closed down and it is a little more foreign than Homestead which was open. Duquesne stayed open with sixty-seven per cent foreign-horn and Sharon closed witb only forty-two per cent foreign-horn. So, I could go down the list showing the line did not run between the foreign-born and native-born com munities in the success of the strikers pulling out or stopping complete
operation in any mill. In the same way, you will find the variations run in the proportions
of the foreign-born in the various communities who have become natural ized. The mill town that shows the largest proportion of foreign-born adults seeking Americanization is the same great steel town of Gary, which only a week ago when I went down through there with a steel engineer showed no chimney showing smoke and in the steel engineer's opinion that would indicate it was entirely closed down.
STRIKING POLICEMEN ALMOST ALL NATIVE-BORN" AMERICANS
Not only the question of any particular strike hut all the general indus trial, economic, and political unrest is thus unjustly attributed to the immigrant; and yet when you remember that most un-American police
strike in .Boston less than a month ago was made up almost entirely
of native-born Americans and three hundred who had fought in our armies across the seas, you will see that there is something that under
lies the situation deeper than native and foreign-born. So again the
newspaper reports from Omaha indicated exactly the same situation
there.
'
Take the most radical movements in this country like the I. W. W. and
it has practically never been called to the public attention that every
delegate attending the annual convention in Chicago "was a native-born
American. If you have studied the split between the Left Wing and
the Conservative Group in this country, you will find in the Radical
Group names like Reed, Young, Eastman, and in the Conseryative Group such names as Hilquit, Meyer, London and Berger.
.100
Eighth Safety Congress
So again whichever way you turn, the Americans if they stop to think would realize that if they are trying to get rid of industrial unrest merely by attributing it to the foreign-born, it is like trying to clean the dirt in your room by sweeping it into the closet. It is as ungrateful anti unfair as to put an unwelcome new-born babe on the doorstep of your neighbor to get rid of him.
Industrial unrest is a much greater problem than native and foreign-* born. We are only further protecting the art of alienating the alien in making such accusations. We should be grateful to Mr. Gary for defining the issue as one of unionism and not of alienism.
Hut. there are constructive forms of justice in industry and elsewhere which it is necessary for us to practice and as we do practice them we most thoroughly and effectively unite the immigrant with us.
SAFEtiUARWXC Tin-: I^rHIORAJTT
Americanization has been talked of almost altogether too much as we used to talk of religion, something that is a separate department of life, something you could shut off and use on Sunday and not use on the other days. Americanization is no more that thing. Americanization cannot be confined to any department of industrial, political, or educa tional life. Nor do I know of a better form of Americanization than the work that you men and those you represent are doing, the providing for the safety of the immigrant as well as for the native. That is the kind of even-handed, fair play that makes him a part of us. unites him solidly with us.
You men might well, it seems to me, have a section conference where the rest of us could be learners, where you would tell about the methods that are most effective in safeguarding the limbs and bodies of the immi grants because with his lack of knowledge of our language, his more direct coming into industry from the peasant life of the old country, you know how additional problems for you are produced by him.
Now the kind of Americanization for which we must plead is that which goes just as far in providing for him, not doing exactly the same thing you do for the American but making just as cock-sure that he is safe as that the native-born is safe. I am sure that is the kind of Americaniza tion in which you believe because it is American justice.
Again. I suppose there is nothing in which you are more 'interested after your work of safety than our accident compensation law. You know that in some states there is a great difference made in the com pensation paid according to whether the man is an alien, and according to where his family, lives. Now. hunger and cold and all kinds of deprivation are no respecters of nationality. I have always found that the foreign-born family would suffer from cold and hunger as well as tlie native-born.
I plead with you because of your intense interests not only in Amer ican justice but in our accident compensation law to see to it that our alien feels that his interests are as adequately protected by American
A-inericanisation
101
laws as; our own sons. There again is the kind of even-haudedness which means general Americanization.
THE MCKEKS ROC 1C STRIKE
Do some of you remember the McKees Rock strike, that bloody strug gle of ten years ago? That and its settlement again showed the neces sity not only of absolute justice but of giving the immigrant as fair a show as is given the native-born.
All of you are more or less near the employment service of the firms you are connected with. You are another one of the human elements of service. Mow far with our rapidly advancing science of employment have we considered that it -might be relatively as profitable and human to give the particular personal attention to the immigrant employee as to the native employee? More and more you are studying personalities and capacities. But, how easy it is to do that with the native-born and to treat the foreign-born all as herds of cattle or as mere cogs in the industrial machines'.
Sonre of our foremost plants, we find, are being careful to introduce as assistants into their employment service men who can speak to these men. coming into close understanding with their problems and possibil ities and what they have to offer to the industry. This McKees Rock strike was brought about by a failure to do that, and its settlement bydoing that for which I am pleading.
The pool method of production and wage payment according to what the gang turned out and not according to what each man turned out, was put into efTer-t without any effort being made to explain to the working force, so that when they came to pay day and their envelopes differed from what they had been receiving and expected to receive, they struck; and the settlement was made largely upon the basis of the companyagreeing to establish such assistants in their employment office as to make it possible for the immigrant workers to understand and confer with the company about their grievances and problems.
If we are to give the impression that America is a land of justice, of equal treatment and opportunity for all. in the development of our employment service we must be as careful as that to see that the impres sion and treatment given the immigrant is even-handed;
.5list as much can be said about the need of justice and fair play to the labor union as to the employer, for one of the reasons that the immigrant is suspected of all this radicalism is that he has been like a flock without a shepherd, left in an unorganized state. He has been more easily the victim of those who would exploit his ignorance or his lack of familiarity with American conditions and because from the great American labor movement he has felt excluded. He has felt neglected and ignored by them as much as he could possibly feel in the case of the employer, so that it is a general plea for justice as a fundamental feature of Americanism, justice in our relation to the immigrant, which is so fundamental to his well-being and which is equal to what we Amer icans expect of America--what the immigrant himself has hoped of us.
102
Eighth Safety Congress
PTJDUC EDUCATION'
Another great principle of Americanization is public education. And hero again the industry has been most progressive in helping public education and our school systems to find the way to educate the immi grant. The danger now is that many a plant here and there, having found successful teachers for the immigrant, shall be convinced that the whole problem of instruction of the immigrant can be handled under private auspices and at private expense. In this way there are springing up all hinds of royal roads to learning of English and citizenship.
There are classes In which foremen can be trained in four lessons to teach foreigners English adequately'. There is perhaps no greater spe cialty than the teaching of a foreign tongue, and with all the good work that has been done in the industry, we can be quite sure that in the long run our great American school system is going to be the only ade quate agency for meeting this problem. That does not mean in any sense that industry is to give up its part. Very often the easiest places for the classes are in the shops where they can be held immediately after the men are through their toil, where they do not have to go home and change tlieir clothes and wash up and where they can feel perfectly at home. The practice has become wider and wider in cities like New York. Chicago, and Cleveland which have made the greatest progress in this work, of the industry helping to organize the class and looking upon the public schools as the means of furnishing the teacher, the standard of work and the general supervision. The Y. M. C. A., which is one of the pioneers In this field of work, has come more and more to this practice and is cooperating with the Americanization Committees in organizing classes, only to turn them over to public school systems.
The resources, the technique, the general right of the public and duty of the public to provide such education, I am persuaded America will not overturn when it comes to those who perhaps need more urgently than any others of our people the services of the public schools.
But, let me add one other reason why it is going to be increasingly more effective to use the public school system and let it be known that the classes are under its auspices. Industry has enough troubles, as has already been indicated, growing out of many suspicions, some true and some false, many of them false, to be embarrassed by any unnecessary suspicions among the working men. There is spreading the idea that there Is some kind of industrial education--largely untrue but yet sus pected--that the employer is going to put over on his employee, and that fear you can "pooh-pooh" at until you stop to realize that the best administration that New York City ever had was overthrown very largely because it was suspected that a very large employing interest had control of the public schools for the purpose of doing just that sort of thing.
So that in the matter of the educating of the immigrant, America can do nothing better than to reaffirm its practice and to preserve the respon sibility' of public education for the needs of the immigrant.
Americanizatio n
103
FBEE COMMUNICATION
Very closely connected with public education in an adequate idea of Americanization is that of free communication, including free speech, one of those Americanisms which were inevitably restricted and inter fered with by the war. But as we come bach from that swing of the pendulum, we need to be sure that war necessities are not made peace practices.
There seems to be considerable danger that in the field of American ization, our fear of differences of languages, identified with differences of loyalties in our minds, unnecessarily and unjustly will prevail under peace conditions. The result has been that many states have tried to enforce laws that would suppress the use of foreign languages in public assemblies. There has been a great deal of talk about the suppression of the foreign language press. Of course, that is all said without a thought about the century-old attempts that Europe has been making to suppress languages, because it was just that sort of policy that lay back of German imperialism and that policy that has broken the Central Powers. The attempts to suppress the languages of the subject people, their minorities, has resulted in breaking the Austro-Hungarian Empire Into small fragments, for it is true, the more you attempt to suppress and coerce the use of a language, the more it strives and flourishes. All the world history points in that direction, so that there is danger that America shall disregard and fall into the errors of the European autocrats in this respect, for think what it means, not only In the way of creating opposition and resentment but in the direction of cutting off freedom. It means practically striking deaf, dumb, and blind most adult immigrants.
We all more or less have tried to learn a foreign tongue, and what fa cility, after we become adults, have we for reading, for instance, in an other language? So that in all we say about schooling for the immi grants, don't think that the majority of the immigrants' information is going to come to him in the English tongue. That is contrary to human nature and practice. So whether as a fundamental of democracy the immigrant American keeps in touch with all that is going on in this country depends largely on whether he can he addressed in his own lan guage and whether he can receive a newspaper in his own tongue.
VALUE OF FOREIGN LAXGUAGE FKESS
There were some very startling indications of the usefulness of the foreign language tongue in the war. The much-discussed Committee of Public Information established a precedent for giving to the foreignborn in their own languages everything that the Government wanted any of us to see. Tn a letter the provost marshal has stated that whereas the provost marshal's office had expected the greatest difficulty in the regis tering of the foreign-born, he wanted to testify that the enrollment had been as nearly one hundred per cent and as easy among the foreign-bora as among the native-born because the army had had the facilities of the foreign language press.
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Eighth Safety Congress
The same thing can be said of the Liberty Loan Division of the Treas ury and so on through the Employment Service, through the War Savings Stamps, and through every one of the Government agencies that needed to mobilize resources and men for the great purposes of the war. The l'oreign-born responded so nearly a hundred per cent because we did not
cut them off from free communication with us. in fact, there came to our notice many illustrations of how foreign languages through their newspapers and their addresses had shown us the way into this war.
Kor instance, there was a foreign language newspaper in Chicago, a German paper, that had gone just as unnoticed as another one that had been advocating kaiserism and German autocracy ever since Its founda
tion. But this first paper, of which we had been just, as ignorant as of the second, had been, since its foundation around the time of the '4S revolution in Germany, trying to tell German-Arnericans. and would have told the Ainerican-Americans if they hud listened, that they must over throw* this outpost of autocracy in the world, proving it understood America's task in the world much earlier than America did.
One day there came to our desk in New York a letter from a Division Commander in France expressing much concern because the French were so misundei-standing of our purposes, and he proposed that we establish in France a French newspaper that would explain to the French what the Americans had gone into the war for. That same day there came in this report from one of our staff in tine northwest, that up In a Swedish community where all the papers were now* being printed in the English language, was one continued in Swedish. Upon inquiry* for the reason for that, it was given that this paper had a large circulation back home and it was now at work explaining to the Swedes the American purposes in tile war. That was .lust at the time when we were wondering whether Sweden might go over to the cause of the Central Powers. The thing that this General saw* as a piece of military* strategy* in France, an ob scure paper in the Northwest was doing for us in Sweden. Thus, if the great idea of American freedom of communication is not maintained, not only will we cause the utmost resentment and provoke a revolution, perhaps, more quickly than anything else can do, but also cut off the most valuable means of our Government's and our localities' getting and keeping in touch with the immigrant groups.
There is now a national organization, the sequel or successor of this foreign language division of the Public Information Committee, doing this work for the Government and every* Americanization committee in local communities could do nothing better than form alliances with the foreign language papers so that when we announce special exhibits at our art museums, etc., the foreign-born, would know about them as well as the native-born, or whenever there is a safety parade, he would know of it.
Whatever is of interest to the native-born is perhaps of greater interest to the foreign-born for we are as curious to him as he is to us. and he reads it with as great avidity as the American as the experiment of the Government shows that every attempt to enter into free, general com munication with him was met eagerly*.
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SEf.F-DlKECTIOX A XT) SEf.F-ASSEKTIOV
[Sul. there is one other great practice and principle ot Americanization. ; h>- greatest of all, that is also in my mind most effective in Americani zation. It is all summed up in that phrase "self-determination". What ever else the American is, we pride ourselves on being self-reliant and self-assertive more than any other people on the face of the globe. We are freer from traditional restraint and control and habit. We are more willing to sail uncharted seas. In industry, we are most familiar with its effect on production. We are constantly boasting that the reason Ameri can factories can turn out so much more merchandise is because the American is more resourceful, has more Initiative.
We take pride that our army was as effective as it was because the ordinary private showed that same self-assertion anti resourcefulness.
Now. that most peculiar characteristic of the native American is just ns much a characteristic of the immigrant American for immigration is a great process of natural selection, whether we are talking about immigration in 1919 or 1619. It takes the same kind of people to break with their past, to pull up their own roots from where they have grown, and transplant themselves into a foreign soil: We scarcely realize, per haps. how much the immigrant is exactly like ourselves In this most fundamental characteristic: That which brought our forefathers here brings these new Americans and it is because of this great Insistence upon individual initiative and freedom that America is the kind of land and government it has come to be.
Thsit being true, there is no more precious characteristic of this new America, no more tenacious characteristic, than this right of self-direc tion and self-assertion, and you may be sure that this fundamental ingredient of American democracy is going to be as much safeguarded by the new as by the old America. So. if there is any attempt to coerce to a conformity that is artificial, that is inhuman, our efforts are going to fail utterly.
AMKKICAXIZATIOX TiriSOLTOU GKOtn* okoaxiza rnN
The most effective tilings that are being done for Americanization today are the things that could be well-defined as self-AmericanizationIf it were possible for us to take away this initiative. this seir-reliance and self-aLssertion of'the new America, we would never have an American 'eft. He would become some kind of a puppet, but never that individual ttiai makes tip the great democracies. Now. with that understanding, you wilL understand what your next speaker iis going to tell you about why the I.iberty Loans succeeded so well among the immigrant groups. It is because the immigrant groups themselves were called in by the Treasury Department to do that piece of work. In every single other task that we want immigrants to do the work, the immigrants themselves are often running far ahead of that which we are planning for them, and if it is planned by us as a program to be put over upon them, the failures are so numerous that it is no wonder we give up in despair as often as we do.
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Eighth Safety Congress
We will take a safety program, or a health program, which is so pop ular now in American, communities, and we devise them and we promul gate them and we promote them and we wonder why under heaven, for instance, the children's year took so little with the foreign, group.
Mr. Rieg is going to tell his experiences in the Liberty Loans. On the fourth of July we were together at a great Italian picnic in Chicago where one hundred and twenty-five Italian societies that were founded primarily because of sickness and death were represented. That cer tainly was of health interest in Chicago. They were gathered to form a federation to call upon the resources of Chicago to help them. Well, the politicians were there. City Hall was well represented. They were wise enough to realize that the way to deal with the immigrant is to deal with his organization. The labor leaders were there. The foreign press was there. But, not a single representative of the health interests of the City of Chicago was present, apparently ignorant and blissfully ignorant of the affair.
Here was a group groping for ways to improve their own health, and largely because our own program was a self-made program and in no way related to their point of view. It will'be no wonder if tbings go there as they do in other cities. The Italians will go groping on and the native Americans will go groping on and no. program can be successful until the foreign population are made full partners in it.
I could go on telling you illustrations of how the foreign-born are
Americanizing themselves through their cooperative activities, their selfdirected. self-governing groups, but just let me sum up in closing that an Americanization that is worthy of America must include these funda mental principles of justice, public education, free communication, and self-determination, for only as we are loyal to the best in America will we make the new Americans the best Americans.
Ciiaiijman* Mokey: To me one of the most significant things Mr. Bums has said is that the American problem is not just with the foreign-born, for I believe that many a foreigner brings the ideal of Americanism to America, and he has it in his heart more than some of those whom he finds here.
Our company employed about twenty-four hundred men last year, per haps half of them are foreigners or descendants direct, and I find them tractable. I find them not the trouble-makers. The only problem with the foreigner seems to be to give bim information, to make him understand.
But, his mental processes ring true, and when we Americans in America can learn what Americanization is, then we will have a very much dif ferent problem. It is not just with the foreign-born.
I think it must have been with that idea in mind that the next snbject was written, "The Immigrant's Part''. Only part of our problem is with the foreign-born. . We are fortunate in having with us Mr. Hans Rieg, Chief, Foreign Lan guage Division. War Loan Organization, U. S. Treasury Department
Mr. Kieg has had wonderful experience with the Liberty Loan floata tions and he can tell as much from immediate contact with this foreignborn problem as anybody.
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THE IMMIGRANT'S PART
Han'S Rieg, Chief Foreign Language Division
S.U.
Treasury Department, Washington, D. C.
You can take iron ore, smelt it into pig iron, and roll it into an^Ie or round, as you desire. You can take a tree-trunk, saw it in two and shape from it whatever you want. You can take a huge rock, split it or chisel it as you see fit.
You can take any inorganic substance and by mere application of me chanical skill or chemical process change its nature and its shape.
But you cannot do this with anything organic. In plant-life you can only make desired progress in the process of changing shape or charac ter by patient application of scientific methods.
In animal-life the same applies. When we finally approach the human being, it is obvious that the process of changing, reforming, remoulding of habit, custom, sentiment and language will be slow. This process must be scientific, sympathetic, and above all based upon the cooperating and coordinating consent of him, who is so to be changed.
You cannot make an American out of a foreign-born by force, nor in a day.
Any government which, will attempt to nationalize its subjects of vari ous racial origins by forcible or arbitrary method will ultimately come to harm. This is not idle theory, but established historical fact.
There are in the United States of America more than 15 million born in foreign countries; over 14 million more are the children of foreign born. Of these 29 million, more than 50 per cent speak and read either exclusively or preferably the tongue of the country of their origin. In the aggregate, they converse in at least forty-seven different tongues.
They read 1,394 publications printed in 35 different languages. The com
bined circulation of these publications is about 14.000,000, and more than S.000,000 Individuals read nothing else, because they can't.
Thoroughly cognizant of these conditions within our country, and hav ing an extended knowledge of the traits, customs, and languages of these many different racial groups represented within our population--gained partly through contact with and observation of them within our own land and partly through world-wide travels in their own countries--I fully re alized that in order to arouse their enthusiasm in behalf of the financial enterprises of our Government as a consequence of our entry into the war, it would become necessary to conduct a highly specialized campaign.
When borne in mind that the Bureau of Publicity of the Treasury De partment was organized May 7, 1917, and the campaign for the First Lib erty Loan opened, but twelve days later, it can readily be seen that time was most valuable. Within a period of three days I proposed the forma tion of a distinct Foreign Language Division, formulated a plan of activity and organization, obtained the approval of W. G. McAdoo, then Secretary of the Treasury, was placed in charge of this Division and started opera tion May 11, 1917.
Just as scarce as time, was working material. Everything had to be dug up. Authentic and up-to-date lists of publications printed in foreign
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Eighth Safety Congress
IanKuag<*s. lists of national organizations of all Kinds with members of foreign birth or extraction, statistics on the various racial groups show ing where they predominated, how engaged, their leaders, etc.--ell thi.-* had to be gotten, and gotten (illicitly.
I did the best that could be done under the many adverse conditions and showed noticeable results in behalf of the First Liberty Loan.
Immediately sifter the first campaign, steps were taken to organize more thoroughly this specialization along nationstl lines. 1 was author ized to make trips to the various Federal Reserve centers, in each of which a Foreign Language Division was established. In addresses before racial groups, editors and publishers of foreign language publications, etc.. 1 drove home the exigency of organized and undivided support of the government so that by the time the Second Liberty Loan was announced, a nation-wide, highly specialized campaign in its behalf could be con ducted. which reached into almost every nook and cranny inhabited by for eigners.
A special poster was designed for distribution among the foreign-born. Special publicity material was prepared. Some twenty-odd thousand organ izations. both civic and church, were directly appealed to, and racial group leaders, pastors, priests, and presidents of organizations were enlisted in the campaign. All these agencies responded most willingly, and seemed to welcome the opportunity of doing something for their adopted country.
As a consequence, the response to this Loan from that part of our pop ulation was amazing. Subscriptions came not only from least expected sources, but in most surprising manner, both as to numbers and amounts.
The interval between campaigns was used to extend and intensify the organization of live existing Foreign Language Divisions throughout the Federal Reserve Districts, steadily to enlarge the lists of organizations of all kinds with a membership of foreign extraction, to keep the interest alive and increase it wherever possible--preaching loyalty, patriotism, and 100 per cent Americanism at all times.
FOltTY TEIOI7SAXI1 OSGA.XIZATIOSS HAVE FOBEIGN-BOKX UEUBEBS
So that by the time the campaign for the Third Liberty Loan was launched, contact had been established with more than forty thousand organizations and with every foreign language publication, in the United States. Racial group committees in Foreign Language Divisions of Fed eral Reserve Districts ranged in number from eighteen to thirty-seven, representing as high as forty-three distinct nationalities, their number depending upon the number of their kind within the district. Steps also were taken to provide facilities to record and tabulate the support of these various nationalities to this Loan. This was done for a double pur pose; first, to establish rivalry and thereby stimulate production, and second, to enable the Treasury Department properly to give credit where
credit was due. The tabulations of the subscriptions to the Third Liberty Loan, as re
ported to the Foreign Language Division of the Treasury Department either directly or indirectly through the Foreign Language Division of Federal Reserve Districts, show that thirty-eight nationalities produced
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109
$741,437,000. or 17% per cent of the total amount subscribed, and 7.061,303 Kubvcriptfccms. or 41% per cent of the total number of subscriptions.
The- showing In behalf of the Fourth Liberty Loan was even more grati
fying; $1,114,536,350. or 16 per cent of the total amount, came from those
of foreign birth or foreign-born parentage, and the number of individual
ttb*cription5 was 10.614.632 or 46% per cent of the total number.
The response to the Victory Liberty Loan, in proportion, came up to
past achievements. Backing up most intensified organization among all these various races
and nationalities, the Foreign Language Division prepared publicity mate
rial In thirty-four different languages. Special posters, pamphlets, edi
torials, feature stories, news items, copy and cuts for display advertise ments, and personal appeals published over the signatures of racial group
leaders were given national circulation. Take just one item: A litho
graphed reproduction in colors of the "Americans All" poster, which had
been especially designed for that part of our population, was circulated
to the number of seven million copies as an art supplement through the
foreign language press. From all this it Is obvious that this specialized work was not only nec
essary, tout most productive. The actual results should be measured not
only by the amount of dollars produced for governmental purpose hut
also toy their benefits to the foreign-born which, 1 believe, are much
farther-reaching.
Let me sum up a few of these benefits:
First, it has brought the foreign-horn back to the thrift and saving he
had learned as a child and which extravagant America had made him for
get. Second, It tied him to this country by a new bond, and laid the founda
tion of a deeper, better citizenship. A Libertyi Bond has nothing in com
mon with anarchy, atheism, and soap box Bolshevism.
Third, the unification of each race among its own people and of
dozens of races in a great movement like this got them acquainted,
blotted out racial and religious differences and merged all in American
ism.
-
Fourth, it has made every native born, the so-called simon-pure Ameri
can, who has come in touch with this ground swell of foreign-bom Amer icanism, have a deeper confidence in the future of our country and a
holier appreciation of the liberty and democracy, which those who were
born here take as a matter of course. From these many peoples from
many climes, now all under one flag, we now have an outward and visible
sign of that inward and spiritual. Americanism which is evidenced by
. our country's motto, "E Pluribus Unum."
However, as stated, these results achieved, amazing as they are, could not Save been achieved without specialization.
To employ similar means in behalf of Americanization is obvious.
It is equally as obvious that Americanization is one of the most impor
tant tasks before us. As already Indicated, we have now been made to
realize as never before the importance, both as to quantity and quality of
that part of our population which is of foreign birth or foreign-horn
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Eighth Safety Congress
United States, and tliac more than 8,000,000 individuals read nothing else but snch. It is their only source of information. Information begets edu cation. Take away from them this source and you will create most fer tile soiL for undesired, detrimental and sinister propaganda. See to it that this source of information is made thoroughly American and clean --this can be done--and yon have the desired and necessary medium of national benefit.
The invaluable service which the foreign language press rendered to the government during the time that we were at war is a matter of in disputable record. Not only the Treasury Department, but the State, Army and Navy Departments of the United States, recognize it.
Equally as valuable service can these foreign language publications render in time of peace. I considei' them an absolute and peremptory need, a need not temporary but lasting, as Jong as we have within our midst people not thoroughly conversant with the English language or totally unable to speak it, and as long as we shall welcome to our shores for either permanent or temporary residency, peoples from foreign climes.
Well do I know that there exists great difference of opinion as to this. Let me assure you that I. as fully as you, am cognizant of the extended criticism, in many Instances most severe, and -by no means always just, meted out to those publications which are printed in foreign tongues.
This criticism has come from various sources. It has been prompted by many motives, and neither source nor motive has always been pure and unselfish. However, some satisfaction Is to be found in the fact that equally as great men have been for it as have been against it. No matter how eminent or wise a man may be, he cannot always be right. But when it comes to the advocacy of complete abolition of foreign language newspapers, then 1 shall make bold to assert that no matter which the source or who the man, they are absolutely wrong.
I make the claim, as already indicated, that the foreign language press was as necessary to the successful conduct of the war as it is necessary to ibe safe, harmonious, and orderly conduct of the forces of our Govern ment in times of peace. My friends, it is as necessary as a law of gravi tation to the flow of the waters of the Mississippi.
However, there must be a vital and most thorough change in funda mentals and general policy. Let me sum up what I mean by this in, these words:
AMKKtCASIZE FOKEICi.V LANGUAGE PBESS
What we have had have been Italian papers printed in America. Polish papers printed within our country, Bohemian papers printed within our land. German papers published within the United States, and so on down the list. And that is wrong. What we must have are American papers printed in Polish. American papers published in Bohemian, American pa pers published in the tongue of Italy, American papers printed in Ger man, etc. Just as the individual who comes to us from foreign shores with the intent to live here and to benefit from the advantages of our land is expected to swear allegiance to the Stars and Stripes and mean it when becoming a citizen, so must the foreign language press become
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permeated with undivided allegiance to but one country. Ft must be the mouthpiece of unadulterated American patriotism and its keynote should at all times be full-fledged loyalty without reservation, to but one coun try, the United States of America.
No objection should be had to the conveying of information pertaining to the countries from which their readers come, but serious objection should be raised to the treatment--editorially or otherwise--of matters from any other point of view but the American point. It will mean the preaching of American doctrine pure and simple. It will mean the per formance of one of the greatest, noblest missions which can be allotted to any one. It will mean that the foreign language papers will drive home to their readers, conversing in many tongues, not only the blessings of our land, but also their obligations toward it. It will mean the thorough and expedient unhooking of the hyphen, gradually embracing alt our for eign-horn. within that great big family circle of "Americans All" and for "America First''----the greatest nation and the grandest country in the universe.
:Chairman- Morey The immigrant coming to our shores incidentally comes into contact with governmental agencies, hut it is only indirectly that he thus comes into contact with Americanism as a political insti tution. but he does come into direct and immediate contact with our in dustries. That is where his family is concerned. That is where his bread and butter and clothes are to come from, and lie Is to be taken care of. As Americanism is interpreted to him through that contact, that contact Is what he thinks of America.
Our next speaker will treat of the responsibility of the industry--what the industries can do in this matter. We will be pleased to hear from Mr. H. T. Waller, who has been with the Educational Department of the H. F. Goodrich Company.
r--
WHAT TT-IE INDUSTRIES CAN DO FOR AMERICA XIZAT I OX
H. T. Waller, Akrox, Ohio (Fobmerly Educational Director, B. F. Goodrich: Company, Akron, Omo)
1
The title of this paper could well have been reversed to read "What Americanization can do for the Industries", and the author would be most glad to discuss a paper under this heading. However, the Executive Committee have decreed a paper on. "What the Industries can do for Americanization".--we obey the mandate.
INDUSTRY OCfTl'IES THE STRVTM.rr V.VNTAlSK POINT
Industry occupies a strategic position relative to the Foreign born. In dustry has needed the man with the pick and shovel, the man with brawn, the man eager to make good, the man willing to work under all conditions and at all times. The Industrial progress of this Nation has its founda tion built by the supply of immigrant labor. Industry, however, during
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Eighth Safety Congress
the later years has come to recognize a much, greater potential force In its unskilled labor than heretofore. It has come to recognize a terrific loss due to misunderstanding; it has realized also that only as under standing is created between employee and employer can best results be secured.
Outside of Industry certain social and educational forces have been working many years to create a better understanding of the foreign born situation. Many have recognized that only as a common language was used could the best of understanding be created and maintained, and to this end educational and social workers have been seeking to develop an Americanization consciousness that would appreciate the potential value of the immigrant. As the work progressed under private and organization leadership it soon developed that in order effectively to carry on Ameri canization work, in order to reach positively the great army of workers it was necessary to have classes and activities conducted where these people were brought together in natural groups. This place is the in dustrial plant. Watch the thousands of employees as they come to and leave work. They come from and scatter to all points of the compass. While in the plant and even in the departments of the plant are gathered large groups of these men who here, at least, have a common point of in terest. It Is the place where their daily bread is earned, and where they are earning that which will enable them to safeguard and enjoy the fu ture. It has been found also that of all influences that are effective in dealing with the foreign laborer the influence of his foreman leads. Con sequently, certain workers in this field have endeavored to develop a plan by which the largest number of foreign employees might be most effec tively reached foi* the benefit of industry, for the benefit of .themselves,
and for- the benefit of the community. For, after" all, tire interests of tire
one are the interests of all three, and injure the best interests of one and you will injure the best interests of all three. For the basic interests of Employer. Employee, and Community are identical. What then can In dustry do? Occupying as it does the strategic vantage point.
KKSrOSSIHIUTY FOR AMERICANIZATION WORK
Industry can and shouLd supply within its organization a person or persons charged with definite responsibility for developing the best in terests of the foreign-speaking employees in the plant. No outside agepey can come in and do what this agency from within can do. It is necessary that Industry shall stick, to its job of production and any work that Is done must be so conducted as-not to interfere with production, but this has a vital influence upon production, therefore, find a man or men with high purpose, social vision, and practical common sense, who will work to gether with the Foreman, Assistant Foreman, and American workers of Industry. The result will be an established point of contact with the foreigner that is bound to he of tremendous value. The men responsible for Americanization in the Industry must be men of Community vision, not men who are simply creating a department and a job for themselves. This latter point of view would be suicidal to the object desired. For when it comes to the question of instruction of the employees in the
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knowledge of English, the ideal is the educational leadership of the com munity, namely, the Board of Education and the point of coupling the public educational forces to the industrial power is a delicate one and Calls for splendid leadership on both sides. Industry can do more for the promotion of Americanization than any other single agency. In fact. Industry must do more, for it is to the best interests of Industry that it should be done. The type of community in which a man lives determines more than we now realize the type of production that he turns out. There is, therefore, a compelling economic force which determines Industry's place in this great problem.
IXDUS1BV MUST TAKE LEADERSHIP IX, AMERICANIZATION
Today we are facing the problem of a great labor shortage due to nat ural causes. The fact that foreign labor is returning to Europe is a natural thing, but if Industry and the Community had paid special atten tion to establishing a sympathetic, intelligent point of, contact with for eign labor, the result would have been the establishing of permanent homes -in this country on the part of the foreign laborer, to a very much greater degree than has been the case. Only in so far as we are able to establish this personal contact are we going to he able to stabilize labor. Indus try must, therefore, take a positiou of leadership in the problem of Ameri canization, and where Community Educational forces do not recognize their responsibility for adult education, then Industry must and can take the leadership, and furthermore must see to it that there is a change in attitude on the part of the educational leadership in such a way as to meet the needs of the community which they are serving. One emphatic warn ing is essential in connection with this problem. Force, compulsion, pa-
ternalism should be shimned as though they were a plague. We do not
want American citizens as a result of compulsion. Friendship is not a thing that can be forced. , Friendship is the result of sympathetic under standing. Friendship will result in the building of an ideal community. Understanding will result in the creation of an ideal industrial relation ship. It is possible to secure this through the point of contact estab lished in Industry through the agency of Americanization leaders.
COOPERATION OF INDUSTRY AND COMMUNITY
In the cooperation of Industry and the Board of Education there is a combination of Industry and Community that is bound to react most ..favorably upon the Individual, the Industry, and the Community.
Industry holds the vantage point of economic leadership. The solving of. this'-great National problem will depend very largely upon the vision . of industrial leaders who recognize the tremendous value of an intelli. gent understanding.
SAFETY ENGINEER SHOULD PROMOTE AMERICANIZATION
i "Safety work in Industry is an accepted part of industrial necessity 'throughout' this country. Just what relationship the work among the foreign speaking employees would hear to the safety problem is compara-
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Eighth Safety Congress
tively easy to analyze. Every safety engineer will say that the best safety device known is a careful workman. Careful workmen, are an impossibility if they are urfable to understand instructions, both verbal and written. Every safety engineer should be an insistent promotor of Americanization effort. H-e. more than any other single department head in the Industry should understand the vital importance of a thoughtful, understanding working force. Only as every employee is able to under stand and read warnings and instructions relative to dangerous machines is it possible to cut down the fearful fatality list, which is now a fact in our industrial life.
ESS EXT I A I.S IX. IXDUSTIilAr. AM ERICA XJZATTOX
Industry must then supply leadership, money, and cooperation In the work of Americanization. The leaders of Americanization also must take their position with the leaders of direct production, working with them in close cooperation, in order that there may he developed an industrial life based upon sympathetic understanding and mutual helpfulness.
Cir.MitMAX Moisey: The purpose of this session, as Indicated by or program, is to ascertain, first, what an American is and, second, what 'we must do to make us all Americans.
We will now have a discussion of these splendid papers we hare heard and I will ask Mr. George B. Font, Supervisor of Night Schools. Toja> town Sheet and Tube Company, to lead that discussion for us.
DISCUSSION
Mr. Geokuk B. Fun': The first 1 have heard of these 'excellent is in hearing them presented here this afternoon, and the speaftem pre ceding me have so well delivered their message and given yon a* mwctsfood for thought that it is hardly worth while for one who Is so yowasg, 1 don't moan in years but in Americanization work, to tell what the es sentials are in these papers.
I simply want to say to you that I have been brought into the Asaeri.eanization work by circumstances over which I had no control. In a community of fourteen thousand inhabitants, 97*4 per cent of whom are foreign born. I was the first American-born leader who was willing to live among them, that I might be better able to understand them and to know their needs and try to work out their problem.
And. I want to say to you men and women interested in work for the foreign born, that although I have been a Y. M. C. A. Secretary and a religious worker nearly all my life, my happiest and most fruitful years have been the three years spenL in East Youngstown, which did not have a. very good reputation in the estimation of a great many people because of the things that happened there.
Our speakers have brought to our attention the attitude of the Ameri can to the foreign-born man. and what the American laboring man is thinking today about the foreign-born man working in the steel industry. I think I have had a good opportunity of discerning that this last week.
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I want to say to you that, whether it is just or not, I am afraid, that this crisis which is on us, instead of drawing the American-horn workman
closer to the foreign-horn--this thing that has been brought about beeause of false leadership is going to work for his harm rather than his
good. If we are going to Americanize, first we have to decide what Is Ameri
can. If I should ask you men and women here today to select the Ameri can that you would want these foreign-born to become like, whom would
you select? (The audience expressed its choice as Theodore Roosevelt.) Mow J am going to emphasize what the last speaker has brought to your
attention. As I have learned to know these foreign-bom and to know their minds and needs, living among them and having them come to me with their woes and troubles and knowing their heart throbs, the thing that they need and are asking and longing for is for other Americans, not
like myself but better than myself, who are willing to go down among them and live there and show them what to do. and let them know that their hearts beat with thrir hearts. If we expect to Americanize them, we have to be willing to do that, otherwise their so-called leaders are going to control them as they have done in. the past and will do until we
are willing to do it for them. Just a few weeks ago when they had trouble in the Catholic church
down there, they sent for one of their own nationality in Youngstown--alawyer--to tell them what to do. He rame and they got deeper in Che mire than they were before. They went before the >Tayor with their lawyer and committees requesting Him to prohibit their priest fmttt entering the church on the next day. It being ji*sf a few days before the strike was to be called, we were concerned, and they sent for the Americanisation
man who stands before yon to go before the committee, I went aa4 is was about a quarter after twelve on Saturday sight when the factions were
brought together. They are all satisfied now and the committee said E
was the only man in the comm unity who
do that because l was a
native-born American.
I. could tell you many instances where the work in TCast Youngstown,
has been developed and ideals have been gives without a word being
said about ideals, because l was witling to work and fight and give serv
ice to them so they couldn't refuse when I asked- it of them. A great many of the industries as well as their Americanization direct
ors are saying that we must not let religion, touch this question on any
side at all. I want to say to you as a Iiotestant that I have lived in a
community that is eighty-five per cent Catholic and have been before every foreign society and have attended many celebrations held in the
interest of the Catholic Church. I have always been asked to speak at the meetings and have always spoken on religion, its needs and Influence,
and I have had the priest come and thank me for emphasizing Ideals of what America stands for in home life and church life. I am not afraid of religion. They are the most religious people I ever came in contact with and they want it.
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J*ast Sunday we had a lot of men shut up in the mill, and some of them wanted to get up an entertainment on Sunday night--a vaudeville, performance or something of that kind--because the men couldn't get out. I am thankful to say that there were some men who had grit and sense enough to say "We want a religious service". I gave them a religious service last Sunday morning and again last Sunday night and they were all so well pleased that they asked for one during the week. 1 want to say to you, friends, industry can be religious and you needn't be afraid of it, either. I have been religious ever since I was fourteen years old and although I am not as good as I ought to be now, I believe in it and so do most of the men, especially the foreign-born.
need i.ka mens wjr.t.ixc to .make sacrifices
Mr. Waller struck it when lie said, "We want the men and women who are willing by their lives to interpret Americanism to these people." It is not only that we want it, but they want it more than we do. That is the most important thing in this whole problem--to have a leader who is willing to make the sacrifice and work twenty-four hours in the day if necessary.
jDo you know that in these years, I venture to say, I have had fifty different organizations come down to East Youngstown that have looked over the field and said: "Oh, Mr. Emit, what a wonderful opportunity you have here. I would give anything if I could locate here." X said, "Yes, not anything, but it must be everything." They wouldn't give any thing at all. They went away, all of them, and forgot all about the place and opportunity.
A very attractive worker called a few weeks ago. She had been over in France. I am an old bachelor and was in sincere hopes she would come and work. After looking over the fiefd she said: "Oh, it is just the most wonderful field and the most wonderful opportunity." I said: "Are you going to come and do the work?" "Oh, no, X am only an investigator, but I am going to send down a worker."
I haven't heard anything from that organization, though. It is six weeks ago she was there and she promised to send some one in two weeks. I have come to the point where I feel like telling all investigators, "Please stay out unless you are willing to come down and do the work that ought to be done."
Let us know exactly what must be done and what we want to do along the right lines of Americanization, and then we will get where we ought to be in the Americanization problem, but it is only going to come by the sacrifices of those who really are willing to understand the foreigner and to sympathize with him in the efforts he is making in this his adopted country.
:Chairman- Mo key Now let us have a good earnest discussion. "We have touched some pretty deep things today and these gentlemen who have studied this problem and presented these thoughts are here to dis cuss them with us.
Mr. R. D. H.vr.r. (Coal Age) : I am one of those foreign-born of which.
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mention, has been made today and I have been the subject In many years of the efforts of my friends to promote Americanization. I must say that' I have not as a subject been very much impressed -with the work that has been done; that my Americanization as ft has come has come largely from my desire for Americanization rather than from the urgent efforts of the friends with whom I have been associated who have been very'anxious to change my point of view.
MISTAKES IX MKT lions OK AM KKKV.V IZATrorV
I consider it possibly one of the hardest things in ttae world to start Americanizing anybody by a process of either compulsion or persuasion. J want you to get this into your head. I don't want you to think for one moment that it should be difficult for the foreigner to become an Ameri can because I do not think it is, but f feel very much, or I did feel when I first came to this country, in the position of a little child who had lost its mother and the mother it had was poor and the conditions of life were somewhat hard, and a rich person came along and offered to act as foster mother for this child, and every night before she pnt the child to bed, she said, "Don't you like me better than your own mother? Am I not a richer and a better and an altogether nicer mother than the one who bore you and took care of you in your youth?"
I think it is a mistake to attempt the naturalization system on the basis of running down a foreign country. It doesn't matter how much better this country may be than any other country, and I am prepared to admit all that you argue. It creates an antagonism in any event and any one who is an antagonist endeavors to say the very best on the other side of the question. Yon are so sure you have a good country--and you have it --that in time he will become a good citizen, and you can get him to wean himself from his neighbors who are of his own extraction.
I think sometimes that our Americanization work tends too much towards the political end. AYe Americans do not want any foreigner to become a citizen, to have the right to vote, until he feels that he is an American. Our tendency has been to give the foreigner a vote before he felt he was one of us. The last thing that should be given" a foreigner is a vote. He should feel deep down in his heart an affection for the United States before he ventures to cast a vote. People used to say,"Well, why don't you become naturalized and get a vote?'' It always seemed to me it was a crime almost until I had been thoroughly imbued with the ideas of America to cast my vote at all. I was perfectly willing to wait until a more perfect change of heart came.
I quite agree with the speakers who say that there will always be in the heart of every man a certain degree of affection for his native land. Please remember that the man who does not like his native land will never like our native land very much.
The man who has been the bad citizen from where he came and could never feel a responsibility to his neighbor and a feeling of gratefulness to him for his goodness will never be grateful to us for our goodness. If he is an ingrate, we do not want him. The man who has a live love
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Eighth Safety Congress
foK'his native land still resting with him after years of living in this country is possibly very much better an American citizen for that, be cause it shows he can remember his father and his mother and his childhood days and his little church and all those things which were dear to him and which will continue to be dear to him as long as he lives, and if you ask him to cast those things away, you ask him to cast away the very treasure of his soul and it is wrong.
I-et us remember there are things in Europe that are sacred to every man and to ask him to change his point of view and to look with despite fulness toward it is all wrong. We should lead him to a higher and bet ter life. It is some of those people who are most devoted to their native land who are most devoted to this.
I want to say something about other foreigners I have met--Magyars. When the war was on we were running more or less patriotic material in our paper. We also had posters and things of that kind and it wasn't for any purpose but creating patriotism. It wasn't long before the Szabadsag came to us and asked that, some of the stuff we had run In the basis of the paper should be taken over by them. They used those cuts again and again. I know they were performing a patriotic service, and I think the statement made by Mr. Hans Rieg was not altogether representative of the facts because I believe there was a good deal of money given by for eigners of which we had no account whatever. I think most of them are very patriotic people. I believe they are determined to help the United states in every possible wav. and the very best way for a foreigner to appreciate America after he has been in the United States a few years is to go back, and I assure you after he comes back from a trip abroad, he is a better citizen. I am sometimes sorry I have only been back once. They tell me when you meet a foreigner abroad who has been in America, he shows his true Americanism In his delight in seeing you. It doesn't matter how much he waves the flag, if he feels in his heart that he loves America, that is the thing for \vhich we are aiming.
SAI.KS.U AXSIIIU III i; KKY.VOTK
Mn. Ei;i;kxk .7. Rokscii fNew Vork City): It seems to me today that the keynote of the speakers arid of the last speaker particularly is salesman ship.
We in America pride ourselves on our salesmanship. We are learning that in order to sell a product, you have to know your field and you have to know what you have to sell.
Now. let us consider this proposition from that standpoint. I feel, through years of residence abroad in my engineering work and in Sontli America, that I have been better able to present America to the foreignhorn because of that, and I would suggest that every man who expects to do real foreign work avail himself of some travel or connection with the foreign element. If he doesn't get abroad, let him go into the settlements in this country and study them.
There is one thing we have to realize and that is that America, just like the English language. Is a growing thing. We have not stood still.
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We have our ideals but they are growing, and so America is going on like a comet, dragging on more and more, and through accretion getting other ideals. We must realize, if we give anything, the people have something to give also. Give them a chance to give of their treasure.
It was my pleasure during the war to be connected with the Scoville .Manufacturing Company in Waterbury and we had a number of problems at that time. We were prepared for unrest and also for keeping the health up. and ail that sort of thing. I worked considerably with the Spanish and Latins. I- like them. They are fine people. They are all fine people when yon come to study them. They are all human beings-- we must realize that.
STUDY CUSTOMS Ob' THE I'EOIM.K
Knowing a great many of the customs of the people, I will give you just one or two instances. There was one boy who was put among some Ktissians. He was a hot-blooded Spaniard who carried a knife. The Russians chipped him and the altercation was carried out into the street and. of course, he was arrested for drawing his knife. Our ideals are different and the judge who sentenced him to about two months on a very one-sided' hearing didn't understand the custom of the Spaniards as I did. When he was in the jail in New Haven, some lawyer, the sort of chap who preys on the ignorance of people, offered his assistance. There again we get the wrong thought. We should suppress those gentlemen. If you want to Americanize these people, get them when they are in trouble and be a real friend, and you will get them by digging deep into the roots of their soul.
This boy, fortunately, had had some contact with us and he refused the aid of the lawyer and said that he would wait until he got into communication with me. I went to see him and told him it wouldn't be long before he got out. He was ready for a little dressing and he got it. in a. few days he was free and he came to me and said, "Here is a hun dred and fifty dollars. If I get into trouble, or if I gamble. yo(n just give this money to the Red Cross."
Well, I am glad to say. gentlemen, that at the end of thirty days, the end of probation, he had reported either personally or in writing every day. I made that boy a leader of a number of Spaniards.
So on, one after another--rental troubles, oppression by landlords--get them and carry the case over. t*se atl influence, whether IegS.1 or not, fight for them and they will fight for you and this country.
Then we came to the flu. If you will pardon, this is a little personal experience, but it will show you what can be done. We had hundreds of men Quartered in barracks, quartered on what is called Golden Hill. They consisted mostly of Portuguese. Spanish, and some limited service men, all the way from two hundred fifty to three hundred fifty people sleeping in barracks, perhaps seventy or eighty on the floor. We were rather concerned about the health of these men during the epidemic and so it was my job to sell those fellows precaution and health. I won't go into details. Every man who understands the things that promote human
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Eighth Safety Congress
beings to action knows the many ways with which you can work: with leaders and groups and enthuse them. But, I want to say this, that those boys cleaned their teeth, took their baths, kept their windows open at night, exercised vigorously, and not one case of Spanish influenza devel oped among my boys on Golden Hill. "Whenever there was a case of cold,
the boys came themselves for the medicine. They have their ideals and love of their home, of their games, and.
they had a chance to show some of our American friends their way of in dulging in sports. I remember one evening when the American girls and men of the plants, and some of the boys from the office, about two hun dred of them, saw an improvised Spanish bull fight. The bull was a human being but he was a pretty good representation of a bull. It was a total surprise to me except that I knew something, but not what was coming off. I let the boys figure out their own entertainment and do their part. In that way they imbued there, some of our spirit of fair play,
.7UST1CK AXD FAIR PI.AY
I want to say if you expect to Americanize our very big population, you must not patronize them. You must sell them the idea of justice and fair play because you know them and have studied them and. have put
your best front foremost. We do not do that with our foreign-born. That is our trouble. We try our best to sell our goods, but if we expect to in fluence the foreign element of this country, we must really sell them the American idea.
Mr. M. L. Peu.mkr i Bocal Council. St. Louis, Mo.): The addresses made by our speakers, the criticisms rendered in review of these speeches, the address made spontaneously by my Englisli-born friend over here, just brings out a thought, and that is, that after all, when we talk about Americanizing the foreigner, there is just a trifle of a feeling of superior ity in us,
Mow, we have some very nice nicknames. The Frenchman we call a "frog"'. We forget that Dumas. Balzac, and a number of others were "frogs". The Italian we call a "dago"'. So was Dante. The German is a "dutchman". So were Goethe and Schiller. And, so it goes all the way through.
I have as yet to hear the first speaker bring out a very important point --to sell this great, wonderful, splendid country to its native citizens. Your foreign-born citizen usually knows more about America and its in stitutions than you do yourself. If you want to know America, if you want to know just how wonderful, how big. how great, how everlastingly beau tiful American institutions are. let some foreigner tell you why they are so wonderful. You can't realize it unless you leave your own native land, and compare conditions in foreign countries with those conditions which you, by an accident, have enjoyed all your lives and have taken as quite natural and as your just dues.
Mr. Wii.ks (Director of Americanization for the City of Cleveland): As an Americanization worker. I can. say there has been no movement to discredit any foreign nation or any foreign tongue or any foreign, prac-
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tlces, as they may be practiced there; but this is America, a country of amalgamation, and all that we are after is simply to continue the amal gamating or the melting or the weaving or the mosaic, or whatever else you want to call it. We are simply trying to bring people together. We are not trying to get a fellow to forget those things he loves in his moth
erland! I never speak to a group of foreign men but what I make that point
clear, Mr. Chairman: We are trying to get you to learn the language of America, hot to forget your own language! That is the keynote.
l^et's go away from this meeting this afternoon rwith this one thing which we will do-: WTiatever Americanization may mean, I am going to
begin at the beginning, and the beginning of the Americanization move ment in the minds of the sanest thinkers of this country is the acquire ment of the language of America by those who do not know it- That is
the beginning. Now, in your factory, in your community, in your city. If the industry,
if the Board of Education, if the social workers, if the Y. ML C- A. is not carrying on a program to bring that thing about, then it is not carrying on the first step of Americanization.
I want to take exception to the first speaker. It makes me a little peeved- because you say a foreigner can't learn the American language just because you can't learn French! My trying to learn French in America is an entirely different thing. These people are living in the English language, speaking the English language, thinking in the Eng lish language! I promise you that we can take any man, fifty years of age "or over, who has never had a day's schooling in the homeland, and we can give him a fairly good use of the English language in. a year! Then, through a longer process we will give him those ideals of Ameri ca, if he hasn't had them, and I know that most of them have them before they even come to America! Then, the last thing is citizenship. Let's confer that tipon him after he has been associated with the ideals of this country. Let's teach him the sacredness of that citizenship so he will vote intelligently. But, we will never get very far-until we have first taught oitrselves the lesson, of voting intelligently!
Mr. Hass Rieg: In direct reply to your statement, Mr. Wiles, you here in Cleveland no later than two days ago had an actual and practical demonstration of what can be done with fourteen different nationalities of foreign-born within less than three months' time. I have reference to the exhibition drill of the Americans-All Squad. My friends, those fourteen different nationalities three months ago couldn't speak a word . of the American language. Today they converse in the American lan guage, sing in the American language, and drill according to commands given in the American language.
But, how was it done? Not by coercion! Not by the employment of arbitrary methods; The Colonel to my knowledge worked on that thing for two years, and one of the first things he did was, he almost daily came to my office and afterwards went to my clipping bureau; he kept at his -work until he speaks rather fluently about eleven tongues. He
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Eighth Safety Congress
put himself on an absolute basis of equality with the men, but he showed these fellows, "though I am your superior officer and I have control over you to command, I consider you just as good a man as I."
Now, one more thing, again coming to the value of acquiring the lan guage of a land. There have been and there are today, decided efforts of coercion in so far as to forbid and handicap the use of a foreign tongue. That will place in the pathway of Americanization an almost in surmountable obstacle. So, may I ask you gentlemen if you are interested in Americanization, to use your individual influence on these men in the halls of Congress in. Washington and prevent them from advocating such laws. They are unwholesome! They are retarding our progress.
-Mr. VKK.Mir.iox (Akron, Ohio): In Akron we treat Americanization as a. community problem. We have coordinated every agency, not only the industries. V. M. C. A. and all the agencies of the men, but we have or ganized all the women, women's clubs, home and school societies, mis sionary unions, and every agency in Akron today is cooperating and work ing on this American program: not that any of us are taking a superior attitude but the women of the city of Akron are going into the homes of these folks and sitting down and visiting with them.
We are organizing classes now. We have ninety-seven classes in opera tion with a total enrollment of about fourteen hundred men and women. We invite you to come down and see for yourselves the practical working of what we think is a practical plan.
I have before me here two men. plant directors of two of the largest factories representing employers of forty-seven thousand men, sixty per cent of whom are foreign-born. These two men are the point of contact between the industry and the Board of 'Education. The Board of Educa tion furnishes the supervision and these men are getting the foreignborn into the classes in the industry. They are not only getting the foreign-born, but Mr. Watson called me the other day and wanted a teacher for twelve Americans who could not read or write. He has ap proximately one hundred colored men who cannot read or write,- and they are in the classes.
'Phis is a community problem. We cannot wait for the Federal Govern ment to solve It. We can't wait for the State. But. you gentlemen, in your respective communities can do the same thing that we are attempting to do if you will just go about it. If you could see the eagerness with which these fellows want to get Into the school, with which they want to learn English and with which they want to take the higher studies, you would get an inspiration that would make you want to get started in the work and on the right line.
Chairman Murky: Mr. Wiles, what do you think of this matter of compulsory abolition of the foreign tongues?
Mrt. W ii.E.-s: I think in this Americanization program, there is no reason why we should touch that at all. These groups are here, have been for a good many years. If there is anything wrong with them, it is our fault. This is a great problem of neglect. It is a great qtiestion of oversight and we have simply let things go by until they went from
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germs to pus, that is all there is to it, and we haven't any time now to talk about major operations.
We have a great problem of reconstruction now. The foreign press can render me a greater service in this matter than the American because I can get a message across that I can't in the American. I use foreign speaking men and women and I use the foreign language newspapers, but the thing I am hoping for is the time, which will come, when we won't need them. If we can carry this English program through, we won't need these things.
Jf you will pardon the reference, I lived in a very strong German town before the war--forty-seven per cent were German. The leading newspa per was German, but the boys and girls in the high school didn't read that newspaper. They were the third generation. They read the American papers, and this paper was just about on its last legs, because the old families had passed away. The old advertisers were still using it, but the newer generation was reading the American papers. But. I say, if that will help the old folks, the Lord bless 'em and let 'em have it; but in two or three years, there won't he any demand for it.
Mr. A. M. Coxux: This talk seems to be about giving the English tongue to the foreigner who wants it. How about the foreigner who doesn't want it, the fellow who cannot read or write in any language? How are we to give it to him?
Mr- RoKscir: As I said, the keynote of our problem is salesmanship. If you are going to Americanize your people, you have to study them. The first step in any salesmanship is thorough investigation or your problem. If you will investigate it in a sympathetic way, you will find a way to proceed. Take the one step and the next step w'ill follow the same as when you are behind a closed door, yon get that lock open, and when you get into the room you will know what to do.
Mr,. Coxnix: That doesn't answer my question. Love for your fellow neighbor is a fine idea, but supposing your fellow neighbor doesn't care to be loved. I have been associated with the foreign, element for a num ber of years, but the farther I go the less I think I know of the problem. You can't advertise to ignorant people. You have to advertise to thinking people, that is why you have a sales talk.
Ciiairmax Morey: Don't you think your problem is to improve your salesmanship?
Mr.. Palmer (Equitable Life Assurance Co.) : In reading an interest ing book this morning, "Ancient Peoples at New Tasks," I came across a paragraph which, to my mind, is applicable to this question. Dr. Greenfield of Labrador says, "If you want to convert people, do some thing for them that they understand and get their confidence, and through some direct evidence that you are going to do something for them, edu cate them that you are sincere."
Chairman Morey: Our hour is late and we must close. For my own use, I have drawn up a little memorandum as a result of what I have heard. First, I am going to study what true Americanism is. Second, I am going to try to he an American myself. Third, I am
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Eighth Safety Congress
going to see that my company is American in its attitude, by reflecting justice and fellowship to these men. Fourth, I am going to see that my community reflects this same American attitude, and last, to do what I can to sell this Americanism of the heart and of the mind to these for
eigners. Adjournment.
General Round-Table Meeting
October 2, 1919
THOMAS STANION, Chairman
Manager Safety and Sanitation, Aluminum Castings Company, Cleveland, Ohio
ENERAL MANAGER C. W. PRICE: I want to give myself the pleas ure of introducing the Chairman of this morning's session--Mr. Thomas Stanion. He was formerly with the Commonwealth Steel Com pany, and now with the Aluminum Castings Company, with headquarters in Cleveland. Tom Stanion has "been one of the most valuable men in the local organ ization. It was Tom Stanion who was the leader of the splendid school for safety supervisors that graduated a hundred and thirty-three men here in Cleveland. I take great pleasure in introducing Tom Stanion as the Chairman, of the Round-Table Session. (Mr. Stanion took the chair.) CiXAiitstAX Station: I think all of you know "C. W." just as well as I do. You know whatever he says must be taken with a liberal amount of salt. (Laughter.) The National Safety Council came into being through the need of an opportunity to interchange ideas--a need and a desire for a clearing house where the experiences of one plant could be made available for others; and naturally out of such an organization at the start there came some very lively Round-Table discussions, such as we are going to have this morning. These Round-Tables have been continued through the various Con gresses, and each year with an increasing amount of enthusiasm and interest. Some people might think we are getting so far along in our safety work and know so much about it that it is not necessary to have these Round-Table meetings any more, but such is not the case, for this Bafety work is a generation's job.
MECUAXIC.U.. EDUCATIONAL, AND SUPERVISION
As we have gone along in the development of safety work, the activities have defined themsetves into distinct channels- There has been the mechanical side, the educational side, and the supervision side. This morning we are going to turn our thoughts particularly to these three points. There are some who say one is more important than the other. After we have heard the discussion this morning .we shall have an
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opportunity of knowing better where we feel the emphasis should be placed.
Our first speaker is one who not only has made a deep study of his subject, but he has based it carefully, methodically, and accurately on ihe facts available. He will tell you nothing about any theories that some good people think are good. He will tell you of the facts, and the things as they are. 1 am happy to present to this meeting this morning Ur. Lucian \V. Chaney.
IS INDUSTRIAL DEATH NECESSARY?
Dit. Lucian W. Chaney, Uxitf.d States Bureau of Labor Statistics, Washington-. D. C-
This is a serious question. A negative answer is greatly to be desired. If such an answer is ever to be obtained it will be. because the safety men of the country have faith in its possibility and energy according to their faith. I am very glad therefore to have the opportunity to press upon your cittention my conviction that no less an ambition is worthy of the achievements and capacity of American safety men.
Consider your record for a moment. What have you done already? In ISO? the severity for the iron and steel industry was not less than 21.6 days per worker: in 1910 it was li>.9: in 1913, 13.9; in 1917, 12.2 days. It should be remembered that this last figure though not much below the preceding high point in 1913 was secured under the enormous difficulties ol` war conditions.
You have established a descending series which if It can be main tained even at a lessened speed will -approach the zero line. A prelim inary figure for .3 93 8 shows 10.9 days.
This downward trend is even more convincingly indicated when fiveyear periods are considered. The five-year period ending with 1911 had a severity rate of 3 3.0 days while the five-year periods ending in 1916 and 1917 had each a rate of 13.0 days. Blast furnaces, one of the most "hazardous departments of the iron and steel industry, show a steady decline from 31.9 days in the period ending with 1911 to 16.7 in the five years terminating in 3937.
This is a good record. Can it be continued, perhaps accelerated? I am here to urge that it can and to indicate what I regard as one of the important means to that end.
Very early In my' contact with the industrial accident problem two impressions began to harden into convictions. They were (1) that the accepted method of estimating industrial hazard by means of a frequency rate was wholly inadequate, and (2) that the factor of personal "care lessness" was being overstressed very greatly.
As a result of the first conviction I made an elaborate study in my first extended publication of the time lost through temporary disability. Since the deaths and permanent injuries were excluded this compilation had very" little significance. From this point severity rating has pro gressed. due largely to the efforts of the U. S. Commissioner of Labor
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Statistics, to the development of what may fairly be regarded as a standard system. This system is now used by the International Asso ciation of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions' and is recom mended by the statistical committee of the Council3.
As a result of the second conviction I attempted, immediately, the working out of a system of severity rating in the Bureau of Labor Statistics to apply it in testing the relative effect of efforts directed toward the men and those which I included under the designation,
"engineering revision." I can do no more in the time allotted me than summarize the results
of these studies. For details I must refer you to the published articles.
WHAT THE SEVERITY HATE SHOWS
It is evident, on a moment's consideration, that certain classes of accidents are much influenced by the conduct of the men. while others are more removed from their control.
I first found that in cases, such as the handling of objects and tools, where the conduct of the men was clearly a very influential factor that the frequency rate was normally high but the severity rate was com paratively low. Following the matter from year to year showed that very often a notable decline in frequency might be accompanied by stationary or even rising severity. This means that the result of effort directed to the behavior of the men is influential mainly in diminution of minor accident and may be accompanied by an actual increase in
accident cost. I then considered such causes as showed marked severity and which
had, in the course of time, had a considerable decline. I found, without exception, that a conspicuous decline in severity could be correlated with definite engineering improvements. It is worth while to put some emphasis on this point. I have been diligently looking for some years for a case of important saving in accident cost which was not related to "engineering revision." I have not found one.
Let me illustrate, in blast furnaces under the old conditions "break outs" of molten metal were distressingly common and often accom panied by serious losses of life. With improved construction, in a well built modern furnace, such events are of rare occurrence.
In a group of blast furnaces with which I was particularly familiar it was possible to trace step by step an improving severity in deaths from asphyxia and the structural changes to which it was evidently due.
In open hearths the causes most prolific in death in the earlier days were cranes and hoists, molten metal and power vehicles. Here too it was possible to trace with perfect definiteness the parallel course Of "engineering revision" and a declining severity rate. Singularly enough. In the particular group of open hearths used for purposes of study, the frequency rate in the handling of objects and tools markedly decreased but severity increased.
'See Bulletin 238 XT. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Page 32. 'See Proceedings National Safety Council. 191S, Page 30.
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Nowhere was a decline in the severity rates more clearly to be attrib uted to engineering change than in yard operation. The provision, of adequate clearances, the elevation o tracks, the construction of viaducts and subways, improvements in methods of transporting hot metal, these and many other changes conspired to bring about, a more satisfactory condition. Nothing at all comparable with the reduced severity due to these changes could by any stretch of the imagination be attributed to the exercise of greater personal care.
Tracing conditions thus from department and finding that marketJ-
saving in accident cost was always associated with more or less definite engineering improvement was suggestive if not convincing.
Since death is the great element in accident cost it becomes significant and important to examine the death record.
CAUSES OF FATAL ACCTDEXTS
It was possible to do this in "72 cases. It was found that in 57 per cent of these some engineering remedy was suggested after the death. A group of 72 cases of later date similarly analyzed showed 58 per cent might have been saved had it been possible to apply the remedy in advance.
I have elsewhere pointed out that there are two elements of weak ness in this study. They are (1) the material considered is to a con siderable degree of an early date when the safety movement was begin ning and when the-conditions would naturally favor the discovery and remedy of a high proportion of engineering defects and (2) the judg ment of my colleague in the Bureau of Labor Statistics and myself might have been at fault in studying the individual records. It was necessary to take these records as they stood. No correction or amplification of them was possible.
I determined therefore to examine some extensive records in which safety committees had set down their judgment regarding the accidents coming under their jurisdiction. These studies had been made with very great care and with every opportunity to correct imperfect records and secure all the data which could slied light upon the cases.
The results of this effort to let the safety committees speak for them selves was published in the Monthly Labor Review for December, 1918.
A SAFETY COMMITTEE'S SIGXIFICAXT REPORT
The committees had gone on record concerning 1,642 cases during e period of three years. The analysis is most suggestive. The committees found that while hut 7 per cent of all injuries were amenable to engineer ing revision 57 per cent of deaths and major mutilations could, in theii judgment have been prevented by proper engineering measures. It is e rather striking coincidence that this is precisely the same percentagi which was assigned by my colleague and myself to this group.
Turning now to deaths and major mutilations numbering 207, of whicl 6S were included in the tabulation just considered, I found that thi committees had reached the conclusion that engineering remedy wa
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possible in 65 per cent of the cases. No effort was made to criticise the findings of the committees. The record does not in all cases seem to fully support their final Judgment. But in many such cases it is evident that fhe committee had additional information which had not been incorporated in the summary record.
I have thus presented in barest outline the steps which have led me to my present position on this subject. My conclusions may be sum marized in the following statements:
(1) The general frequency rate is an index of the prevalence and fluctuation of minor injury. The reduction of this type of injury depends on an educational program whose final effect is to cause the men to do their work in a safer manner. A. rising frequency rate may indicate one or all of three conditions (a) no educational program or a poor on*, (b) a good program administered with poor judgment or with insufficient vigor, (c) industrial conditions which might for a time overbalance any program however good.
(2) The general severity rate is an index of conditions in regard to death and major injury. The reduction of this type of injury depends in very large measure upon the procedures included in the expression "engineering revision." When the severity rate rises there should be immediately a very searching inquiry for possible imperfection in the engineering program. It is almost certain to be discovered that some unobserved lacks on the engineering side are responsible for the rising rate.
THE WROXG KTXD OF EDUC.VTIOX
A word about the type of educational effort. I am convinced that what may be termed the evangelistic type goes very largely wide of the mark. Nothing more significant has recently been published on this topic than the letter from a workman in the July number of Mr. C. 13. Scott's Safety Bulletin. I quote: "The safety man depends too much on his talk. We employees don't need so much safety talk any more. What we need is more of the practice of safety in our plants."
My judgment is this, that our educational effort should be directed primarily to the development of skill rather than caution. The experi enced man is at times a taker of chances to the point of recklessness. Notwithstanding this he is very rarely hurt as compared with his much, more cautious but inexperienced fellow' worker who has Just come on the job. The evidence on this point is abundant and convincing.
I have also a strong antipathy to inTich of the safety propaganda
because it antagonizes the men. The constant emphasis on "carelessness" .as the great factor in accident occurrence is recognized by the more thoughtful workers as being unjust and injurious to them. They resent this improper emphasis.
What stands in the way of an "engineering revision" sufficiently thorough to reduce industrial death a long way toward the vanishing point? In my judgment there Is only one thing. The cost. I think we have materials strong enough and men skillful enough hut the price seems too great.
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I must not be understood as asserting that there is not a limit beyond which industry cannot go in expending money for the prevention of death even. What I do urge is that we have gone, up to the present time, only a little way toward the reasonable limit.
The condition has in it a challenge to you safety men of America. It is for you to decide whether American industry shall distinguish itself by tile breadth and thoroughness with which it applies every known and ascertainable engineering remedy to this industrial death problem.
CiiAimiAX Staniox: Our next speaker is one who has had a wealth of experience in contact with men in an industry where there is an extra hazard. I take great pleasure in presenting Mr. L. A. DeBlois.
Sl'lMtHVISION AS A FACTOR IN ACCIDENT PREVENTION
Li. A. DeBeois, E. I. du Pont i>e Nemours and Company, Wiumixgton, Dee.
So long as mechanical, electrical, and physical power are applied t< meet the needs of industry; so long as chemical reactions go on; s< long as we continue to apply these'foi'ces, human, interference with their will lead to human injury. The forces themselves are comparativelj simple to understand, and they can be readily enumerated. The mac ner of their application to each industry, however, runs into thousands tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and perhaps even more.
We have something else to consider--the long list of contributory cir cumstances that may have almost a direct causative effect on injur: occurrence. If you will take even the simple example of a carpenter': hammer and try to figure out how many different ways accidents eai be brought about through its use. you will find no trouble in puttim down about fifty.
Can we not. therefore, say that in the use of these forces there ar> a million or over a million ways in which accidents can happen? If yo1 admit this, what are we going to do? Shall we design a million diffei ent safeguards, or shall we educate our thirty-five million working me: and women in one million different ways of preventing accidents? Tha is the question.
Turning first to the matter of engineering revision, which I take t mean structural and mechanical betterment, including mechanical guar< iug. T think we shall all agree that up to this time engineering revisio has been applied -most successfully to these three general matters: Firs to genera] conditions; for example, space and light. Second, to th guarding and covering of the well x'ecognized and general hazards, sue as belts, gears, cutting tools, etc. Third, to the guarding of the mot serious hazards which are peculiar to the industry and which natural! attract our attention because they cause serious accidents.
It seems to me quite natural that the effect of the application < engineering revision, especially in the latter case which I have jus mentioned, should be to diminish the number of the more serious acc dents. But I think we shall also admit that this application affort
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more protection under the conditions of normal operation than under the conditions which arise out of the necessity for repairs, adjustments, and accidental or unusual situations. And yet, I fancy that a careful analysis of the majority of our operating plants would show that the pay roll hour exposure to accidents is about one-third to the abnormal, and
two-thirds to the normal conditions of work. Furthermore, the results of engineering revision, whether general or
specific, are practically worthless unless followed up by continued super vision. For instance, space and light conditions must be maintained, and safeguards must be kept in place and in good condition. Engineering revision, in itself, is but one form of applied supervision. Engineering revision without supervision is almost impossible of conception.
Turning now to the broad subject of education--safety education as
meaning the control of the mental side of the situation, opposed to the mechanical and structural--we find ourselves facing about the same difficulties that we face with engineering revision.
We can, indeed, paraphrase the three most successful applications of education to our work, and if so, they will read about as follows: First, general education, such as the necessity for care and first aid, and so on. Second, special education on frequent, well recognized, and general
hazards. Third, education on the more serious hazards special to the industry. This is the generally accepted program in all safety educa tional work, and is well defined in the developed activities of the National Safety Council. I am inclined to believe that our troubles do not come from failure to accept these principles so much as from failure to xise judgment in their application.
We have reared our modern system of accident prevention on two axioms: First, that 60 per cent to 70 per cent of the accidents are due to the carelessness of the individual (and sometimes the precentage is
placed even higher), and the second axiom reads that the foreman is the logical point of attack.
Now, we have all accepted this, and we have all seen it in print, and I think we all believe it. I want to ask you this question: If the
employees are to blame for 60 per cent to 70 per cent of the accidents, why do we center our attack on the foreman? Your answer is that it is because we can reach the men better through the foreman, and because
the men adopt the attitude of the foreman. Admitted. But if this is true, does it not directly imply an obligation
on the foreman's part, and should we not credit him with a definite share of the 60 per cent and 70 per cent of the accidents that we blame on the man? Why not say that half of these accidents could be avoided by getting the foreman in line, and therefore that one-half--30 per cent to 35 per cent--are blamable on the foreman?
RESPONSIBILITY OF THE MANAGEMENT
Now some one is responsible for the conduct of the foreman. It isn't the employees. It must be the management. If it is responsible for his conduct, it is also responsible for accidents caused by his misconduct or
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his derelictions. Then, why should we not say that this 30 per cent to Ko per cent of the accidents that I want to see blamed on the foreman should be blamed not on the foreman but on the management?
You will say "Yes," perhaps, to the thought of supervision being effective in lessening accident production, but you will also say that supervision does not remove the cause of the accident. Ladies and Gentlemen, neither does the application of engineering-revision removt the cause. The primary cause of your accidents is the application ol power, and you do not remove the cause when you surround that ma cliinery with a safeguard.
When it comes to the actual analysis of accidents to determine th responsibility, there is a wide opportunity for divergence. A manage: may be inclined to overestimate the blame which should he attached t< his employees while a foreman or a safety committee may over-emphasiz the importance of engineering revision. In point of fact, either engi neering revision or better supervision may be remedies of almost eqna value.
As an example, to show the different conclusions that may be reached let me cite the 207 fatal accidents that Dr. Chaney has just quoted, merely want to illustrate how. If you attack the problem from differen points of view, you get different results, and I am going to twist Di Chaney's figures to meet my needs. Purely on the basis- of the acciden descriptions as quoted, I re-analyzed the cases and arrived at this:
Fault of employers--susceptible of engineering revision 37 per cent Fault of employers--lack of proper supervision______________ 34 per cent Fault of injured or fellow employee 22 per cent Unavoidable trade risk................................................................................... 7 per cent
100 per cent
This, as you see, puts 71 per cent of the blame on the managemen which is not greatly out of line with Dr. Chaney's 65 per cent, be whereas he lias concluded tliat a total of 65 per cent is susceptible 1 engineering revision, I find only 37 per cent so attributable, and bellev 34 per cent to be corrected by better supervision. This 34 per cei plus 22 per cent due to fault of injured, or fellow employee almost makt the 60 per cent we usually blame on the men. I think we are both rigb hut are simply looking at these accidents from a totally different poll of view.
SAFETY SHOTTED NOT BE A SIDE SHOW
In the speaker's mind, the solution of this tangle of responsibility liin the manner in -which safety is introduced into the plant by the ma agement. There are two methods: Safety may be made a part of t business of production, operation, or whatever the function of the bu: ness may be; or it may be put on as a sort of "side show," endorsed 1 the management. If it is a side show it will be conducted by the safe engineer as a separate little enterprise. Some men will be intereste and some will not. There will be meetings, literature, and committe
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but it will be always regarded by tbe men as something outside the big tent. The more efficient it becomes, the more will foremen, and others
loolc to it and its committees to detect hazardous conditions and have
them remedied; the more often It will he said, "That is work for the
Safety Department." But compare its organization with that of the entire plant--with the
foreman, for instance. How can so few men detect one million defects
and five million had practices, apply the remedies and see that they are
maintained? Are they in better position to do this than the foremen
themselves, providing the latter are aroused to the proper pitch of
interest? Let us trace the alternate course of development.
The manager states
to his men, "We will not only produce a product in quantity, of quality,
and with efficiency, hut we will produce it safely. The productive organ
ization will do this. I will require it of my staff. My staff shall require
it of my general foreman. He will require it of his foremen, and they in turn of their men. We have a safety engineer, and he will advise us
when we ask him but toe are responsible for results. Call your men
together and explain to them, and I will see that it is followed up."
Safety meetings are called and conducted not by the safety engineer,
though he may arrange the details, but by the next highest in authority
in the productive organization. Foremen's meetings are called by the
general foreman. A foremen's safety committee is appointed, not for the purpose of assisting the safety engineer in his work, but for the
purpose of assisting the whole body of foremen. Since it is not prac
ticable to detach the whole body for tbe purposes of joint inspection.
The committees' findings are reported at the meetings and discussed oy
the foremen. It is recognized that it was the individual foreman's duty
to discover and remedy such conditions prior to the visit of the com
mittee, and not primarily the duty of the committee. The committee
follows up. If the committee cannot find a remedy to recommend, the
safety engineer is directed to investigate and report in writing. It is by such means as this that accident prevention supervision can
be Introduced into an industrial plant as an integral part of the work,
and tbe conflict that otherwise arises between prodxiction and safety is
largely avoided.
AX EXAMPLE OF SUCCESSFUL SUPERVISION
If you will allow me, I wish to digress a moment to show you th=s results of what I think is one of the most interesting analyses of con ditions in industrial plants. The plant in question was built for war purposes at the time war was declared on Germany by the European powers, and was designed for a duration of about a year and a half cr two years. It was actually in operation for four years, and toward the end of 1918, and possibly toward 1917, not only was engineering revision at a standstill, but I believe on the downward course. In other words the plant was deteriorating very rapidly. The temporary guards that had been put up were falling apart, and had not always been replaced
138 Eighth Safety Congress
medium of the committees. I'd. like to hear Mr. Young's viewpoint that in liis oi'ganization, the International Harvester Company.
Mn. A. H. Young (International Harvester. Company, Chicago): have the most profound respect for the speakers who have given us talks and papers this morning. Dr. Chaney long ago blazed trails; s I have visited a great many safety organizations which have been hig advertised, but never have I met the sustained perfection in saf organization that exists in E. I. du Pont de ISTemours and Compa There I know that the work has begun at the top; that the managem has been sold the idea.
So.fai* as safety committees are concerned, I believe they are necess and can be made permanent. They certainly do serve to keep uj certain necessary amount of propaganda, but more and more I am com to the viewpoint that we have gotten past the stage where propagand: necessary. Safety is a pretty well established and going concern. Itat than have our overhead safety organization heavy, and acting separa and specifically on the problem by itself, I believe our safety w should be concentrated within our own organization, and safety m more and more an integral part of the production program.
EXGIXEERS ASD ATATTACHMENT
I think our problem is increasingly going to be not so much with
men. That is easily solved. It is standardized. The approach ther
well thought out, and experiences are so great now that we can a]
the lessons of the past without much trouble. But if we go higher u
our engineers in the drafting room who lay out the new plans, and
them to consider safety, w shall go forward toward our ultimate
much more rapidly.
Dr. Chaney and Mr. DeBlois have furnished some thought as to possibility of accident prevention right in the drafting room, am consideration of the design not only of buildings, but of the equipr and placing of the equipment. That exists in many concerns todai think beyond that, that Mr. Whitney's educational wTork in the coll is going to he increasingly important; that our engineers, when they go to the drafting room, when they first'come from our colleges universities into industry, will have a fundamental, sound coneei of accident prevention.
But that isn't going to get us where we want unless the preside:
the concern, the general manager, the plant superintendent, the gei
foreman, the sub-foremen, the gang leaders, and the whole organizs
are thoroughly sold. I don't think wre can overemphasize the in
tance of getting away rapidly from the habit of placing the responsil
upon
employee. I have with others preached that two-thirds c
the accidents were preventable by the eradication of carelessness 01
part of the individual workman. I see my error and I think we can'
quickly get away from that practice and instead, hold the owners o
business responsible; it could be conclusively laid on tbeir thresho!
just such papers .as those of Dr. Chaney and Mr. DeBlois this mor
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Mb. S. D. Hubbard (New York City Department of Health) : I have listened with a great deal of interest to the remarks of the two pre ceding speakers, hut it seems to me that the correction of this situation lies in a step still further advanced than has been so far brought forward to this Round-Table.
UNIFORM STANDARDS
I believe in the adoption of standards. I believe that for a municipal ity or a'state, or the United States, for that matter, to permit the con struction of plants where'accident liability is great, which safety engineers in advance can practically foresee, should be prevented.
Definite standards should be adopted by each state, and each municipal ity should in turn re-adopt tliesfe' standards, and should see that they
are made effective.
^
jVIk. E. S. Cuafin (Pennsylvania Railroad, Philadelphia) : Mr. Hubbard
touched on a point which is very dear to my heart because we are
operating in about thirteen states. We have standards in different states
which are all different. Now, for heaven's sake, let's have one standard
so we know what we're doing. to know what I am doing.
I have to be a lawyer in thirteen states
Mr. V. R. Hughes (Pacific Gas & Electric Co., San Francisco) : Our experience has been that our accidents from the defects in or the lack
of guards are about four per cent of our total accidents. We have laid a
great deal of stress on. our safety committees. We have gradually
reduced the accidents through these safety committees. In 1913 the fatal
accidents were sixteen; in 1914, eight; in 1915, six; in 1916, eight; in
1917, five; in 191S, four; and so far this year there has only been one-- out of about five thousand employees.
The cost of these accidents in 1914 was $51,000; in 1915, $35,000; in
1916, $48,000; in 1917, $42,000, and in 1918, $34,000--so that the severity
of the accidents is going down continually. We have spent about $35,000 for guards and safety devices in that time.
M. M. J. Fi,yzik (State Safety Board of Washington, Olympia, Wash.): 1 ana speaking particularly about mining. There is a general hazard
to each industry, and with that is also a special hazard. Forty-eight to
fifty per cent of the accidents in our state in the coal mining industry
are due to one cause--the roof falling on the men. The responsibility may be divided equally between the workmen and
the management- The roof comes down because of the failure of the
workmen to put up the wooden supports. Now, either the supports are
not delivered to the workmen by the management,- or the workmen fail
to put them up after they are delivered. We must remove the cause.
We propose to hold the management responsible for the delivery of the
necessary material, and after that is done we insist that the workmen
be compelled to put that material up.
I think we fehould pick out the special causes first. If forty-eight per
cent of the accidents are due to one cause, then we- in the mining indus
try- should concentrate our efforts toward the elimination of that cause.
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Eighth Safety Congress
What, is true of mining is largely true of other hazardous Industries. We may have a hundred causes, but you can trace about fifty per cent of your accidents to about three or four causes.
I have arrived at the conclusion that the foreman cannot-devote much of his time to accident prevention. He is continually pushing his men
to get out production. Therefore, if we want to do anything along the
line of accident prevention, this work should be assigned to neutral men --safety engineers.
AIk. a. T. AIohky (Commonwealth Steel Co., Granite City, 111.) : I am a frank believer that the'safety committee has been a wonderful factor in accident prevention. I think they are going to remain so. It i by their work that we have been bringing to the management and to the foremen their sense of responsibility. What I have heard said here this morning about putting the responsibility on the foreman and the man agement Is simply an indication that that education of the management is being brought to a successful consummation. I have always longed for the day when the rfesponsibility can be put right on the management, because they control the situation--but, gentlemen, don't let us get away from the recognition that we absolutely need the cooperation of the men on the job, through the safety committees.
Chairman Stanton: Our time is now up. This is the conclusion of one of the best Round-Tables we have ever had. We certainly appreciate your enthusiasm and your getting up early to get here. The meeting
stands i. Ijourried.
Safety Education Section
October 3 and 4, 1919
FRIDAY XOOX SKSSTOX
ORCAXIZATIOX M E ET IXG
r V ' HE meeting convened at 12:30 P. M.. General Manager Price pre-
siding. Chairman Prut.: I beliet'e that Dr. Payne in working out this won derful plan of systematically teaching safety to children in the schools has fnade the greatest single contribution that has ever been made to the Safety Movement. And I further believe that during the next twelve months the greatest contribution which the Xational Safety Council will make will be through its efforts to reach every school in the United States, and induce them to adopt this plan.
This meeting is called for the purpose of considering the practicability of organizing a section of the Xational Safety Council, to be known as the Educational Section, and primarily for the purpose of quickly reaching the schools with this great message.
I want to call on Mr. Whitney to outline the plan and purpose of this Section./ No one in the Xational Safety Council has shown more interest in school safety than Mr. Whitney, and no one is more competent to speak on the subject.
M._A. W. Wiiitxey (National Workmen's Compensation Service Bu reau) : We have been feeling our way in the educational work of the Xational Safety Council, and taking new steps only when we felt pretty sure of our ground. We seem to see now, however, a great field stretch ing out ahead of us which will require our best endeavors to develop with a wisdom and energy commensurate with the opportunity.
The next step seems to be the formation of an Educational Section. The work so far has been carried on by a committee. We now need a body back of and around the committee which may gather up and focus all the needs, opportunities, and energies which it. Is now 'so evident
exist. We need a forum In which the technique of the educational problem
ban be discussed and developed and recorded. The problem of teaching
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safety is quite as technical as the problem of guarding machinery, or of organizing shop committees, and if a forum is needed for the discussion of these problems, a similar forum is needed where the educators and those in need of the results of education can discuss the problem and the solution of the problem in detail.
The educational field, aside from the work with safety supervisors and shop foremen, which is being otherwise taken care of, falls into two main divisions: The work in public and jiarocbial schools, and the work in technical schools and universities. It will therefore be necessary almost immediately for practical purposes to split the Section Into at least these two large divisions.
Of these divisions, however, the one that is in most obvious need of the help that a section can give is that of the public and parochial schools. We have now, thanks to Dr. Payne and the St. Louis schools, a practical plan for teaching safety in the primary and secondary grades. The plan needs pushing. A section can be of some use In developing ways of approach to the schools and the public, but its main use will he for the development of the detail of teaching safety in its actual applica tion. Most schools, most teachers, will have to be handed the plan, com plete; they cannot he depended upon, at least at first, to work out satis factorily the details of its application;--I mean, for instance, such things as arithmetic examples, problems in geography and in nature work, the development of safety situations through drawings and dramatic ex pression, and ways of developing children's committees. A mass of such detail must be accumulated.
I conceive that one of the main functions of such a section will he to develop and classify and publish such material so that no school will he so backward as not to be able to put safety work into its curriculum.
It is easy to imagine other ways in which such a section will be useful. It is not necessary no; however, to see the whole field, only enough to
know that such a section is needed. Nor is it necessary on this occasion
to develop the peculiar needs of the university situation. That is an other story, although quite as important and interesting.
Cu.mhmax Phick: I am going to ask Dr. Payne, the author of this wonderful hook, to express himself in regard to the value of such a Sec tion in the Xational Safety Council.
Dit. E. Ckokci; Pavxk: I liardlv know wliat I ought to say to this body here today. I have been speaking so much this week, and probably most of you have heard me in one place or another.
After all, the most fundamental problem in connection with the Safety Movement, as I said this morning, seems to be one of education. And the most significant part of this Movement is that of public school education in accident prevention, because after all, you know as well as I that the problem of getting the ideals and practices of safety is a matter of edu cation.
We instill the ideals and instill them most effectively not after one reaches adulthood, but duritlg the period of plasticity, when the child Is in school and when he is being educated.
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143
Now, first, let me say here that the public has hardly realized what a
treasure they have in the teaching profession, in the body of teachers,
in .carrying out this Safet3' Movement. Whenever I talk to business men
about the safety proposition in teaching they merely tell me they think the way to do it is to get a policeman to come in and talk to the children
about safety, or some one else who is interested in safety. teach safety that way.
You can't
In St. Louis we have three thousand teachers--three thousand school rooms. We have about a hundred seventy-five school buildings. Think how many people you would have to have to get around, talking all the time, once each year in every school-room! You see it is absolutely im possible. Simply to go into the room once a year to ask them to observe certain rules of safety doesn't teach them anything. The teaching of
safety is like teaching table manners, or teaching anything else--it is a long and laborious process.
Now, what can an Educational Section of this Council do to help get that over? It seems to me they can do a great deal. In the first place,
the idea of teaching safety must be sold to the superintendents and the school men of the country. Every superintendent is facing a situation of this kind: He has in a large city two or three thousand teachers whom he has to keep harmoniously working in connection with liis plan. `When ever he comes to them with a plan of introducing another subject why,
they simply throw up their "hands and say, "That is an impossibility.
We already have fifteen or twenty." You have to convince this superintendent that there is a way to' teach
safety and teach it effectively and satisfy his teachers without the addi tional work of another subject added to the curriculum. That is the proposition you have to put over.
Of course, we who are on the educational side taking the lead in this
Movement- are going to do all we can regardless of the National Safety Council or any other organization, because we are committed to it and
believe in it. After all, we have to sell the idea to the school people, and that is par
ticularly true in the smaller communities. I think it is true in larger
ones, too. I think an Educational Section here as a clearing house can do a great
deal in bringing these people to see the necessity for this kind of work. Then, I want to say further, that the point Mr. W hitney made here can't be emphasized too much. You can't put in one book everything that is to be said on this. No one man can work out the problem in all its
details. We have made a starting in this direction, and school people
all over the country, as they continue to work out this problem, are going to present material that will be invaluable to serve In communities where by they may select that material best fitted for the work and turn it over to Mr. Price and let him and his office do the rest in bringing it to the
attention of the superintendents of tlie country. I think, then, the greatest thing we can do is to assist and let the
school people know we are back of it. For instance, instead of suggest-
144 Eighth Safety Congress
ins that we have lecturers brought into the schoolroom, let us say to the
teachers. "Here is a problem of accidents in the community. Here are
children being killed and injured every day. It is your problem, and
here is material with which you can help them." But don't try to take the
problem away from them by suggesting that some outsider do the work
for them. If you do. they cease to take interest and responsibility, and
you will be holding the bag. because you can't do it on the outside. You
might just as well have some one come in from the outside and lecture
to the children on manners and the things they ought to do in the home
and expect them to do it. The father and mother are on the job to train
the child in the way he should go at home. The teacher is on the job
to take care of the school activities, of which safety education is an im
portant part, and we can't deceive ourselves about that- What we can
do is to help that teacher do her job more effectively and show her that
you appreciate it when she is working along that line.
That represents, it seems to me, what this division could do, and the
direction to which it could devote its efforts effectively, and it would be a
clearing house in which we could discuss all these problems at least once
a year.
Chairman Prick:
This discussion would not be complete without some
expression from our newly elected President of the National Safety
Council--Mr. Richards. Mr. Richards, will you express your thought and
the attitude of the Council regarding this work which lies before us?
MOST IMPORTANT WORK IIKKORK THIC COt.*XCI I.
Piiksidk.nt Richards:
The Council is so new in this work that I am not
prepared to express the consensus of opinion of the Council. In fact. I don't think it lias really been formed. Speaking for myself--not individu
ally, but as President of the Council--T deem It the most important work
that the Council has before it now.
It has seemed to me for many years Lhat if we could begin educating the children to be careful, to realize the danger of public, private, and
home accidents--the same as the mother teaches them their prayers, and the school teachers teach them arithmetic or spelling or anything of
that kind--that in twenty years from now the job of the National Safety
Council in wiping out avoidable accidents would be completed.
We have a start that nobody can ever set us back on. I think it is
the greatest work the Council has before it.
If there is anything I can
do officially or personally to give it standing before the communities in
which we all live and have our interests. 1 am certainly willing to devote mure time to It than I would be to any other matter.
I think if each one of us will only take this home to the community
in which we live and do somethiug ourselves to get it started in the schools, instead of leaving it to the General Manager or "George" or somebody else to do. we will accomplish wonderful resulis.
Take in the cities of Chicago and St. I^ouis. you have probably in the
combined communities ten thousand school people. Now. think what a
wonderful force it would be to the safety movement to have those ten'
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145
thousand educated people saying something to the children once a week,
or once a day, or once a month, and think of the number of people that
would reach! can do.
And then you can realize what this educational program
Chairman: Prick: Mr. Arthur T. Morey, of St. Louis, has been one of
the presidents of the National Safety Council, and is the Chairman of the Public Safety Committee of our Local Council. Mr. Morey, will you
give us your thought on this subject?
Mr. Arthur T. Morey : Friends, this is a time I think we have all
looked forward to--the formation of the Educational Section, and get
ting it into its own.
It seemed to be necessary to go through the process of getting the in
dustries interested in safety work before we could get public safety ou
the map. As a natural part of safety, public safety work comes in with great importance in the. school. I wish that those here this morning
could spend a morning with Dr. Payne at the Wyman School in St. Louis, and see this wonderful method he has evolved in actual operation.
I think in all my life I never spent a more Interesting morning than
that morning. They have- woven this safety idea all through their study. They didn't
take up safety as a separate thing, but tried to weave it into the lives
and thoughts and habits of the children. Their arithmetic problems in volve thinking safety. Their essays, their English compositions--in
stead of writing on their books, "The horse is black, the cow is white,"
they have, "In crossing the street, first look to the left, and then to the
right," or some little safety thought constructive along that line.
If wo are going to get at the source of things, that is what we must do when we take up accident problems. We tabulate the accidents that have happened and put them under the classification of causes, and then
try to eliminate the causes. And when we study causes, we get right back
to the child life and see that if we can teach these safety ideas to the
children while young, and get them into the fiber of their lives, thoughts,
and habits, why, we are going to get somewhere. There is nothing more important than the development of this Educa
tional Section. I think the Council should be congratulated for having
arrived at this point.
Chairman' Prick: I aril sure we shall be interested in having the
thought of Dr. Evans, the author of the Health Column in the Chicago
Tribune. Dr. W. A. Evans (Chicago Tribune) : I thought when Mr. Price first
talked to me about Dr. Payne's book that it was to be a textbook for use
in schools. I discovered as I read it that it was a book written for teach
ers. and that the purpose of it was to stimulate the thought of the teach
ers to the end that they might learn to do a certain thing. I found, too. that you miss the philosophy of it if you read it hastily, or.if you read
it other than thoughtfully.
Now. I have been in public health improvement work for about a quar
ter of a century, and I have been engaged in teaching for- nearly thirty
146 Eighth Safety Congress
years. About one-half of all the deaths are due to accidents, and anything that promises materially to reduce the number of accidents 'trill make a material reduction in the general death rate. Likewise, anything which materially reduces the number of accidents of all characters will materi ally reduce the rate of disability from disease, disorders, and accidents collectively.
If you read Dr. Payne's booh you will discover in the field in which the Safety Council has been working, tbere are results that prove your work has paid. There has heen great reduction in the different types of
accidents that naturally or normally occur in industry or in those fields
in which you are engaged, but at the same time, there has been a growth or increase in the accident rate in what are known as public accidents anu, as he very clearly shows, an increase in those rates that pertain par ticularly to childhood..
And that is one reason for broadening your field of activity and going after children--but that is only one of the reasons. As he has said to you, childhood is the period of plasticity. In dealing with accidents, you are, as a matter of fact, endeavoring to change the habits of the people; and it is difficult to change the habits of adults. You improve the possi bility of a successful accomplishment if you begin with childhood, and bend the child mind to that particular method of thinking.
What you are endeavoring to do is to create a type of alertness in the minds of the individuals. While the main theme in the mind will be the particular thing which occupies it--the trade or profession, or the line of thought of the individual--you are trying to train that individual to carry in the back of his head constantly that there are certain principles of self-preservation, which must be automatically carried out--certain hazards that must be both physically and mentally considered, and con stantly considered if results are to be obtained.
In other words, it is your job to change the mechanism of thought of Individuals. When you undertake to do that you are confronted with great difficulties. The possibility of successful endeavor is greatly in creased if you work with children rather than with adults.
I'd like to suggest this one other thought: Children are very apt to ac cept the facts which are put before them as facts without very much criti cism or analysis of those facts. As a general proposition, the statements that are made in the textbooks that are commonly employed are not state ments which are germane to the lives of the individuals of the communi ty ; and certainly not germane to the lives of the Children. The quality of the matter presented by the textbook, its avenues of approach, will be improved if in those textbooks we make use of the events that com into the life of that child--its life in the home: its life in the school; on the street, and elsewhere. We can put into the reader and speller and arith metic and geography--and into play as well as In study--little state ments of facts relating to accidents, accident prevention, and various related stibjects, in place of some of the things that are there now. That would suddenly and Indirectly teach accident prevention, and do it with that degree of authority that is carried to the child mind by the facts presented in the textbooks that are used.
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147
Chairman Price: I think the time has arrived when possibly we are all ready to consider the practicability of organizing a Section of the National Safety Council on Education. I think a resolution possibly would be in order at this time.
ORGANIZATION AND ELECTION OF OFFICERS
Mr. Arthur T.. Morey: I'd like to move that this meeting here and now organize itself into the Educational Section of the National Safety Council; that yeu; as Chairman of this meeting appoint a committee to
work out the details of organization, to adopt proposed by-laws for ref erence to the Executive Committee of the National Safety Council, and consider all of those whose presence here indicates their interest in the work as the initial members of that Section; and that we now proceed to the election of the officers for the first 3'ear.
President Richards: I second the motion. Chairman Price: Any discussion? All in favor of the motion mani fest the same by saying "Aye"--contrary, "No." The "Ayes" certainly have it. (The motion was unanimously carried.) The form of organization which we have followed in the other sections, and I would suggest that we follow it here, is a very simple one; namely, to have a Chairman, a. Vice-Chairman, and a Secretary; it being under stood that the Chairman will appoint such committees as will be needed, in the work of the Section. The Chair will be glad to listen to any nominations for the Chairman ship of this Section. Mr,. R. E. Blok (Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R.'R., Amarillo, Tex.): I move that Mr. Whitney be Chairman of this Section.
(The motion was duly seconded and carried.) Chairman Price: Will some one make a nomination for a Vice-Chair man. President Richards: Mr. Chairman, I would like to suggest that if Dr. Payne is willing to serve as Vice-Chairman of this Section, it would be entirely appropriate that he should do so. The two men who blazed the trail for us ought to be at the head of this Section. I therefore take great pleasure in proposing the name of Dr. Payne, and I sincerely hope he may be able and willing to accept that position. (The motion was immediately seconded.) Chairman Price: I was just going to say, Mr. Richards, that we don't ask people in this movement if they will--we tell them they are going to.
(The motion was unanimously carried.) I indicated in my outline that a Secretary to look after the details of work should be elected. Mr. C. E. LaFountaine (Great Northern Railway, St. Paul): No man Is more interested in this Section than the man I want to propose as its Secretary. I believe he has said to you here today that he was inter ested--therefore he admits it. He has also said there was no question of
148
Eighth. Safety Congress
a refusal to serve after once being nominated and properly seconded. I
therefore am going to propose the name of C. \V. Price as Secretary of
this Section. (Applause.)
(Tlie motion was immediately seconded, and carried unanimously.)
Cii.uhsia.v I'kx i:: 1 want to say it is a very great pleasure to accept that
position;-and I do accept it because of my deep and sincere interest in this
great movement. 1 want to say to you that not only individually will I
do my utmost this next year to put this across, but my whole staff of
thirty-five 1 am sure will stand by me in attending to all of the details
of carrying out this plan. (Applause.)
1 should be very glad to have an expression, if it is only just a word,
from any one in this room in regard to this great movement that we are
about to take up. 1 will ask Dr. Dana Webster of Indianapolis to start
the ball roiling. I have known his interest in schools for a number of
years.
Dk. Dana Wkiistck (Indianapolis): While I have been sitting here
and thinking of this question of teaching children, I have been thinking
why it is that the Xational Safety Council and all others didn't think of
this matter first when the Council was started, so that we could have
been training our children all these years. I can't quite comprehend why
we have missed so much--I include myself, of course.
There is another thing: There was a great deal of interest shown today in regard to Roy Scouts. I don't know but it would be a pretty good idea
to have the Roy Scouts represented here next year. It would be a mighty
big thing if every city throughout the United States that has Boy Scouts
could send a delegate. 1 think that would be a wonderful thing and I
should like to see that taken up.
Mis. O. R. CoNNKi.i.r.v (Commissioner of Labor and Industry, Harrisburg,
Pa. ( : Pennsylvania has passed a law in the last legislature that it Is ab solutely compulsory to teach safety first in the public schools of Penn
sylvania. < Applause.1
Xow. there is much for this section to do. I feel that as far as Penn
sylvania is concerned, my colleague Mr. Coke of the Americanization De
partment there will be only too willing to help out wherever he can in
this work. Of course, we in Pennsylvania will have to because the law says
so. Being a member of the School Board in Pittsburgh, and having such
men as Mr. Alderdisan and Mr. Oliver--and. by the way, they were
safety-first men -years ago--1 think we shall have no trouble. We shall
be glad indeed to further or give any help we can in the other states, but
as far as we are concerned, we In Pennsylvania must do our duty. (Ap
plause. 1
Chairman Prick:
In this recent scrap we had with Germany the
hoys in khaki across the line in Canada stood shoulder to shoulder with
the American boys in winning the victory for democracy. It seems to
me very fitting that Mr. Morley. the General Manager of the newly or
ganized Ontario Safely league, should tell us whether he is going to
stand with us. and what he is going to do up in Canada.
Mis. R. R. M<ei i v (Ontario Safety T.eague. Torom): Mr. Webster
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149
mo.de the statement that he didn't understand why the National Safety Council and other organizations did not take up this work of educating the children, and just to clear up some misapprehensions on that sub ject, I want to say that the Ontario Safety League started over five years ago at that end of the game.
We are great believers in the fundamental practice of teaching safety to the children. Practically all of our work has been done on a basis whereby the school boards interested paid in part for the work that we were doing in the schools. That is to say they paid for bulletins, letters, etc., I don't mean that they paid for the overhead or anything of that sort, but paid the actual cost to the state.
We are getting results with the children. There is absolutely no doubt about it at all! There Is a story that some of you might perhaps like to hear, because it is a story that always strikes me as one of the classics of safety.
Some three or four years ago we went to all of the schools in Toronto and talked to children in thirteen hundred different classrooms. After the meetings we would distribute little celluloid buttons to the children. Some few days after I was in one of the schools I met a little child of six passing along the street, and she called to her friend who was just a little farther on, "Here, Liz', come on over! Here's the man what gives you the button what keeps you from being run over." (Laughter and Applause.)
Chairman Prtck: Beyond all we men can say, it is important that the women express their opinion of this great movement. The women are the conservers of child life in this world. I don't know of anybody in the room more competent to speak than Miss Nesta Edwards, who did such a splendid piece of work in Wisconsin and other parts of the coun try. Miss Edwards.
3\Iiss Nest.v Edwards (Chicago) : Somebody said yesterday, "God bless the women," and so why not the men? This morning at the .women's division the question came up of organizing a section for the women, and it is going to be the pleasure of that section, I know, to cooperate from top to bottom with this division that this morning is bringing to
all of us such a wonderful vision. You only have to go to a safety meeting of children and you will be
on fire for safety for the teeming life of the children that sit before you.
Let me end with a story. I will steal a man's Story, but I don't see
him here, so I guess it will he all right. "The other day," a man said, "I had a wonderful children's meeting. I went home, and the next day the father of one of the children said to me, `Good heavens, Charley, what did you say to my boy?' `Why, what do you mean?' `Well, when he went to bed he came and threw his arms around me and said, "Dad, you will be safe for my sake." ' That child had taught him more safety than weeks of safety meetings." (Applause.)
Chairman Price: Do you know, friends, that in the big auditoriums of public schools of Cleveland during this week some of the eminent men of this Council have been speaking to large numbers- of children? I
150
Eighth Safety Congress
don't know o any one who has been more enthusiastically interested in reaching the children than Mr. Adams, of Aurora, Illinois.
Mr. H. B. Adams (Aurora, Elgin, and Chicago R. R-, Aurora, 111.): Mr. Chairman, I believe in dreams coming true. Some years ago we started to educate the scholars in the schools of Aurora, Illinois, and I took it upon myself to visit tbe schools. I made little talks from the primary up through the high schools and some of the teachers met it with a great deal of disfavor because it broke into their regular routine and got the children to thinking of something besides their regular lessons.
So I met with some discouragement, but by the time I had talked to most of the schools in Kane County, the teachers began to sit up and take notice, and some of them in whose rooms I had previously spoken afterward asked whether they had offended me so I would never come hack again. And today the teachers are beginning to reach out for methods of teaching- their children safety-first principles.
When I went to three high schools here day before yesterday and spoke to three thousand children on safety, the principals and teachers in those high schools were so enthusiastic that they would hardly let me get to the platform to speak. When I got through they would hardly let me get out to go to the next place. You know those children are just prepar ing for the football season, and they have class yells and high school yells and football yells, and I- introduced a yell for them, in all of those schools. I gave it to them--"Think of Safety First"--and their cheer leaders came up on the platform in each one of those schools and led that cheer and you could have heard it clear down town if the windows had been open.
The boys and girls of that age are the ones we have to interest. They are the ones who are going to take our places in this work. If we in cline the twig in the right direction the tree will grow straight. You can't stop this Safety Movement--that is all there is to it!
It is like the old gentleman from the country who was on an interurban car for the first time. He and his wife sat in the car and they looked and saw nothing hitched to it in the shape of an engine, and the old man said, "We'll never start!" But it did start--slowly, gently, gradually, nicely--that is the way they always do, so you hardly know they are starting. (Laughter.) It kept going a little faster and faster and the old gentleman got so scared that he grasped the seat in front of them with both hands, looked in every direction, and wondered what was going to happen next. He said, "Maria, by Jove! we'll never stop."
And that is the way with this Safety Movement. It started slowly several years ago, but just look at it now! We can now reach 70,000,000 people through the schools of this country, and we are going to do it, and this is the start! (Applause.)
CirAiRMAx Price: Ladies and Gentlemen, when the committees worked out the program for this great Congress, they selected the four outstand ing subjects that are. now occupying the thought of thoughtful people. One of those subjects is Americanization. I will ask Mr. Bach, who is at the head of the Americanization Movement in Pennsylvania, to tell us what he thinks about this movement.
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151
Mr. E- E. Bach (Director, Americanization Movement of Pa-, Phila delphia) : There is this other side to it--linking it up with the home and in the industries with the foreign-bora. I am very much interested in the foreign-born side of the whole problem. That is the thing you have been interested in . to begin with, before you started this large Safety Movement, and the foreign-born are occupying your minds very largely today, I am sure.
Because of some of the things that are being said: because of some things that have happened in the last few weeks, it seems to me that the problem of safety must come back to that great institution of a common people for its solution, as have come all the great problems--the public school.
Chairman' Price: I'd like to have volunteers now, just for a few min utes.
M3s. F\ S. Crum (Prudential Insurance Co., Newark): This is a day and hour when we are thinking a great deal of the conservation of man power. Now, as a matter of fact--and we have to deal with facts in our business--by the time the population reaches the age of twenty, one-half of all who die from fatal accidents are dead. Unless we begin our safety movement before that period of life, one-half you might have saved will already be killed. That is the important thing to think about.
In New Jersey we have a state law practically requiring the teaching of safety in the schools, but it is not always in force. Now, if you will attach this Council to that movement and give it the necessary kick for ward, you will do New Jersey a great service. (Applause.)
Mr. J. C. Clark (Oregon Short Line, Salt Lake City): I think that it is the grandest thing that ever happened. In my work on the railroads I have visited a good many schools. I have had a number of school sup erintendents ask me what interest the railroads had in. safety in public schools. There are two very good reasons for this interest.
The first, of course, is from the humanitarian standpoint. We don't want to see any children injured if they can be taught to protect them selves against injury, and that is the greatest thing we can do.
But there is another reason from a purely selfish standpoint. We draw our employees largely from the towns along our road. If the schools in all of these towns will teach safety, when those hoys and girls come to us for employment, we have a better class of material to draw from. They are safe to start with, and it lessens our task of teaching safety after
they become employees. I am glad, indeed, that the Educational Section has been created be
cause I hope that they will be able to give me information, and I feel it would be a definite advantage to every railroad men and to every industry if they can outline a plan, something definite, so that we can go to the
superintendent and say, "Here is your plan. Put it into effect."
Mr. H. P. Coffin (Secretary, Oregon Division, National Safety Council, Portland) : Seven years ago the Public Safety Commission was organized in the city of Portland. We started in on education primarily in the public schools, and I, myself, have talked to some thirty-three thousand
152
Eighth Safety Congress
children: the result being that for three months after we finished talking to those children there wasn't an accident to a child of school age in those schools. (Applause.)
Our accident records in the schools have been reduced right along, so that we have very, very few. 1 acted in conjunction with our fire mar shal, when putting over the fire-prevention campaign, and it is a fact that we reduced our losses from $2,000,000 down to $200,000 a year. Fig ures will prove it.
The fire marshal and I gave fifteen-minute talks. When he got through with his talk, he would say. "Boys, I am going to make you all fire mar shals. Every one of you in this assemblage is a fire marshal, but in your own home. Now. when you go home I want you to do your part and see if there are any fire hazards."
And in the same way I talked about accidents; keeping off the streets and safe-guarding themselves and those who depended upon them. Here is a little story that is absolutely true. One of the school commissioners was sitting at home near the grate smoking a cigar and he threw a light ed match into the waste basket. His little son jumped up and said, ``Daddy, you mustn't do that. I'm fire marshal in this home and if you don't stop I'm going to report you." (Applause.)
When I spoke to a large assemblage of four thousand people at the World's Insurance Congress at San Francisco. I closed my remarks with, "Safety first should be used not in jest but in earnest. When a person sees those two words 'Safety First' it should be an incentive for that man to stop. look, and listen. It should be as sacred as the sign of the Red Cross."
Oiiaikm \n Pkiok: I now want to turn over the gavel to our newly elected Chairman of this great Section--Mr. Whitney. (Applause.)
Cit.vtkm xy Whitnky: I want to thank you for giving me this oppor tunity of being connected with this wonderful work. If I were less self ish I think I should try to persuade you to turn it over to one better onalified. but I am not so unselfish as that. And besides, I have Mr. Price and I)r. Payne here to rely upon, and I could be pretty bad and get away with it with two jjeople like that.
Mr. Webster said <1 believe it was he > that unfortunately this work wasn't undertaken seven years ago. Perhaps it is in retrospect, but it seems to me this is a natural development. The Safety Movement had to be acted upon on its most objective side, and it had to get up a momen tum anti become a really recognized spiritual movement before we could get it into education. Tills is not only a spiritual movement, but it is practically a religion, and with that stamp on it. it is ready to go straight into the educational system as a tremendous, not only material, but spir itual force. (Applause.)
Mr. Price reminds me that everybody here is supposed to sign a card >. hich has been given to you. You will then become charter members of tile Section, and you will be sent literature as it comes out. We shall also expect real service from you. It is up to every one of you to go back and see if you can't put this thing Into the schools in your own. home towns.
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Mr. .1. H. Sxvijkr (Columbus): I'd like to suggest a word. Every
reform, every fight %ve have made against the enemy of humanity in this
country has succeeded largely by putting it through the schools. We
only need to look at the temperance question. The Women's Christian
Temperance Union took their fight for temperance to the schools, and
won. Now. starting this same way, our safety movement cannot fail.
Mr. H. B. Eey.noi.ds (Pennsylvania Bines West) : I wish to state that
I look up the question of introducing safety into the schools a year ago.
and Superintendent Hines of the state of Indiana has incorporated that
in the teachers' manual from the first to the eighth grades as a part of
the curriculum every day. (Applause.)
Mk. H. E. Meoinness (Pennsylvania Bines West, Indianapolis): Some
time ago I had the very great pleasure of addressing eight hundred Sis
ters of Charity, who were teachers in the parochial schools of the Sister
hood of St. Mary's of the Woods, Terre Haute, Indiana.
They have
placed in their schools a course of safety study, the same as Mr. Rey nolds mentioned. This Sisterhood teachesin the parochial schools from
Boston to Chicago. (Applause.) Chairman Wiiitnf.y: Is there any further discussion?
tion to adjourn is in order.!
If not, a mo
CHARTER MEMBERS OF THE EDUCATIONAE SECTION
Chairman: A. W. Whitney, General Manager, National Workmen's Com pensation Service Bureau, New York City.
Vice-Chairman: Dr. E. George Payne, Principal, Harris Teachers Col lege, St. Bouis, Mo.
Secretary: C. W. Price, General Manager. National Safety Council,
Chicago. H. B. Adams, Safety Supervisor, Aurora, Elgin & Chicago. R. R.,, Aurora,
111.
E. E. Bach, Philadelphia, Pa. C. T. Bailey, Safety Agent, Salt Bake City, Utah. B. E. Barnes, Anseo Company, Binghamton, N, Y. Miss -Harriet E. Beard, Detroit Normal Training School, Detroit, Mich. Bert Bertram, Safety Agent, Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Ry,, Arkansas
City, Kans. R. A. Beyer, Americanization Director, Central Tube Co.. Pittsburgh, Pa.
A. H. Bissmeyer, The Cincinnati Milling Machine Co.. Cincinnati, Ohio.
R. E. Blok, Safety Agent, Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Ry., Amarillo. Tex.
George F. Buehler. Great Northern R. R., 633% University Are., St. Paul,
Minn. P. S. Case, Union Carbide Co., Niagara Falls, N. Y.
.1. C. Clark, Asst, to Gen. Mgr.. Oregon Short Bine. Salt Bake City.
Mrs. J. C. Clark, Salt Lake City, Utah.
G. E. Clarkson, SOS Hartje Bldg., Pittsburgh, Pa. Harry P. Coffin, Public Safety Commission, and Secretary Oregon Division-
National Safety Council, Portland, Ore.
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Eighth Safety Congress
W. Com met. 1013 Penn St., Pittsburgh, Pa. Clifford B. Connelley, Department Labor and Industry, Harrisburg, Pa. Frederick S. Crum, Prudential Insurance Co., Newark, N. J. A. L. Cunningham, Safety Agent, Penna. Lines West, Pittsburgh, Pa. Mrs. L- Luella Cox, Indianapolis, Ind. Louis E. DeArmand. Public Safety Commission, Davenport, Iowa. Edw. R. Dojon, Safety Engineer, Winchester Repeating Arms Co., New
Haven, Conn. Miss Nesta Edwards, Chicago, 111. L. C. Espersen, Claim Agent, Chicago, Great Western R. R., Clarion, la. Dr. W. A. Evans, Chicago, 111. R. E.. McEwen, 212 W. Washington St., Chicago, 111. M. L. Fellmer, Secretary, Central Mississippi Valley Div., St. Louis, Mo. J. G. Fitzhugh. Galveston, Tex. J. E. Ford, Evansville, Ind. S. M. Galaty, Safety Inspector, 226 W. Jackson St., Chicago, 111. Mrs. S. M. Galaty, SOS N. Humphrey Ave., Oak Park, III. G. M. Gilchrist, Groton School Board, Groton, N. Y. Geo. W. Greenleaf, Inspector, Indianapolis, Ind. Isaiah Hale, Safety Supt., Topeka, Ivans. J. II. Hanson, Rochester Local Council, Rochester, N. Y. Dr. A. M. Harvey, Crane Company, Chicago, 111. O. G. Hell mu th, Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee R. R., 72 W. Adams St., '
Chicago, III. R. N. Hemming, Ft. Wayne & Northern Indiana Traction Co., Ft. Wayne,
Ind. B. J. Hine, Scovill Mfg. Co., Waterbury, Conn. W. J. Hockett, General Electric Co., Ft. Wayne, Ind. Homer J. Hodson, East St. Louis Ry. Co., East St. Louis, 111. William P. Howell, 333 West Houston St., New York, N. Y. G. R. Huggins, Finch Pruyn Co., Inc., Glens Falls, N. Y.
C. A. Judd, Safety Agent, Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Ry., LaJunta,
Colo. R. Me A. Keown, Industrial Comm, of Wis., Madison. Wis. Miss Delight Krauss, Cleveland, Ohio. C. L. LaFountaine, General Safety Supervisor, Great Northern Ry., St.
Paul, Minn. 1.. A. Lewis, Police Bureau, Portland, Ore. F. Linton, Supt. of Schools, Mingo Jet., Ohio. A. H. Lintz., National Safety Council, Northeastern Ohio Division, Cleve
land, Ohio. R. M. Little, Director. Safety Institute of America, 14-18 West 24th St.,
New York City, N. Y. G. H. McClain. College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati. H. E. Meginness. Safety Agent, SOT Majestic Bldg., Indianapolis, Ind. Arthur T. Morey, General Manager, Commonwealth Steel Co., Granite
City, 111. Mrs. Arthur T. Morey, St. Louis, Mo.
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.R. B. Morley, General Manager, Toronto, Canada. S. B. Murphy, Pennsylvania R. R., Fittsbixrgh, Pa. D. R. Paddock, Indianapolis, Ind. J. C. Kinney, Jr., College of Engineering, Milwaukee, Wis. W. R. Rasmussen, Multnomah Hotel, Portland, Ore. Mr. and Mrs. D. K. Rawlings, Salt Lake City, Utah. H. B. Reynolds, Supt. Safety Bureau, Pennsylvania Lines West, Pitts
burgh, Pa. Mr. and. Mrs. R. C. Richards, Chicago & Northwestern R. R., Chicago, 111. A. Richardson, Grand Mere, Quebec, Canada. R Riege, Gilbert & Barker Mfg. Co., Springfield, Mass. E. P. Roberts, Akron, Ohio. Harry Robinson, Crockett, Calif. J. Albert Robinson, Providence, R. I. Capt. J. Robbins, Windsor, Canada. E. J. koesch, 1556 Broadway, New York City, N. Y. A. L. Rose, Akron, Ohio. A. Ryder, 15 Park Row, New York City. Robt. L. Schmidt, Louisville, Ky. W. D. Schofield, Miami, Ariz. H. V. Schreiber, Johnston, Pa. Frank Shattuck, Neenah, Wis. F. H. Sibley, Lawrence, Kans. Carl ]L. Smith, Public Safety Field Secretary, 16S N. Michigan Ave.,
Chicago, 111. L. J. Smyth, Kansas City, Mo. J. H. Snyder, Columbus, Ohio. Herman Spoehrer, St. Louis, Mo. J. H. Stadelman, Wilmington, Del. Thomas Stanion, Aluminum Castings Co., Cleveland, Ohio. W. P. Strickland, General Inspector, Long Island City, N. Y. Geo. W. Stone, Niagara Falls, N. Y. Mrs. J. E. Trussell, Port Neches, Tex. J. E. Ti-ussell, The Texas Co., Port Neches, Tex. Harvey N. Tuttle, Poliak Steel Co., Cincinnati, Ohio. F. M. Ward, Otis Elevator Co., Yonkers, N. Y. Dana Webster, Indianapolis, Ind. Carl Wiemkem, Boy Scoiits of America, E. St. Louis Council, E. St. Louis,
111.
T. G. Wilkinson, Care Elkhart Carriage and Motor Co., Elkhart, Ind. J. S. Windisch, Brown Hoisting Machine Co., Cleveland, Ohio. W. E. Wooley, Safety Education, Detroit Ford Motor Co., Detroit, Mich. Earl F. Varnum, Commonwealth Steel Co., Granite City, 111. R. S. Vitt, Coroner, St. Louis, Mo. Charles N. Young, National Workmen's Compensation Service Bureau,
New York City, N. Y.
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SATURDAY AFTERNOON SESSION
THE meeting convened at two o'clock. Mr. A. W. Whitney, General Manager. National Workmen's Compensation Service Bureau, presidin g.
Chairman Whitxkv: This is the day on -which we put safety educa tion on the map. The exercises really began yesterday when a movement that has been slow in gathering momentum came to a head in the forma tion of an educational section.
It does indeed seem strange that seven years passed by in the life and work of the National Safety Council before this step was taken. I maintain, however, that the development of the activities of the Council h.-is been normal and that education has come to the front at the natural ati? appointed time.
A miracle has happened in these years. Doubtless that little hand of devoted men that laid the foundation for this structure at Milwaukee seven years ago had a lofty faith and vision of the future, but I ven ture to say that the imagination of no one of them comprehended the wonder and might of the stream of spiritual energy that was there un loosed. Nor can we safely prophecy with regard to its strength and puri fying influence in the years to come. It is as though workmen blindly digging for a foundation had struck a stream of pure water gushing out from the depths of the earth. They thought they were building a work shop. the building turned out to be a temple.
I have been curious to explain this miracle. Safety at first sight is not an idea to conjure with, it is almost negative in its appeal and seems to limit the adventure and zest in life. Where then does it get its super human strength and beauty?
This is the explanation that I make to myself. Of all the riddles of a difficult world nothing is more inscrutable than an accident. What powers or processes in heaven, or earth, or under the earth are furthered by the crushing out of the life of an innocent, happy child? What manner of bargain is this in which joy and merriment, in which a parent's love and pride are bartered for bleeding flesh and ruined hopes? I give it up. it is past understanding. There is only one thing I see clearly and that is to stamp it. out. to make the world over into a place where such damnable things shall not happen, to make the world a place that shall be animated by a purpose and not by soulless chance.
The other side of the bargain is to be found if at all here--in the puri fying. cleansing rush of this mighty purpose. This was the stream that the workmen unearthed and it seems verily to flow from the. foundation of the universe.
Two things then are explained: First, why safety education belongs in the school. It belongs there because the child has the right to have this great moral force in his life. Second, why safety education has been so long in coming. It has been so long in coming because it could not be taught as it should be taught until it had taken on this moral, this spir itual quality, until it bad gained the momentum that would carry it surg ing into the heart of life.
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I don't think I can call on anybody who is so well fitted to interpret the place of safety education in the safety movement as Mr. Little. The address of Mr. Little last year at St. Louis, and the address last night, of Mr. Richards are. I think, generally felt to register the high water mark in the messages that have been brought to us in this movement.
. THE PEACE OF SAFETY IN EDUCATION
R. M. Litti-e. Director, Safety Institute of America
As I have listened to Mr. Whitney and Dr. Payne talk upon safety in education I have wondered if I really had anything to contribute to the
thought of the conference upon the subject. I will offer, however, what
has been running through my mind knowing that it will be adequately supplemented and filled out by others. It seems to me that to approach this subject, "The Place of Safety in Education.'' we should first define for ourselves what is the object of education; for, unless we have a rather clear idea of what an education is for, we cannot very well define the place of safety in the organized educational work of our country.
TWO THEORIES OF KHUCAT!o:s
There are two principal theories of education, which theories we will have to deal with in placing safety and Safety material in the curricula of the common schools, the secondary schools, the technical schools, and universities.
We` inherit the theory of education which is theoretical and cultural; principally the training of the mind, an ideal conception of education. This view of an education is broadly held in our country notwithstanding that we are a new nation and rather a practical people. We inherit it from the past and as I apprehend there is running through the entire educational thought of our country a very strong feeling that as a new country we need the cultural values of education to be emphasized for themselves.
There is also the practical idea of an education; the dealing with things as they are in a very concrete and definite way. the endeavor to edu cate boys and girls, young men and women, to articulate themselves har
moniously with their environment and to deal successfully with the
practical affairs of life. These two theories perhaps could be stated in another form something
like this: The purpose of an education is not to enable one to make a living hut to live a large, full, and enjoyable life. This is the cultural conception of an education. The practical view of an education is that it is to equip one with knowledge and technique to make a living and to help fulfill the ordained mission of the human race, to subdue the earth and all the things which are therein and make them contributory to one's happiness and comfort. Now I think if we over-emphasize either one of these theories of education that we will not have before our minds the full object of an education. There are values in both of them, the
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theoretical and the practical, the cultural and the popular. Education is not only to enable us to make a living but to live a life. The object of an education is to develop within one that mechanism of thought and power by which he can grasp the world of affairs and live in harmonious relationship with it; and also to grasp the world of thought and the ab stract principles of truth and duty and feel their influence and power.
OVER-EMI'IIASIS OF CULTURAL IDEA
I-et us think for a moment concerning the over-emphasis upon the cul tural idea of an education and the neglect of the practical view. How impractical some people are who have finely-trained minds! This fact may be illustrated by one of the foremost educators of our country, a gentleman who is a student and a philosopher of the whole subject of education. Yet some years since when he was at the head of a school for education he would walk through the corridors and rooms oblivious to what was going on around him because his mind was absorbed with the abstract theories and philosophies of life. This was not only true in the institution but in his home likewise. He and his talented wife were ac customed to give lectures on education and leave their children at home with the maid. They were blessed with two active lively boys, who one day were experimenting in the bathroom turning the hath tubs into lakes on which to sail their vessels. Having turned on the water with full force they inadvertently forgot that the faucets were running and left the room and there was a Hood. The neighbors in the apartments below re ceived a copious portion of the flood, which caused them to notify their landlord that either they would move or their talented neighbors above would have to move out of the building. Some of the professors of the university said that the educators' family needed a practical education because they were so filled with the higher processes of education that they could not coordinate themselves with the cosmic processes.
Another illustration occurs to me of the dangers of having only a theo retical education in this practical world, by a visit which I made to one of our interesting New York cities where there is a fine community house
in which the civic and. social activities of the community are centered.
After I crossed the threshold 1 was told that I could not visit one end of the building because it liad suffered from a disastrous fire. It seems that a club of young women had had a'meeting in one of the club rooms on the second floor some time before, which club was in charge of a very gifted young woman, a graduate of one of our splendidly-equipped colleges. As it was in the fall of the year they had a bright fire burning in the fire place. When the afternoon was over the young lady in eharge, in setting things in order, took the burning hack log and put it out of sight in a closet without observing fire regulations. A fire broke out and destroyed one side of the beautiful building and caused the loss of many thousands of dollars. These may seem to be extreme illustrations, but really they are not, because often well-educated and .gifted people are found to be most impractical.
It is quite possible in the emphasis upon the training of the mind in
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abstract truth.. In the beauty of knowledge, apart from the practical -world of affairs, to become so out of harmony with environment as to be ineffec tive. The result is a lack of a well-rounded and symmetrical development of mind and character, which, it seems to me, should be the object of an education.
TIIE PRACTICATj TOO STKOAGr.V K.WrUASIZICD
Now take the other idea of an education, the practical--the dealing -with things as they are--and put the emphasis upon it to the neglect of the theoretical or the ideal, and do we have the right object of education? 1 fear that we do not, and if we safety men insist that the curricula of our common,' secondary, and technical schools shall place the emphasis so strongly upon material things and relationships as to dull the fine sensi bilities of idealism and abstract thought, we also will weaken the educa tional life of our country and will not appreciably decrease accidents and certainly will not prepare ourselves against national disaster.
TltE CERAfAX IDEA
The one. great nation of our time which has stressed the technical view of education as against the theoretical is Germany. The German people are educated, hut in the last two or three generations they placed the emphasis upon technical education almost to the exclusion of the ideal and cultural values of education. When pupils had finished the grade schools most of them were allotted to various trades and vocations, some were sent to the preparatory schools for technical courses which they completed In the thirteen technical universities. When students entered the univer sities they were assigned courses of study and placed under professors who practically made them machines to grind out In the laboratories the secrets of Nature, that Germany might he a nation of applied science. She did become a nation of applied science in a marvelous degree, but in the over emphasis of the technical side of education much of the idealism and m-ysticism of old Germany was neglected and greatly- lost its influence in the modern state. Not only did the General Staff of the Army and the Kaiser and the Court, but also the dominating educational opinion of Germany became thoroughly materialistic; therefore, the world cataclysm. It was perfectly clear why the General Staff should want the war and world conquest. One could well understand how the Kaiser and his ad visors might want the war and world conquest, but some of us were baffied for more than two years after the beginning of the war to under stand bow the professors of German universities, men who were devoted to the search for truth, could themselves stand so unitedly behind the Government and General Staff for the ruthless prosecution of the war.
Professor Vernon Kellog has told us why it was that the dominant mind
of the German universities supported the war policy so whole-heartedly. The minds of the professors became technical and materialistic. They had embraced the Neo-Darwinian theory of the universe that the strong should rule over the weak, that by being strong there was a natural necessity to rule, and that the strong, well-equipped nation of technical skill had
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not only the right hut was under necessity to subdue and rule over the
weak peoples, and to trample them under its feet and to destroy them
unless they submitted to its rule. Germany furnishes us a tragic illustra tion of the results of over-emphasis upon the technical, materialistic object in education.
Neither the cultural nor the technical view of education is altogether right and both are wrong when they are separated the one from the other. Pursue an education for cultural values alone and it is a mistake, hut not so great a mistake as to pursue an education for technical values alone. Kither view alone is a mistake and might lead to ruin, but bring the two together and let them both he the object of our educational system.
KDIVATIUN KMIM THIS hlOl.Oli ICA X. POINT Ol- VIKW
I think it was the late Professor James who said in his lectures on Psychology for Teachers, that to build our conception of the purpose of an education we must recognize the great facts of biology'. This idea appeals to me because I think of education in terms of life first of all. Let us consider the subject, therefore, from the biological point of view. Perhaps you may not agree with the view that we are just a development from lower levels of life and that the human family has inherited the instincts, passions, and desires of the animal life below us. But there are great fields of facts to support the view. Through the processes of evolution we have arrived as men and now constitute the human race, but we are not altogether cut off from the lower animal life and we retain many of the same traits which obtain in the animal world. Consider the subject of education from this point of view: An animal is provided with instinct, memory, and association, and by this form of education it is able to pro tect itself from the stronger animals, from the elements of Nature, and. marvelous is the safety practice of animals'. It may be that the life of every wild animal is a tragedy as Seton Thompson affirms, but at the same Lime the animal has developed a wonderful power to adjust itself safely to ils environment, and I doubt that 12 per cent of them die each year through accidents, which some authorities claim to be the ratio of acci dental death among men.
I was sitting in my' room on the sixth lloor of the hotel this morning
listening to the din of energy in the City ol' Cleveland. I could hear the
thump of the car wheel as it passed over the joint of the rails, the hammer in the shop, tiie noise of the mills, and around and above all this a sort of symphony of sound. What was it? The energy of man's development and education which is being released in gainful occupations. But I also thought of the accidents which are taking place, the deaths which have oc curred. the people who are being injured notwithstanding that this is "safety week" in Cleveland. Then I thought of the times I have visited our great manufacturing plants and have observed the men at work in the midst of moving machinery and their efforts as a part of the great constructive forces. Again, my thought turned to the congested traffic on the streets of our cities and how the thoroughfares are full of the en ergy and contingencies of our rapidly-moving life. To avoid accidents on
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the highways, iu the mills or the mines requires almost perfect mechanical organization and operation and also education of the individual to safe practices and habits which are unfailing.
We are being educated instinctively and by lessons to save ourselves amid these processes but I doubt if in the development of our artificial, man-made life we are more safe against the destructive forces than are the animals out in the forests. As I sat and looked out from the window, thinking of Cleveland and its din of energy and power moving in all di rections, and people being hurt in the midst of it, I also thought of one pleasant afternoon on the French River in Canada when I was fishing for bass and of how safe the bass were in the lake that day, so far as my skill as a fisherman was concerned, and of two little mink in their glossy silk fur which came out of the rocks and swam across the river, and of the hawk flying in the blue above, the insects of the air, and the birds in the trees. As I reflected upon these contrasting scenes it seemed to me that the birds of the air and the fish of the sea and the beasts of the forests are more perfectly adjusted to their environment than men are ad justed to theirs. In other words, the instincts, associations, and memory of animals are as great, or of greater protection to them against acci dental injury and death than are the Instincts of self-preservation and an education for the human family. With the biological conception of educa tion as a root idea the question may rightfully he raised--Has not our ed ucation in protection and safety lagged behind other elements of our development? It seems to me that it has. The opportuneness, therefore, the necessity, for the National Safety Council, which is gathering together the collective experience of industry for safety, to carry its message and practical methods to the schools, and for safety material to he incorporat ed in the curricula. Our educational processes should not only enable us to relate ourselves harmoniously to the world of affairs but also relate ourselves to the principles of abstract truth and duty and unless we have an educational system which will correlate life to our complete environ ment we shall not have that educational system at work which we need for the formation of our national character.
SIMPLICITY OF DR. PAYNE'S 'BOOK
One thing which I like about Dr. Payne's hook is its primer-like sim plicity. It is intended for the children in the grade schools, most of whom are below the adolescent age and in that period of life when the mind is not abstract or theoretical but receives its impressions and information from concrete facts and relationships. Only in and after the adolescent period does the mind become reflective and move in the higher sphere of abstract principles and relationships. It is wise, therefore, to provide safety material to be incorporated in the curriculum of the grade schools of a very simple and concrete nature, suitable to the needs of children who are interested in and dealing with concrete things and through them receiving their appreciation of truth and reality. This Is the psychologi cal and pedagogical value of Dr. Payne's book. Pie has gathered up the "Abe" material from the safety movement and arranged it in suitable les
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sons for the instruction of children to meet the practical needs of their lives. It is quite important that a child on its way to school shall have some knowledge about what to do and not to do lest it be injured. So also in the school, and at play with its companions, and in the home, and every other place the child needs instruction as to safety. The grade school is the appropriate place to teach the concrete simple facts to chil dren. which will enable them to develop that inner mechanism of thought to grasp this outer world of controlling realities and not be hurt thereby. The Safety Council, however, should not stop with this primary instruction in the grade schools but the lesson should be carried upward into the sec ondary schools and also into the technical schools, colleges and universi ties, because in them our future leaders are being educated and trained for life's work. There our future engineers are receiving their impressions as to practical values of life. They are the students who in a few years will have charge of our great constructive processes and programs. They will be the leaders to carry forward improvements and refinements as regards the factor of safety in the operation of our industries.
SAFETY IK COKSTRUCTIOS
Of course every engineer calculates upon a reasonable factor of safety for construction and operation in the main, but is it not true that they have not carried their thought and imagination forward far enough to include the safety factor in all our operations? I am quite convinced that this is true. The engineer's position in business is like that of the archi tect or any other professional man. He must satisfy the Board of Di rectors and the Finance Committee of the corporation which he serves. They determine how much money can be spent on the factor of safety in construction and in engineering-revision and mechanical safeguarding. It is always a question whether or not he can carry safety to the nth degree. But there are great influences at work to awaken the intelligence and consciousness of finance committees up.on this subject.
EDUCATING Tin-: CAPTAINS OF I.VDCSTRV
The safety movement is enlightening the minds of the captains of indus try. The forty-one State Compensation Acts emphasize the economic loss of accidents and occupational diseases. There is a growing appreciation of the value of human life and in the future it will not he so difficult for trained engineers when they submit their plans to executive and finance committees to persuade them to appropriate sufficient money to have their industrial plants constructed and equipped for safety of operation and the preservation of life and limb of the workmen.
SAFETY' EDUCATION IN TECHNICAL SCHOOLS
It is quite possible in our zeal to educate workmen to safe practices and habits that we unconsciously hold them responsible for accidents in too high a degree. Careful studies have revealed the fact that the severity rate at least is more affected by engineering and revision of plant struc-
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tnres and equipment than it is by- education of workmen. The primary re sponsibility for safe and sanitary work places rests upon the management. The management, however, is dependent upon competent engineering serv ice to make work places safe and sanitary. In order that competent and conscientious engineers, imbued with the idea of safety in operation, may broadly influence the physical conditions of industry it is necessary that they be educated in the technical schools in the principles of safety and its larger values. To accomplish this object it is necessary that we carry the message of safety into the technical schools and universities, to the faculties and to the students. During the last year one of the most fun damental services which the Council has rendered was the encouragement of Dr. Payne to prepare his book for the primary schools, and also the sending of a qualified engineer to the universities and technical schools to converse with the faculties and tell them the story of safety and its need, and getting the safe practices leaflets introduced into these schools and these vital ideas at work where our future leaders are being educated. This is beginning at the so\irce of influence in the schools where the lit tle children are receiving the impressions which form their habits, in the technical schools where the engineers are receiving their ideas and ideals of professional service. As safety is first an attitude of mind and then a habit of life we will make more progress in eliminating accidents and prolonging life by developing the proper attitude of mind and habit during the years of education.
I'LACr.VO RES PON SIBI f.TTV TOR ACCIDENTS
There is another thought which I wish to call to your attention; namely, that philpsophy concerning accidents which holds them to be unavoidable and their cause often mysterious and inscrutable. The result is a belief that accidents cannot be prevented. The safety movement has demon strated tliat they can be. The popular belief, however, is that accidents are just accidents,--something untoward, unlooked for. arising oat of the contingencies of life which cannot be foreseen and provided against. It is this idea which frames the legal definition of an. accident. This philos ophy has even influenced the minds of legislators to declare that some things are the acts of God and we have been disposed to hold the Supreme Being responsible for some of the most unhappy occurrences in life. I am disposed to absolve the Deity from responsibility and charge the occur rences largely to the stupidity and Ignorance of men. It is sort of a con venient philosophy to u-oll on to the Supreme Being the responsibility for things that belong to you and me in the development of our intelligence in the world of affairs. As it has been given to us to subdue the earth and make it serve our purpose there has also been given to us an intellect to be trained and educated to understand the forces of Nature aud our re lationship to the world of affairs that will enable us to live in harmonious relationship with all mundane things. Our educational development in this respect has been retarded and it needs to be facilitated by the safety movement. What mean our senses cf sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste, and our powers of reasoning, of memory, and of association, if they
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Eighth Safety Congress
cannot serve us to correlate our lives practically with the outer phenomena of the world. Our Creator has done his part in our endowment. We must do our part through education to enjoy the values of a harmonious life. T do not think that our educational processes will bring us to perfection, but when we recall the awful wastes that are occurring today not only of life and limb but also of material, and when we think that in a great city the hazards to life are greater than in a secluded spot where one is in tune with Nature, one cannot help but feel that safety certainly has its place in the educational system. What is needed is the attitude of mind, the practical methods and the realization of their valxies, and the putting of them to work, and they will help us to define and realize the larger object of education and make us a happier and more useful people. I cannot think that the incorporation of safety in the educational system will militate against the richness of life upon the cultural side.
TWO KI.K.MK.NTS XECKSSARY JX EDTTCATIOJT
How can we maintain a cultural life if we do not have a healthy and whole life? The body is the temple of the .spirit. The health and well being of the body affect the vitality and beauty of the spirit. Only as the mind and spirit are educated to a proper control of the body in relation ship to the world of facts and forces is the education of the mind sym metrical and complete. Educators and philosophers as well as practical people have devoted considerable time to debate of the value of the theo retical as opposed to the practical and the practical as opposed to the theoretical values of education. It seems to me that the values of both elements ought to be recognized because of the biological facts of life. .
Life is not separated into compartments. Only for convenience of
thought can we differentiate between the theoretical and the practical. One can hardly think of culture as belonging only to disembodied spirits but rather as characterizing a personality tabernacled in a physical organism. If one's physical organism is properly related to the physical world about him, his mind may be filled with the good, the true, and the beautiful, both of the visible and the invisible world, and he will have a healthier, safer, and happier life.
SAFETY MOVEXIEA'T fiOTIX rRACTIC.U, AXD IDEAL
It seems to me that the incorporation of safety in education strengthens this composite ideal of education. The safety movement is not only practical but it is also ideal. Much of the motive power of this great movement comes from idealism. Safety in education therefore will help to clarify the object of education and unite the practical and the cultural values and meet the needs of our great nation.
America should not become less technical on the engineering side nor should she become less cultural on the ideal side, but her technical skill should be infused with the spirit and imagination of idealism which will enrich the educational motive and beautify the entire life of our country.
I hope that America will never become as Germany was, cursed by the
philosophy of materialism to the obscuration and deadening of the
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higher sensibilities of the mind and spirit. But America cannot fulfill her great mission without an increased technical skill which needs to be touched and infused with the spirit of idealism. We walk the earth but let us walk it in safety with our eyes to the skies.
:Chairman Wuitn-ky A year ago at this time we knew just as well as we do now that we wanted safety education in the schools but we didn't know how to put it in. We were in St. Louis at that time holding our Congress and we talked to the school authorities there about our need. The result was that Dr. Payne came forward almost providentially and before we knew it. had actually done -what we wanted. It was an accom plished fact before we recognized it.
A plan was evolved and tried out in the St. Louis schools, and lias proved successful, that seems to have completely solved the problem of getting safety into education, in the public and parochial, the primary and secondary schools.
I want to recommend this plan to the people of Cleveland. I was in the St. Louis schools, seeing a demonstration of the work when the teacher called on one of the boys to explain why they ought to be safe. He gave a number of reasons and then he finished off with what seemed to him one of the strongest reasons, that is, if St. Louis were to compete successfully in the race for population, she had to keep all her population. I think that would be a valuable thing for you Cleveland people to remember,,
I take great pleasure in introducing Dr. Payne, Principal, Harris Teachers' College, of St. Louis.
TEACHING SAFETY IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Dr, E. George Pavxe. Principal, Hakims Tkachkrs* College St. Lotus, Mo.
I hope that you won't expect from me a brilliant address, because I have merely come to tell you. as simply as possible, how the children nay participate in the great movement of conserving human life.
It seems to me that this week has been largely an educational week. I came here to attend the Safety Congress, but in every session I have attended iit seems to me the emphasis has been put on education and rightly so because, after all. safety is education and education is safety.
I should like without any preliminary introduction to enter into what I have to say this afternoon. What I am going to attempt to do is to give as nearly as T can a picture of what goes on In teaching accident prevention.
To be sure, it would be most desirable if we could take you into the schoolroom and see the children In action, but that is Impossible. Some of you have seen -he children in action and I am sure it is much more impressive than anything f could tell you of what takes place in the schoolroom.
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Eighth Safety Congress
MAKE Tin-: nui.DMKX A I'AIIT OF THE MOVEMENT
In the first place, the fundamental principle underlying our effort is to make the children a part of the safety movement just as we make them a part of the movement in the acquisition or the development of health, or in the acquisition of ideals and the practice of thrift. Our whole notion is to induct the children into a welfare movement. In other words, the children are living in a community of which they are a part and we want them to realize the ideals and the problems of that community. We think there is no bigger problem or no more important ideal than the realization of safety in the community. Underlying what we undertake of an intellectual sort is the effort to make the children responsible for the conduct of ilie school community.
Consequently, the whole idea is that the children shall engage in this work. The procedure is totally different in the education of a child from what it is in the education of an adult. I may tell you something that lies within your experience and you understand it and interpret it properly, but when we deal with children, if we educate them we have to induct them into the experience. Therefore, in the education of a child, we must rely much more upon getting the child into action and making him a part of it than in the case of an adult. Yet, every one of you knows that when you want to learn a thing, or when you have a problem, you learn it or solve iho problem by bringing yourself to face the problem and work out its solution. You start with an interest. You get into the thing you want to solve, you go into the sources and you work out the details of the problem. That is what we are attempting to do with the children. We arc making the children the central figure in the activity. The children: d<> the thinking.
TltUKi: MKt'lIoPS IN AfftliKNT EUl'CATlOX
There are three specific ways in which accident education is carried out. One is by introducing into the curriculum in the schools--into the various subjects such as arithmetic, language, reading, and the like--accident prevention - Instruction. Tile second is by having the children, not the adults, construct plays and the children give those plays or pantomimes illustrating accident situations such as you will see here this afternoon. The third is the organization of the whole school--not the teachers, but the children themselves.--with the idea that they shall be responsible for the welfare of the community in which they live. That, after all, is education. That, after all. is the only way education can go on.
People have not come to that view very rapidly because of the simpli city of the community of a generation ago. the community in which our fathers lived. lint, in the modern, complex community, the city, you can't equip the child to participate in the life of his community by telling him wliat to do. Von can only equip him properly or train him by allowing him to participate in that life: to live that life during his career when he Is getting his education and he is preparing for those larger relations of life.
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167
Let me give you a very few illustrations in order to make very clear wliat I have in mind in regard to making the instruction in accident pre vention education a part of the curriculum.
AC'CIUKNT IMU-'.VHNTION IMSTIIUCTIOX, A l'AUT Ob' CUIlP.U't: r.l'M.
In the old way we learned civics--for instance about the activities of the city--by having a book and putting it into the hands of a child and letting him read about the subject under consideration and then come to class and sit in a chair and answer questions the teacher asks. We didn't ask whether it affected his behavior when he went out of the schoolroom. In fact, we never tested it very definitely to see whether the information had become a part of his life.
A lesson in civics as taught today reverses the situation. During the past year we were studying municipal activities,--the activities of the Police Department, the Executive Department of the city, the Mayor's Department, the Street Department and the Coroner's Courts and In quests. Fortunately Coroner Vitt invited us to send a group of children to witness a coroner's inquest. The first thing was to allow the children to select their representatives to go and bring the information back to them. In the very beginning the children delegated persons to bring them information regarding things they wanted to know about.
The outcome of this visit was interesting, and was typical of wbat is
going on in a civic class. The boys who came back said to the princi
pal. "We must do something to eliminate accidents from this community. We must do something to see that children do not engage in those activi ties that endanger their lives."
The principal asked him what he liad in mind. He said, "We went down there and heard the story of how the boy was killed. Two boys were going to a show and one said to the other, `Let us take one last ride before going into^the show.' How prophetic that was! One of them fell from the trailer of the street car on which he took the ride, both, legs were cut off, and later he died."
This boy said, "There are boys in this school who jump oil cars every week. I have jumped on them myself. We must see to it that no boy is ever permitted to do things of that kind." Isn't that accident pre vention?
The principal said, "What are you going to do about it?" He replied, "I think we ought to tell the school."
"All right. Get your story ready." They got a "group of children and practiced until they had a good speech. Then they began in the kinder garten and went throughout the school, and told the story they had im pressed upon them.
Do you think the children of that community jump on street cars? No,
because they got that story from the heart. They are learning to par
ticipate and get the experience first-hand. And think of the ability in English that the child acriuires in work of
that kind! Think of the latent ability he finds in the expression of his thoughts! He learns more English in one exercise of that kind than he
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Eighth Safety Congress
learns in a month from books. Take as an illustration, some of the arithmetic problems he makes up:
ARITHMETIC PROBLEMS
"If there are 700,000 people in St. Louis and 510 are killed by accident, how many would be left? What per cent are killed?" Or:
"There are 99 people killed by automobiles and 37 by street cars. If 4 times the number killed by automobiles are killed in other ways, how many people will be left otit of a population of 700,000?" Or:
"There are 464 people killed in St. Louis in. the year 1918. If this number could be cut down 10 per cent by safety first, how many people will be killed in the year 1919?"
Isn't that better than to give the child a problem from a book to solve? Take this one:
"If the population of the United States was 91,972,266 in 1910 and the accidental deaths are 54,300, to what would the population of the United States be reduced by accidents alone in ten years if population did not increase in other ways?'1'
These are jiroblems made by the children. Now look what the child has done in order to get the information! He lias gone to every avail able source. He has searched out the statistics, census reports, all the Information from the teachers, and he is taking it home to the parents. The- parents have participated in getting his lesson for him. Aren't
those problems as important as the problems you had in school?
The greatest value is that the child not only gains power in English construction but he gets a great deal of information and it must be cor rect information,--because the teacher sees that it is correct.--in re gard to the actual accident situation, and it leads not only to the discus sion in the home but in the school, of the actual statistics.
Not only is this true, but he takes those figures and throws them into tables and graphs. Isn't that the kind of problems we are interested in today ?
DRAWINGS AND SLOOASS
Take drawing. You no doubt have seen the drawings here at the Arm ory this week, which are typical. A drawing of the American Sag wirh the slogan. "Make it stand for Safety." "One Man at Work is Worth Two in the Hospital." "Don't taste everything you see. Safety First"-- and this was a picture of a child on a chair drinking from a bottle taken from the medicine shelf. "Any Fool can be careless."
In other words, in drawing, instead of drawing scenes from nature-- which is perfectly all right and I have no objections--the child draws the things with which he is familiar. I am not advocating this as the whole educational program. I am merely trying to show you what can be done in the school exercises.
SAFETY CORRELATED WITH READING AND ENGLISH
Or, take a reading lesson. In the reading class we assign newspapers and magazines as the subject matter for reading, with the purpose of
Xttfcti/ Edttcation
161)
developing the safety idea, and with the idea that the children are to se lect an article that they think is worth while for the class to have. They know, further, that if the article selected is thought, sufficiently valuable by the class, the members vote to select the article and put it in a scrap book as a possession of the school.
Think of the stimulus to the child when he goes out to get something to share with his fellows and those of future classes that come into the school! You can imagine how much he reads, how much he discusses what he reads! Parents have told me over and over again that they have learned more about safety since this plan was introduced than they ever knew before in the schools because the parents were naturally the source and had to be able to help the children out. They had to be in terested in the school work itself.
Then the child brings his article before the class. Teachers have told me that children make more progress in one lesson of that kind than in the ordinary assignment given to classes in one month.
Take the English lesson where we assign to the children a real or imaginary incident as an oral composition, and then we let it be known at the time that those who present the best selections, those who make the best effort, will be given the opportunity to present this, provided the class thinks it worth while, to the other classes in the school.
I am afraid you might get the idea that there isn't a great deal that is ideal for the children with this plan. I want to read you a few speeches that were written by the school children. The first is by a girl twelve years of age.
SAFKTT SPKKC'flKS BV CIIir.DREX
"There is something at this present time that must be taken care of, something that if not prevented will cause great sorrow and suffering. The boys, returning from the dangers and horrors of war, hope--long for --the safety and quietude of peace. Is this country safe for them? It is certainly not safe when two hundred twenty-five men, women, and children die each day from causes, most of which are preventable. If you can picture five schoolrooms, each containing, forty-five lifeless per sons. whom you might have kept healthy, helpful citizens of the 1'nited States, then you have some idea of what goes on in this country each day. We know that some of our valiant boys will not re turn while others will come back crippled. But there is a very great reason for this, a reason that will never in the history of the world be forgotten. Every day we see in the paper the glorious list of those who died that we might live and live better. It is only just and fair that we do our utmost to improve our country by saving the lives for which our soldiers died.
"The boy who in a careless hurry and flurry loses an arm, is he to be classed with the soldier who gave his arm? Was there a reason for him to rush heedlessly across the street to arrive at, not his destination, bur an accident? He paid dearly for his act. and his parents will feel the loss as much and more than the boy himself. The man who hit the boy is to he considered. He will have the memory of it all stamped he-
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Eighth Safety Congress
fore liis eyes for years. The parents, the man. and others had really
nothing: to do with the accident, but still they carry the responsibility.
"Xow. look at the wounded soldier. At first sight of him. the loving
old nun her feels a shudder passing over her. and then quickly quite an
other feeling prevails, a. feeling of pride and respect for that brave boy of hers. Kvery one that sees the boy shares her feelings. He is welcome
wherever he goes. .Vow, compare these two boys that I have mentioned.
See the numerous things they prove, among which one stands out strong
ly: that bravery or courage does not mean carelessness.
"During the last war the government found the people ever ready and
willing to help. Vow that this groat question has come to the fore, the
question of safety, can't we see our duty and do it? A tedious battle has
been fought and won. and now this battle also must be fought and won.
We shall be fighting in more than a just cause, fighting because people of
our country are being killed by that ever-prevalent tyrant, carelessness.
When we hear that people of our own nation, our brothers, are being
killed, don't we feel a stirring, a quivering about us, a resolve to do our
part in die work? We fought to make the world safe. We have heard
that expression time and time again, and to a certain extent that has
been successfully carried out. but not 'quite. While people suffer death
caused by a tyrant, we are not finished. When we entered the last war,
we went to work with the idea of winning. Very soon we saw something else. We saw that we must win quickly. As soon as this thought took
root, things began to change. Very soon victory was ours! Just so it
will be in this case. The sooner we get at this thing, the better. But
remember, place `safety first' first safely in your own mind and then
in the minds of those about you.''
That was the effort of a twelve-year girl and that was her expression. Take another of a similar character:
"Do you read the newspapers? Have you noticed how many accident*
happen daily that might have been avoided? Xot one day passes tmt
what some one is either seriously injured or meets death simply thawch
carelessness. We used to thinlc that accidents were necessary, but rxrar
we know that It is not only possible to prevent tliom. bat that It is rur
duty to do so.
"Some one might ask. `Wbat can I do? How (an 1 fa*-lp t<> p-nswiTc
safety?' Your teachers have given you safety rules vhi-ch y*u
follow.
Knowing them is not enough.
You must use them
if Tivr
simple rule, `always be careful,' be followed on the street. Sr. the htatw.
and at school, what a number of accidents might he avoided. \V-
Vd
be constantly on the alert, not only in regard to our safety but Its retard
to the safety of others.
"I am afraid some of xis do not realize how important this safety-first
movement really is. I.et me quote some statistics to prove to you the
seriousness of this matter. We think that the number of deaths in our
army was great. Yes, it was great, sixty thousand. But think of it, in
the year nineteen hundred seventeen, seventy-five thousand lost their
lives through accident. Fifteen thousand more than in "this great war!
It is also estimated that one out of every eight persons in the United
Safely JL'ducai ion
171
States is injured yearly. And when we know that war's casualties were
necessary, while those from accident were not. shall we sit by without an effort to reduce that.v number? Think of your own family. Would you want one of them' crippled for life, possibly, through your negli gence? It is a fact that the greatest number of accidents occur in the home and on the street. Out of twenty-nine thousand accidents in Chi cago. fifteen thousand occurred in the home.
"Thousands of others will meet a similar fate unless we ail unite to help free the country of avoidable accidents. By the combined efforts of men, wcnien, and children, we won this war on autocracy. By the combined efforts of all of us. we shall win this great war on accidents."
If I could have the time this afternoon. I could give you many inci dents of that kind of work that are coming out of classrooms every day. hot me give you a list of questions asked on examination:
KX AM IX ATI ox QU It ST IO X S
"Describe the correct way to get on and off a street car. What must you do on the discovery of a broken wire? What is the danger of spit ting in public places? Name five public safety devices with which you are acquainted. What may the atitomobilist reasonably expect of a pedestrian? Cive one important precaution regarding the handling of firearms. Tell how to call the fire department. What is the location of the box nearest your home? What number do you call for the police? Name five ways by which you can distinguish a careful person." That is the type of prob lem that acrjuaints the child and shows he has been studying the real problems cf the community and not some imaginary one.
PltAM ATIZATIOX
The second point, the dramatization or pantomime, will be shown this afternoon, by Cleveland school children.
TtIK SCI loot. SAFCTY OIM! A XIZATTOX
I want to speak just one moment of the school organization, the use of the children themselves in the safety movement. The children are h-d to feel their responsibility for the safety of the community, not only h' children in the school, but the children as they go to tlieir homes from school and from home to school.
! went into a building a short time ago and found a group of children interested in discussing some problem. I asked them what they were d'-oussioR. They said. "We are discussing safety." I asked them whether they were doing anything to promote safety.
"its. We have children at all the crossings where the policemen are tint stationed to take care of the primary and kindergarten children."
They told me also of an inchlent of the morning before in which the b lioeman cn a very dangerous crossing had to go down to testify in a 'vnc. The children had gone there and had taken charge of the crossing an<- had seen that the younger children w?re safe. When I inquired at the school, not one of the teachers knew of it. The children had taken
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Eighth Safety Congress
care of the need because they had been led to feel they were responsible for accidents in that community.
Here is another incident: I went into a schoolroom where a group of children were meeting and discussing safety along with health and clean school yards and proper care of books, and other questions. They had their president and secretary and various committees, and the chil dren freely participated in the discussion. They were making reports of what they had done in the past week, and one boy reported he had noticed the morning before that the policeman was not on the crossing and no committee was there. A boy quickly jumped up and asked. "Did you say you came by the crossing and there was no policeman or com mittee?" He continued, "What did you do?"
"I came on to school." "Why didn't you take care of those children?" "It wasn't my duty." "Do you mean to say you saw those children in danger and in spite of that fact, you didn't step in and help them across?" He said in answer, "It wasn't my duty. I was not on the committee." "The gentleman does not seem to understand the question. I want to know whether you left those children in 'danger with the possibility of crippling or killing a child?" And, the room broke out into spontaneous applause that showed they felt the ethical nature of the point involved. This boy went further. "You are simply jealous because you were not assigned this duty." When once the children are made to realize their responsibility, how they take hold of it! I could go on and give you Incident after incident hut I do not want to take too much of your time. I want to say, after all and funda mentally, this is a process of democracy. That is what it means to me
and that is why it is so ideal. It is a democratic community of which
every child is a part and he feels his part in the community. A child can't grow up and learn how to feel his part in it by mere reading.
If the children in the community are going to be able to participate in the life of the community, engage in it as a unit of the organization in an effective way, they must have experience in the schoolroom. That is what it means to me. It is a democratic community and we are training those children for life in a. democracy.
(Audience expresses its appreciation of Dr. Payne's address by rising and applauding.)
CiiAiiotAx Wicitxky: I wonder if I can't call on each one of you to get on the street crossing and he a committee of one to carry this mes sage into your own home-town instead of your schoolroom.
The next thing on the program is a demonstration by the Cleveland school children of a part of this safety idea in the schools. This demon stration has been worked up entirely here in Cleveland and is under the direction of Miss Bryce, the Assistant Superintendent of one of the
schools.
DEMOA'STRATIOS BY n.KVEI_\.M SCHOOL, CHU-DEKS
M.rs;j Mary Haneauax: It was Dr. Payne's intention that the school
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173
children should explain this, but we did not understand that until it
was too late, so please remember that X am reading the part that a school
child would give.
"Science has shown us that disease is caused in a great measure by
germs that have collected on the hands during work or play. These germs
can easily be carried on the food to the stomach where they can get in
their deadly work. In the first picture you will see a little boy with
dirty hands ready to eat his dinner, hut his parents are too wise to allow
this. See what they do."
[The first scene depicted a family of three, the father, mother, and
little hoy, ready to partake of tlieir meal. The parents notice that the
boy's hands are dirty and send him to wash them. He leaves the table,
washes his hands and returns to show his parents that his hands are
clean. He is then permitted to eat his dinner.]
"Another way that the spread of disease can he prevented is by brush
ing the teeth after meals. This is equally as important as washing the
hands before meals. Germs lodged in the crevices between the teeth can
thus be exterminated. Let us see if the boy in the next picture has
learned this lesson."
[In the second scene, there is the same family group, at the end of the
meal. The boy is shown brushing his teeth.] "This scene, I think, will fairly illustrate itself.
I hope that every
one in this audience after seeing it will know the necessity for using a
handkerchief when coughing or sneezing and be ready to inform any one
of this fact if he neglects to do so."
[In the third scene a group of girls are playing jacks, all coughing
and sneezing, but using handkerchiefs to cough and sneeze into.]
"No person can be healthy unless he breathes fresh air. How is he
to get it when he Is not out in the open? By having the room he is in
properly ventilated. "We usually see to that during the day; but it is .of
great importance that we have fresh air to breathe during our sleeping
hours. The next picture will show you what should be done before re
tiring for the night."
[In. the fourth scene, a boy is seen opening the windows from the top
before retiring.]
"Who would have thought the little fly could spread disease as it does?
The tiny hairs on the fly's legs collect the germs, and then the fly shakes
them off right in the most convenient place for them to begin their work.
Swat the fly! This boy shows us how to do it."
[In the fifth scene, a boy with a fly-swatter is chasing flies. He shakes
his head when he misses one, and nods his head with approval when he
kills one.]
"Often we meet with -what is apparently a slight injury; as a cut or
bruise; and so pay little or no. attention to it. But, how often do we have to pay for this neglect? It sometimes results very seriously. In
order to avoid trouble or he on the safe side, always give the proper care
to a wound, no matter how slight it may seem. Watch closely and see
how it is done."
[The sixth scene depicted a mother sitting at a table when the little
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Eighth Safety Congress
child runs in to lier with her finger cut. The mother immediately washes the wound with an antiseptic and bandages it.]
"How many lives could be saved if we all knew how to resuscitate a person that has been rescued on the verge of drowning! If you do not know, the two boys in tn. next scene will show you how."
[The seventh scene depicted one boy, who was supposed to have been rescued from drowning, lying fiat on the ground, and the other boy was working to restore him.]
"How many accidents are due to carelessness at home. Let us all try to make our home a safe place to live in. Lid you ever have the experi ence that this boy is having? I hope we will all pull out every nail that is not in its right place, as this boy will do, and so avoid accidents."
[The eighth scene depicted a boy picking up a stick with a nail stick ing out of it. 1-Ie finds a rock and drives the nail out-1
"Sometimes we realize there is danger in doing certain things, but through carelessness or thoughtlessness we pay no heed. Don't step on a ladder without giving it a thorough inspection. Falls from ladders often result in permanent injury or death. Let us remember the old saying. `A stitch in time saves nine'. I hope that after seeing the next picture we will all have learned that a defective stepladder is very dan gerous."
[In the ninth scene, a boy is walking up a shaky stepladder when an other hoy calls him down from the ladder and together they tighten the bolts, and otherwise strengthen it. The ladder is then ready and safe for use. so the boy again mounts it.]
"A frequent source of accident is the use of coal oil in making a fire. Persons may be ignorant of the danger in using oil on fire or may
think that nothing can happen to them, and do what this mother and
father want to do in their hurry to build a fire. The child is there, for tunately. to correct them."
[Tn the tenth scene when the child sees the father and mother about to use oil to make the fire, she persuades them not to by bringing to their attention an article in the newspaper which proves to them the wisdom in not using oil on fires.]
"Have yon ever been guilty of dropping a match and not picking it up? More fires occur monthly from carelessly-placed matches than I could count on my fingers one hundred times. We should always have a place for everything and keep everything in its place. See what this sensible little housemaid does."
[In the eleventh scene, while dusting, the maid finds a match on the lloor and places it in the match box where it belongs, nodding her head in disapproval of the carelessness of the person who dropped the match.]
"I read in the newspaper the other day of a little boy burned to death simply because his mother, either through fright or ignorance, did not use the proper method of extinguishing the flames. Maybe if she had seen this picture, that awful accident would not have happened."
[In the twelfth scene, a boy runs in with his clothes aflame, evidently. The boy is wrapped in a rug picked up from the floor and the flames thus
smothered.]
Safety Education.
175
"Have you ever seen children putting' pins in their mouths? I have,
more than once, and what a dangerous practice it is! The next picture will show you a mother at work making a dress, instead of having a pin
tray at hand, she uses her mouth for one. Her little daughter, realizing the danger, brings .her a tray and so avoids trouble."
[In the thirteenth scene, the mother is fitting a dress on one of the
little girls, holding the pins she is not using in her mouth. One of the little gii-ls runs up with a tray and tells her not to use her mouth for
this purpose.] "We not only want to make our home a safe place, but we want to
safeguard our lives while we are out on the streets. A very important
rule to follow in crossing streets is, I think, `Use your eyes, not your
tongue'. One of the girls in the next picture is reminding the others
what to do in crossing the street." [In the fourteenth scene, the girl who is instructing the children how
to cross the street, advises them to watch the traffic coming from the
left until they are in the middle of the street, and then to watch for the traffic coming from the right.]
"How many of us are guilty of throwing a banana peel on the sidewalk
or in the street' I wonder if we realized what a serious accident might have happened. This little girl is indeed fortunate to have escaped injury. See what she does with the peel."
[In the fifteenth scene, a little girl is walking along the street when she slips on a banana peel which another child has just carelessly throtvn away. She picks up the banana peel and throws it into a waste
paper box, where it can harm no one.] "How many accidents could be avoided if bicycle riders were careful!
Never try to beat an auto or street car at the risk of your life. We will
show you in the next picture what a sensible rider does." TIn the sixteenth scene, the boy attempting to cross the street, looks
in both directions before he does so.] "Hone of us wants to be selfish, and so at the risk of health we do what
this little girl in the next picture is doing. Fortunately her companion is
wiser than she is." I In the seventeenth scene, the little girl offers the other one a hite of
the apple she is eating, hut the latter refuses, because she knows better.] "This next picture, I am sure, will appeal to every boy and girl in this
school. "We have all learned why it is necessary to carry our pens and
pencils in a closed case. See what might happen if we are thoughtless In this matter."
[In the eighteenth scene, a boy is seen reading a book while walking
along the street. He has a pen in his hand, which he is twirling with the
point outward. Another boy, coming toward him, runs into the pen, hut his coat was thick enough to save him from injury. He takes a case
from his pocket and explains to the other boy that that is the proper
place to carry a pen.]
"We are old. enough to carry an umbrella and so must know llOW to
do so.
One of the girls in the next picture evidently must be taught
how."
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Eighth Safety Congress
[In the nineteenth scene, one girl is crossing the street with her um brella down before her eyes and, therefore, does not see the girl who is coming toward her. This girl, however, steps out of the way, but shows the other the danger of carrying an umbrella in that way and shows her that she should carry the umbrella over her head and not before her ' face.]
"The upper rooms of our school have appointed safety committees whose duty it is to stand at the street corners when school is dismissed to guard and caution children in crossing streets. Watch a few of the Committee at work."
[In the twentieth scene, the committee holds back or sends on groups of school children as they come to the street crossings.]
Chairman Whitney: That is all of that part of the entertainment. Several have expressed the desire to have a round-table about this subject, as Dr. Payne and others are here. Ain. Cirxs. B. Scott (Bureau of Safety. Chicago): I should like to suggest that the method of resuscitation in drowning that was shown in the demonstration is an obsolete method and' that the prone pressure is the better method of resuscitation. Several men from the National Electric Light Association are here, and J should be pleased to have them give you a demonstration of this method if you would like to have it. It is the one approved by the medical authorities. Chaik.max Whit.vey: I think we should like that very much, Mr. Scott. [Two members of the National Electric Light Association come to the platform to demonstrate the proper method of resuscitation, giving the following explanation:
DKMOSSTRATTOX OF PRO.VK PKKSSUKE JICTHOD
"I am supposed to have had this man cleared from the current and out of the water. The first thing to do is to take him and turn him over, putting his left arm forward, his right arm across the body, turning his head to one side, clearing his mouth of any false teeth, chewing gum, tobacco, or mucus. Then straddle your knees just behind his pock ets or hip bones. Put your hands on the lower ribs, tips of the fingers just out of your sight, thumb alongside the- fingers, little finger on the lowest rib. Stiffen your arms and rock forward. Release, removing the hands. Repeat fifteen times per minute, just like this.
"Now. it is very important to get your hand just in that position, no higher, no lower. If your knees are correct, you will notice that when I rock forward, my arm is -perpendicular to the floor and the upper part of my leg is perpendicular to the floor. You don't want to go too far forward.
"Continue that resuscitation for four hours or until the patient is breathing of his own volition. Do not move the patient or allow him to be moved unless in very severe weather or because you are on rocky soil. After he has become conscious and is breathing, make him comfortable and do not leave him for some continued time.
"Operate on the patient right where he fell. Do not permit him to be
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177
moved. Bring the doctor or hospital attendant to the patient and not the patient to the doctor or hospital attendant.
"Another point is that when the patient becomes conscious or is
breathing again, do not allow him to get up.
"This is the method that is now approved by the Third Resuscitation
Commission and by the various national organizations that have had it up. Booklets on it can he obtained from the National Electric Light As
sociation, Engineers' Societies' Building, New York City." Question: Suppose the man's lower ribs were broken, what would
you do?
Answer:
Exactly the same way. When the lower ribs are broken,
there are only two ways of resuscitation, one by the prone pressure, or Schaefer method, one by the Sylvester. In both cases they use pressure
on the ribs. Question:
Don't you think you would be liable to puncture your lungs
by using that method if the ribs were broken? Answer: In the case of a layman, it would be hard for him to deter
mine that the ribs were broken.
Question: I know of a case that had to he sent to Arizona.
Answer: I have handled some hundred odd cases and we haven't run into one yet where the ribs were broken.
Question: In the case of electrical shock, don't you think it is better
to drop them several times?
Answer: We don't believe in wasting the time, but I have heard that
they have gotten very good results in the Queen Electric Lighting Com
pany--they drop them three feet and drop them twice at any rate. Mr.
Strickland is the only one using it to any great extent, to my knowledge.
A number of other companies are not using it, feeling that they don't
want to tise up the time. We train our people to get to the man, flip him over, and begin work as soon as possible.
Question: How long should a man keep up the work?
Answer: Possibly fifteen minutes. I should advise relays of fifteen minutes.
Question: How long after the man has been.drowned or shocked can
he wait before you commence this andrbe successful?
Answer: We train them to get to him within a very few minutes I think three minutes.
Chairman "Whitney: Dr. Payne has to leave very soon to catch his train. Perhaps, therefore, we had better get at the discussion of his work.
DISCUSSION
Dean Conneixey: We, at last, have legislation. We make it compul sory for every child in the state of Pennsylvania to become "safety first.1' We hope to get that much from Dr. Payne and his book. But, do not be discouraged if your school board does not approve. I will say that half of the people representing the constituents in the United States are not fit. That I know. I do not say it despairingly. We had
to start at the top in order to come down. In our technical schools of
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Eighth Safety Congress
ibo country, much has been done. In the college work, it is just as easy fo*- you to have a Safety-first Committee in the curriculum as a com mittee on advanced studies, degrees, or any other thing. It is just as easy because we did it and for five years we have had a standing committee on safety. I sincerely hope that if we in Pennsylvania can help you, you will please write Harrisburg, to the Department of Labor and Industry, and we will try to do what we can for you.
1 1SAKETY I'OSTEIIS AT A ) -' J!Y CIIIt-UREN
Mr. H- .1. Hohson (East St. Louis, 111.): I have in all of my schools,
bulletin hoards. The National Council formerly furnished bulletins for
these boards, but have discontinued. "We are now attempting to make our
own bulletins. I would like to ask Dr. Payne what he thinks of that.
Dk. Payne: I thinkit is a much better plan to mate your own bulle
tins if you can.
That is what we anticipate. Take the slogans of the
Cleveland school children--you can't heat that work by any sort of
posters you get, and I have found that where one child will look at a
pester from theoutside, fifty will look at one by the school children.
When you put those posters by the children up in the hall, you can't get
to them for children. There is the intensest interest in them.
I think it is infinitely better for the school to make the posters, al
though they may not be so artistic. The children look at them because
they are the work of one of their fellows. In that way you get a lot of
inrerest, discussion, criticism, and enthusiasm.
Mb. Srr.i.KY (University of Kansas): I should like to ask Dr. Payne
this: For a number of years in this safety work I have had considerable
hard sledding. I have used the Council bulletins, put them up and taught
safety until I have made myself disliked at times. Isn't there some
suggestion that can be given us as to how we can make safety-first prac
tical in the technical school?
sakkty sciior.Attsirii's
1 have this suggestion: Would it he possible for the Xational Safety Council to provide a scholarship for men in colleges who are interested in doing something for safety first and who 'will put across a good bul letin or essay or who will work throughout a considerable part of the year on a thesis on this subject? Unless it Is possible to get some money consideration, something practical that the boys can get hold of, I fear we shall not get a good backing.
Dkax Oonnei.i.ey: I trust you won't go back with that kind of propa ganda. Try to put enough pep into your instructors to put It across. In Pennsylvania we spend twelve million dollars every year on compensa tion. .N'ow, think of that! It cost us over nine hundred thousand dol lars to run our department. We have over a million injuries a year. It isn't the money, it is the human side that should be brought out! I never knew a student who sought an education who couldn't get it even though he didn't have a dollar.
Chairman Whitney: This is the field day .for the public and parochial
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179
schools, and I would like to ask that we confine ourselves to that problem today.
HOW TO I'UT SAFKTY INTO THK SCIIIKII.S
Mk. Linton (Mingo Junction. Ohio):
Down at Mingo Junction, a
steel town, we have been pioneering along this line. While we do not
have safety in our curriculum, we have intended to have it. 1 intend to
go back and put these books in the schools, and we are going to do some
things!
Mit. C. W. Prick: May I ask a question? If I were talking to a school
superintendent, trying to introduce safety education into a school, and
he said, "That is fine from the standpoint of accident prevention; we are
interested in that. But, we are interested in the educational standpoint."
Strictly, what answer would you make?
Dr. Paysk: I think that the school people are more ready to accept
the answer that I am going to give than business men realize. They are
seeking a way. I think school people are coming to see that we have to
teach health. We have to teach accident prevention not because of the
practical necessity but we have to tie instruction up in order to teach
it at all and make it stick. In the matter of teaching English: we are losing so much in not using
these other objectives such as health, accident prevention, thrift, etc.
The war taught us that in a wonderful way. During the war thousands
of outside tasks were thrown upon. us. One superintendent said in the
beginning that he wasn't teaching school any more, he was doing war
work. I think you might take the consensus of opinion of the superin
tendents that they never did as much English, geography, arithmetic,
and history in all their lives as during the war, and they engaged in Red
Cross work, knitting "for the soldiers, gathering waste paper, and all the
other things.
ZVTit. Prick; I remember the day I visited your school I was most im
pressed with the enthusiasm. Do you recall any material you used that
got that kind of enthusiasm I saw there?
Dr. Pay.ve: The discussion of health problems and practical civic
problems such as I mentioned a while ago. If we are teaching civics,
we are teaching live civics and not textbooks. We are letting them know
what takes place in the city. We are going to have in our school a child
cf ten years who knows more about the actual working of the city than
his father. Isn't that just as valuable as teaching something you don't
know about? We are all agreed that you can't learn by memorizing
something you don't understand. The difficulty of the school curriculum
now, with the great variety of things is that the whole thing must be
tied up to the life of the child. That is what we do whenever we bring
accident prevention, health, thrift, and all these other things into the schools. `
Take an adult; how many of you would sit down and work out some
thing because somebody told you it was good for your soul? We must
start witb the child and with the Interest of the child. He must be inter
ested. . He must do it because he wants to obtain some objective in doing
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Eighth Safety Congress
it. He is just nice an adult. It is going to affect his mind and life, and
if it is. it must be related to his interest and purpose. I very often, say to
my teachers, "If the child don't want to do what you assign him. then you are wrong and not the child."
HOW TUK 1`OJ.ICE MAY HKLt*
I.xsfKcroK May (Police Department, Cleveland, Ohio) : How can the
police help that work in the schools? (Much applause.)
Dit. Payne: By doing just what they are doing in St. Louis. The
children call upon the policeman. They go with him and they get more
information from the policeman about the Police Department than in any
other way. The policeman's duties are learned from the policeman by
the children.
IxsiMCCTOtt May: AVhat I am trying to arrive at is this: We know
every school teacher is interested in the safety of her children. Just as
soon as the policeman is not at the school, the principal will call up and
want to know why. What T am getting at is this: last winter we had a
policeman visit every school in the city of Cleveland and talk safety,
telling the children what they should do when they left the school, tell ing them the way to proceed on the way -home, picturing to them the
things most likely to happen. But, I am wondering if there were some better or more forcible way of impressing it on their minds.
Dr. Payne: I think that is a splendid thing providing the teacher
doesn't think the duty is accomplished when the policeman finishes. If
she does her work, and then brings in the policeman whenever she can,
that is splendid.
As I said, the children themselves find out a great deal about the activi-
Ucs of the policeman.
..............
_
Mr. Eugene Roiiscir: I know of a chap, one of the traffic men in Cleve
land, but part of his time he is stationed near a public school here. Now,
this chap is really a big brother to the school boys and he puts the re
sponsibility onto the school boys themselves for maintaining order and
traffic and all that sort of thing. He has his coterie of chaps so that
when he is not on the corner, perhaps called on a case, they will watch
the traffic, take care of the little children, and report any disorder or in
fringement.
I think the policemen should, and I believe they do in New York City,
chum with the big boys and also the Ifttle fellows of the school and say,
"Now, here, you are my representative and I put this responsibility on
you." If the policeman will do that, they will be teaching a lot of civics
as well as helping these boys.
While we are on the subject of what the police can do. 1 want to bring this matter up. I am not going to mention any particular city. I
have been at every meeting here and I haven't heard a thing about get
ting convictions and imprisonment. Let us put ourselves on record for
convictions and get the judges to hack up the police. This matter is a
farce when a man gets five or ten dollars for speeding and endangering
lives. I myself have been nearly run over several times, and on taking
Safety Education
1S1
the matter up with the police, they say that they are absolutely disgusted because, when they have a clear case and have witnesses, the thing is quashed.
COOl'EHATIUX
Mr. T. B. Hayes (Upson Nut Company, Cleveland, Ohio): I want to ask Dr. Payne if cooperation, of the mothers' clubs wouldn't be of good advantage with the teachers in working on this safety movement. The children, of course, are the primary object of teaching, and working through the mothers' clubs and teachers would make a good feature.
I)r. Payne: I think you can't help but get that cooperation when you begin to teach this. Just the Friday night before I left they had a meet ing with fifteen hundred present at the school, a patron's meeting in a district where they are doing this kind of work. All you will have to do is to give them an opportunity and they will do it.
Mr. F. S. Crum (Prudential Life Insurance Co.): I mark three or four papers every day as I read them, mark all sorts of accidents which we classify and file, and I pay my boy of eleven years to cut them out. That boy knows more about the daily accidents as reported in the morn ing and evening papers than I do. He stops and reads, while I only glance at the headlines. You couldn't hire that boy to be a jay-walker.
That just illustrates that when this matter is brought home to them daily, there Is nothing to it--it is absolutely automatic.
UNIQUE EDUCATIONAL PLAIf
Mr. McClain (National Safety Council, Cincinnati, Ohio) : I wonder if these folks would be interested to hear of our unique educational plan in Cincinnati!
I am the Secretary of the local chapt^^at Cincinnati and at the same
time I am a member of thfe faculty of the University of Cincinnati. It comes about in this way: the University of Cincinnati is a municipal institution. The trustees of that University are the business men, the industry men of the city. Those men have tried to interpret the respon sibilities of an education of that type to the community. In view of that, in the last eight months, they have organized in connection with the "University a department known as the Department of Industrial Medicine and Public Health. That department is connected with the Medical College.
The scope of the department is this: the director of the department Is Major McCord who had charge of the Base Hospital at Camp Sherman. Captain Walker, a very able man, had charge of the nitro plant in West Virginia. We have a woman, Miss Laura Sanders, who has demonstrated her worth as a woman at the University. She has been at the Teachers' College, Columbia, and the Wright Airplane Companj'. She used to work among the women in industry.
We are employing a man to take charge of employment relations who will go into the industrial field and develop among the manufacturers themselves, and show them the necessity and advantages of that. In
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Eighth Safety Congress
connection with that department they have a safety man. We are all
members of the faculty. Besides our field work among the Industries in
the city, we have regular teaching jobs. This department I have men
tioned takes graduates and gives them a sort of apprenticeship in these things I have enumerated.
A student will he with me a few months, r will give him the best I
have in the field in industry. He will be with Dr. Walker a few months.
When we get through, he is industrially trained, equipped to go into an
industry of two or three hundred employees, where they can't afford to
hire a safety man. or a doctor, and he will be able to meet the situation.
Here is an advantage that comes to me as a safety man being con
nected with the University. We have about eight hundred engineering students. I have arranged to give them a definite course in safety--we
will call it lessons. If it were outside of the University, it wonld be
called lectures--anticipating that the men will hold responsible posi
tions later. In the Teachers' College, I have been accorded the privilege
of giving them a course preparatory to teaching safety in the schools.
I took my plans to the Board of Kducation to organise a class of teachers in the schools in the city, at least one from each building. It is hard to get them all together, but we are going to get one from estch t-oilding. I am going to teach them and train them along the lines of safety as
Dr. Payne lias outlined. I intend to go to the schools my>-*-lf to give
lectures and exhibit moving pictures to give a background encourage little playlets.
will
We have been offered the use of an already-organized dub. o It is
called, affiliated clubs. Each school has a little active orcznizatthat
we have used for selling liberty bonds and thrift stamps. Tkov clubs have been offered me for use in the safety work. So far a> I know, and
I believe I am right. I am the first man in the world
i taims in
a lot of territory. I know) to be Secretary of a safety organteatand
at the same time a regular professor in a university. J
you
might be interested in that.
Chairman' Wiiitnky: Are there any other questions or observation*? If not, we are adjourned.
Banquet
October 3, 1919
STEPHEN W. TENER, Chairman
President, Northeastern Ohio Division, National Safety Council. Cleveland. Ohio
A. C. Brown, Toastmaster
President. Brown Hoisting- Machinery Company, Cleveland. Ohio
HE CHAIRMAN: It is my pleasure,-as President of the Bocal Council. to welcome you all to Cleveland, and to thank you for coming long
distances; for coming as a multitude. I am glad to welcome you to this, the Fifth City of the United States--excluding Missouri and Alaska. {Laughter.) There seems to toe a little objection to that state ment. Inasmuch as I have never been in either Missouri or Alaska, per haps I had better correct myself, so I will begin all over again and welcome you to the Fourth City of the United States, exclusive of Mis souri, Massachusetts, and Alaska. (Laughter.)
THE LOCAL COXJXC1U
I want to say a word for the Local and its activity. I have been extremely busy with other matters, due to labor troubles, and I confess I have not been able to attend the convention regularly, .nor have I been able personally to do very much -work ill connection with the preparatory work of this convention, but I will paraphrase the inscription which Mr. Carnegie ordered placed on his tombstone--"Here stands a man who is able to pick men better than himself.'' . The members of the Local Council have done their part; credit must go to the various committees, with their active chairmen, all splendid, enthusiastic workers in the cause, marshalled by that indefatigable, enthusiastic, and genial gentle man--Oscar McNab. (Applause.)
It occurred to me today, inasmuch as you were all engaged in taking part in the various activities of the convention, that very few of you have been able to visit our industries and see what is made in this city. We believe our city has made an enviable name for itself in the quality and quantity-of its products all over the world. Our city is well known for' the excellence of its pig iron and its peanut butter (laughter) ; for its automobiles and popcorn; for Its wire and its wigs; for its oil and its carpet tacks; for Its telescopes and its chewing.gum. It is noted for its skirts and its shock absorbers (laughter and applause) ; for its cranes and its crackers; for its pa-int and its "two-and-three-quarters
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Eighth Safety Congress
per cent": for its sewing: machines and its garbage cans: for its electric lamps and insect exterminators; for its grindstones and macaroni: for us brick and its mustard plasters; for its brushes and its sausages: for it chemicals and its candles: for its ships and its horse radish: and it is well known for its savings banks and its sand banks. It is well known as the home of a Rockefeller, but of no fellers who are rocky, t 1-aughter.) I hope I have impressed you with this, and you have pm these statistics beyond the vestibule of the memory portion of your brain.
wi\ii:n icK(<x:nizi:i) i:y the xatfoxat. safety cocxcil
Fortunately, in my position as Chairman in opening the meeting, it does not devolve upon me to address you at any length. An announce ment: has been handed to me which X am asked to let you have. We men are going to have a boss--the women have been recognized by the National Safety Council. Miss Tracy Copp has been'made Chairman of the Women's Section. This brings her automatically to membership of the Executive Committee, which as you know is the governing hoard. < Applause.") Miss Kathryne Hunt, in recognition and appreciation of her work in the Chicago office, has been elected Treasurer. (Applause.)
Among those in this city who have given a tremendous lot of time to lie Safety Movement is Mr. Alexander C. Brown. Toastmaster of the evening, and him I now introduce to you and take a back seat myself.
Tin: Ti.ktmastki: (Creeted with applause) : Mr. Chairman, Cadies and <;> ntu-m*-ni Perhaps some of you may know the temper and pa
tience of a college audience in chapel on Sunday morning, and when one of the speakers of the evening asked me how long he could speak T was reminded of the remarks that the president of my college always made when the visiting clergymen asked him that Question Sunday morn ings before chapel. He said. "There is no limitation fixed on the length
of your address, but no souls arc saved after twenty' minutes." (Laughter.)
lMiom.KMP I'AOINO ISDUSTHY TODAY
One of the large employers of this country has said, "The personal relation in industry entered into in the right spirit gives the greatest promise of bridging the yawning chasm which has opened up between employer and employee." I think in these days of so much frenzied thinking, when we can all share thoughts with each other, it pays in the National Safety Council to give a little thought for a moment to where we stand in some of the problems that are particularly facing industry today.
The first thing we otight to have clear in our minds, as I see it. is: What is the end toward which we are striving? That sounds like a big contract, bm if we win accept two premises which I think are necessary, it will be helpful to acknowledge first that the labor problem after all is nothing hut one of human relations: secondly, that for any helpful solu tion it is necessary to approach the problem in the right spirit.
The end. therefore, it seems to me. is one of equitable human relations
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based, on mutual confidence; and one of the means to that end is any system or plan which will lead in that direction, entered into in the right spirit.
It seems to me the reason why so much of the thinking along these lines has been frenzied during these times of stress is the confusion as to which is the means and which is the end. We hear a great deal about many plans, programs, and systems: we hear a great deal about industrial democracy. It is difficult to give a definition of them; but where these plans of various kinds have failed, it seems to me, is primarily in the attitude of mind which has accepted them as the end and not as one of the means.
The problem is too big for any one means to be the only means of solving it. There are too many human instincts that must he adminis tered to and must be reckoned with. And, furthermore, the very unrest that exists is not confined to any one class. We all of us share it. We all of ns are dissatisfied.
I think a little article in one of the papers, which I hope not all of you at least have read when it came out, brings out the fact that the employers and the business men are by no means satisfied in their own minds. This was given as a prescription for morning exercise for the tired business man:
MOBXIXC EXERCISES l-'OR THE TIRED ItUSIXESS MAX
"Rise at 7 A. M. Stand in the middle of the room. Raise arms slowly
overhead; take deep breath and say, `Damn the government,' lowering
arms in attitude of despair ten times. Extend body fiat on the floor.
Cover eyes with hands; kick heels; think of the railroads and weep till
dry. Kneel, wring hands, meditate upon the labor unions and groan a
hundred fifty times.
"Assume sitting position, hands on hips. Sway gently to and fro.
Concentrate on Mr. Burleson until a general frothing at the mouth sets
in, until exhausted. Collapse on floor; grovel vigorously; think of the
income tax and gnash teeth in anger.
"Observe this simple regime every morning before breakfast and you
will reach the office with most of the 'cares and troubles of the day
already out of your system." (Laughter.)
A few of these things have to be reckoned with and met in aiiy sys
tem that is adopted; such as the instinct of monetary gain, the instinct
of pride in workmanship, the instinct of leadership, of individual right,
of individual obligations, which has not been emphasized nearly as much
as the one of individual right--and they are equal, they should be
equally emphasized. Then the instinct of family welfare, of personal
improvement and comfort, and of self-preservation.
These last three instincts, it seems to me. are the point of contact
which is peculiarly suitable for the work of the Safety Council--the
instincts of .family welfare, of personal improvement and comfort, and
of self-preservation.
'
While safety work is performing its normal functions, it is appealing
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Eighth Safely Congress
to those instincts and forming a point of contact, between the employer and the employee, so that all the time it is doing its normal good work it is also performing a peculiar kind of team work for all other phases of work that are helpful and constructive in our labor situation. It is paving tile way for all the other methods and humanitarian schemes and plans that have a tendency toward humanizing industry. That, it seems to me. is one of the big tilings that the Safety Council is doing for team work in this problem.
Now. speaking of the part that safety plays in team-work, we want to have emphasized the part that team-work plays in safety: and our next speaker, who is a New York banker--and we hope safety plays a. part in his business--is peculiarly suited to talk on this question of team-work. He is the treasurer of the Safety Institute of America. He has been personally responsible for what the city of New York gave to him and to the organization which he has built up--a building which will be a Museum of Safety for the United States. Through an inter locking board of directors of liis organization and the Safety Council, team-work lias been carried on to a very great degree, and we will all bo glad. I know, to bear Mr. -James Speyer on "Teamwork in Safety." (Applause.)
TKA.MWORK TNT SAFETY
Jamks Si'kykk. Thkakcrkk, Safkty Institute of America
You have all heard of Charles Darwin and his celebrated book. "The Origin of Species." but I wonder how many of you have heard of the story that is told of this great man. who loved to be surrounded by his children and friends of his children. One day. these young people thought they would like to play a practical joke on the famous naturalist. They took a dead June-bug and carefully glued on the wings of a butterfly. Then they put it on a plate and brought it to the great and kindly man and asked him. "Sir. what kind of a bug is this?" He looked at it for a moment, and then said. "My young friends, this is a humbug.*' (Laughter.)
Ladies and Gentlemen of the National Safety Council. I do not want you to say the same thing about me, and therefore. T tell you right now. that I know very little about the technical side of the safety w<-k. and hesitate very much to speak before such weli-informed men and women, as are here to-night.
You are all experts in your field, and in these times of catch-pferases and loose talk about "uplift" and "social betterment", it is a real pleas ure to meet practical men who do not try to achieve--much Less promise --the impossible. You are doing a man's work, and your judgment and advice are based on personal experience, scientific study, and actual contact with your fellow-men. The fact, in itself, that the work of the National Safely Council is in the hands of practical and experienced men. and not in the hands of theorists and amateurs, however well-
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1ST
meaning:, should secure for it the support of everyone, whether employer or employee.
I do not want to trouble you with statistics, but it is a remarkable fact that, out of a total of 3,20S,000 men called under the draft and physically examined between December 15, 1917, and September 11. 191S. there were about 950.000. or nearly 30 per cent found to be disqualified partly or totally, at that time.
Xow much of this disability was due to insufficient care and under nourishment. when these men were children; how much to insanitary conditions in the homes, or unhealthy conditions in factories; how much to accidents, sustained on the highways or in the workshops; and how much to carelessness of the workers themselves. I do not know: but that much of all this could have been prevented and should be prevented, is evident. Xot only is man-power of very great importance in time of war, but the conservation of man. and woman power, also, is equally important, economically, for works of peace.
It is not necessary for me before an audience such as this, to speak of the purely humanitarian side of your efforts. Every one here wants to see all of his fellow-beings contented, as far as possible. No one can. afford to forget in these days that, if human beings become physically unable to support themselves, those so handicapped are not only a financial burden to the community, but easily become dissatisfied with the existing order of things and their dissatisfaction breeds discontent and worse. It Is therefore "good business'' in more ways than one, to prevent sickness and accidents to men and women and children.
SASKTY WORK l'ROArOTK.S COiifEBATIOX
There is another weighty reason why the work that- you are doing should appeal to every one. and that is, because it tends--like nothing else--to bring labor and capital together, to assure cooperation in a prac tical, natural way. The easiest way to do this is for employer and employee to consider together non-controversial matters--matters that are clearly to their mutual interest; and what can be more so than the health and physical well-being of the workers? The workers naturally are interested In it. and so must the employer be. There is no twilight in this zone and. when men once find that they agree on certain aims and measures, it does not take very long to have them discuss other more difficult points, like hours of -work and wages, and to recognize one another's legitimate aspirations, their rights and mutual obligations.
In our own country, blessed like none other with natural resources, we have seen, during the last fifty years, a marvelous development of industries. American energy, American inventive genius, and American capital and brains have been devoted very largely to producing, at low cost and in great quantities, those things which the people need in their daily life; all of which has resulted in very substantial benefits to all. But in this tremendous effort, made in competition with other nations, it would seem that the welfare of the mem. and women and children engaged in producing these very things, has perhaps not always
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Eighth Safety Congress
received sufficient attention, at least up to the last ten or twenty years. The Peace Treaty, as you know, lias one special article establishing inter national organizations for the purpose of improving labor conditions. The next twenty-five 3-ears will see the efforts yvhieh your association-- in cooperation with the workers themselves--is making for their well being crowned with growing success.
Eacli century has had its distinctive feature of progress,--sometimes only discerned by subsequent generations. But one thing is apparent even to-day: Never since the world came into existence, were there so many men and women 3vho, realizing tlieir obligations, are devoting their time and thought unselfishly to the betterment of living conditions of their fellow-beings. I believe that the result of such pioneer teamwork of cooperation will be more satisfying for all concerned, than any benefits that may come through enforced rules and legislation. But in any legislation dealing with these matters of public health, accident prevention and liability, the advice of the National Safety Council should be sought and heeded, both by State and Federal authorities.
J-adies and Gentlemen, we are living in serious times, but let us be careful not to lose our sense of proportion, as to events In which we take part. One Is apt to overrate the immediate difficulties that con front one, not remembering similar dangers of the past successfully overcome, and to be startled at any novel way that may be proposed for their solution.
Will you forgive me one moment if I remind you of the program of the Populists in 1S92-93 only- about twenty-six years ago? The platform of this "People's Party" xiroposed certain changes, which frightened many- of our people and seemed to them absolutely revolutionary and fraught with danger. The distress and financial stringency then existing made the "People's Party" call for "free and unlimited coinage of silver and gold" at a fixed ratio, for an "increase in the circulating medium", and a "national currency, safe, sound and flexible."
Toil all know, I.adies and Gentlemen, they are wrong as to the "free and unlimited coinage of silver", and the majority of our people decided, at the subsequent election, that they were wrong in that remedy; but the "national currency, safe, sound and flexible" we have since got, through the Federal Reserve Bank Act. worked out by experts who knew better how this aim could be attained.
Another thing the Populists demanded in 1S92 was "a graduated income tax'*. Well, we got that. They also demanded that "postal savings banks" be established hv the Government: These are here. Another thing they asked for was the election of United States Senators by direct vote of the people: The Constitution has been amended to_ that effect. They also asked for "rigid enforcement of the existing eight-hour law on Government work", and "sympathized with the efforts of organ ized workmen to shorten their hours of labor". You know what great progress has been made in that direction.
There are certain other things that the Populists advocated, namely that the "Government should own and operate the railroads in the interest of the people", and also "that the telegraph and telephones like
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the Post-office, should be so owned and operated." I do not know exactly what they meant by the words, ``in the interest of the people." We have lately had a little experience with such Government operation and, in spite of able management, it has not proved satisfactory to our people. On the other band, the people who own railroad securities are well aware that the policy pursued by Federal and State authorities during the last half-dozen years or so towards the railroads, has not been "in their interest", nor in that of the country as a whole--to put it mildly.
At that election in 1892, out of about twelve million votes, the Populist Party received approximately one million. There was one other party that received less, about two hundred sixty thousand votes, and that was the Prohibition Party; nevertheless, prohibition has since been written into our fundamental law. While some of us do not like this amend ment very much, it will doubtless be a substantial factor in preventing accidents.
There is one other measure which it is expected will soon become a Xational law, and which was not even in the platform of any party then; that is Woman Suffrage and'f'that also should help your work.
I mention all these to remind you that what to many seems revolu tionary at a given moment, gradually may come to be accepted and regarded as justified, and that all these progressive changes under our well-tried form of Government, have been brought about in an orderly manner and by peaceful means, as becomes a free, self-governing people.
riifilOD OF UNREST
To-day. the whole world is still under a nervous strain and the situa tion is certainly fraught with danger. In order to win the war. each Government had to keep its own people keyed up to a high pitch. Many vague and specific promises for a better state of affairs to come were made: but. alas, many a hope thus awakened Is doomed to disappoint ment. At the same time, the destruction of property and human lives had, at least, to be condoned. While some of the present unrest is due to these general conditions, it may be caused also, in part, by the natural desire of some employees to secure a more equitable share of the large profits which their employers made, or are supposed to have made, during the war. Many men, not only among the working people, are dissatisfied and are trying to better themselves, the more ignorant ones not being too careful as to the means to that end.
There always have been, and there always will be, others who will use such dissatisfaction and unrest for their own purpose, just as there always will be some who remain blind to the signs of the times in which they live, and fail to recognize changing conditions. It must, however, be clear to anybody who stops to think, that the high cost of living can surely not be overcome by the curtailment of production, be it through strikes or through shortening the hours of work. This is the wrong remedy and must bring the opposite result. It would indeed be a mis fortune for the workers themselves and for our country, if the radical
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Eighth Safety Congress
element were to prevail now, even if only for a short time. But, I do not believe it will. Whatever may happen in other countries, it will not happen here! I have too much faith in the common sense of the American people.
uck rnoi;i.K.\i s and ouit or.uc.vno.xs as a nation
After a while, when our nerves have calmed, down, we will surely
continue to make sane progress, as we have in the past, in the solution
of the differences between capital and labor in an orderly manner, after
considering and deciding what is really best to be done not for any one class, but for the welfare of the people as a whole.
Whether we shall insist on laws for compulsory arbitration, for forbid
ding strikes, in the transportation industry or by those in the employ
of the Commonwealth; whether we shall insist that combinations of labor, (which are as legitimate as combinations of capital) shall be
subjected to the same laws and restrictions, and that the leaders of both shall be punished for any abuse of trust; whether we shall insist
that labor should share more directly, not only in the profits, but also
in the management of large enterprises; whether any or all of these
proposals are to be embodied in the law of the land, nobody can tell at
present. But this we all know:
The relations between labor and capital cannot
be adjusted by the suppression of the right of free speech on the one
side, or by the destruction of property on the other, and I also believe
that the American people will insist that every one shall be free to
work, where and as he chooses, and that the savings and property of
every citizen, large or small, shall be protected against attack from whatever source.
1-adies and Gentlemen, one word more and I am through: Thanks to
our fighting men on land and sea. and competent leaders, and to the
work in the factory and on the farm, to the efforts of a united nation, our country has won this war, and. with enhanced prestige, is now the
great creditor nation of the world. Whether there be a Teague of
Nations or not, whether ..we are in it or not, our advice will be sought,
and our voice will be heard in the large international questions which
the future will solve. But it is not enough that today the United States
is the richest and perhaps the most powerful nation. If we want to
have real weight and use our full influence for Peace and Humanity in the future, we must show to the other nations of the world, first of all,
that we will not tolerate mob law here, and that we are able to make
orderly progress ourselves. The cooperative work that you of the National
Safety Council are doing is one of the most practical and patriotic steps to that end. We have to give a living example of the real spirit and
discipline of a true democracy. If we want to help maintain order and
peace abroad, we must show the rest of the world that we can maintain order and peace at home.
Tut: ToASTarASTKK: I am sure the Congress will wish me to thank
Mr. Speyer for his courtesy in coming to us, and to assure him that
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when New York grows large enough for the Congress, we shall be glad to meet there. (Applause.)
I think you ail know Mr. Beyer very well. Well, Mrs. Beyer is as enthusiastic in safety work as "Dave'' Beyer is. She has, however, done us one discourtesy, which she is going to endeavor to make up tonight. Her debut was made in Hew York City in the Metropolitan Opera House--her debut to America; but her debut to the Safety Council, and only the start of many pleasures which we hope she will give us in the future, will be given tonight. Mrs. David Beyer. (Applause.)
"SAFETY LAST"
By Mrs. D. S. Beyer
(Maria Co.nde)
Is your engine unprotected? Safety last!
Are the plans for guards rejected? Safety last!
Pat it gently on the gear. By the middle of next year You will likely not be here!
Safety Last!
Never label stairways "Danger," Safety last!
Do not warn the passing stranger. Safety last!
If you tumble down the stair. Break your leg or muss your hair. It's a fine excuse to swear!
Safety Last!
Is your emery wheel a menace? Safety last!
Has it blinded Mike or Dennis? Safety last!
Never worry, never weep. Do not groan when you're asleep. Compensation bills are cheap.
Safety Last!
Song by Mrs. Beyer. (Prolonged Applause.)
The Toastmaster:
Mrs. Beyer, the National Safety Council hopes
you will continue not only with your verses of "Safety Last", but in
other ways to make Safety First last. (Applause.)
In connection with safety work, there is a great deal being done, in
good ways and other ways, as welfare work; but the other day I noticed
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Eighth Safety Congress
for the first time that welfare work had extended to the farm, and like
welfare work in industry, it was carried out on behalf of the producers. It was called to my attention in this clipping. The headline is: "Milk
cows to music. Increased amounts obtained by this method at the Electri
cal Exposition prove that music has power to induce a cow to yield extra
amounts of milk.
"A test was made here at the Electrical Exposition. Cows which
were milked to the accompaniment of phonograph music were said to
have given from ten to twelve per cent more than their average yield.
(Laughter.) Classical music seemed to be most appreciated by the
cows. (Laughter.) One of the Holsteins under the influence of the
compositions of Mozart and Beethoven gave forty-five qtiarts of milk in
twenty-four hours.'' That is welfare work that pays.
(Laughter.) That also makes clear
what some critics of welfare work mean when they say that insincere
welfare work is simply a dodge for milking the producers. (Applause.)
Safety work, fortunately, has never been so criticized. It started with nothing blit the inspiration, the vision, and the determination of its pioneers. It had no figures to prove that its inspirations were correct.
The next speaker, who is one of our pioneers, lias become now, after
his many years of constructive service, the President of the National
Safety Council.
(The audience immediately rose to their feet with cheering and
shouting, and sang "For Pie's a Jolly Good Fellow".)
The Toastmastku: He was elected. I think, because from the start he would not accept the statement "It can't be done." His confident
belief that it could be done leads me to read to you a few lines by Edgar A. Guest on the subject "It Couldn't be Done" because of their appro
priateness to our new ancl beloved President:
IT COULDN'T BE DONE
Somebody said it couldn't be done. But he, with a chuckle, replied:
That "maybe it couldn't" but he would be one Who wouldn't say so till he tried.
So he buckled right in with a trace of a grin On his face. If he worried he hid it
He started to sing as he tackled the thing That couldn't be done--and he did it.
Somebody scoffed--"Oh, you'll never do that. At least, no one ever has done it."
But he took off his coat, and he took off his hat. And the first thing they knew he'd begun it.
With a lift of his chin, and a hit of a grin. With never a thought that he'd rue it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing That couldn't be done--and went to it.
Hanqurt
193
There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done. There are thousands to prophesy failure.
There are thousands to point out to you, one by one. The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle in with a bit of a grin. Then take off your coat and go to it,--
Just start in to sing' as you tackle the thing That cannot be done--and you'll do it!
The Safety Movement no longer has to depend upon the inspiration and vision of its pioneers. It now has figures, facts, and statistics to prove that that vision was correct. And when I say statistics I do not allude to the definition some one gave to the group which may be divided into plain lies, damn lies, and statistics. (Laughter.) I think
Mr. Price's statistics are beyond that criticism.
The determination of our new President, this determination that has won him the success he has so richly deserved in all these years of service, reminds me of a story that is told by Mr. Charles Schwab.
He tells of a young colored soldier in a training camp outside of New York City, during the war, who had been working very hard for many
months without any rest or recreation. When he finally secured a
furlough he quickly spruced up and started out of camp. He was stopped by the sentry, who asked hint for the pass word. "Pass word? Pass
word, corp'ral? I ain't got no pass word." "Well, you can't get out of here without the pass word." "Well. I'se got a furlough." "A furlough won't let you out of here. You've got to have a pass word to get out of iiere. And. furthermore, you can't get back without one if you did
get out."
"Well, corp'ral, I'se got a furlough. I'se got an old mother up in
heaven. I'se got an old father in hell, and I'se got a Hoboken. And, pass word or no pass word, I'se goin' them three before this day's out." (Laughter.)
sweetheart to see one
in of
I was told that whatever I might say about Ralph Richards, the
wheel horse of safety, the Abraham Lincoln of the Safety Movement, could not possibly do him justice. I will ask him to speak without
further introduction, as soon as we can get sufficient quiet from this
audience who will greet him when he rises, so he may be heard. Mr.
Richards.
(Greeted with prolonged applause and cheers.)
TITE COUNCIL--PAST AND FUTURE
It. C. Richards, Pre.sidk.vt, National Safety Council, Chairman, Central Safety Committee, Chicago & Northwestern Railroad
Mr. Toastmaster, Ladies, and Gentlemen-: I should be less than human
if I did not feel deeply the very kind reception that you have given me tonight, and the approval you have given to the action of your Executive Committee in electing me to the highest office in the gift of the National
194
Eighth Safety Congress
Safety Council. The Council has twice signally honored me much beyond my deserts. Three or four years ago, very much to my surprise and astonishment, when I was attending one of these dinners, the toast master announced that I had been made an honorary member of the Council. I thought then, as I do now, that there is no honor that could come to a safety man that he should appreciate more than being elected an honorary member of this great Council which has done so much for the conservation of human life.
Tonight, when I am again honored by the Council, my heart is too full to tell you how much I appreciate it; but if giving to you my best efforts in the splendid, wonderful work the Council is organized to do, will make you understand how much I do appreciate what you have done for me, you can depend upon it that that work will be performed.
They say that the only prayer that is ever answered is the prayer of
labor. I will give you the best I have. You have all discovered by reading the program tonight that it was
intended that some one else--my eloquent friend Boh Campbell--should speak, and that I am simply here as a iiller-in. Nobody will regret more than this audience that I was drafted td take his place. I feel a good deal like a friend of mine who was called upon unexpectedly on an occasion like this, to act as I have been asked to act, and on the way home be met one of his friends who knew what he was going to do. The friend asked if he had his audience with him. "Yes. for three blocks." (I.aughter.) "But owing to my early training as a sprinter. I distanced them after the three blocks." (Laughter.) I hope my effort won't meet with the same kind of reception that liis did..
I5EVIEWIXG THE PAST
Seven or eight years ago. my friends, the National Safety Council started on a journey. I think some great educator said, "All the world stands aside for the man who knows whither he is going." The National Safety Council knows whither it is going. It is destined to a place, a station, on the great road we are following, known as conservation ofhuman life. We started with a party of thirty-seven, in charge of Bob Campbell and Billy Cameron, and as we moved along year by year, instead of people standing aside and getting out of our way, they have dropped into our ranks; and with Morey and Palmer, and Van Shaack, and Price, the party has grown in six or seven years from thirty-seven to thirty-seven hundred or more. And every year, with your enthusiastic cooperation and assistance (and you know every great movement in the annals of the world was a triumph of enthusiasm) that party will grow until it numbers tens of thousands, and no place will be large enough to accommodate our Congress, until we ourselves build such a place.
And can't you visualize what that place will be when our party grows to the right number? I surely can! And I believe you can. The Safety Movement is bound to grow; is hound to succeed because it is right, and anything that is right must necessarily succeed.
When "Safety First" was first heard of as a phrase, we people who
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welcomed it enthusiastically were dubbed as dreamers and fanatics by the wise and hard-headed men of our country. But like many things that have been mentioned in Mr. Speyer's paper this evening, it has come true. We want to remember, ladies and gentlemen, that this thing didn't just happen; it didn't just befall; it wasn't done in a day, or a month, or a year--but in a flight of years. And ten Or fifteen years from now we. shall look back and count the achievements that have been accomplished in conserving that one priceless thing that no man or woman has ever been known to sell--men sell most anything else, sometimes {or money, sometimes for glory, sometimes for ambition --but no man or woman has ever been known, to sell his life or limb. And because we are striving to save that priceless thing, the greatest asset that our great nation has--the lives and limbs of its people--wo are bound to be successful. We are bound to meet with the approval not only of our own hearts and consciences, but of the hearts and conconsciences of all the people of these United States.
TWO OBJECTS IX VIEW
The 'National Safety Council has two objects in view, in addition to saving life and limb, and that is to furnish service that will aid every body in doing what we are trying to do. Nothing that has ever been published by the National Safety Council has been copyrighted. Every body is privileged to use our ideas and our information, no matter who or where he is.
The next great thing that we have to do. Ladies and Gentlemen, is to educate the people. We commenced by educating the men in in dustries, because that was where an awful waste of human life was going on. It isn't necessary for me to tell you how much of it there lias been in the past, but we alL know that since the organization of this great movement and this wonderful Council that we have been making rapid steps toward the reduction of that great waste or life and limb-that this country was suffering every year. And now. in the Educational Section that was organized today, we are commencing where some people thought we ought to have commenced in the first place, but the time was not ripe for it. We had to demonstrate, first, that we could do something in order to get the snpport and assistance that was necessary.
That wonderful book which Dr. Payne has written tells us that every year, in the parts of this country where they have registration of acci dents, and that is only 70 per cent of the country, over 10,000 children under ten years of age lose their lives in an accidental way; and that U50.000 of them under ten years of age are maimed or permanently crippled. And so, because that -illuminating book has forced us all to realize how much and how necessary it is that something should be done to educate the children and the public in general, this Council has determined it will take up that work.
The other great work we want to do this year is the work of in-
1 <)G
Eighth Safely Congress
creasing public safety--on our highways, our streets, in our theaters, and everywhere the public goes.
Those two things. Ladies and Gentlemen, will be the two things, as far as I am concerned, that we will devote our best efforts to in order to bring about a satisfactory remedy. This Council tonight has repre sentatives from nearly every state in the union--from thousands of communities. There are over two thousand people registered, which does not include our wives our sweethearts and our sisters. And if every one of you men and you women--God bless you!--will make it your individual job when you go home to see the superintendent of your schools, to confer with your board of education, and take with you a copy of this book written by Dr. Payne, and explain to them some of the things that are contained in that book, and show them the necessity of doing something to put a stop to this waste of child life, this maiming of children, the result will be wonderful. I want all that hear me tonight to pledge themselves that they will do something along that line. Don't leave it to "George" or to the General Manager, or to his able assistant, or to myself--but do it yourselves! And then see how much happiness, content, and pride it will bring to you to' know that you have succeeded in doing something that has saved some child in your community.
Ladies and Gentlemen, if you could see what I have seen during the last thirty-live or forty years in the Investigation and settlement of accident claims--that regiment of widows that have passed through mv office, some of them with three or four children tugging at their skirts, that regiment of okl. gray-haired fathers and mothers who have lost an only son on whom they were dependent, and that vast army of maimed and crippled people--you would realize as I do how necessary it. is for each and every one of us to do something individually to help the safety cause. Our friend Whitney, who has devoted countless hours to starting this idea, and Dr. Payne have blazed the way. It is up to us now, my friends, to follow in their footsteps, take advantage of what they have shown us, and do something for the benefit of the child life of the nation.
I just want to say one thing more. The Toastmaster has told us that no soul was saved after twenty minutes and the church has been telling us for centuries that the most important work in the world is the saving of souls. If It is. certainly the next most important work is the saving of life and that is our work.
During that great war. which happily for us ended victoriously, there was one little poem written that has always appealed to me--more, I think, than anything else I ha've ever read. It was written by Colonel McCrae of the Canadian forces, whose body now lies in Flanders fields:
IX FLANDERS' FIELDS
In Flanders' fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky The larks still bravely singing fly. Scarce heard amidst the guns below.
Local Council ^Officers' Session
October 3 and 4, 1919
C. W, PRICE, Chairman General Manager, National Safety Council
FRIDAY MORNING SESSION
HAIRMAN PRICE: Every time I think of the work of the local councils and all that it involves, I think, of what my friend, Ray
mond Robins, said when he returned from a trip in the Men and Religion forward movement. He was all flushed as he came off the train, and he stood up on a chair and began speaking: This is what he said: "Friends, these are great days. Things are certainly coming to pass." That de
scribes exactly the way I feel.
hooking back over this past year, we see it has certainly been a great year, hooking forward to this coming-year and considering the possibil ities in this local council movement, I think every man in the room is keenly aware of the fact that it is growing more and more every day. We can literally say. Gentlemen, that these are great days, and that great things are not only coming to pass, but have already come to pass.
Rochester and Pittsburgh and then St. Louis made a greater contribu tion to the safety movement than they dreamed of. Little did the people who helped to organize those three movements dream how the demon stration of what can be done in a community would really grip that community and get every man, woman, and child interested. Little did any of us dream that that could be done. We wouldn't have believed It a year and a half ago, and yet the demonstrations that have been made in those three cities, and now in Cleveland and now In Cincinnati and then in Portland and in Kansas City--those demonstrations are bringing to our minds the thought, as we have never had it before, that it can be done. Unbelievable things have been demonstrated to be possible.
I want; to speak of the organization of two local councils, because we don't want to forget the smaller cities that have been organized with a permanent secretary, one of which is in Delaware with headquarters at Wilmington with the du Pont Company as sponsors and backers, with Ab-. Reed as the Secretary and Mr. DeBlois as being one cf the prime movers. Mr. DeBlois is a member of our Executive Committee and one
199
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Eighth Safety Congress
of our influential men in Council affairs. Then there is the council at Bellingham. Washington, which is the fifth local council to be organized in that state. 'Ve hope that, possibly during the coming year, with the backing of the new safety board which is represented at this Congress by Dr. Kloeber, there will be a permanent secretary at Seattle, and that that permanent secretary may take care of the other local councils and get even better work out of them than, they have been able to perform during the past year.
1 have almost said what I was going to say at another point, that at the last Congress we had three cities, Rochester, Pittsburgh, and St. JLouis, with permanent secretaries, and this year we have added Port land, Kansas City, Cincinnati, ai.d Cleveland. We must not forget Cleveland. From present indications we are practically certain of Chicago. Mr. Harold McCormick has agreed to call together about thirty millionaires as soon as they get back from their vacations and raise?3O,O0U, and if he does we are going to have a local council in Chicago that will be a model, we hope.
The Kxeeutive Committee is considering--and I think it is going to be realized--a plan by which there will .be a joint arrangement between the Safety Institute of America and the National Safety Council, so that a local council will be organized in New York City with headquarters at the Safety Institute and with the Safety Institute acting as the agents of the Council, to take care of Yonkers, Northern New Jersey, and Cong Island. This will probably constitute the biggest and most im portant local council that will be organized. I think I can say with confidence that that will come to pass. The action of the Executive Committee last night leads me to believe that it is now only a question of detail. I think that is going to be the biggest thing we will do this coming year.
Duluth Is very promising. Mr. McDonegal, who is the President of the Duluth & Iron Range Railroad, a powerful and influential man in Duluth and interested in many things, has promised to call together a group of men as soon as the labor difficulty is over, and if he does we are sure of getting the money. So I feel pretty sure of Duluth. We have been flirting with Buffalo, and I have been down there. The Chamber of Commerce seems to be taking the matter seriously and has appointed a special committee for the purpose of considering ways and means of raising $10,000 and engaging a permanent Secretary. I think the examples of Rochester and Cleveland are getting to be a little irritating to Buffalo.
That brings me to a point where I can say. Gentlemen, that every city that organizes makes it easier for the next city, and I can say to you truthfully that this thing is developing just as fast as we can possibly take care of it with our present field force. Cooking forward to the next year, we practically have at hand now all of the work that we possibly can do during the next twelve months in organizing these big centers that we have spoken of.
There is Mr. Smyth over there. Mir. Smyth was a newspaper man
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201
and he helped Uncle Sam. clean up that little bunch over In Europe. Mr. Smyth has done some of tSBTbest organizing work in Kansas City. And there is Mr. Coffin of Portland. And there is Lintz. The demonstra tion here in Cleveland is sufficient evidence of what Lintz can do. 1 don't want to miss an opportunity of speaking of our neighbors across the line, the border cities, reprSEented by Captain Robbins over there. He was mixed up in that quarrel, too, about four years. If I were to characterize Captain Robbins I can only use one expression which per fectly describes him, and I would have to use the expression we used
in the old McCormick works, "He has the guts," and he is putting it across. After only three months, and after hobnobbing with secretaries like J.,intz and Fellmer, he went hack and had the nerve at the very out set to organize a Safety Week in the five cities. I happened to be invited
to go up there, and do you know they didn't have a single accidental
death during that week in the five cities? That shows what it is possi ble to do. Gentlemen, when you have got the guts and the backbone to take hold of it and say, "We are^going to do it and do it just the same as we said,. `We are not going torfake a year to get going in this war, but we are going to do it in thirty days.' " In this movement we want to get the guts and the courage, because we have the big idea, and if we believe in it we are going to go~to it and do it. Captain Robbins be lieved in it and he went back andTlid it. It was one of the'most wonder ful demonstrations I have ever seen, with so little preparation, so little time to develop a community spirit.
HIGH SrOTS OF THIS YEAR'S EXPERIENCE
Now 1 want to line up the high spots of this year's experience, because nobody else will. It seems to me the outstanding things in this last year's experience that were really significant to us were looking forward to the future. There wa's the school for Safety Supervisors conducted in the
four cities, a school including fifteen lessons with some of our very best
men, men like Cartel of Pittsburgh, for instance, as the speakers or
teachers. There were fifteen lessons which covered the fundamentals of safety. They were carefully prepared by our Engineering Department. I
don't think our Enginering Department has ever done anything so well
as the preparation of those lessons. They were very brief, written in popular newspaper English, but including the very essence of the wholo
proposition, the meat of the cocoanxit. The pupils were furnished copies of those lessons. At the end of the course a banquet was given with proper speeches, and engraved diplomas, each one with a little blue ribbon
around it, were presented.
Z7
One of the interesting things about this school was that, immediately
after writing a letter to the plant manager outlining the purpose of the school, the character of the lessons^--that this school was prepared really
to train a man for the position of safety inspector and give him the fun
damentals--the manager became .thoroughly interested. Nothing else that we have ever done brought a response from the general managers
so promptly and heartily as the proposal to establish these schools.
202.
Eighth Scfttg Cimpnar*
Before Mr. 1-5utz am< on ftc Job. t wef# ewt
bere te Cleveland.
A splendid school was conducted bsft &4 5 b<5 Kbe targets. percentage
of attendance. 23*e student* -wttt &* *8
grmqm- of men tlbat
wc had. This school w*j. jeiartee pfi tpToy-
eonncil was well
organized. The idea of (denes a owT< ww*** St= w*##ese:. which covers
the fundamentals, which wfS freeware a me fer me work. fca a very pop
ular plan, and I think I can way
fm a rb ft3fftary of the National
Safety Council we have never rendered f* <wtt ttwsSrra a service so
definite, direct, and tangible. a that
by these schools. I don't
think there is any qualification to that statement aft *&.
Now so successful were these whori* that *t have conceived the idea
of turning our foremen's meetings into tomofu* school*.
We are now preparing ten lessons out of the fifteen, carefully selected
with regard to the work of the foremen. Those lessons will be written
in very simple style, but they will give every foreman all tbat a foreman
needs to know about safety In such a way that the foreman will believe
it. He will have a complete set of lessons. He win have a diploma that
he can hang in.his office. 1 believe. Gentlemen, that the foremen's schools
will be equally popular with the managers, and I believe they will render
equally definite Snd tangible service to the foremen. I think all of you are
aware,, as I am-aware, tbat we are never going to get anywhere in this
efficiency movement, this industrial relations movement, until we have better educated and better trained foremen, 'because the attitude of. the
workmen depends on the attitude of the foremen. We are all waking
up to the fact that the foreman is the keyman absolutely. I think we
who pave beenTm the game for a long time, and who have met thousand:
jrxt* foremen, are-impressed and depressed, as I have been, many times
I suppose X have spoken to a thousand meetings of foremen, and-alway:
I have been impressed with their low average of intelligence--good men
but with very 'limited education, very limited outlook, and practical!:
no contact with the outside. I believe that this service to foremen i
going to be anjmportant development in the local councils.
The big thing in the future local council is going to be not industria
safety, but public safety. I can see it every' day. Industrial safety i
taking its place In the regular organization as a part of production, an
there will be less and less need for propaganda work such as we hav
had to do during these years, because it is recognized as a matter < protits. -Just aa fast as we can. convince the manager that it make
money and is good business, he is going to give It the place which tt
companies with which we are so familiar are giving it. and we don
need any further propaganda.
But public safety, school safety--those are the things that will ca
for a continuous campaign just the same as we are continuously campaig
ing for better morals and better health and so on: and it means the ed
cation of the-rising generation.
I don't think any one who has not been close to the work can appi
ciate the opportunity for the permanent secretary. I know It has been
revelation to me. The demand for a man who cam devote all of his til
irw?
203
to the service of the swii. fir~he*=-
SwFyfswd tSbe po&dbfXitfes
of these splendid meat te gPiw oifff 9!Sa?sr
^ s^spiy aftltmit-
ed opportunity- to go W?=*
y a*kJi ~rgron r** o>*Bf=ewt=<?*dwa.t. and
those who are interessfed =& Deg^ry awl $*'
the*i add help
them work out their eem ocefr*ah`ustT-m wr*d wiw *#*?** "cs
right road.
There are unlimited *pper`ttmiHFlr. to -qje'.%
fn^una* meeting*
and In this way to keep e> S**wac.
** snp4^=* tfttay time*
wanes when they have ^o SieJ
~wt afftSw^nsSi.. Owr Members
welcome the ltt*p4rwf-i>o akset Tjatwon. H"**** '-4waM w?wiSBiS*e, There fa
wonderful opportwo-ir? to g* *
****- *= w? secretaries have
done, and with a portable sewS8* pSe-t^nee gnwrWHw? iSew Ssovtag picture
meetings at noon time.
Now I am almo-st throwgft I *#Wt &iow wseHRe^ l K&oaid. stay it or
not, but I am going to. beowaee st &*
my S-eart, a4'l teit you how-
much I appreciate personally the tpi'ggtfld aerth;*' of our three Held sec
retaries. I have often said to Their faces and behind their backs, that
I never expect to have better zsen- as tong as 1 am manager of the Na
tional Safety Council. They are men who have been pioneers in safety
work, who have been pioneers in this large movement which has come
during the last few years, and X want them to know, and I want you to
know, how much the officers of the Council appreciate their service, and what splendid possibilities there are in that service as we develop these things. They go into a city and spend a month to help work out the organization and then work with the secretary, until they acquaint him with the experience of all the pother cities. These field secretaries meet
with the permanent secretaries every three months in conferences and
give the permanent secretaries "the benefit of their experience. In this pioneer movement we are doing just what we have done in the National Safety Council; we are pooling"our experiences. Then there is the ex
change of letters and reports, going the rounds of these permanent sec retaries, so that one man knows what all the others are doing. We are gradually working out standards so that we can go into a city with a program--one of these field Secretaries can--rwhich promises definite
results. It isn't a theory, but it is a fact that has been tried out in other cities and can be recommended.
Now I have talked longer than I thought I was going to talk, but it
is because I feel so keenly the possibility of this thing. It Is beyond our strength or our time or our ability. "We are going to have more oppor tunity. and it is coming now. We don't bare to go oat and do any more missionary work. If we take care of the things that are coming te ns,
that are thrust-upon us--if we meet those, we are going to do mighty
well. I think that will be true of every local council. I know that Fell-
mer will back me in this, that"if yon meet the things that are right be
fore yon, you will have more than you Can do. Tbh* thing Es so full, of
possibility, and this demonstration in Cleveland---which. X am euro is a
convincing evidence of what can he done in A community which was not
very radical on safety six months ago--is reaSy remarkable. This was
a good, solid, conservative sort of community, not very nrfteat on safety.
204
-- Eighth Safety Congress
but look at it now. here.
It is a wonderful demonstration which has come
THE EXPERIENCE OP A LARGE CITY IN LOCAL COUNCIL WORK
Carl L? Smith, Public Safety Field Secretary, National Safety Council
My contribution, I am told, is to give you the experience of a large
city in directing
local council, and to visualize to you those things
which have been found to be successful in instilling Safety into the com munity life. We are fortunate indeed, and I am particularly fortunate, in having the experiments of a number of large cities that have accom
plished effective Safety work the past year from which to draw the
experiences to present to you.
PERSONNEL OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE IMPORTANT r-.
In starting the organization of a local council, too much care cannot be exercised in selecting the men who are to compose the Executive Com mittee. Men should be selected ~to fill these positions, especially the
offices,--such as the president, vice presidents, chairman of the finance pommittee, and treasurer.--from among men who are prominent in the community. I have found in my personal experience, and in my observa tion of the work in other cities, that success comes easier when the men who comprise this committee are men of prominence. Personally, I believe that the president of a local council should be some manufactur ing head, or a prominent representative of a large public utility company, such as the president or general manager of a prominent company in the district. There are many reasons to confirm this theory. If the head of the local organization is a man well known and occupying- a high position in the manufacturing world, he naturally commands great respect, and it is Very easy for him to get the cooperation of other indus trial presidents and managers. Especially is this so in the beginning, when a city is just: starting its work.
In every city that I have gone into the past year I have found there are one or two, or_ sometimes three men who, when they endorse a prop
osition, speak tor practically all industrial plants of the community
It is our problem to interest these men. Our experience has provec that when we do reach these men we have a better and more substantia organization, and it has been found, I might say, comparatively easy t( get their interest? We have made enough demonstrations, as shown b: the development the past year in our Local Councils' work in larg' cities, to he able to lay before tbe big men the picture of just what cai be accomplished by organized safety work in a community.
Chairman Price: That is a very important subject. It really deteT mines the success of your local council.
Mr. G. E. Morgan (Employers' Mutual Insurance Co.): I want to as'
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20o
whether the men who were selected as the heads of your organization down, there were the large contributors, or were they the men who in
terested the large contributorsjto start your plan for the first year?
Ms. Carl Sirrrn: In a great many cases they were both the large contributor and the man who was interested In the work. If he is the head of a large manufacturihglplant, he is naturally in position to make a large contribution. In mos|T cases the man at the head made a sub stantial contribution. He -was big enough to do that to set the pace.
SATET-ST EXGIXEERS HAY AX IM TORTA XT PART
By saying that big men should comprise the Executive Committee. I do not mean to slight in anyway the executive ability and efficiency of our safety engineers in the community, for they are a deciding factor in the success of the work; hutas the old saying goes, and which we have been following out in Indus try^-tbat we should not place square pegs in round holes--so it is in this regard. Safety engineers are qualified to do a certain specific woi;k in community safetj\ They are especially valu able as 'chairmen of our districts, and a certain number should be in cluded on the Executive Committee. This is the system that is now being followed out in Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Rochester, Cleveland, Cin cinnati, Kansas City, San Francisco, Portland, Windsor, and other cities that are organizing local councils with paid secretaries.
Chairman Prick: May I add this word to that? One difficulty lias been that the executive committees have been made up almost- wholly of the men just under the general manager. I believe every one of the local councils knows that it has meant a great deal to them to get some really intiuential men in it. Ehave had it in my field experience over and' ever again. There would be^splendid young men, splendid working ma terial, the very backbone of a working organization. But lacking just that backing, that influence which puts it across in a big way. That is a very important point.
PAID SECRETARY A XECESSITY
Mk. Carl-Smith: The experience of the cities that I have just named has proved beyond question that a paid secretary to handle the details of the work and direct the activities is so important and so far ahead of the old plan of a voluntary secretary, that it is hardly necessary for me to take your time by offering any further reasons why this should be done. Suffice it to say that the results obtained in these communities speak for themselves.
In St. Louis, the first year-of their organization, accidents and fatal ities in industries were decreased 57 per' cent. Industrial, public, and home accidents as a whole were decreased 16 per cent in. 1918; and the report of the Coroner "of St. Louis shows a reduction of 18.5 per cent for the first eight months of 1919 over 1918. In Pittsburgh, according to the report of the State Department of Labor, accidents and deaths in
206
Eighth Safety Congress
Allegheny County, the-^first year of the organization, were decreased
33.1 per cent. Prominent men, such as the Coroner of St. Louis and
the Commisioner of therDepartment of Labor of the State of Pennsyl
vania, have gone on record to the effect that the safety work, as conducted
by the National Safety Council, with the paid secretary in these com
munities, was largely responsible for results.
Oh.mioia.n Pkh'k: Ithnight be well to answer questions in regard to
the type of men who make good secretaries. It makes or breaks, you
know. Will you outline your ideal of a secretary, the kind of a man
whom you would get for $3,600 or $4,000, or $5,000 in some of the big
cities?
-
M. Caki. Smith: In the first place I think that a secretary of a local
council must have initiative to put over his ideas. He is a secretary,
is in the background, and is not presumed to be in the limelight. Never
theless. the secretary is quietly directing the work of the whole organi
zation. If he is that' kind of a man, he is going to he able to get his
Kxecutive' Committee to work with him. He should give them all the
glory, lie should be humble when it is wise to be humble, and he ought to be there with the punch when it is proper to be there with the punch.
The ideal that we have is so inviting to big" men that you just have a
mighty easy job. They will be delighted to do the work for you because
they want to do something for the community.
HELPFUL TO SAVE BACKING OP CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
It is very helpful to have the support of the Chamber of Commerce in conducting community safety work. In St. Louis the Chamber of Com merce contributes the office space, the salary, of a stenographer, furniture, lights, telephone, and other incidental expenses. They have found that the Safety Department is one of their livest activities. It secured for them more publicity than any two or three other departments. It also gives direct service to their members as every man, woman, and child is interested in safety and the welfare of the city. Presidents, past presi dents, and chairmen of membership committees of Chambers of Com merce have told me that in soliciting membership for their organization, the subject of safety wSS one of tbeir most appealing talking points. By having the endorsement- of the Chamber of Commerce, they are reallysponsoring your work to tbe industries of the community.
There is a lot of argument on that point: whether we should be affiliat ed with the Chamber ofCommerce or whether we should be independent.
Mu. P. S. Case (Niagara Falls): We find in Niagara Falls--and I presume it is common to a good many other cities--that tbe Chamber of Commerce is regarded as an organization of capital and their bene fits are largely benefitsTo the capitalistic members.
Mk. Caiu. Smith: If all depends upon your local Chamber. Chicago has a real Chamber "the Advertising Club is affiliating with it. St. Louis has a real Chamber of Commerce. I think there is one in Roches ter. It depends on local conditions. If the Chamber of Commerce is a
Local Council Officers
207
big organization in your community, get into it; if it hasn't the stand
ing it should have, then stay away from it.
Chairman Price: Am I right In assuming that in practically all
cases the Chamber* of Commerce are known among the labor leaders
as a sort of neutral body and not against labor as the Employers' Asso
ciations are?
-^=-
Ms. E. P. Rosrkts tManager of jthe Engineering Society of Akron):
I have a good many deallngs^with the men in the ranks both in Ak
ron and Cleveland, and I think the average man on the street has the
impression that the Chamber of Commerce is against labor.
Chairman' Prick: Then vote want to keep away from It.
Mr. Korkrts: I believe in the Chamber of Commerce thoroughly, but
the man on the street does not.
Mr. CARr- Smith: You understand that regardless of what Chamber
of Commerce you are allied with, you maintain your independence. It
simply helps you along with the overhead expense. The direction of
your department is entirely up to you and to your committee in every
case.
'
MEETINGS or EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OFTEN------OTHERWISE NO ENTHUSIASM
I am fully convinced, after my experience in St. Louis, especially in arranging for the Congress, a well as my observation of the workings of executive committees in other cities, that it is vital to the success of the wqrk that executive committees meet weekly. It enables them to keep in touch with the movement and to take an active part in doing some of the work. After all, success depends on getting the Executive Committee men to really do some of the work. The secretary is employed to attend to the details, but he must have the expression of his committee in. order for him to be sure that he is on the right track. It is great encourage ment to a secretary to have twenty-five or thirty members of the Execu tive Committee get together once a week. In the average community It is very easy for men to get together at noon-day luncheons. They have to eat, and as one man said a. short time ago: `T attend a great many noon-day luncheons, but I know of no meeting that- I get more genuine pleasure in attending than the meetings of our Local Council Executive Committee.'' Why this statement? Because, after all, he realized that this cause, was representing an ideal that is to be found in but few
organizations. The members of the Executive Committee become intelli
gently interested Just in propBrtion to the active work they- do. Mr. L. J. Smyth (Kansas City Council) : In starting a movement,
how are you going to get the kind of men you want on the Executive
Committee to go to the weekly luncheons? I find, for instance, that the men we want for an executive^ committee usually has three or four lun cheon engagements almost every day in the week, and it is hard for them to decide which one to fill. Uiaven't yet been able to find a day in the week when I can reach all of the members of my committee, and I have a comparatively small committee.
Mr. Cake Smith: After you have gone along for three or four months.
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Eighth Safety Congress
that won't be the case, because when your committeemen, meet, they will
attend it in preference^ho any other luncheon engagement. If you get
forty per cent of your tommitteemen to attend your weekly luncheons,
you are doing well. Of-_gourse, the attendance will fluctuate--you won't
have the same men eachl_week. But they keep in touch with you by the
minutes, and you get wliat you want: that is, you get action on matters
which you present to th<Tcommittee.
'
Mis- M. L- 1'elljiex (SLlLouis Council): There is one point which the
speaker brought out which I find quite important, and that is to provide
copies of your minutes for those who do not attend your meetings. I
have had more favorable comment on that than anything else which
happened in the Executive Meetings.
Mrs. G. H. JfcCtAix (Cincinnati Council) : I want to know how you get
these temporary committees into existence at the start of things?
Mr. Cari. Smith: You know when you go out to purchase a house or
purchase anything, you look it over carefully, and you usually select the
best you can And. That is the way we do with these men here. We se
lect them with regard tcftheir abilities along particular lines. Then we
go to see them and sell them the idea. We sell them on the thought
that they are the one person in Kansas City or Cincinnati who can turn
the trick. It takes some3persuasion, perhaps, but eventually they come
along because they seer~fhat this is an unselfish work, and everybody
is in it for the good ofZthe city; the civic idea grips them and they
accept. That is the way you get them.
Mr. ill.cCr.Ai r;: Are those appointments or selections verified by the organization later?
Mr. Cari. Smith: Yes.
Mr. McCr.Aix: You pfck the men and get the committee into existence.
Mr. Cart. Smith: Yes, it is obvious that the secretary is going to be the "goat." It is up to^him to see that he surrounds himself with the
proper people in order to put the job over. The secretary is really the
one who selects these mfn in the beginning.
'Mr. L. S. BRAixEnn (LT^JT. Block & Co.. St. Louis) : I think another good
thought in picking this Executive Committee is to have as much of a
diversified group of men as possible. That is, from diversified interests,
diversified employments^ Have some from public utilities, some from
iron and steel and someTfom wood working, etc.
-- ACTIVITIES
Mr. Cari. Smith: There are two classes of activities that should be conducted by a local council--some activities for the fall and winter months and some for the summer months. The reason for this is obvious. There are things that will appeal to superintendents, foremen, safety en gineers, and workmen in winter that will not appeal to them in summer; and there are activities in the summer that will not appeal to them in win ter. The one thing we all, of course, try to do is to have something new all the time to keep the "Interest aroused in a community. Here I want to say that in planning these activities we often make the mistake of
Local Council Officers
200
planning too much--more than we can possibly do. Do a feic things iccll.
This spells success. There arujust a few things that one can do. and if
they are done well, they will get results and enotigh results to satisfy any
manager that he is getting dollar for dollar for the membership dues paid.
The mistake has been madeZin believing that a lot of actit'ities should
be launched at one time in order to let the people know that you are
doing something, and the result has been that they usually have resulted in failure. It is much, better to do one or two things and have them
done in a big way, than it is to do a half-dozen things in a small way. fall find "Winter A.ctivitics. -The most successful activity we have held
the past year in any of our large centers has been the School for Safety
Supervisors. This experiment was tried in St. Louis. Pittsburgh, Roches
ter, and Cleveland. Pour hujndred and sixty-four men were graduated
from these schools and were given certificates. The schools were attended
by plant managers, superintendents, safety inspectors, foremen, and
members of the shop safety committees. The course consisted of fifteen
lectures.
zz
In most of these cities a chairman was appointed to take charge of
the school, and let me say thal this is one of the secrets of the success
of the schools. ' In St. Louis
general manager of some big plant was
designated to act as chairman. Experience has taught us that it is
necessary to have a man with^plenty of "pep and punch"--our chairman
had the "pep." When the men attending the school see that they have
such a leader, they are very responsive. The secretary should keep in the background. He is only there to see that the details are taken care
of. Committees were appointed by the men themselves to help handle
arrangements in conjunction with the chairman. They took care of such
matters as providing entertainment--sometimes a cjuartette. sometimes a pianist, sometimes a vocal solo. In other words the men realized that this was their school. After the close of the course in all the cities in
which it was given, alumni societies were formed, and monthly meetings
were held. As to some of the results accomplished--the General Superintendent of
the St. Louis Transfer Company, P. J. Kelleher, stated that as a result
of the lecture on Plant Lighting, given by Mr. C. W. Price, General Man
ager of the National Safety Council, he had made an inspection of all his garages and barns and had installed a new and up-to-date lighting system.
As a result of the lecture on Resuscitation, given in St. Louis, there were
several cases reported where lives had been saved because a man who had taken this lecture had been near and offered assistance. One case, I recall, was in Cleveland, and the man was employed by the American
Steel and Wire Company.
-=7-
In St. Louis, the secretary kept in touch with every student by writing
a letter each week to those .who were present and also to those who
were absent. In this way personal touch was maintained with the men,
and I assure you it was appreciated - by them. Mr. .M, L. Kku.mku (St. Louis Council): Mr. Smith fails to mention
that at these schools we distributed registration cards, and that was the
210
Eighth Safety Congress
reason he had such close check-up on these fellows.- He would write them,
"You missed that- splendid lecture last night," and it would make the
fellow keen to come the next time. Cilursiax Prick: Did you write a letter to the manager about the at
tendance of his men? ^
Mr. Care. Smith: Yes, It is well to do that as a news-letter of service to members. Supposeitliat Mr. DeBlois would come to speak on some
definite subject, and a~15ig crowd was there. We would send out a news
letter to the managers like this, "Five hundred attended supervisors'
school last evening." As a matter of fact that was done. The Secretary
of the Chamber of CoUrtnerce wanted to know if that was true, because
it hit him right betweeji the eyes. The presidents and general managers
of the plants will want to know it also, because if the school has grown
to that extent they will want to learn more about it.
Foremen's Meetings.--TSest to the Supervisors' Schools the most Impor
tant activity is monthly meetings for foremen. A chairman should be
chosen for this work just as a chairman should be chosen for the Super
visors' School. The superintendent of a plant who is well known and
a favorite among the foremen, would be preferable. It St. Louis last year, in a series of foremen's meetings li'eld in a large hall of the Street
Railways Company, with a seating capacity of 2,000 people, they drew
an average attendances:of 1.S00 superintendents and foremen. You ask
how this was accomplished? I can state positively that it was caused
by three things:
_
1. There were 550 'men enrolled in the Supervisors' School.
Most of
these men were executives in charge of other men. They were appealed
to and were pledged fdTsee that the foremen in their plants attended the
meeting.
-=r
2. An effective letter" was sent to the manager each month, containing
tickets patterned after the ordinary theatre ticket, for the manager to
distribute to the foremen. On the back of each ticket, was a program
of the entertainment tfLbe given in. conjunction with the speaker's name
and the subject on which he was to talk. 3. The chairman of the foremen's meetings was a man who could
tell a few good jokes and make the men feel that they were all of one
large family and that they were coming together once each month for a
great purpose, and at the same time they were receiving information that
would tend to make them more efficient and give them greater opportunity
for service to themselves and to their fellow-men.
Splendid results in 'obtaining attendance have been accomplished in
Pittsburgh, Rochesterr Cleveland, and other cities.
That is a valuable point. You should have a chairman who can get up
and arouse the enthusiasm of the men.
Mr. L,. J. Smyth (Kansas City Council) : Can those foremen's meet
ings be made a combination of school and round-table? Is there time
enough in one evening in a comparative short session to crowd it all in?
Mr. Care, Smith: L1i, yes. And another thing that struck me as very
interesting last year: a great many of the supervisors who attended the
Local Council Officers
211
weekly meetings insisted upon attending the foremen's meetings too.
In the tirst place, they wanted to see how many of the foremen of their
own plants attended. In the SJeond place, they wanted to enjoy the enter
tainment and the big program just as well as any one else. So there was plenty of time for discussion, as you say, and it made a very interest
ing evening. Chairman- Pkick:
Would you say that at least half of the time in a
foremen's meeting should be reserved for round-table discussion? Mr. Carl Smith: I wouldn't say half of the time. I would say the
better plan is to have a definite time to start and a definite time to
finish; a definite time for the lecture and a definite time for discussion.
In the supervisors' school weiallowed thirty minutes, no more. The men
soon get to know that they have only thirty minutes for discussion, and
that they have to speak up afid start it. It made no difference how hot
the discussion was; when the time came for closing, we closed.
ACanagcrs' Meetings. It has been found advisable to hold about four
meetings in the form, of a noon-day luncheon for managers and plant
executives. The speakers at These meetings should be men who will be
able to talk on subjects ixr which managers are interested,--such as "Health and Efficiency of --Employees," "Employees' Representation,"
"Labor Turnover," "Employment of Men," etc.
It has been said that managers would not attend noon-day luncheon.
In St. Louis an average attendance of 275 was obtained. . In Rochester,
Cleveland, and Pittsburgh good results -were had. Some have thought
it impossible to induce the managers to attend these meetings. This
is not true. If you have a good speaker and if the meeting is properly advertised the managers will respond. All notices of such meetings should be addressed to the manager, and the invitation should include
his plant executives. A policy that proved very effective was to mail an
invitation to the manager, enclosing a post card, asking him to state
how many places he wanted reserved, and then the day before the meet
ing check up these cards against the list of invitations mailed. Those who had not replied were called on the phone and personally asked to
attend, stating the importance of the meetings. It is not necessary for
the secretary to do this detail work. He can turn it over to his stenog
rapher or any other help inTiis office. I remember one instance in get ting out a crowd for a managers' dinner the young lady, in one hour's
work calling over the phone those who had not replied, received requests
for 67 plates. As the manager is the man. who must O. K. the member
ship bill each year, you naturally want to reach him in some way and
tell him the fact that you are doing something worth while for the wel fare of the Community. In 5rder to make a local council successful the
manager must be educated in safety as well as the foremen.
Mr. Por.nARD (International Harvester Co.): What has been done with reference to getting superintendents' meetings?
Mr. Cart. Smith: They attend the supervisors' school. Motion Picture Service. One of the activities that is appreciated by
the manager, safety engineer, and workmen of the plants is the service
2l2
^Eighth Safety Congress
of a. motion picture rSJSEChine and films for noon-day and evening shows.
Most of the districtsZare now supplied with, a portable motion picture
machine and some motion-picture films. Letters are sent out from time to
time to the managership, the district, stating that this service is available
to them and that the .secretary will be glad to arrange for the showing
of a film that will beLnThis office for thirty days. Experience has shown
that after these letters: are mailed, in a very few days enough bookings
come in to keep the motion picture-machine in use for three or four week*;
at a time.
ZT
Secretary's Service. ~ The paid secretary can find himself a very busy
man in giving individual service to plants,--such as inspections, talks
to foremen and workmen, assisting safety engineers, in organizing the
plant and many otherlcalls for his services too numerous to mention.--
if he will hilt send out a letter from time to time to each manager com- -
prising his membership.
.*>turner Activities*^Experience has taught us that it is well to dis
continue all meetings-for managers, safety engineers, and foremen during
the months of .Tune. July, and August. The reason for this is that we
find early In The spring every one is interested in getting in the garden,
cr putting the eggs under the old hen, going fishing, playing tennis, or
what not. ami the appeal to attend meetings in the evening is lost.
Summer time is here and they want to enjoy it as much as they can,
so they turn their minds into other channels.
lioat Excursion. However, there are a few things that will appeal to
them in which they wjll be glad to take an active part. In St. Louis,
this summer, they conducted a very successful boat excursion for super intendents. foremen, zand safety engineers. In fact a great many man agers attended. Posters were distributed in all the factories, and tickets
were sent to the managers. Many concerns bought tickets and distributed
them gratis to their nren. In other words, they held a community safety
boat excursion.--nearly 2,000 went on the excursion.
Picnic. Tn Pittsburgh, the Carnegie Steel Company held a picnic with
a barbecue, games, :band, shows, and safety speakers. Mr. Phil G.
Kenlan. Safety Engineer of the Duquesne plant of the Carnegie Steel
Company, told me there -were 15,000 men, women, and children in attend
ance.
Open Air Shoics. The Park Department in every city, my experience
has proven, welcomesrihe cooperation of the Local Council in giving open
air shows to the children of the community. Usually the shows are given
on the playgrounds or in the parks. The city authorities are always
willing to provide seats and assist in the preparations. There are always
people in every city who will be glad to help In the way of entertainment.
Community song leaders are delighted to assist. The months of June.
July, and August arer:of course, preferable months for this entertainment
as the schools are closed and the children are free to be amused and
instructed. Posters and tickets distributed through the plants are good
ways to advertise these shows.
Local Council Officers
!2t3
l'UllLIC SAFETY
3'
Personnel of Commit tcc.^1 n beginning public safety work in a com
munity, the personnel of the committee is very important. There are men in every community who, because of the position they occupy in
public life, should play an "active part in the work of public safety. It would be sheer folly to attgmpt to organize a committee without such
men as the Director of Public Safety. Director of Streets and Sewers.
Chief of Police, Judges of the Courts, Circuit Attorney. Director of Parks
and Public Buildings, representatives of prominent manufacturing plants, automobile clubs, team-owners' associations, transfer and taxicab com
panies. etc. Many individual men in public life have attempted to organ ize public safety work and have failed because it was purely an indi
vidual idea. To have community safety, every organization in the city
which is obviously interested in safety, should have certain specific work
to do. The safety committees as conducted in St. Douis, Pittsburgh, and
Cleveland are made up of Ben who are representing such organizations and such work is assigned to them as they are especially qualified to do
because of the organization! they represent.
Essentials in I?icluslrial Safety anti Public Safety. In industrial safety
we have found that there aye five essentials that are really the governing
factors in the success of safety work In industrial plants, namely: man
ager, foreman, safety engineer, shop safety committees, and the bulletin
boards. We also know that to have successful safety work in industrial
plants, the manager must_put the safety idea on the map, and so it is
with public safety. -There are five essential things that must be done.
1. The Mayor of the city must believe in safety and that it is a good
thing, and be willing to ^request, over his signature if necessary, the prominent men of the community to serve on the Public Safety Com
mittee.
--
2. The policeman is to the neighborhood which he patrols the same
as the foreman Is to his men. He is responsible for the protection of the citizens on his "beat," and just as we have had to educate the foreman to his responsibility, so shall we have to educate the policeman. We are
hoping to do this by havingpschools for policemen, where each will receive
ten lectures on Safety Work as applied to his job.
3. The secretary of the Safety Council in the community is to the com
munity what the safety engineer is to the shop. He must keep in
touch with the needs of the community and his Public Safety Committee,
and wisely pilot the shlp.j^ 4. A Vigilance Committee, composed of prominent men of the com
munity. takes the place in Public Safety of the workmen's committee in
the shop. These committees are organized by first having five men
appointed on the committee. These five men meet and adopt a pledge
card which every one signs before becoming a member. They are then
each given a number and thereafter known by that number. Each is sup
plied with a number, of report cards on which he reports careless prac
tices occurring on the streets. These cards, after being filled out, are
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aEighth Safety Congress
sent to the Secretary of the Complaint Board of the City, or Chief of
Police, who then takes^the matter up, either personally or by letter,
with the person concerned. The complaint card is filed by license number
of the car. Should a second offense be reported, more severe measures
are taken. Each one of: the five men agrees to name five more men and
be responsible for their instruction, thus making- a total of twenty-five
men. These twenty-five men sign the pledge, and after a little experience,
each names five more men, making a total of 150, and so on. The num
ber of men involved are as many as it may he deemed necessary to
select.
_
5. Bulletin Boards, After all is said as to the success of the safety
work in Industry, we all know that the bulletin boards in the various
departments still play an important part in the prevention of accidents.
The pictures and stories that are put on these hoards from time to time
visualize to the workmen the part they themselves must play to reduce
accidents, and are a great factor in selling the men the safety Idea.
If we are to reduce accidents on the streets and curb tbe speed maniacs
it will be by visualizing1 to them the pictures and stories of the 60,000
lives that are lost each year in public accidents, so that the fifth, essen
tial in Public Safety is bulletin boards in garages, service and gasoline
stations. ; In Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Cleveland tbe plan is to have these bulletins posted, on tbe boards at least monthly by the policeman
on the '"beat", the board to be electrically lighted, with, glass front the
same as used in industry, and to be marked the property of the city. At
tached to the board JL is planned to have a tin box with the words
"Traffic Rules and Regulations. Take One"; these boxes to be kept full
with the little booklet of the traffic rules and regulations of the city.
This will insure a permanent distribution of the law so that the old ex
cuse of the driver not having an opportunity to get a copy of the traflic
law will be done away with. It will surprise you to know that in St.
Louis for instance, although there are 35,000 automobiles running around the streets of tbe city, that only 5,000 copies of the traffic law bad been printed for distribution in the last five years. We know that bulletin
boards in garages and_ gasoline stations will get results, and I might cite
as an example the experience in East St. Louis where Mr. D. E. Parson, General Manager of the East St. Louis and Suburban Railway Company,
posted bulletins on Public Safety in the public garages and gasoline sta
tions promiscuously without any attempt to make it a dignified presenta
tion. and as a result ot his efforts collisions between automobiles and
street cars were decreased 50 per cent. I have here a copy of the Pittsburgh and Cleveland plans for Public
Safety, giving the personnel of their committees and the work assigned
to each committee, which is patterned after the work laid out by the Pub
lic Safety CommitteeJn St. Louis. Copies of these plans can be secured
from Mr. G. E. Clarkson, Secretary of the "Western. Pennsylvania Division
of the National Safety Council, 704 F*rick Building, Pittsburgh, and Mir.
A. H. Lintz, Secretary of the Northeastern Ohio Division of the National
Safety Council, 310 Chamber of Commerce Building, Cleveland.
hemal Council Officers
215
, SCHOOL SATETTl
"School Safety," as many managers of plants are expressing it today, "is the very essence of safety work in a community. "When you start to teach the children you begjh to get at the fundamental basis of accident prevention work." We are indebted to Dr. E. George Payne, Principal of the Harris Teachers' College of St. Louis, for the first boolc written on this subject, which will show a teacher how to include safety instruction to the child in the present school curriculum without adding a new study. The school people in the communities that I have visited are very anxious to get this work ^started, and it is one of the things that our Secretary in our Local Council can offer the managers of the plants in his district in the way of service that will be appreciated by them.
financing a local council
You are perhaps familiar with the way in which these local councils are being financed. If not, it will be interesting to you for, after all,
money is needed to carry on these activities and the more money the community has, the more successful it is going to he in safety work, just as the more money a plant spends in perfecting its safety organization,
the more efficient its organization is. In St. Louis the plan of assessment is based on. the number of employees. An assessment of 10 cents per em ployee is made for the first thousand and 7 cents for the excess. This has been found an equitable plan and sufficient to finance tbe work. In
Pittsburgh the local work is financed by a double due assessment. In
Rochester it is taken cafe of by the Chamber of Commerce through a Community War Chest. 'In Cleveland, Cincinnati, San Francisco, Port
land, Kansas City-, and AVindsor the work for the first year is being financed by contributions made by the big men of the city in order to
make a demonstration as to what can he done in community safety, and
after the first year the method to be used is to follow the assessment
plan on the pro rata system, as used in St. Louis. In making plans for a paid secretary to undertake the work in a com
munity, let me just say there is nothing so discouraging to the secretary and every one else as to be handicapped by finances. The time to get
the necessary money is at the start. In making the estimate of the cost,
and preparing your budget, make it high enough so that you are sure
it will cover the cost of the work of the year without slighting the service.
Chairman Price:' I aru. glad to see my good friend Morley sitting over there looking pious--he is here from Canada. Mr. Morley is the General
Manager of the Ontario :Saety League and the Canadian National Safety
League. We are very glad to have you come over here and tell us what
you think of this man Smith and what he said. Mr. R. A. Morley : There are certain points that Mr. Smith has brought
out that might possibly be worth while for the members present to have
some of our experience on, because our experience now spreads over
nearly seven years.
"
21G
Eighth Safety Congress
EXPERIENCES OK ONTARIO SAFETY LEAGUE
Air. Smith brought outJihe importance of the Executive Committee,
and I think that perhaps
have been more particularly lucky in the
Ontario Safety League--wgjiave been very lucky in the type of men we
have had. We have gontrLin strongly for presidents of concerns, not
forgetting, of course, the labor organizations, the automobile associations,
etc.
"7.
So far as the labor end of it goes. Gentlemen, I want to say that you
cannot lay too much stress-on getting results out of your labor men.
The labor men are tickled to death to come to your Executive Committee
meetings and meet with the men who are presidents of concerns, etc.
They get their point of vietC^and it is the old, old story about safety work
being the greatest ground that there is for carrying on proper and satis factory industrial relations;
Now as to tile Executive Committee meeting once a week: I don't
agree with Mr. Smith. I think that once a week is too often, and in our
experience once a month is plenty; that is, after you get working. Of
course, at the outset you may have to have meetings seven days a week,
but after you get things going, the Executive Committee has laid down
certain policies and has become acquainted with the man who is doing
the work--that hard-hearted Secretary who is so very essential--after
they become acquainted with him and his methods, I think that you get
your Lest results out of having your meetings once a month, not once a
week. I say that after several years' experience on the job, but I think
that you ought to have audefinite date. Eor instance, ours is the first
Monday of every month, absolutely pulled off--except a public holiday. and as I say, you get results.
regardless of anything else being We have a meeting on that day,
I don't suppose there is-any need to elaborate on that need of a paid
secretary. You have to have a man whose daily bread is, to a certain
extent, dependent on wliat_he is doing. He is going to take a darned
sight more interest in the Thing than if he were simply putting in an
hour or t wo a day for what he considered the good of the cause.
Mr. Smith also mentioned the question of the secretary having tho
necessary punch. I remember on one occasion the president of the or
ganization making a statement to our secretary and the secretary looked
over at him and said. "Hr. Hughes, that is not so." "Oh. 1 thought it was." He took it very nicely, too.
Dr. Hughes said.
You brought out. sir. tliequestion of the importance of public safety
work, and I think your public safety work must be made the basis of vonr
big appeal to the community at large. You are going to get your results
from the community at large, through your public safety work: and the
most important part of thelpublic safety work in our experience is the school work; it is the keystone of your whole proposition. You carry on your school work, and you may not get results for ten years or you
may get results tomorrow. ___
In that connection 1 would like to tell yon a story of Mr. Cushing,
who came into our office about three years ago from Thorold, a compara-
Local Council Officers
217
lively small place near St.TTatharines. He said, "I understand you issue
school bulletins. Can we pt them at Tliorold?" 1 told him that they
could. He said, "What do Jjiey cost?'' 1 named some small figure. He
said, "I am not a member of the school board, but 1 want to get them.''
I asked him where his interest came in. He said, "1 am interested be
cause my company is one of the comparatively big employers of labor in
our small town, and we feel that, if the children in the schools to-day
are taught school safety, street safety, safety an the homes, and various
other types of safety, when we get them in our plant they are going to
be safe operators, and it is going to be simple to teach them industrial
safety."
That is one of the big points of your school work. You can't lay too
much emphasis on it. We have carried on our school safety in a various number of ways. We usenuotion pictures. We have school bulletins
which we put in the class rooms every week, and once a year we dis
tribute a letter to parents, pilose are all things that have been done time
and time again -by somebody else, but when you get a combination you
are going to get results.
__
- in connection with that school bulletin, I want to put this thought into
the heads of some of you. Your school board is going to pay a great deal
more attention to your school bulletins and to the work that you are
doing in the schools, provided they have some financial interest in it.
We have been very lucky in regard to our school work. For instance,
the Hoard of Education in Yoronto this year allows us to spend up to
$600 on school bulletins and on that annual letter to parents. Once a
quarter or once every half year, whenever we need the money we send
them a bill and say, "GenTTemen, up to date we have spent so much money." At one of our meetings not long ago in Hamilton, the Chairman
of the Toronto Board said tliat they were allowing uS $600 and that they
were going to double it nexTJzyear. We get $200 a year from the Halifax,
Nova Scotia, Board for the bulletins.
That feature of paying JBr the bulletins has two excellent points to
my mind. In the first placer as I said before, you get more effect from
stuff like that when it is paid for, and in the second place you get the money.
I want to finish up with a-remark about the question of finances. With
some of the local councils the question of finances may not matter, but
it seems to me, as Mr. Smith brought out, it is a thing to which they
must at some time or another devote a considerable amount of attention.
In our campaign, at least in Canada, we have two features with our
finances. In the first place, ;we have got to get the money. In the second
place, we have got to spend that money to prevent accidents. Those are
the two features of the financial end of a safety campaign, to my mind,
and yon can't get away fronT either one of them. I laid down a policy
years ago when I toolc hold there that we wouldn't buy a damned thing
unless we could pay for it. Hots of things we went without simply because
we did not have the money^to get them with. But our credit is good. Gentlemen, we can get anything we want now in the city of Toronto.
21S
EightJi Safety Congress
As a. wind-up, I want to tell you two or three incidents. We have a peddler in Toronto who, every year, for six years, has sent us his little $5 check. He is a tnan who is listed in the city directory as a "peddler." Because of the work wejntre doing he thinks we are worth $5 a year from him. We have had contributions from all types and. all classes of people. As l explained to you, we have had money from the Board of Education. We have had, in the six years that we have been at work, a total of ?!O,0t'0 from the city of Toronto.
The last thing 1 want Jg leave with you. Gentlemen, as the climax is that this year the province: of Ontario, in view of the work we have done and the work the people hoped we would do, has made us a grant, with out any strings of any description, of ?10,000, and that is more than patting one on the back. -=r
Chairman Prick: .Mr.Morley has a right to speak with authority on school safety, because tliaRhas been emphasized diming the last few years in the work in his city. -=-^
I remember during thejfirst year of my service as field secretary, that one of the very bright spots in that experience was a four day visit I made at Niagara Kails, ^sL remember that .they had twelve members of the National Safety Count?!1 when I went there, and we found, on investi gation that there were twelve other companies that were worth mention ing that were not members of the National Safety Council. "We set a goal of having every company in Niagara a member, and we started out every morning with pep and ginger and determined not to fall down. In side of three days we had the other twelve and that was one hundred per cent.
One of the men who was most active in that little drive and in or ganizing that local council, who is now and has been ever since, one of the men who has made it one of the most successful small councils, is -Mr. P. S. Case of the Union Carbide Company. Mr. Case, we are glad to have you here. Come jup and tell us how you did it.
TIIE EXPERIENCE OP A SMART; CITY IX LOCAL council. work:
2?. S. Cask, Uxro.v C.ummE Company, Niagara Falls, N. Y., SecretaryTrkasukkb, Niagara Frontier Local Council, N. S. C.
The experience of a small city in Local Council work should, I believe, have a value from the standpoint of determining the policies of other coun cils which materially outweighs its historical interest. Our experiences in Niagara Falls Safety Council, though novel and intensely interesting to ourselves, were, I assumeTMa repetition of those of most locals. With this Idea, in mind, I am limiting the intimate details of oxir experience at tlie Niagara Frontier Safety Council to those which will best serve to "point a moral rather than adorn nrtale."
A Local Council is or should be essentially a service organization. Bj' this, I mean, an organization which justifies its existence by virtue of the
Local Council Officers
219
services it renders to its members. My experience in Local Council work
has led me to believe that the most vital requisite of a Local Council's
success is that it devote a^Sonsiderable if not the major portion of its
energies to rendering special service to Us members.
There is at all times, ana more particularly- at the inception of a
Local's activities, a necessity for a number of routine activities which
are valuable to the members collectively. The Local Council, however,
never becomes indispensablenmtil it ascertains what the individual mem
bers consider their personal ^problem in safety- work and effectively helps
them to meet that problem, m
Niagara Frontier Safety Council was organized under rather unique and
favorable circumstances.
^
ORGANIZATION OF A LOCAL COUNCIL
In October, 1916, I attended the National Safety Council Convention in Detroit. There were, at tlie^same time, several other representatives of Niagara Falls industries onrhand. One day somebody mentioned that the representatives of the Btfffalo plants proposed forming a Local Council in our district to embrace both Buffalo and Niagara Falls. At once we began to discuss the proposition of Niagara having its own Local, for we did .not feel that Buffalo was conversant with the peculiar problems in our Electro-chemical Industries. In other words, there seemed no chance of an organization in Buffalo securing the Intimate knowledge of our personal problems, which we have already mentioned is essential to a Local Council becoming a true service organization. We then bespoke Mr. Cameron and Mr. Pricerand arranged tentatively for a Local Council at Niagara.
It became' evident, on returning and canvassing the plants in town to see who were already council members, that only a small portion were receiving the benefits of belonging to the parent organization. This being
the case, Mr. Price devoted a considerable portion of his time at Niagara
to securing new memberships and we have more than once congratulated ourselves that we did not fall in a single instance of "selling our service."
After organizing our Local and helping us conduct our first foremen's meeting, Mr. Price of necessity left us to our own devices and thereby hangs a tale.
Pursuing our original idea, stated at the outset of this paper, the effectiveness of a Local Council's efforts depends on the quality of its service. The mere fact that it has a service to offer, be it foremen's meet ings, or school for safety supervisors or what not, is of no significance unless this service is of intrinsic worth to the members. In other words, the Local must effectively meet the member's personal problems.
Almost without exception the Foremen's meetings have a function to perform for every industry^ Executives' meetings have their place also as do schools for safety supervisors and workmen's mass meetings, etc. These are collective functions that can best be performed for a group of plants by a central organization. There are, however, a vast number of special problems which come up in the individual experience of every
*220
Eirjhfh- Safety Congress
plant which are, in the main, more vital to the success of its safety work than, some of the generaLeonsiderations just mentioned.
The Council's organization in Chicago has long recognized this fact: witness the Sectional Bulletin Service, the Sectional meetings of this Congress, the Safe Practices leaflets on special hazards, the Information Bureau, etc. A Local Council to be successful must duplicate this type of service if it is to have ajenuine value to the members.
Our early experience after Mr. Price assisted us to organize was highly successful. We bad several foremen's meetings during the winter of 1!'I7 and 101S which were well attended and favorably commented upon.
a budgct a _\- n a rocicv
Buffalo had at the samelinie, organized a Local there and on comparing
notes, we found that our progress was favorable as compared with theirs.
There were two things,- however, which we had failed adequately to
provide for--namely, a budget and a policy. The former we successfully
solved after considerable_deliberatiou on a five cents per employee per year basis: but the latter involved * principles of service .which I have already outlined and wasThe main reason-for our re-organization which 1
will detail later.
Our early activities involved the expenditure of considerable money which was advanced to the organization by two large member plants in
town. As our organization began to take form, we got together and de
cided on an assessment of so much, per employee per year,on the various
members as a fair system of raising funds. We were able, moreover, at
five cents per man to raise more than enough funds for a year's activities
together with a fund tom*etire the loans which had been advanced ns during our early organization. We were, however, without a definite policy which included special service to our individual members and this
together with our inability to maintain an effective voluntary organization, particularly during the recent war, contributed to the necessity for re
organization.
_-t:
In order to render the high class of special service to individual mem
bers on which the existence of a Local Council depends, it is necessary to maintain a paid organization at least in part. There is, of course, a certain amount of routine stenographic and clerical work which under a
voluntary organization is divided among the various officers. Such an
arrangement will function, after a fashion, but has the permanent dis
advantage of no centralized filing and record system. When, however, we
attempt the personal relations which involve visits to member plants, con ferences. follow-ups on meeting notices, membership drives, etc., it Is altogether beyond the possibilities of a voluntary organization to accom
plish. Unfortunately my knowledge of Local Council work does not
extend to a personal acquaintance with a permanent secretary's work. Aside from the functions'of a Local Council which are obviously impossible to perform in any other way, there is of necessity a mass of other prob
lems with which a permanent secretary would deal. These are present In
any Local Council problem and are peculiar to the group of industries
concerned.
-- t
Local Council Officers
221
I am, therefore, not in a position to state just what we have left undone at Niagara which we ought toTiave done with a paid secretary, but there is no doubt in my mind as torfhe fact. With this in mind, that in order to render a high class of spe^al service, a Local Council must maintain in part at least a paid organization, Niagara's experience was typical.
During the winter of 1917 jQJcl 191S we again held foremen's meetings which though excellent in quality were not properly attended and we began to cast about for a reason for this falling off in interest. In the first place, owing to our lack ofja paid secretary, we were not in a position to follow up properly our notices of meetings. Then too, we were not making any additions to our membership which might have contributed to maintaining a keener interest in our foremen's meetings. This condi tion was unavoidable for the same reason although the field was very promising. I might state at This point, that Niagara's industries were almost without exception on 100 per cent war work and the labor and production problems were absorbing all of the time of our voluntary organization. In addition, we were entirely out of touch with one another's personal problems, largely because we were too busy with our own and all of these factors militated against the formation of the neces sary constructive policy.
By the fall of 391S. we had reached the limit of our capabilities under our .original organization. ICTTvas obvious that a re-organization had to take place in order to build something that could render real service and it was equally obvious that this had to be a paid proposition at least in part. So in the fall of 191S. "we turned our attention to the successful experience of the Rochester Local and began to study their methods of doing business.
KKOIKIAXIZATIllX IXNI> ISHOADKXIXO Of ACTIVITIES
There had, in the meantimerbeen a Chamber of Commerce organized in Niagara Falls and we decidedTb duplicate, so far as possible, Rochester's relation between the Local CdUncil and the Chamber of Commerce. The details of this arrangement, of course, took;-some time and not until the spring of this year did Niagara Falls Safety Council become part of the Niagara Fails Chamber of Commerce.
It is axiomatic that even an organization which renders a very distinct and valuable brand of special service to its members must broaden its activities to enlarge its organization in size and effectiveness, if it is to continue to exist. I notice in a recent executive service bulletin from the Chicago office a fine collectionTof valuable data on Employees' Representa tion which is evidence of the recognition of this fact by the central organization.
The idea of Safety work is so intimately connected with employees' relations in general, that without losing its identity as safety work, it may well include a working knowledge and supply of information in these other directions. I suggest that all Local Councils seriously consider the possibilities of service to their members which lie in the inclusion of a moderate amount of attention to employment, hygiene, employees' repre-
222
Eighth Safety Congress
sentation, and recreation.--problems in. a
cal Council's program of
activities.
Niagara Falls Chamber of Commerce is seriously considering this phase of industrial needs in the form of what will he known, as an. industrial
council. This council wil_L_be in charge of a paid secretary who is part of the Chamber's regular staff and together with safety work will give his attention to some of the other problems mentioned above. As this involves a considerably greater financial outlay than Local Council work alone the plans are taking some time and will not be operative until later
in the year. Having heard our experience such as it is, I hope you are convinced
as I am that a Local Council is primarily a service organization thq effectiveness of whose efforts depends on. the quality of its services. That it must render a progressively efficient and genuine service to Justify its existence which in turn is only possible through a paid rather than, a voluntary organization. That the work of a Local Council must be progressive in its nature gad extend in the direction which the needs of its members demand, presumably to those other branches of employees' relations which are daily becoming more and more important.
DISCUSSION
Chairman Price: I am particularly anxious to occupy the next hour
in a discussion of the problems of the small local council. I would like
to discuss first the problem of the local council that will probably not'
be able to employ a permanent secretary.
I think the lame spot in the program of our local councils' sessions
last year was that we allowed the consideration of the larger local coun
cils to overshadow everything. We know how to solve the big city prob
lems, and we don't know how to solve the other. Thus far in these ses
sions, we have not added, very much to this problem. I have selected
Mr. Case deliberately believing that be is as competent to answer those
questions as any one. We haven't all the light, but we have a little, so
let us see if we can get at anything that will really be of help to us in
solving this problem.
..
Niagara Falls has done better than most other small cities and Mr.
Case is very frank about its failures. He hasn't been nearly so frank
about its successes.
Mr. DeBlois (Wilmington): I would like to propound a question at
once. What place in the inauguration of a small local council would
you give to publicity? I don't mean simply newspaper articles, sporadi
cally, but a general knowledge in the community of the existence of a
local council, what its purposes are, etc.
PUBLICITY
Mr. Case: I don't think there is any question that publicity is. the finest thing that you can have. There is no question that you should have one hundred per cmt interest in a small town by all concerned.
Local Council Officers
223
both manufacturers and the general public. In a small community you
have sot to get everybody or you are not going to get along. You need
the influence and you need thejnoney. The more publicity you can get,
the better it will be. Safety is essentially an advertising and selling
proposition. I think publicity is the word every time.
Mr. DeBlois: Let me continue that, if I may. In starting the thing,
would you start with publicity, ^concentrate on that before you undertook
actual work?
Mr. Case: My personal knowledge or feeling in that matter and I
don't pretend to speak from great experience--is that in almost any ac
tivity results speak almost louder than anything else you can bring
forth. A moderate result to back up your publicity is an excellent thing.
I wouldn't get the cart too far before the horse.
.Mr. DeBi.ois: 'We have just been going about six or eight months-in
the Delaware Council. We have Mr. Case's problem of a small commun
ity. There are three or four very large concerns having central head
quarters, the du Pont Company; for instance. There are no large manu
facturing interests-. We have concentrated sixty per cent on the pub licity. We started with perhaps six members of the National. We haven't
really gone out to sell a membership. The Membership Committee hasn't
called more than one meeting ahd hasn't got to work yet. We have let
publicity sell memberships. It has done it because we sold newspapers
tirst. We can get anything we Want in the paper now. That means not
only two or three columns, but the front page, if necessary, and editorials.
They are hungry for the stuff. "We have sold it to the editors'personally.
The labor paper has given us as much as two whole pages in one of its weekly issues. We can feed it anything. That has sold us to date about
thirty-five memberships, active memberships, and it is going to keep right
on selling them.
iL
The point has now arrived Where- they are asking for a little some
thing for their money. We have given three good meetings, one with .Forster, one with Price and onerWith Carl Smith. But we must give them
a little more, and we are going to feed that to them now. But mean
while in our opinion, that publicity work has got to be kept up one.
hundred per cent, and becauserwe are a state council and not a city
council, we have got to sell the state papers, such as they are, down to
the last little local town with a. weekly news sheet, just as much as we
sold the city papers. That is the reason I wanted to bring that out.
Chairman Price: That is a good point, but you admit that you have
to deliver?
%=
Mr. DeElois: We have to deliver something.
Mb. Ltxtz: Speaking of publicity, I am always interested to learn
just how you brought the council before the people with respect to get
ting these members? Did you "advertise tbe council Itself and what it -does in a direct way?
Mr. DeBcois: I really have misled you that publicity sold these mem berships. In launching the thing, we had to select the only -non-partisan
organization as a sponsor. That was the Chamber of Commerce. The
224
Eighth Safety Congress
only otiier organization professedly non-partisan, was the Manufacturers'
Association, which was regarded by the labor interests as anti-union.
The Chamber of CTOmerce really hasn't taken any active part in the
work. When we sold The idea to the Manufacturers' Association through
the Chamber of ComfflBrce, they promised one hundred per cent member
ship. Actually they got about twenty-five. But they didn't get it through
the efforts of their secretary, but entirely through our newspaper pub
licity. That is the way we started the thing, through the Chamber of Com
merce as a sponsor at a luncheon, which brought the matter to the at
tention of the Manufacturers' Association at one of their regular meet
ings, to the Compensation Board, which took but passing interest in it,
and to the labor unions,. Central Labor Union, and the Labor Herald,
which are with us one hundred per cent strong.
-.
Chairman Prick: Mr. DeBlois, do you think that you can carry on the
program that will include a foremen's school instead of a safety, super visor's school, and a real effective public safety campaign, for instance, a
week's drive, including the city officials and also this publicity that you have spoken of. without a paid secretary?
^ I'AHT-miE PAID SECRETARY
MR. DkBi.ois: I wouldn't say that we didn't have a paid secretary. We are dodging the Issue. One of my assistants, Mr. Read, who unfor
tunately was called back to Wilmington, is giving sixty per cent of his
time. He is experierrSBH in' safety work, is an experienced organizer, and had something to dol with the sporadic safety drive that was organized by one of his px-asaistants in the city of Nashville. His. time is paid, entirely l>y the du Ront Company. He really is a part time secretary and I arrange his duties so that he can devote a portion of liis work to
that. Chairman
Prick:
-Do you think that is a practical plan?
I had in
mind bringing that up, the possibility in Niagara of securing a man like .Mr. Case whose company is interested, whose time could he spared, pos
sibly paying him a salary for that time and in that way overcome the
weakness of the plan? Mr. DkBi.ois: HereMs the proposition. I think it is a perfectly work
able one in other communities. We have these three large powder com
panies which have their main offices in Wilmington. They derive very definite advantages from the local council, both to the men. in the organi zation and to the status of the organization in the community-. There
was a little feeling in_the community against these big fellows, and the.
big fellows don't waiU that. It is not hostility but it is just a little
aloofness. The big fellows want to be mixed right in with the commun ity and they welcome anything that will strengthen the community re
lations. Every time it was necessary to raise pay or salaries the other
fellows around the town said. "Oh, well, these big fellows are hogging all the market and spoiling all our wage- schedules." Therefore, the
activities of a local were welcomed.
Local Council Officers
225
.Now, then, when you come to--assess those large companies for dues, you cannot assess them on the--payroll basis, because they have very
few payroll employees there, practically none. So we went to them with this proposition (there are twoZsmall ones and one large one): "Now you two small ones give us $100 annually which we will consider straight
dues to the local. It is not a donation, but it is the value of the services that you will, derive for your employees, and your own position in the community. Mr. Large One, we will also take $100 dues from, you, but
we will also take the services of one of your men." That went over
without any trouble at all. They saw that they were going to get more
in service than could be paid onTgny normal dues schedule.
Chairman Pit ice: Is there any such possibility in Niagara? one company sufficiently' large to spare the time of one man?
Is there
.Mr. Case: I think that it is possible. I must say, in all frankness, that I think it is fundamentally wrong, because there was a certain, wise man who said, a long time ago that a man "cannot serve two masters,"
but at the same time it is a very-good makeshift, and provided we have
the whole-hearted enthusiasm of the concern to which this part time
man belongs, I think it could be^ accomplished. However, I do not be
lieve we would come to the point of accomplishing w'hat we could with
a full time paid secretary.
7=7:
Chairman- Price:
About how
Niagara Palls.
Ms. Case: Probably 25,000.
many 7
employees,
roughly,
have
you
in
Chairman- Price:
Do you think that Niagara in the next two or
three years, is large enough . toTjwarrant the employing of a man at
$3,000 or $4,000? You have got fd:have just as good a man there as any
where? What do you think is the practical solution of the Niagara,
problem?
PERlIAyEKT--PAID SECRETAHV
Mr. Case: Personally, whether it is good judgment or not, I am sold
on the idea of a permanent paid secretary. I think, and I have the opin
ion of the Chamber of Commercelo back me, that by including certain
other functions in relation to the spreading of general information on
employee relations, the overhead could be borne properly. In other
words, members could take out their service in other things besides
safety, but whether that agrees with the policy of the Council or not, I
am not in position to say.
77777
Chairman: Price: Don't you think, 3Mr. Case, that with the very rapid development of public safety which I think is bound to come in the next
two or three years, because of the large increase of street accidents and because of this school safety that is coming now--don't you think that
all of the citizens, including tbeTindustrial managers, will appreciate
that there is a big community problem that is bigger than the service
that might be rendered to the individual plants? Even in a community
of your size there Is a big job for a good man. It is a bigger job than
we had thought when we considered this only as possibly a service to
these Industrial concerns.
226
E ighth Safety Congress
Mr. Cask: X think ^that is very true, it is a very pleasing develop
ment that public saety~is becoming so large a part of the local council's work. X thoroughly agree with Mr. Price's former statement that indus trial safety is becoming such a part of the regular routine of affairs that it naturally develops that we take more interest in. public safety, and X
believe thoroughly that in Niagara there is a possibility for such a man.
Chairman Price: Ma. Carl Smith*.
Air. Smith, what is your thought in this matter. My thought is that the failures have been due to
the fact that no one inan has had sufficient time to give the necessary
attention to the work.-- There are four or five problems in the small cities: a definite program,
school for supervisors, school for foremen, school safety, and. perhaps,
public safety.
--
Chairman Price: zWould you say that Niagara should have a school
for supervisors or `a school for foremen? Mb. Carl Smith: It ought to have both.
You have just mentioned
twenty-five thousand employees. That would bring you a revenue of 51,250, and if that were increased to ten cents per employee, it would give you a revenue of $2,500 a year. I. would say it could be easily raised. If you h'ad as secretary a man who was interested enough in
the idea to see that the program was carried out, I believe that you could find a very good woman, a high grade stenographer, who could tend to the office details aiyu salary of $90 a month and carry on the program
for you with your assistance. That would develop, perhaps, into a paid
secretary at $3,000 a "year. But your problem is to put over some direct
activities in your community this fall.
Start with $2,500
your budget. Get your high grade woman who
will do the bulk of the work in the office, and she can handle the details
for you with you as tire secretary to guide her. In all of our small cities
the problem has been the sending out of the notices to the foremen, to
the managers, checking up and seeing that they attended the meetings.
She would take care=of all those details. You would simply have the responsibility of carrying out the idea. I think that is what we are going to have to decide upon. Certainly we must have a program. Pub
licity is all right, but yve must have down on paper definite services to
give these men. Chairman Price: *"1 think that Smith has said something there. I
think I said something, too. when I spoke of the enlarging field in even a small community. ^It is big: it is much bigger than we have thought
it in the last two ysars. A year hence, aren't we going to see it big
enough and aren't the people going to see it big enough so that there is ample room for a paid secretary in a small community, even smaller than Niagara, Mr. Case? What do you think of that. Smith?
Mr. Carl Smith: Yes, it will come. Mr. DeBlois: I absolutely foresee, when we take up public safety
work this spring that this man who is now part-time paid secretary will
have to devote his entire time to safety work. But part of his salary
will be deducted from the fund which -we are looking forward to raising
Locttl Council Officers
227
for public safety work. We Have about 125.000 population, but with pub
lic safetj' work it means a full time paid secretary with a stenographer
and office assistants.
Chaiejus Price: I want target your reaction on this. I remember
when I attended a meeting of jome eighty business men in Cincinnati
where we were launching the financial campaign, that the chairman, .Mr. Geier, who is one of the. outstanding young general managers there,
made this point: that we want right now to get under one organization
all of these things that are going to make for industrial peace and bet
terment--safety, health, industrial relations, the housing problem. Let's
not split it up. Let's get a goodl man. Isn't that what we are going to
come to in a small community? We want peace; we want right industrial
relations: we want safety on our streets: we want safety instruction in
our schools; and we want the active cooperation of our civic organiza
tions.
--
As this thing grows, and it ingrowing hy leaps and bounds, this prob
lem of bringing about good conditions, this meeting of the crisis that
we are in the midst of now--aren't we beginning to see that even in a smaller community than Niagara Kails there is a great big job for a big, broad, strong man? There is a job for such a man to work out an organi
zation that will not only take in this narrower field that we have been
talking about, but that will alscCtake in this whole field. Mr. Moreey: I think the majority of those present don't appreciate
the value of public safety work is a money-getter. We have lots of men
in Toronto, perhaps one hundred,? who don't get anything at all out of the
contribution they make every ygar to our work. A few days ago I was
accused of doing too much direct advertising for the Ontario Safety
League, but what I said in rebuttal, so to speak, was that we had to do
a certain amount of that in order to hold the interest of these people
who would not give up their good money unless they knew that we were doing good work, and that we~tad to advertise what we were doing.
Gentlemen, public safety work gives you a chance to get money from
the average banker who may not directly care about industries or any
thing else. He may have no interest in school safety; he may have no
children, but for a community proposition he will give his money. Chairman- Price: I am interested in getting Dr. Payne's reaction
He has been active on the Executive Committee down in St. Louis. I think. Doctor, your thought on Sis idea of the larger problem, including
not only safety and sanitation but the whole question of community wel
fare. would be helpful.
.
. Dr. Payne: I came in during^tlie midst of this discussion and hardly know what you have said. Take our own local council. There are a
lot of us who are very glad to jdo a lot of things. We have all sorts of
points of contact, but we haven't the time to initiate activity and carry
i! out in so far as the details are concerned. For instance, I am Chair
man of the Committee for the Speakers' Bureau, and there is a great deal
that I can do there, if we have somebody who really does the work, but otherwise I couldn't do it at all. Therefore, in a town of 50.000 a man
228
`Eighth Safety Congress
would have his hands full taking care of this work. And if you had such
a man as Smith or FelTmer, I think he would get the funds to carry it
on with.
"T"
Chaikmas .Price: This is the point I want to really get at now: in a
small community of say 25,000, don't you think that in addition to the
industrial problem, let us say, that there are a dozen plants, that the
community problem, the school safety matter, and getting the coopera
tion of all the civic organizations and the city officials and all, is big
enough- even in that community to warrant the hiring, of a good $3,000
or 4,000 man to takeicare of the situation?
Ur. Payne: Absolutely. And I think that when once hired he would demonstrate his worth.Tf he is that type of man, to the community. Take
the problem of school safety alone--I mean teaching it in the schools.
1 am thoroughly committed to the feeling and to the view that the only
fundamental way to handle this is to take children and develop them in
ideals and habits of safety. Whenever you once do that you have cared
for the problem.
Take an instance that the public is hardly conscious of. This whole
prohibition movement is due almost wholly to the fact that the Women's
Christian Temperance Union about thirty years ago got into the schools
the teaching of temperance. Most of it is unscientific--they call it ``sci
entific temperance." its effect in a few years, although very poorly
taught, was that you got a body of people in the United States large
enough, just as soon as these children came into the period of voting,
to abolish the liquor traffic. It wasn't what they thought about it or
what they knew about it, but it was what they felt about it. And the
way they felt about it was what they said and talked about as children. You have the problemL of teaching safety, as I said in the committee
this morning. There are only a limited number of situations in which
accidents occur and those situations are very definitely known. The
way that accidents are prevented is by persons being careful- Careful
ness with reference to each of these situations is just a matter of habit,
and those habits are formed, not when we are adults, but when we are
children.
__r
Our habits are practically formed by the time we are twenty. We form
no habits, practically, after we are twenty; and that is why this problem
of safety is such a difficult problem--because our lives, so far as habit
and skill is concerned,* are formed before that time. Therefore, the
school proposition alonevvould take up much of one's time, if he worked
it out in the way that it has to be worked out. The teamsters must get
the notion of safety. They are just like a body of teachers were yester
day; they had no idea that there were more, people killed by accident in
the United States during the period of the war than were killed on the
battlefields of France. ^"They were absolutely amazed and appalled at
that situation. So youTBTust get that notion over to them.
Chairman Price: I think every man in this room appreciates the enormous value of school safety as a part of this community effort.
Now I want to get Wal'd on his feet over there. Ward Is from Yonkers.
Local Council Officers
229
I don't know when I have mefa fellow like Ward in a community. He is a combination of a Tam massy ward heeler, a Atethodist preacher, a business man, and a born leader. He is an Irishman. Now supposing, Mr. Ward, you weren't hitched up with New York and that you were isolated so that you would have to handle Yonkers alone, do you think that Yonkers could afford a good paid secretary at $3,000 or $4,000 a year, who would take care dfT the whole safety and sanitation work, industrial relations, community betterment, and similar activities?
Mr. Prank Ward (Yonkers, ?N. Y.) : There was a thought "which ran
through my mind when Mr. Smith was talking. In Yonlters we have a Commissioner of Public Safety^ In other words, we have a department there which is responsible for the safety' of the city of Yonkers. I was wondering whether it would be well to submit a proposition to the council or mayor there to have the city defray a portion of that expense, and make it less burdensome on the industries and the other institutions around there or the people who would be lik'bly to contribute to such a fund.
However, I do believe that with the number of manufacturing indus tries we have there it would be possible to gather from them and some of the other people who are interested in this particular subject a suffi cient amount of money to overcome the secretary's expense. I have listened with a great deal of^pleasure to the remarks that have been made here about that particular thing. I firmly believe that a highgrade man is absolutely' necessary. I remember very well, Mr. Price, the time you visited Yonkers.^ In order to save a lot of time and to make a more congenial affair!of it, I invited all the managers of all the industries in Yonkers to bur plant. We had a lunch room there. Air. Price talked to them practically while they were eating. They were there four or five hours before they' got through, although they' came with the understanding that they would only be there thirty or forty minutes. I have noticed during Liberty Loan campaigns when I had visited the various plants that every one of them is practising safety to the fullest extent, and they are: proud of it, and they will tell you about it. They all have records of their accidents, and I believe, with the inter est that was displayed by thoseQ various industries, that it will be possible .to gather a very liberal contribution for the furthering of that particular subject.
I was very glad to hear DTT Payne speak the way he did about the school part of it. I had never really appreciated that there was so much good to be done. I have thought along those lines somewhat and I can see it Is positively true that you must start with the child. He doesn't start after he is twenty years: of age to formulate the principles that yoti try to pound into him before he reaches that age.
We have been handling the matter this way in the New York Council, and I believe it has been a very crude way. We have depended upon the people who have attended the meetings to advertise It. In other words. New York Council is peculiarly' located. It isn't like any one of fhe Individual cities such as Rochester. Cleveland, or St. Louis. We
230
iffhth Safety Congress
cater to a radius ofdsventy-five miles over in Jersey and down Staten Island, up in Westchester County, and in the past winter, owing to the
courtesy of the Safety Institute, we have been able to have a. meeting every thirty days. We have had six meetings during the winter and special speakers at each one of those meetings. They have resolved
themselves into round-table discussions which have been very interesting. The attendance at these meetings has been very good. One meeting was devoted entirely to the ship-building organizations in that section. But up to this time we have been dependent upon the people who attended
the meetings to go out and preach the propaganda and gather the new
ones in. .\Iii. OkBujis:
I was wondering whether in the smaller communities
the liability insurance, companies could be of more value than they are
in promoting the local safety council work from the industrial side. In
our state they havejc great big hold on the state, and while they are active in the organization, and one of their engineers is vice-president of
the Council today, still I feel that either in the financial end or in the
securing of memberaiyps through their own. insured, that they ought to
be of very material help. I think there is a field for development. Cjiaikmax Prick: iDon't you think, Hr. DeBlois, that very soon; now
public safety is going to become so recognized that we will be able to get a contribution from the city and possibly, also from the Chamber of Com
merce?
55=
.Mu. DkBi.oik: I think we have got to get it in Delaware.
Mit. G. E. Ci.AiiKsas~( Secretary. Western Pennsylvania Division. Pitts
burgh) : We have had already three meetings of our public safety com
mittee. Our first meeting was a very large one. We considered it very
large. We have about eighty-five men. interested in all affairs of life,
nearly. At the nextjye had about forty. That was during the summer
months. The next one was held just a few weeks ago. At our last
meeting we were able to get two members of the City Council and also
one or two of the Executive Board of the Chamber of Commerce. We
carried our program out according to schedule, and asked onr committees
to report. About half of the seventeen committees reported. Then we
called upon one member of the Council and one from the Chamber of Commerce. The member of the Council was a man who is quite influen tial in the Council,_JTe has been connected with it for a good long time, and he is otherwise a public spirited man and influential in the civic and political life in Pittsburgh. He said. "To my mind, this thing is more worthy than a half dozen other things that we are spending a whole lot of moneyTfor. and I will say to you that if you will bring the matter properly Jiefore the Council, I, for one. will vote for it." Cer
tainly we were very much encouraged by the moral support, at least, that we got from the Cotnigil. That was followed by General Logan. Chairman of one of the important committees of the Chamber of Commerce. He. by the way, is a member of the Executive Committee, and he said in effect
that this organization should become one of the regular activities of the Chamber of Commerce,
LocaLjOouncil Officers
231
As yet we have not followed--out these suggestions. We are waiting for the psychological time. There is one reason why we are waiting.
Another reason why we are waiting- is because we haven't had the time.
We in Pittsburgh are just as njnch too large as you in Niagara are too
small. We ought to have at least three or four local councils around in
onr Pittsburgh district as largsggias your council at Niagara Falls.
But tbe reaction out of this public safety work is this: when we get
started and get sufficient momentum, get to doing things you know, I
think the others will follow. _These smaller communities will follow-
right in line, and just simply^ask and demand that they have a paid
secretary. I believe that we ought to be willing to give it to them.
Chairman Price: Capt. Robbins, you look as If the spirit were moving
you and you were just waiting for a chance to talk.
Capt. Jack Robbins (Windsor; Ont.l : I think that what I have to say
will interest the gentleman from Niagara. In my little place----------
Chairman Prick: How many folks are there in those five cities of
yours. Captain?
^
Capt. Robbins: There are about 65,000. It is comprised of five little cities. 1 want to show you the interest the mayors of these towns took In this matter. I went to out mayor, the second mayor I visited. I
said, "We want you on our Safety Committee." He said, "No." I said,
What? Don't you men believe in safety?" He said, "Yes, but I want to
be in. the first place," and it wag true of every one of them. We couldn't
put the fourth man on at all until we convinced him that it was for the
benefit of the community at large. He wanted to be first. That was our
trouble.
I think that we have met in-our four cities nearly every question that
Mr. Price put this morning. ?Jake, for instance, the Chamber of Com merce. I believe the Chamber of Commerce has done more work for our local council than any other organization.
Chairman Price: I believe you are right.
Capt. Robbins: We are going to stick with them.
The next point is the ExgBtttive Committee. We got the big men
interested. We sold them the=idea. The public were rather indifferent.
They w.ould say "We believe in it," but they wouldn't get up out of
their seats and do anything. I started them going, and when they saw
that there was a man there who meant to put it over, why they got out
and did everything they could to put it over. Mr. Price knows it. The
Executive Committee is in my brain right now. Why? Because I waited
until safety week to see who worked and those who didn't work I didn't
want, and I have got the workers and the big men. They comprise my
Executive Committee.
Next was the foremen's schogl. Already we have 32 plants asking why
the devil we don't start the foremen's school, because we had promised
it a long time ago. I couldn't do it until safety week. There are 32
plants that have promised, and that have each guaranteed five men. We
shall have an audience anyhow5.
Mr. Price, Mr. Morley anctlMi. kittle came to our city .and spoke.
232
^Eighth Safety Congress
What was the result? The next morning, without making an assessment or anything, $2,000 came in my mail. It was exactly $1,900. We didn't
spend a lot "of money in publicity. We talked to them first and got them
interested. Then we^gave them the publicity and we got the results.
You know with us there is traffic coming from Detroit, which is the
second biggest city is, regard to automobiles. They drive over on the
ferries and, of course^in each of the cities there are different rules and
regulations. We mage the big record of no deaths and no serious acci
dents. The only accident that we had was to a young lady. One of the
big steamers loaded ^vith steel pulled away from its anchor and hit a
ferry boat. The ladyHEell and broke her leg. That was the only accident
we had in that week.= On Monday of the next week a little child who attended my picture
show on Saturdaj7 WEs killed. The mother said, "That little girl is a
safety girl and knows all about safety," but she got killed. She was walking on the rig'EETside of the road, but a man who hadn't taken the
interest in safety, who hadn't been taught safety, was on the wrong side of the road and killed her.
In so far as the police are concerned, already we have had twentyeight convictions. They were twenty-eight cases where the maximum
fine was assessed. We are following the example set by St. Louis. We
are going to get them if they don't pay attention to the driving laws, and make the city safe. They are going to get it, and they know they
are going to get it, and the police are behind us. It is so all through
Canada, and not only id my place. We made 50,000 small two-minute talks. We give them to the retail
merchants. They put them in each package. Each home which bought
groceries or anything had one of those talks. We thought 50,000 would be enough. Before T came away, the retail merchants asked for 200,000. They will pay for them and give them out all the year.
The paid secretary is the only thing. We have had a certain amount
of money promised us by the Manufacturers' Section of the Chamber
of Commerce, but as a man said to me in a plant, "What is the use of taking care of me inside the plant when you would have me go outside
and get killed by a machine?" He is right. We have to have public safety. You know each little town has its own council. They were com
posed of different nationalities and they were all indifferent. I spoke to
all of them, and before I came away the mayor of the biggest of those
towns came to me and said, "Put your proposition tip to us as a body for
public safety." Cix,viR3rAX- Price; In all my experience in field work I have never had
any Instance that j2ame anywhere near illustrating so well what could
be done in a small community as this, because this is small and all
divided up. But when you have a real man there at the head of the
thing with the time, you can put it across. This thought came to me as I have been sitting here:
The trouble
with all of us whojhave been worrying about this small town proposition
is that we haven't seen this thing big enough. Isn't that the secret?
Local Council Officers
233
We haven't grasped the bignps of this thing, even in a small town.
There is a real place for a real man in every community. Now, if we
are so slow, how can we blameicitizens for- being so slow?
The thing that I am carrying out of this meeting this morning is the
need to convince myself of the bigness of this thing, to make myself be
lieve that even in a small community we must have a paid man. We are
going to put this across in the small community just the same as in the
large city, and we are not going to sit here helpless and hopeless wonder
ing how we are going to solve the problem.
Ms. E. E. Bacii (Director of Americanization for the State of Pennsyl
vania) : All of this discussion has been very interesting to me, and I
want to give you this one suggestion: that you can still fortify your
selves further along the line of public safety by tying up closer with the
State departments of each Stale. We are just about to tie up with the
great public school systems of Pennsylvania along the line of first aid,
with a course in first aid. Now why not get busy with your program on public safety and take it up with tbe superintendent of schools? It can
link up very nicely in that way and it will be put over with power back
of it. '
=
Speaking of tbe other extreme--the small town with the single industry
and with that industry owning the entire town, property and all and
controlling every activity in that town.----------
Chaekman .Price: That was your problem?
Mb. E. E. Bach: Yes, but it seems to me your point of attack there
will be with the head of that particular industry, and you can quite
easily carry out every feature of the most generous plan that you. can
possibly conceive if you once have interested the head of that particular
industry.
--
Mb. Fellmer (St. Louis): There is one thing that we always have to
do. We will have to get the authorities of the civic activities, as well
as our industrial activities, to realize that after all, the greatest number
of accidents happen in public life, not in industrial life. That is quite
natural. The exposure is larger, the number of hazards is larger, and
once you sift that down and'draw it out in heavy lines it is very easily
shown.
FRIDAY MORNING SESSION
HOW TO CONDUCl A SCHOOL FOR SAFETY SUPER VISORS AND FOREMEN
Thomas Stanion, Manager, Safety and Sanitation, The Aluminum Castings Company, Cleveland, Ohio
It has taken the average farmer many years of experience to appreciate the true meaning of these lines written by an Indiana young man who had left his father's farm: &
234
Eighth Safety Congress
I left my dad, bis fai-m, his plough, BeBause my calf became his cow; 1 left my dad--'twas wrong, of course-- BSTause my colt became his horse. I left my dad to sow and reap. Because my lamb became his sheep; Tpdropped my hoe and stuck my fork. Because my pig became his pork; The garden truck that I made grow Was his to sell, and mine to hoe.
Too often the daughter or son labored hard with things apparently
their own only to have them sold by the father and the money added
to the f.'snily purse. Just as state schools have been one means of
demonstrating to the father what the boy or girl can accomplish when
given, an interest-aside from work on the farm, so the schools for safety
supervisors and foremen have helped industrial managers to realize
what they, the safety supervisors and foremen, can accomplish along
accident prevention lines when given the proper place in the work of
the plant,
--
Important as is this effort, there are but few places where schools
have been conducted as a city or community a "fair. These few were
primarily for safety supervisors but foremen were usually welcome.
Tittle effort has-been designed especially to reach the foremen. Not a
few companies have had classes or clubs for the instruction of foremen
but these were usually for production affairs "with safety instruction as
a part of tile course. Schools conducted for a community must obviously
be of a different character from those held by a company for here there
is no semblanceTif the company authority to inspire attendance. They
are on a purely voluntary basis and must of themselves create and hold
the interest. The: doctrine of Safety First is no new preachment. It was
horn with the animal kingdom and since the earliest days of the human
race, we have begh taught by experience and precept that self preservation
is the first law bf man. Experience has been an expensive teacher and
those gaining her lesson have not always seemed to profit thereby. The
precepts have been true to best practice hut their presentation more or
less haphazard with this result--we have today a generation of adults
who do not know how valuable an asset Safety First can he in their
lives and how simple its application to the every day and ordinary rules
of life. Fortunately for succeeding generations our public schools are
grasping the opportunity Of service by inculcating the Safety First idea
in the minds of little children in a way and at a time when it will make
the lasting impression.
puoisi.km' or TKACuiNr. aiiui.ts
The problem^, then of the school for supervisors and . foremen is complieateiL^by the need of presenting to adults the same .fundamentals that are now being given to children in the lower grades;
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235
to adults who largely have not had extensive education. Obviously, these adults must have the lessons set forth in practical form and any theory so clothed in daily usages that its value -will not be ignored. The training given in the school for safety supervisors and foremen should be so correlated to that in the public schoolroom that the father can encourage his son and the sorijjwakeu the interest of the father.
The subject of this paper might be interpreted as a combined school for safety supervisors and foremen. Yet there is a fundamental differ ence in the approach that should be made to these two classes of men for, theoretically, the foreman functions as an executive while the safety supervisor assists and encourages by ferreting out the accident hazard and recommending the proper course for its removal, and keeping alive generally the practice of Safety^ First principles. While these differences exist and they can well be. recognized in presenting the lessons, yet the guiding principles for the work as a whole are the same. What is said about the school in general caST apply to one as well as to the other. It
is the same sort of interestjto be aroused and maintained and like methods can be used.
Taking as a premise that accident prevention work is the best entering wedge into that limitless field of employees' industrial relations with the management, what better coftTd be chosen than this as the first subject for treatment in special classes for practical industrial men. Realizing, too, that safety supervisors are largely drawn from the ranks of foremen and further, that as a class they, the foremen, have been neglected in an organized effort for general advancement, it is fitting that this initial effort to spread safety knowledge should be primarily for them. There are organizations for engineers of various sorts; for managers; for agents of every description; but remarkably few associations for foremen intended for their advancement and better mutual acquaintance. The safe way is always the right way to do a job and if this group of men are given a comprehensive training in the safe way, a general improve ment in their work is sure to result.
SUBJECTS AND SPEAKERS
The primary reason for these schools is to present in comprehensive and interesting ways the fundamentals of accident pervention work, with a secondary and almost equal reason to afford the student a broader viewpoint. To give a course of lectures which might well be a part of any technical school curriculum and yet couched in terms of and inter"mingled with practical affairs such as will mantaln the continued inter est of shop men. The subjects chosen should In themselves be worth while--each a vital stone in the Safety First foundation. The speakers should not only be skilled in their respective subjects but able to bold the attention of their hearers with their delivery as well as the wealth of experience out of which they speak. These classes are quick to detect the imitation from the real In the presentation of the subject. Anything that can be used to illustrate the lectures,--either pictures, models, or
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Eighth Safety Congress
samples,--is of value. A little color makes an impression and kelps to carry the message, -jjihe lessons should be real. They should show care
ful preparation and lie conducted in a dignified and orderly manner. It
should be realized that the school as a whole will get only what is put
in and that the members of the class will soon catch the enthusiasm of
the leaders. On a basis of drawing out the thought of the class, more
will be accomplished^than by handing information to them. Interesting
items, data, and other facts, briefly stated, are valuable as suggesting
means of tackling similar problems in their own plants or factories. All
that can be done to^encourage the safety supervisor or foreman toward
solving his own problem strengthens him accordingly and will put his
safety work on a firmer foundation. After all--to guide the thought and action of the pupil in self expression is not only the function of the
school but the highest goal of the teacher.
Following the discussion of the lesson as a w-hole or the treatment of
each major part of the subject, there should be an opportunity for ques
tions from the class. Too much importance cannot be attached to this
phase of the work. JChere will doubtless be a hesitancy at first in putting forth these questions, but under a genial atmosphere this will pass away and the members of- the class take advantage of the expert knowledge available. Even though their questions may seem simple they should be
answered with, all the information at hand. Besides the questions, value
is derived from a recital of experiences by members of the class even
though some of thATesults had not been so successful as desired. Good
always follows fromla frank discussion by men who are handling a com
mon problem.
=
THE CHAIKMA?*
Assuming that this school or class is conducted by a Local Safety Council, the chairman of the meetings might well be some other than the executive secretary, of the Council. His time is too valuable for this detail. Some one interested in the community safety work, with experi ence in handling meetings, who will set aside the evening regularly for the class, would be more desirable; preferably a man who has had active experience as a shop executive or safety supervisor and can thus appre ciate the shop viewpoint. His interest in the class should be such that he will feel responsibility in its success and will be diligent in liis efforts to conduct the class in an interesting manner. Much enthusiasm can be aroused and maintained and the social side of the meetings encour aged. The meetings should start at an appointed time and last not more than one hour and a half. Once a week has proven successful as the frequency of the meetings and on any night that will not conflict with some special local affair. If the classes are held in a community where certain nights have, through long established custom, been used for lodge meetings, such nights should be avoided. So far as possible, the atten tion of the class should center on the subject for that evening although announcements will have to be made. In this, the secretary can assist as well as in obtaining the record of attendance, distributing the lesson
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237
outlines, and such things.--aip of which help him to get acquainted with,
the various members and be better able to push the community safety
work as a whole.
^
When the time seems right, the class can be encouraged to organize by
electing officers. This will lend to aronse interest, afford a medium for
transacting business for the -class to act as a nnit. Then. too. this class
can be a power in carrying through other activities of the Local Council
such as executive luncheon^ meetings; superintendents' and foremen's
district meetings; and workmen's rallies by backing them up in their
respective plants and arousing the interest of the proper peoplG. In
fact, such work will bring beneficial results to the class as a whole
because of the additional interest the members will find through these
efforts. Although there are some ^imitations in selecting speakers, the field is
so broad and the general interest in safety work so keen that the proper
ones can always be secured. It hardly need be mentioned that one poor
evening leaves an impression that requires several splendid programs to overcome. Some of the subjects that go to make up a well-rounded
course may seem in themselves uninteresting because the beginner cannot
appreciate their value. Onesjs Accident Statistics, their Compilation and
Use. It requires some experience to appreciate the value of carefully
recorded facts surrounding each accident. All of us are too prone to
minimize tfie importance off the thing in hand and it is. not until some
little time has elapsed thatZwe see Its value. By special attention color
can be given this meeting and interesting side lights thrown out to show
how great is the subject and how real the value of carefully prepared
records, both to showr as time goes on in which direction progress Is
being made and to present jvn accurate statement of how accidents occur
in the particular plant.
PRINTED OUTLINES OF SUBJECTS
Printed outlines giving a general resume of the subject are supplied for distribution to the class as a service of the National Safety Council. These can best be given out at the close of the meeting and, added to the notes a man has taken wilLmake a good reference for the subject. The outlines are arranged for filing in a loose leaf folder. Few samples or specimens have been used, for general distribution in these classes although this offers a field that might be developed to good advantage.
The location of the meeting place merits careful consideration. Some years ago one of our industrial centers started a class in English-forforeigners. A fine room in^a good building was secured, located not far from the center of the district where the prospective scholars lived. But only a very few attended.^ After no little investigation it was learned that the meetings were not held in a place frequented by these people. Another room was secured--this time on a street that was one of their direct paths of daily travel. The class was a success at once for they found it easy to "drop in," Although not to so marked a degree, yet
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Eighth Safety Congress
the principle involve!!" applies to this class as well. A building that is used for other meetings or gatherings that these men attend would be the best selection.
Thus far the course^has been covered by fifteen lessons substantially
as follows:
-r=-
1. The Importance'of the Manager's CoSperation in Promoting Safety 2. Plant Conditions--Arrangement, Order, Lighting 3. Design, and Construction of Safeguards 4. What the ForOTen Can Do to Promote Safety
r,. Bulletin Boards, and Other Ways of Reaching the Workmen
G. Workmen's Inspection Committees and Meetings
7. Electrical Hazards
5. Eye Protection and Safe Clothing
9. First Aid
II
10. Labor Management and Safety--Physical Examinations--Instruc
tion of New Men--Labor Turnover 11. Plant SanitatioET
12. 13. 14.
Accident Records, How to Compile and Use Them Fire Prevention in Relation to Safety Qualifications oila Safety Engineer, His Duties and Opportunities
15. General Review^and Experiences The field which they cover can, like the whole safety program, be divided into the two major parts, viz.: Mechanical and Educational Safety. True to the program for other safety work, the order in which these subjects are usually taken up shows the two groups intermingled-- not following through the entire educational group before any mechanical subjects are introduced' or vice versa. The-reason for this is obvious; both, classes of the work must be undertaken at the same time and run concurrently if real progress is to be made. Nor can either lag behind
the other any more than one can be emphasized to the exclusion of the other and have a successful campaign. A works manager once asked of his assistant who was somewhat familiar with safety work this question:
"Is it true that SO per cent of the preventable accidents can he eliminated
by care on the part of the worker and that only the other 20 per cent can be stopped through mechanical guards?" Upon being told that such was true, he replied that the effort of his plant had better be directed solely
toward the SO per ceniFjitem first and then at a later date go after the
20 per cent. No commfflt need be made on the inherent fallacy of such
e. plan. Safety is a thing of mutual benefit to worker and company to
be secured by the joint cooperative effort of the'two. The management must take the lead byZgiving visible evidence of the sincerily of its intentions. Such can '"eerily be expressed through mechanical guards or engineering revision. .TUst so far as the company takes this lead will the workers be encouraged to follow. It is indeed quite proper that the two main themes Ml the course should be developed hand in hand. They cannot be separated and are mutually dependent. Though the results expected from each part are not on the same scale, yet they are of equal importance.
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239
oenehal REVIEW and EXPERIENCES
The value of the last lesson--General Review and Experiences--cannot
be overestimated. By the time this subject is reached, the members
will have had opportunity to put to practical tests the points they have
gained from the course.
chance to tell how they have succeeded or
failed will be timely. There^will be eyes saved from the proper use of
goggles and protectors; burns avoided; fingers uninjured because of effective guarding; shop lighting revised; resuscitations; and in fact,
almost every phase of the "work, will come up for discussion. In the
arrangement of this meeting, too, careful planning will bring its reward.
It has been aptly said that the business of a school is to "bring the knowledge of the past into the service of the present." This expresses
concretely the aim of a school for safety supervisors and foremen. To
avoid pioneering. What would not the early leaders in the Safety First
realm have given for such instruction as is now included in any one of the lessons? How much searching and experimenting, and bow many fail
ures would have been avoided? Yet such information was not to be had. Our technical schools had not sensed the need nor had any college devel
oped its courses along these lines. The University of Hard Knocks solved
the problem and perhaps it is well that such is the case. Those who
first were concerned with its solution were practical men who needed
the ideas expressed in shop terms. In fact, although the members of these
classes may not have college "degrees, they are hard-headed business man
and will appreciate this training in so far as it gives them points and
ideas which they can readily adopt or adapt to their definite needs. No
silver-tongued orator who can ascend to filmy heights of theoretical methods need come before.them. His schemes might not stand the acid
test of adaption to the average shop. That these men may have
the inspiration of the practical experience of successful men and the
enthusiasm that conies from It class learning things together, is the real
aim for the instruction. Of- value, too, for the safety man are the
pointers that can be thrown out on side lines--the ideas that will start
his thought along another line and assist him in some problems not
definitely a part of his safety work. Were there not definite results to be had from these classes, their exist
ence would not be justified. 3First of all such a class is one of the best
services a local council can render its community. No other organiza
tion is so able to . conduct such a school. Its value will be felt in the safety work of the district as a whole as well as in the plants and fac tories directly represented in the class. Recently one of our local councils
was soliciting funds for its year's budget. A. certain company had not
been inclined to cooperate hut some of its supervisors had joined the
safety class. Later on this Tact was made known to the management
and their attitude changed. Here was a definite service from the Local
Council and a goodly check Tvas forwarded at once. Next, the lessons
on the part the management has in the work do get home to the proper
officials with the result that the company realizes the true relations of
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_IEighth Safety Congress
affairs; that is--first
all, a careful management before careful men
can be expected. Lastly, the definite accomplishment through explicit
knowledge gained in class. Instances of lives saved after the class had
been given the demonstration on the simple method of resuscitation are
not uncommon. Who knows what suffering has been saved because an
effective guard or protector was used after the safety man had carried
back a lesson from thezclass? The benefits are far reaching. No one can
measure all of them and yet there are enough visible to justify all the
effort. Incidentally, there is a general broadening for all who attend.
DIPLOMAS AWARDED
To dignify the course and that the members of the class may have something to show for~their efforts, the National Safety Council awards a diploma to each one who satisfactorily completes the series of lessons. This usually means attendance at 75 per cent of the lessons and a state ment that the outlines for those not attended have been read. The diplomas are greatly 'prized and the graduation thus afforded has been found to be a valuable affair, giving an opportunity for a special social evening with its attendant benefit of better acquaintances.
The future of these schools is indeed bright. The science of safety is stretching into broader fields, affording the safety supervisors better means for developing^their work. This they are following with diligence and enthusiasm. With the foremen undertaking definite instruction in safety and grasping the opportunity of a closer working relation with their men, which this work affords, they are not only boosting accident prevention but are entering the day of a better understanding with their men through the heat possible approach. The spirit in which these activities are being undertaken insures their success.
DISCUSSION
After reading, "These classes are quick to detect the imitation from the real in the presentation of the subject," which occurs on page 235. the
following discussion took place: CHAIRMAN Price: One of the secrets of success of your school here
was the character of Jtien who addressed it, wasn't it?
Mb. Stakiox : Yes. Following the reading of the sentence, "Good always follows from a
frank discussion by men who are handling a common problem," on
page 236 tbe following discussion took place:
Chaikmax Price:
believe you start about a quarter past eight and
close at ten. About how much time would, the presentation take and then
how much is left for "the round-table discussion?
51k. Staxiox: The presentation required about three-quarters, of an
hour, and from a half to one hour wras reserved for discussion as the
meeting desired.
~
Chaibmax Price: -JLremeruber the night on wdiich I gave a little talk
on shop lighting at the school. It was a very simple thing. I think there
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241
were seventy-five or eighty-fLve questions during the hour and a quarter. They kept me on the floor^steadily, and at ten o'clock they were still going strong. Every question that was asked me by those men was a question of a practical nature, such a question as a practical man would ask who wants to go home Imd put in a lighting system.
I gave it in four schools and the questions were very much the same. It is wonderful how it brought out the discussion. For instance, a man wanted to know how to light an overhead crane. They were all practical questions. One of the things that I would suggest, if you conduct a school, is that the speaker_stop at the end of each little section of his talk. For instance, I would cover the subject of reflectors, showing the fundamental principles of Oie design of a reflector, and the difference between inefficiently designed reflectors and efficiently designed reflectors. Then I would stop and the^students would ask questions.
Mb. Stanion: That is ja=-mighty good point: that the speaker must know his subject. He may think, because he is talking to a group of men from a shop or plant who have not been trained in school, that they are not going to follow hisj as closely as another audience might, hut don't you believe it. Thej'vdo. You would be surprised at the comments following the meetings. Tj^a speaker isn't right up to snuff the men know it and they `say so.
ENTHUSIASM CAN BE A BOUSED AND HAI.VT.USKI)
Following the reading JIT the sentence, "Much enthusiasm can be
aroused and maintained affEL the social side of the meetings encouraged,"
on page 236 the following ^discussion took place:
Chairman Price: Don't Jyou think, Mir- Townsend, that one of the im portant factors in the St. Louis success was Mr. Stremmel?
Mb. Townsend: The personality and enthusiasm of Mr. stremmel was
certainly a wonderful factor, and when we came down to the last meet
ing in the course and he stood there and showed such a perfect grasp of every one of those subjects, as he held a sort of examination of the
whole thing, it was a revelation to me.
Chairman Price: Mr. Townsend has a little diploma hung up in his
office somewhere, showing that he graduated from that school. He is
with the International Shoe Company. It is wonderful--the spirit and
enthusiasm that the students got in that thing.
Following the reading of the sentence. "It hardly need be mentioned
that one poor evening leaves an impression that requires several splendid
programs to overcome," page 237, the following discussion took place:
Chairman Price: I wish you would emphasize, if you will, the point
that you have some money available to bring in outside speakers. T
think that is important. You don't depend on local speakers, do you? jMR. Station : The program in Cleveland was made up with, eighty* per
cent of the speakers from the outside, and when it was necessary to pay
the expenses of those speakers, the local council had funds available for
that. In most cases, however, the speakers come at their, own expense.
Chairman Price: I wanted them to see the type of men who addressed
your classes.
___
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--JZiyhlh Safety Congress
Mi:. Stan ion: We _ had Mr. Oartel from the Carnegie SSt*-.-! His subject whs, "The^ Duties and Opportunities of a Kift-ty gastOTWHer."
Then we had Frank Mprris. Mr. Rasmussen, Mr. Smith atnl J3r PrW. alt
of the National Safely Council. Mr. Rice, of the Pittstmrsrb Railways,
was there and Mr. Sd|pt of Chicago.
Mu. H. L. Runi.NsotiAVorcester County Council! : I wonM Uk-e to i-k Mr. Stanion if thereMs any preparation required by the member*, borne work, etc., that \vould_be objectionable to the average foreman?
Mis. Stanion: Oufjeourse required nothing of that sort. The outlines were distributed after the lesson had been given and he was expected to go over that at home, but there was no check made to see whether he did or not.
Mis. H. L. RoitiNsax=( Worcester County Council 1: Is the topic for the
evening the same subject as covered in that outline or paper that the
National Safety Couffeil sends out?
C11 a i is At an Frick: Oh. yes. He must be assigned to that particular
subject. Not only that, but the speaker is selected because he Is strong
on that subject.
Mn. H. L. RoisixsctNj Will the National Safety Council furnish a list
of speakers on whom we can draw?
we makeOitatisman Prick: TQh. yes. We try to persuade them to do it;
it our business to help every school get speakers.
I think, Stanion. w-ou might give your own. thought about handing
out the lessons before or at the lecture. There is a point there that
ought to be brought out. Why didn't you give the lessons the week
before? MJs. Stanion:
^ Oiiwpoint in giving out the lessons or pamphlet after
the speaker had finished was that if a man had it in his hand sometime
before be would be less likely to pay attention to what was being said
by the speaker. He knew he was going to have an outline at the end,
and he was free dufjfjg the meeting to pay attention to the speaker.
Chairman Prick:--T think Smith or Rasmussen told me at St. Louis
they found there wag ail inclination (when the men had the outlines in
advance! to say. "OE well. I know all the speaker is going to say, and I
guess I won't go." There was not very much of that, but just enough
to make it wise not to give out the lessons in advance. Let them take
the lessons home as a sort of review of the important points: The
Council furnishes the lessons. There are ten lessons in the foremen's
course, and fourteen lessons for the supervisors" schools. Following the receding of the sentence. "Of value, too. for the safety
man are the pointers: that can be thrown out on side lines--the ideas that will start bis thought along another line and assist him in some problem not definitely a partrbf bis Safety work," page 230. the ensuing discussion
took place:
- ---
Mr. Stanion: Right there. Gentlemen, a great deal of benefit has been
derived in shops where the safety engineer lias shown himself interested
in something beside~safetv. For instance, one of our leading safety men
found a type of hammer, the head of which was set in rubber. The
* LocaLCouncil Officers
2-43
rubber setting took up the sbjock as the man used it. tie thought imme diately that that would be otbenefit to the production people. It would help them, though not especially from the safety standpoint. He took it to them and they liked it.jund he rose in their estimation because he could bring something aroitncLbc-side safety.
Mr. Stanion then read ihe^remaimler of his paper.
VALUE OF I'OPn.AR so.mjs
-Mb. Rasmussen: Would you mind telling these gentlemen what the
singing of that safety song did for the school? Mr. Stanion: Yes, with apologies to St. Louis.
( 1 wouldn't dare say
that we started the song.) We would sing that song, which is a parody
on "Hail, Hail, The Gang's All Here." every evening. It gave an enthus
iasm to the meeting to staruiit in good shape.
Mr. t'F.i-LMER: Did you ever make them whistle?
M .r Stanion: Wg,had thepi whistle one night.
Chairman Price
If somebody had told me two or three years ago
that you ought to have singing at a school of this sort I would have said, "INTo, no, that is out oflplace." Those St. Louis fellows strike the
thing that catches the middle-class fellow right here (indicating the
heart). Maybe it is a Southern trait, the Southern atmosphere--what is it
down there that you fellows seem to get?
Mr. Fellmer: We are real folks.
Mr. Rasmussen: I had some doubts in my own mind as to the value
of that singing while vejere conducting that school here, and one
evening Mr. Stanion was oiitNof town and he asked rue if I would take
charge of the school. There was an opportunity to demonstrate whether
my idea was any good. Sq^J purposely omitted the singing. The whole lesson .went through very nicely, but just before the close one man got
up and said, "We didn't haye: our song."
CHAIRMAN Price: That song puts the pep into you. Going out in
membership campaigns is^fine of the toughest jobs that you have. It
takes the heart out of yoUT and every morning in St. Louis when we
would jump into the automobile we would say, "Are we downhearted?
Hell No," and we put it over one hundred per cent, didn't we, Fellmer?
Mr. Fellmer : Yes. Chairman Price: I think I agree with what Herbert Spencer said.
Some one has called him the "Giant Intellect." He said, "We are very
largely controlled in our lives by the emotions and only in a very small
degree by our intellect." T think some of us are just a little highbrow,
we are not quite human enough; we don't hit that other fellow where he
lives. Those Southerners ^down there seem to get that chord and we
Northerners will have to ciJJiy it.
We have plenty of time for discussion and this is a very valuable
presentation of what I consider the essentials, and I wish you would ask
questions of Stanion. There isn't anything that is on the program that
is more important than J^his because the foremen's meetings and the
safety supervisors' meetings are the backbone, absolutely, of your local
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^Eighth Safety Congress
council work which is going to appeal to your manager and get his
support. Mb. H. L. RoniysoySWorcester County Council) :
Is there any maxi
mum or minimum whereby the class will he most successful? That is,
you wouldn't want a :qlass smaller than fifteen? If you have too small a class you won't accomplish very rmich, and on the other hand can you
get too large a crowd?=
Mr. Station: I would say that that would be a problem to meet as
the conditions justify.^If you had only fifteen you could arrange a course
for fifteen. If you had fifteen hundred j'ou could arrange a course for
fifteen hundred.
Mr. Rasmi s.sk.v: In_a condition such as you have, couldn't you invite
some of the plant superintendents?
COMRIXE fFOltK.UKX'S AM) SUPERVISORS' CLASSES
Mr. H. L. RoRixsoxtr 1 think that we couldn't limit it to supervisors because in most of the plants there aren't more than a dozen all told who have safety engineer^r supervisors. We would have to combine the foremens class with the supervisors' class.
Chairman Prick: I_am very glad that y-ou mentioned that. If you don't agree with me please say so. I was in Grand Rapids and Flint and I have recommended that they have only one school,--foremen and safety supervisors--with thelJUea that there is a small group of men who are going to be safety inspectors and they could be handled in a class sup plementing the course^:
Mr. Stan ion: I wonder whether any one got the impression that the school in Cleveland was only for safety inspectors and supervisors. Such was not the case. OiiSLof the most enthusiastic members we had was the president of an automobile company.
Chairman Prick: "Should you say that seventy-five per cent of those men will not devote themselves exclusively to inspection?
Mr. Stanton: Sixty^ or seventy-five per cent. Chairman Prick: Lthink that has been the case in St. Louis. Mu. Brown (Brown Hoisting Machinery Co., Cleveland): One of the directors in my company attended and missed only one meeting. My isarticular point of view was the value of having the superintendents and the assistant superintendents attend the schools as well as the safety man, because the school, by its nature, to. a certain extent is elementary. It can't carry any subject through in all its branches, and the safety engineer can study out the details by himself later. Your safety engi neer will not get proper cooperation unless the superintendents have somewhat more thanrjust the elementary teaching that you would give to the foreman. For this purpose, however, the superintendents will not need the post-graduate course required of the safety engineer. Chairman Prick: ?Then too, Mr. Brown, in the part which is devoted to your safety engineer and to the superintendent, too. you are talking to him about what hcTan do with the foreman, which is a very important problem, of course. _r=r
Lcrcal Council Officers
245
Mr. Brown, have you more confidence in this idea that we are talking
about as a result of your experience here than you had at first? I know
you were very optimistic, but has your experience confirmed the valu
ation you placed on this thing? Mr. Brown: There isn't any question about it.
As you say, it pays ,
every day of the year.
--
Chairman Price: This movement is twelve years old and the experi
ence of each of these CongTlsses is a revelation to all of us. There is a
wonderful volume of experience that is locked up in the heads and lives
of all of us fellows who'have been in the game. What a wonderful
thing it is, and what an intensely practical thing it is to put all that
splendid experience into this simple form, boil it down and in fifteen
lessons put it across to these key men--not twenty-five things that you
ought to know, hut six things that you ought to know. That is literally
what the school does. It Takes the experience of twelve years and puts
it into simple form so that those men, without going through our experi
ence and struggle, can get^Jlie essentials at once, without ail that experi
mentation that Mr. Stanion has told about. When I think about it in that way, then the value of this school idea comes to me. I don't think
we have ever done anything that compares to ii in practicability and in
service, direct service to the-industry. Aren't there some more questions?
Mn. Townsend: I would, like to emphasize two or three things. Of
the five hundred who were in attendance at our classes (although so
many didn't graduate) IJdon't believe more than ten per cent of them
were safety engineers or supervisors or men who expected to devote their whole attention to such work. They consisted of foremen, superintend
ents, and mechanical engineers from different plants, and I feel that there
was a great value in having these men in attendance. Chaibmax Price: I think that is a splendid point. I am thinking,
Rasmussen, that we oughLto change the name of that school and call it
a school for safety supervisors and superintendents. Mr. Townsend: It is siTessential that you' have the mechanical engi
neer interested along theslr lines because he has to cooperate absolutely
with the safety engineer.
I want to speak of another thing in reference to these topics. In
general, the men who presented those topics in the St. Louis School held
pretty closely to the outlines that had been provided, but a few of them
didn't; and I know as I sat there trying to get all that I could out of the
lecture and listening to those presentations, on one or two occasions I
felt when a man was through that he had not given us very much, but
before we were through with the discussion and the questions, the whole
thing had been thoroughly brought out, so that we felt that we had
the full benefit of the subject.
I want to ask Mr. Stanion this question. Did you lay any emphasis
on the entertainment features of the evening to attract the people and
give them something outside of the subject itself?
Mr. Stanion : We had Nothing of that sort. The fellows came to the
meeting on Monday night. We sang the song, got down to business.
246
'icjhth. Safely Congress
'
and when we had finished with the discussion, there was a little chatting
around and then we want home. Chairman Prick: What do you think of that, entertainment feature? .Mr. Townskno: Sometimes we would have a solo or instrumental
music or a quartet, besides our song which was led by Mr. Stremmel. Hoinetimes we had ajnoving picture, a safety film--something of that
kind.
'
___
Craiu.m \ N l-'Kici:: _y3jat would occupy just a few minutes.
.Mr. Tuwnskxp: It__would probably take twenty minutes or half tx
hour at the most. I felt that this was a really important feature in win
ning some fellotvs wiya^perhaps, weren't so much interested in the safety
proposition or the schgol lesson, but who would come for the entertain
ment. feature and remain for the other also. Cart. Rdi-.iuxs: I would like to have you tell me whether our idea is
wrong. You know wg. have just started. We have sent notices to the managers asking thafrthey be present. We also have gone on the theory
that a man has guts enough to think that he is going to be the manager or foreman sometime We are not limiting it to foremen or safexy supervisors at all. Anybody who wants to come in and thinks it is going to benefit him is mortfthan welcome at our- meetings.
C!r.uK.M.ix Prick: jjZ think you are on the right track, CaptAin. Yen are always right, Captain.
HKflllCHKR UP SIIOUKD SET EXAMPtE
Mu. K!. P. Roukrts ^Manager of the Engineering Society of Akron): I want to emphasize JJie importance of the men higher up setting the example. In the case of Mr. Brown here, whom I happen, to know, he sets the example to Jiis men, and they in turn set the example to the men tinder them. But that doesn't always happen. For instance, in a plant I have recently been connected with, I have seen some of our higher men set very bad examples on safety. There are lots of automo biles going out at closing time over the sidewalk. They ought to have a watchman there. Those men high -up don't set the proper example in driving out. I think it is very important that they should set that
example. Also in connection with hospital work: the men higher up should set
the example in goingRTo the doctor or the nurse for slight scratches. We are continually preaching that to the men. even with a slight scratch. If the men see somejnau higher up having a slight scratch attended to. it is an example to them -which is very important.
Mr. .1. H. Haxsox (Rochester Safety Council): With reference to the idea of entertainment at the safety schools: it seems to be pretty general throughout the north here that fellows want to get down to business. We took a vote iu our school and they voted against any sort of enter tainment. With tlie_forenien it is entirely different: they want it- It may be due to the hospitality of the South that they heed that little entertainment in StrX-ouis to put the thing across.
Chairman Prick: ^3dr. Stanion spoke of the tangible results, reported
Lurttl Council Officers
247
in writing or verbally, of what those pupils a<-maily did in their own plants. That is one of the, most encouraging things in this whole busi ness. Seventy-five per cent of the pupils who graduated have gone home and done something substantial.
TESTIMONY AXD REPORTS
As an example Of What T mean: I was going up to the speakers' table
there at St. Louis and three men stopped me and said. ".Mr. Price, you will be glad to know whakhappened after your lecture on lighting. We
have torn out all the old lighting in our plant and equipped it with new
lighting." That made me. feel good. I felt as though that trip was
worth while. 1 know' that Swift and Company organized Workmen's
Committees and reduced their lost time accidents no per cent before the
school closed. Did you trot have a night of testimony in one of the
schools? Mr. Fki.i.mki::
^3 We didn't have a night of testimony in the supervisors:
school, but we sent out a jcircular letter and asked for the reports, and
about one hundred letters were received in reply. They contained some of the most wonderful things that you have ever heard. At one of the
plants they operated a gpxgl many punch presses and they had fifty-seven
varieties. It was one oflDiese plants that had grown up from time to time as an auxiliary to another business and had never been organized.
One of the young men in that plant turned himself loose. They placed
a great value upon what he had learned about good housekeeping in the
first place. He had all the windows cleaned, established dead lines for
aisle space, and got the other foremen into the game. He found a couple of carloads of rubbish inrthat plant.
His firm was thinking Of building a new structure: when the president
came through and found out what had been done he cancelled the idea of having a new plant. JChe accident reduction in that plant was fortyfive per cenf. After S. AT. "Williams' lecture on fire prevention. I was
present when they conducted a test of the extinguishers and we found
Mr. Williams' statement that forty per cent of them were inoperative was
correct- Under the head-pf good housekeeping we discovered that most
of the extinguishers wereihung where a fellow couldn't get at them unless
lie had an airship. We planned that differently.
The most wonderful thing that was done was when this young safety
supervisor came in and asked me what T would advise him to do about his stairway, which was nbout four stories high. I could have told him
the solution right off. but I didn't. I just threw out a hint or two and
then let him go to it. T^fhund the stairway whitewashed from top to bot
tom. with a large light _at the top and one at the bottom, so that there was always daylight on the stairway.
There is one thing that never can be emphasized too much, and that
is that a man must know, whereof he speaks when he goes to address a school, or when he goesTo address the safety supervisors' or inspectors'
committee. I met onez^of these committees in the American Steel
Foundries Company in ^Granite City, and it was the most wonderful
248
Eighth Safety Congress
experience that I have had in all my safety work. There were seventylive men: Of course, they had the able leadership of Mr. Stremmel to pilot them along-. You should have seen the fellow feeling, the idea that they were all just folks and not workmen or foremen or manager or secretary of the locals council--there was no ceremony there, every one was in his shirt sleeves--why they even addressed the negro as Mr. Brown. The questions =which were fired at the speaker and at Mr. Stremmel and myself kept us jumping, but when we got through we all voted it was the most wonderful thing that ever happened.
Just to give you an idea of it: they had a smokestack used for carrying off gases, and this stack had to he reconstructed. They reconstructed it on a concrete base and put a steel stack on top. thinking that while they were about it they might make it possible to carry off as many of the gases as possible and preventing the gases from getting into the plant. One of the ordinary workmen on the committee got up and said, "I stopped the taking dowtt of the scaffold on that stack before I came into this meeting." The ^construction boss was in the meeting. He said, "Yes. he stopped me and said he would bring it up at this meeting." This workman said, "We^surely can place twenty to twenty-five feet more concrete on that foundation and carry the gases over the roof of that building. Six men whom I know of are In Colorado now getting their lungs treated, and the doctor tells me that tbeir lungs are in the same condition as the lungs of=a soldier who lias been gassed over in Europe." He was just a common aorkmen, Gentlemen.
Mr. Cokfix (Portland.TOregon 1 : In the largest cities, in the East especially, there are any number of public buildings and large buildings many stories high, and they are managed as a rule by a chief engineer. Xow those engineers control the lives of a great number of employees, and there are a great many hazards that are pertinent to a building of that kind. Could they not be included?
Cii.mkma.n Pruk: Yea. Usually the local council has adopted the plan of making the attendance upon the school a privilege of membership in the council. I don't mean to say that that' is the rule that you have to follow, but I think we will agree that that is advisable, so that if the owners of this buildingrvyere members of the council, they would get an invitation to this school.
Mr. Saxforu (General-Electric Co., Lynn, Mass.): I wish to emphasize what in my opinion is the need of the foreman getting a good, strong, safety education. We lad for some time safety inspectors who were covering the entire plants They were inspecting the individual machine equipment in the various foremen's departments, but we found that a man might report that his machine wasn't just right and the foreman would say, "Oh. well, thg safety inspector will get that: keep on using it until he tells you to shut it down." That has been changed as far as the foreman is concerned. Each department foreman is mad'e absolutely responsible for conditions in his department. He can work that out in his own way, either by appointing an inspector or by requiring the assistants and gang bosses to share the responsibility.
Local Council Officers
249 c
We still have the inspection service. We have, for .instance, two men who spend all their time oir the 100 or 150 cranes throughout the plant. They are not responsible tcTTlhe foremen as the crane repairs are. handled
by the maintenance department. Everything in the plant which is
handled by the maintenance department, such as cranes or elevators, i3
reported to the maintenance: department for attention.
Cjscairmax Price: I would, like to ask you one question. Do you think that there would be a place in Lynn for a school where the foremen from all of the plants would meet?
Mr. Sakforu: Lynn is=just about evenly divided--General Electric
Company and the boot and shoe industry. These two different industries
would probably have specific problems which would be widely different.
Ciiair it ax Prick: Thosei lessons have to do with the fundamentals.
Don't you think there is a value in getting foremen away from their own plant and meeting other fughmen under entirely different conditions and in an entirely different atmosphere? You can't get this in any kind of an
inside foremen's meeting. Mr. Sanford: I think that might possibly be. worked out. Ciiairmax Price: ThatTs the point that we are discussing here. It
doesn't make any' difference how good their foremen's meetings are.
There is a value in getting' the foremen away from their own plants and
getting them to meet other foremen. It is surprising how few foremen
visit other plants. Mr. Fortuin (Lehigh Valiev Council No. 5): We have had
although our council has been very active in other respects.
no school, Yesterday
I attended a meeting of th^Cement Section. Mr. Josse, another St- Louis
man, stated at that meeting that he and some of his men attended the school at St. Louis. A man was injured in their plant through electric shock and due to the lessons they received at this school they saved his
life. That brought home to us the importance of starting .a school down
our way. I can say to you now that we are going to do it. Chairman Price: That iBakes me think of the thrill I had when a fine
young man about as tall as Mr. Brown and as good looking as he is
walked up to the table at the Cleveland school, and received his diploma.
Someone pointed him out to me and said, "That man saved the life of
a man which would have cost the company ?5,000." I said, "If we have done nothing else in Cleveland but that, it is worth while.
Mr. Judd (Omaha Coutttsil): We haven't yet done anything toward
giving the lessons that yoju have spoken of here. It is our intention to
start a school just as quickly as we can get the papers. Our intention is
to get out among people who are not members of the council, see If we
can't get some of their foremen or superintendents to attend these meet
ings, and in that way win the membership of the company. We have
called on several of them! and they are undecided whether they want to go or not. We reasonefFtliat if we can go and get these men and show
them the value of these lessons that we will win the support of the man
who is at the' head of the company. That is the way we intend to go at it. I am going to try to see if I can't start a' school of this kind in my
250 Eighth Safety Congress
own plain. We have ia_jLhe neighborhood of fifty or fifty-five foremen. We are new: we have neater tried out anything at all and the information
we are getting here is tjgrtainly valuable.
Ciiaiii.man Puick:
Mr. Rasmussen says that Omaha Is coming and
coming strong.
^7 AS AI.UilM ASSOCIATION
There are a few tilings Unit I want to summarize. In all these schools
1 think we have formed what might be called an alumni association in
order to hold the class .together. The graduates appoint their permanent
chairman and secretary. They meet once a month for two purposes. In
the first place they are ^oing back to their plants to try these things out
and naturally they get into difficulties. Once a month they have the
opportunity to come together and with a leader like Stanion or Stremmel,
they can ask him questions about their own problems and then go back to
their plants and take a new grip. That is an invaluable thing. 'I'^ieri
iliere is a great deal injiaving the feeling that you are not alone. There
is nothing so discouraging to a safety engineer who is just starting. I
remember when I started with the Harvester Company I was absolutely
alone. To have a feeling that other people are standing with you and
you can lean on them for experience is a tremendous help to a new man.
To have a speaker who will supplement or enlarge some industrial rela
tions subject makes a very interesting program. I think that is a very
important thing. It holds your group together.
Then the third point--and this is very important--we are literally
developing new timber^out of these men. timber with which to build a
local council organization. They are men who have been isolated to
some extent, hut they arc the best kind of men and they have this fresh
interest and this vital contact with the thing itself. If we can hold these men together in jhee school* and keep them interested in the
local council
have same real workers. I remember that in St. Louis
they increased the ationdatvo- -wonderfully just through the efforts of
these people. That is w<*rth wliiV. I think. Xext year 1 am going to hrmc up ttet* swmv subject,
it is certainly
by far the most inijHirtsffii thing, tb*- mo=*t important development in our
local council work, "i'here r* twi
about tt at all. and one of
the things that has wonderfully 'rwouraged me is this: it is wliat we put into a letter to a manager dwt a kcHao! is to be started, that a series of fifteen lessons is t< be given. <errlju: all of the essential things that a superintendent or a safety engtnwr need* to know in order to do the work, a school in - htch there wtu be passed along the experience of other tviinpani-s b> the***' good teachers and that quickly, in. fifteen
weeks, and that this man wiil W given a diploma. It appeals to them.
There is something thoroughgoing and systematic about it. It covers
the whole ground li
jtisj a hit and miss meeting of foremen, and
if has been successful in every town where it was conducted. I believe
we have struck an idea absolutely. It is the opinion of fifty men, with
whom 1 have talked. that the foremen's school will be popular because
it is more thorough.
_
JSocaZ Council Officers
251
financing a t.ocai, councii.
Mr. Pardee was not here.to discuss the financing, of a local council'
Air. Brown, who has heen the chairman of the committee to raise the
finances for Cleveland is especially interested in that subject, and I know
that the rest of you are. I don't know whether I could lead off with just
a few ideas that are in my Swn mind in regard to financing, but I want
to express one thought in regard to financing a new city. For instance,
we are going up, to DuluthrL There is a great, big new territory, prac
tically untouched. Mr. McDonegal up there .-is going to call together a
few influential men and they "are going to raise $10,000. We have found
from experience that we must get a little money to bridge the first eight
months or year in order to make a demonstration. I never appreciated
that so much as I did after the Congress in St. Louis. It happened to be
my pleasure to go with Smith and visit all but three members of our
council, meeting the managers and telling them what 'our new plan was
and that we were going to increase their dues double and sometimes
threefold, to cover the locaLexpenses. Smith and I used to joke and say
that we didn't sell more than six of them. We didn't have to. Simply
the story of what we were going to do, and the fact that we had made
a demonstration, that wonderful demonstration of safety week, was all
that was necessary.
^
Now I have such faith in this idea, and I feel that the need is so great,
and I feel that the industrial managers are so keenly aware of the fact
that the whole industrial relations movement hinges on the education
and development of their foremen, that I believe you can in any town
get the money to have a six.months' demonstration on this school idea
and other things. You earthen go to the business men and work out
permanent financial support such as they have in St. Louis.
In a word that is my central idea. Mr. Brown, I would like to have you
talk and ask questions and start this thing going.
Mb. Brown: I can do only the second part. Assuming that you have financed the first eight months through con
tributions, isn't it desirable to remove the council entirely from any
necessity of soliciting contributions in the future?
Chairman Price: Absolutely. You haven't put it on a permanent
basis until yon do that, and that means, Mr. Brown, that you must have
the influence of some big Yuan who knows the general managers. We
did that in St. Louis. We took the time to sit down and tell them what
we were going to do.
That can't he done ina wholesale way very well.
We found that going to the man personally was the thing we had to do.
Mr. Brown: The thought occurs to me that now the local councils
are spreading so rapidly -throughout the country, and there are more
and more cities all the time who are having permanent paid secretaries,
that it would be desirable_to have the dues made universal throughout
the country, based on the number of employees regardless of whether
they had a local council or not, a local secretary or not. In other words,
raise the dues to the National in order thata rebate may be sent from the National to those cities where there is a local council. The cities
252
Eighth Safety Congress
that are doing the intensive work are those which have a paid secretary,
and a great deal of that work is building up a fund for the National Council--in other words, securing members that the National Council
doesn't have to solicit=at all, thereby increasing its revenues. That
increased revenue can Jye used by the National Council in its intensive
work to get members in other localities where there is not a permanent
paid secretary. It see^s to me that instead of burdening the localities
that have a permanent secretary with the national dues and an additional amount for their local, no matter how you pul it. whether it is all in one
or in two sums, if it is ST larger amount than members pay in cities which
have not a local counciL it would be more equitable to charge the same
dues of all and then rebate a certain amount to the secretarial cities.
Chairman Price:
Let us assume then that there are five hundred
Industrial centers in which we would hope local councils would develop
with paid secretaries, and we would estimate that In each one of those
we would want $10.00CLT~ Mr. Riiowm 1 am talking about the second year.
C!I.ui:ma.\ Price : Yes. I say the second year, and juur thought would
be to raise our dues sufficiently to rais** that amount which, if pro-rated
around, would support a secretary? Mr. Brown: It is based on tlie success of the Ked Crtiss Plan.
Chairman Price: That is an entirely new thought
I am thinking of
this. Mr. Brown, that the dues of the council were raised fifty per cent not long ago. and. of course, it is a very radical thing to raise dues very-
much in an organization- like ours. In the first place you would have to
make a very substantial raise. You would have, roughly speaking, to
double the dues to accomplish what you have in mind. Supposing you did that. We will say_ that I am a man down in Texas and you have
deducted from my dikes. You must explain why. and you say it is to
support these local councils. 1 reply that 1 am not anywhere near a
place where 1 can get help from a local council, and that I don't believe 1
can help support a local council in Cleveland.
Mr. Brown : The St"J,ouis plan has proved that you would not have to
double the dues. Chairman Price:
=r Tlte dues were more than doubled in St. Louis.
Mr. .1. H. Hanson tKoehester Safety Council!: We had to treble the
<1 ues.
.=z_
Mr. Brown: of course the National Council wouldn't have to do any thing as large as that even if it did require doubling the dues for the local, because it would have the dues to draw from somewhat more
broadly than from any one town. You would not only get those in
creased dues from the Lown where the council employed a secretary, but
from all the other districts also.
Mr. Risvrssrv: Wouldn't the communities which have no permanent organization--for instance. Duluth--complain about helping to pay for
a local service that was rendered the people of Cleveland?
Chairman Price: 1 can't tell off-hand the spread of our membership,
but we have a large number of members who are Isolated in little towns
LoWl Council Oific-ers
253
and small centers where there isn't much probability of developing a
local council. .Mr. Brown :
X have talked with Tom Stauion about it and he has prac
tically convinced me that'the present method of financing the local
council is the proper method, but there are others I want to talk with. I
am not bringing this out necessarily as my own point of view.
If that is not the proper plan, would you think a suitable cooperation
from the national organization might be this: that, for every new mem ber secured, a certain proportion of his dues for the first year be rebated
to the local which has a pUd secretary, on the theory that all of that
expense has been assumed by the local in securing that member and has
thereby relieved tbe national of that expense? The theory is that the
local should be paid in that measure for securing that member whose
dues for all the years in the future will go one hundred per cent to the
national. It would also stimulate the securing of new members by the
local council because of the particular benefit they would get from the
new members, rather than from increasing their funds by contributions
from the present members. _
r.
Chairman Price: We have done substantially that, only In different
form. For the first year wT give them twenty per cent of all dues, old
members and new alike. Whether that would amount to as much as your
plan of simply confining it j3? the new, I can't say.
-Mu. Brown: Will you rdjJfeat that? Chairman Price: If you had two hundred members in Cleveland, say, when you started, you would be entitled during the next twelve months
to twenty per cent of all the old members and the new. If you have had a local council here and had that twenty per cent that is another
matter, but to-day in Duluth when a local is started it will get twenty
per cent of all the dues ofLall the members we have had up there for
years.
.
I would like to make twa points there. In the first place I never did
anything easier than to gortp those 12b managers and ask them to make
such a marked increase in their dues. I never in my experience have
had anything sell so easily.&s that. Why? Because there has been such
a tremendous demonstration. Now, I believe, after this week, Mr. Brown,
that if Mr. Lintz will select men like yourself, who know the managers
on whom you want to call.~and if both of you will go to see those man
agers, you will put it across just as easily as we did in St. Louis, be
cause you have had a demonstration here that will convince anybody
who .is open-minded. I- never did anything easier than to raise that
money in St. Louis.
There is something in the people of a city supporting its own local
activity. You know we take more interest in a thing that we give di
rectly to. It is our baby, you see, and I am a manager, maybe; and I
am giving a couple of liuOTfed to this local council in Cleveland and I
therefore have an interest Jin it. It is a very direct contribution toward
a specific thing.
Mr. Brown: I was only bringing out that where that is done, the local
2r,4 Hi;/h ih Safety Congress
is ierformin; certain^services that are no longer required from the national. Therefore, cnuld not the amount of the contribution that went
directly to the national be reduced?
Chmkmvn Prjo.: 1 forgot to say that in addition to this twenty per
cent that we are giving; we are also sending our field secretary to spend a month with yottr local secretary. This is our contribution to your
local council. It doesn't cost you a cent. We are glad to make that
contribution.
^
Then the third point that I want to make is that we have a surplus
of and we don't want to increase it. We have brought it up to
a point where it is comfortable: it will bridge us over three months, and
we have now brought pur budget up to our income. We are giving all the
service that we can out of $153,000. and therefore we couldn't subsidize
the locals without cutting out some of our present service.
However. Mr. Brown. 1 am very optimisTic about the other plan. T
believe it is easily possible for you to go to the members of the council here after your splendid demonstration and get the money. I believe
that managers are s<hl*lve to the need of doing semethinp. and as one
man said to me after -one of the meetings in a city where I sj>oke before
some rich men to raise some money--he said. "Trice, all you have got to do is to go tell the. story of what St. Louis. OTevefand. and Pittsburgh
have done, -lust that story of actual accomplishment is enough to con vince any business man wlio is at all progressive.'* I believe in this
thing: 1 boliev,. it has such intrinsic worth, it i* so practical, that we
ought to 1- able to sell it. 1-intz. it is up to you.
Mu. I.ixi/-- yolrndy knows it better than 1 do.
Cti >iuv \ I'iiii ;
-feet's hear from some others.
\1r. J M H \ \-io (Jlix-hester Safety 'ouncll > : tl> had a special com
mute** aptsointed to look into this thing and thrash it out because we
hid rui*. problem come l-*efore us last fall. This committee brought in a il.o-.tnti t}ii ;i lmdc*t should be made up which would include both the i-ost nf its- public safety campaign and the regular industrial work. They lotmd that it took seventy per cent of that budget to conduct public
*o4fct\ sirf-fc.. and it was the conclusion of the committee that the cost
of til* industrial work should be borne by the industries.
Pane: You mean the public safety work?
M
NoTTtlie industrial--that should be iKirne l>y the indus-
ries. by an assessment of say seven to ten cents per man. and that the
publi< safety work should be borne l>y the city, the Chamber of Com
merce- and the Automobile Club. It was projtosed to go to the Chamber of Commerce. To tie* Automobile Club, and to the city authorities, to ask a certain amount which would cover this budget. We are financed at the
present time in tin entirely different way--we draw from the community
chest.
Chairman Hiticr.: ^:t want to add a chapter that Hanson didn't put In there. I want votL_to get this, Mr. Brown. The council financed the experiment in Rochester during the first six months, putting up $5,000. 1 spent two weeks with Harvey just at the close of the six
LocciL Council Officers
255
months. We went to the ilffiustriai people--now mind you--to raise
enough money 'to finance the local during another six months' period,
and it was very easily raised_beeause of the demonstration.
Mb. Brown: I think that_that statement by Rochester brings out a
very important question that is likely to be asked by industrial managers.
"How much of my contribution is simply public service work, and how
much of it is real industrial work?" The answer is that thirty per cent
of what he gives us is usedJSr the part that lie is most interested in,
according to that statement. Chairman Prick: My expedience is that industrial managers--1 won't
say they are equally interested--but they certainly are very much in
terested in public safety.
~
Mr. Brown: I don't mindrthat myself, but I think it brings out the
necessity of going to others .than simply the industries for help. You
have a good argument that'the community must take the responsibility in
the support of the movement. Chairman Price: I still insist that the backbone of the financial sup
port of your local council, both public and industrial safety, is going to be in your big industries. The big bulk of your money is going to come
from those people.
--
Mr. McClain (Cincinnati zLocal Council):
In conducting a public
safety campaign such as they have here in Cleveland this week, this
idea occurs to me: suppose we made a lot of little lapel tags or banners
and the school children sold.-tliose on the streets for ten cents apiece--
is that a good idea or is it'not?
Mr. Stanion: That would-cheapen the whole thing.
Mr. Lintz: I wanted to inject a thought there: Mr. Hanson made me
think how enthusiastic the automobile clubs are. I have had the pleasure of associating with' Mr. CaleyT our local secretary, and I have had several very interesting conversations: with him. He told me, "Lintz, I am with
you. I know it is'a good thing. If it is five hundred or one thousand
remember that the Automobile Club is with you." I think that enthusiasm
can be made to grow. fortunately the ClevelandzAutomobile Club has adopted its own insur
ance department. We have a better chance of getting support than we
otherwise would have. Mr. Feekmer: There are two absolutely definite activities. One is the
industrial activity; the other is the public safety activity. You must
finance them in two budgetsrand that is what we are going to do in St. Louis. We are not going tjj! disturb our industrial budget at all. The
public budget will be secured by calling together those most interested:
department stores, transferTcompanies, the city authorities, and groups
of that kind. It Is going to., be put on a permanent basis, not on a con
tribution or charity basis, ii
Chair Atan Prick: Do ysTmean to tell me that you are not going to
take any money out of the-fund that is secured from yotir seven and ten
cent assessments?
-V' Fellmer: We can't afford to.
256
Eighth Safety Congress
Mu. Imntz: Have you: given any thought to a basis of establishing dues for public safety work ?
Mr. Fellmer: Not vet, but we have been figuring on establishing, a regular basis of dues. Tp-
THE PITTSBURGH PLAN
Mr. Clarkson : The ^Pittsburgh plan, of financing industrial safety work is to double the dues to the National Safety Council, but when we formed our Public Safety Committee, we insisted upon keeping the Public Safety budget absolutely separate from the industrial budget. The plan is this: to raise $15,000Tor public safety work. We have assurance of financial support from the city, from the county, from the; Chamber of Commerce, and from several other sources, such as the Board of Fire Underwriters, and the Street Railway Co. Of course, the Street Railway Co. is an industry and itrbelongs to the industrial class.
Chairman Price: Sometimes the street railway companies are more interested in public safety work.
Mr. Clarkson: I anrfo.ing to classify them later. We are going to theigtreet railways and the public utilities and the large corporations, because they, as large corporations, are interested in public safety, very much interested, and, as a matter of fact, we believe over there that the large industries are not paying enough dues. They are public institutions. ^Take for instance the Carnegie Steel Company, the Jones & Louglilin Company and other similar companies. They are public institutions; there is no getting around that. .They owe a duty to the public; hence we are going to pass those corporations for contributions. That is the way we expect to get our finances for the public safety work. That is, the city is going to give so much, the county is to give so much, and the Chamber of Commerce so much; such organi zations as the Board of Fire Underwriters and the fire insurance com panies are especially interested. Then we are going to the industries, the large industries, and ask them for a contribution to take care of our first year's work. That is the way we plan to raise our finances to carry on both of these functions.
But, in connection with our industrial work, we can't raise our. dues
again for we feel that would be suicide: we have got to concentrate on getting new members.
Chairman Price: Mr. Brown, I am going to use you as a barometer to indicate to me whether we are getting anywhere. Have you had your questions answered? Have you a clear idea of how you ought to finance the council here? Aren't there some doubts still in your mind?
Mr. Brown: Yes, but I don't think that any one in this room will say that they have it solved. I think, however, that it is concealing the issue when you say that the money that you spend for public safety is
CONTRIBUTIONS OR DUES
not derived from contributions but is derived from dues. You get those dues from those who are particularly interested in public safety rather
Local Council OfficersV
257
th.an in industrial safety, like the bankers and 'the.'professional men and
the rest of them. You call them dues.
QHAiEMAif Price: No.
"
Mr. Brown: St. Louis calls them dues, but they still are contributions,
because dues are only those funds that come back with the direct bene
fit to the employees of the companies that pay the dues. And when you
call them dues for ..a banker, that proportion of his dues that applies to thirty or forty or one hundred ihat he may have in his bank, that part
is dues, but the rest is contribution.
If a lawyer, who has no employees, pays $100 for membership In the
local council,-you call it dues. But it is a contribution. There is no use
trying: to cover that up. I don't mean that that isn't wise and proper,
but I think it Is better to show^ that It is a direct contribution for the
public safety work.
ZZ
Mb. Eugene J. Roesch (New York City) : which may be helpful to us here.
I think I can offer something
Chairman Price: What- is your connection, Mr. Roesch? Mr. Roescii: I have been organizing the printers of the country, and I have some experience along this line. In my connection - in Europe
and South America, I have always been very interested in safety, and
in New York City, preparing for the war emergency, I organized perhaps
the largest classes in this country in accident prevention.
We are interested now in the "salesmanship of our proposition, and we
should 'take this as a real salesman and study our problems properly.
In the first place, wherever you have a direct benefit you want to call
it dues, and I would suggest that you have some means of pro-rating it.
Chairman Price: We have that.
-f*
Mr. Roesch: Where people Have indirect benefits, they have also Just
as great moral obligations and they should do their share, but do not
call it a contribution. If you do that, you are going to set up a wail
Immediately. Call it subscriptions, and have a definite basis for those subscriptions. We have gotten-.a budget of about a million and a half-- printers who formerly paid $20 or $30 a year for their work are now
paying $2,000 and $3,000, and they are doing it gladly, because they see
their benefits, and the allied industries are never allowed to think of making a contribution at all. They make a subscription and they really
see some indirect benefit. I think you should keep away from that word
"contribution". I feel you will get much better results if you call it a
subscription.
-i-
DISTIXCTION BETWEEN PTJBR!C AND INDUSTRIAL SAFETY BRANCHES
Mr. Townsend: - I would like to say a word that would make a little clearer In. the minds of some the distinction between the public and in dustrial safety branches of locaL council activities and why In St- Louis we feel that it is the proper thing to raise a separate fund for the pub lic safety work. We are offering there in the public safety work a defi nite service, which is distinct from that which we offer to the industries in the industrial section. The -chauffeurs' school is going to be largely
25S
_=JEighth Safety Congress
patronized, and it is /awakening a great deal of interest. The school for patrolmen Is going to be of a great deal of interest. The bulletin service at the filling stations for automobiles, the bulletin service in tlie public schools, and various other things of this type will advance public safety. These things Jiave got to be financed, and it is going to take a definite budget to fintgiee all of them. We feel that it would not be jnsL lo attempt to draw front the budget for industrial safety. But in stead of going to thesii manufacturers, as we have in the past, we will go to them, of course. but also to these other grotips, the transfer com panies, ths. department stores and these people who have many auto mobile trucks on the streets, and we will ask them for their contributions --and I think we will call it. not a contribution, but a subscription.
We feel that we are going to put it over with a lot of enthusiasm in the future and the people will see the justice of its being a separate fund.
Mr. Coffin tPortland. Oregon.) : I believe that I can speak from experi ence as far as public_safety is concerned----------
Cuairmax Prick: Mr. Coffin used lo be the head of the Public Safety Commission in Portland.
I'tUtl-IC NAKKTY roMJIISSKtX OK I'OETLAXD
-Mr. Coffin: That was an organization of prominent citizens officially appointed by the mayor. We were financed by the city council, as' well as by the Chamber of Commerce and public utilities. Wie started in "bur work about five years_ago. and every one knows the work that the Com mission. has done in Portland. It has become national in its scope. We raised $4,000 a year in that work when we first started. With the large increase in automobiles we still cut down the accident record. Our deaths from street accidents decreased from an average of 29 or 30 a year--we cut It down- the first year--to five a year. In our fire preven tion work, as you all know, we cut the losses from two million to two hundred thousand. That is on record. So that in starting now in in dustrial safety, it seems to me that that should be kept entirely separate from the public safety function, because the city, the city officials, and the public utilities are vitally interested in public safety. Of course, it will work in conjunction with and be under the management of the Na tional Council, hut the two will lie kept separate.
Chairman Pbk k: ^The time is approaching when we must turn Mc Clain loose or we will have trouble.
We could go on here for an hour discussing the form of this thing, how we could work it out. That is a very important detail. We might get somewhere. buCthe two things that I think are important for us to carry out of this meeting are: First,, that this work we are doing is ab solutely practical, it meets in a successful and effective way a crying need in our streets_and in our homes, as well as the industries, a need that every thinkingjjcitizen is rapidly coming to realize. Secondly, we have a plan here which has been tried out. We have worked out definite lines of service such as this school that we are talking about and this public safety that was outlined yesterday by Mr. Smith, and which has
Locate Coimcil Officers
259
been so splendidly demonstrated here. If we are going out to get this
money we must have faith in the thing that we are trying to sell. That
is fundamental to every salesman. I used to be a salesman. I sold
shoes. I couldn't have sold shoes if I didn't believe in them.
I personally am obsessed with the value of this thing, and when I
go out to sell a membership Ljgo into a manager's office with faith stick
ing out in my eye. I don't ~= believe I could sell a membership at all if
that were not the case. If Ilhave had any success in cracking hard nuts
--and they always take me tgZtlie hard ones--it is because I profoundly believe in the value of this thing. It is growing every day. There are
wonderful possibilities that are locked up in these activities which we
have discussed this morning, foremen's and superintendents' meetings,
possibilities that we haven't caught a glimpse of in' this public safety. It
is Coming by leaps and bounds.
Think of the story that Capt. Robbins told yesterday. That is a new
chapter and there will be a hhw chapter next month. If we have the faitli
in this thing we are going tdl go out and sell it. I think it is very im
portant that we should know how to put it before these people whom we
are going to approach. ForTnstance, one of the things which we did in
Pittsburgh was to get out a little folder outlining the whole plan and
activities, so that in convenient and brief form it can be put into the
hands of all these men you are approaching and they will get the story.
Give newspaper publicity constantly to the school and the other things
that we are doing, so that these men whom you are going to approach
will be fully Informed in regard to the activities of the council and the
value of It.
i
Another point I want to emphasize is that when you go to those men, go to them personally and go to them with some one who knows them
personally. We went to twenty people and we got twenty subscriptions.
Why? Because the man whom I was with knew every one of those men.
If you, Mr. Lintz, will take Mr. Brown to see Mr. Mather of Pickands &
Mather, you are going to come away with the bacon, I tell you.
I think that we can properly go on to the next subject, although per sonally I would like to spend more time on this. The thing is so new
that we are practically engaged in pioneer work. It is growing by leaps
and bounds. It is a wonderful experience that has come to us in the
last year. I feel as if I hadjust started in safety work. This thing is
opening up so fast. The next year we are going to come back with
stories of wonderful accomplishment.
At every one of our sessions we always like to exhibit one of our new
babies. One of our newest babies is Cincinnati. In that city, there is
in operation a very unique plan of connecting the local council with an
industrial medicine department newly organized in the University of Cin
cinnati. It opens up an entirely new experiment and the more I get into
it the more I am impressedZwith the possibilities of it, I am inclined to
think that Cincinnati has added a new chapter. Yon have gone St. Louis
one bettei-, and Pittsburgh, too. Now McClain, get up and see if you can
prove it to them.-
260
Eighth Safety Congress
THE 'CINCINNATI EOCAL PLAN
G. H. McClain, Secretary. Cixcinnati Local Safety Cotiscil
A good deal has been_said in all these meetings about the educational
side of safety. The educational side of safety, to my mind, is the side.
Of course the thing develops into ramifications that nobody can see the
end of when we go to talking about the educational side of it.
We have a condition in Cincinnati tha.t is unique, as Mr. Price has said.
In view of the fact that it was somewhat radical and unique, I will go
into details. I may spend some time on things that aren't very interest
you, Iing to
but if tlieyjset tiresome just raise the flag and will stop.
Last winter in February. Mr. Victor T. Noonan, who has cut a wide
swath in safety work in this State, held a -get-together meeting in Cin
cinnati at the Sinton Hotel. Considerable enthusiasm was demonstrated
there, which, perhapsy is a little out of the ordinary for Cincinnati.
Cincinnati has been a dark spot in safety work for some time. At the
conclusion of the meeting there was a very decided demand for some sort
of safety organization.^ The leaders in that town had been aroused and
demonstrations bad been given them that it would pay them to be in
terested, so this demand came for a local organization. There were two
schools, as it were. Some people wanted just a local safety league. At
that meeting were Frank Morris, Dr. Otto Geier. Mr. Lew Palmer and
some others who were: directly interested in the National Safety Coun
cil. These men whom I have named were on the Board of Directors.
They foresaw the advantage of organizing a chapter to be affiliated
with the National Safety Council. In other words, a regular local chap
ter. That much was decided on, after this meeting was over.
joining safety work to industrial, medicine and public health
About the same timS. another activity of somewhat similar nature was developing in the city. There are some very fine public-spirited people in Cincinnati. Among the professions there were some' men who were dreaming of the organizing of a department that would be known as the Department of Industrial Medicine and Public Health. This was the dream of Dr. Holmes. Dr. Fred Lander. Dr. Otto Geier. Dr. Geier conceived the idea ofJinking up this safety work with this department which was then being organized.
About that time, I believe, we called in Mr. Price. Mr. Price came and after going through the thing pretty thoroughly he said, "Weil, it looks
interesting as an experiment." He lias signified that I am an experiment, or that I typified this experiment in Cincinnati.
It was decided finally that the local safety secretary should be a mem ber of this new organization. I believe I shall explain the details of this organization inasmuch as it is new and is being looked at from every angle all over the United States.
Dr. McCord, who was Major McCord in the medical corps of the base hospital at Chiilicoihe, was asked to take charge of this new department. Dr. McCord had, to use the common term, made a name for himself over
Local Council Officers
261
there and had attracted considerable attention. He took charge of the
department and aided in tbir organization. I must say that .Dr. McCord
brought with him every armj-rule and tradition there is and he certainly
can lay out things on a military basis. He is my boss and I know.
Another factor in this work was the industrial physician. We finally
succeeded in getting Captain Watkins who had charge of all sanitation,
hygiene, and medical work at Nitro, West Virginia, where he had about
twenty doctors and sevent.yTive or eighty nurses under his jurisdiction.
He is a man who, I believe, "knows all that is known in industrial medi
cine and public health work. This man was for nine years in the Public
Health Service of the United States. He has taken over this work of
industrial medicine. One of, his chief functions will be to render a serv
ice in that field to the industries of the city. I must say that in Cincin
nati we have some places that need a half dozen such men right now.
Another division of this department is the service that we are giving
to Women in industry. We have secured the services of Miss Laura San
ford. It may be that some of you people know of Miss Sanford, who was
for a long time with Columbia University and later with the Wright-
Martin Company. She wili_ spend her time on problems relating to
women in industry, bringing to the attention of the management condi
tions as she finds them.
~
We have Captain Walker, who was a very active bacteriologist at
Camp Sherman, and In Europe too, to take charge of the bacteriological
work. We are to have the cooperative service of a dentist in. oral
hygiene. We are taking on an expert in employment management. We
are going to attempt to educate a lot of these men, these industries in
Cincinnati, to the advantages of modern methods, because we are woe
fully lax in that regard. L Jhight say right here that we have a rather
peculiar condition. The city of Cincinnati, a city of perhaps a half mil
lion people, has only three or four factories which employ more than
two thousa.nd people. There is a great list of factories employing from
fifty to two hundred and three hundred men. So we have a real prob
lem there, and a' good manfhf. these fellows are old timers; a good many
of them have taken the business from their fathers, and it is pretty hard
to show them the light.
SAFETY A REGULAR DEPARTMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY
Last--and I don't know whether to say least or not--is the Safety Department. This department has been recognized as one of the regular departments of the University of Cincinnati. I have the distinction of being the first local secretary who is also a professor in a university. Gentlemen, I am the only specimen alive in the world to-day. But after all'. Is it an experiment?
Chairman Price: You afb, a little later on, going to tell what McClain
is going to do in the university? Mr. McClain: I am saving the best for the last. Cincinnati University is *a municipal university, maintained by the
regular educational fees of the taxpayers. The trustees of Cincinnati
262
Eighth Safety Congress
University are business gen and the industrial leaders of the city. These
men are forward-1 ookingjrnd public spirited enough to reach up into the
clouds, as it were, and interpret the responsibilities a municipal univer
sity should have to the jjpmmunity.
Now I will try to answer the question you have asked. Where does
the safety man come inland what is he going to do?
Here are the advantages, as I see them, in this connection. We have
about S00 engineering students in the university of Cincinnati. A large
number of those students are what we call cooperative students. I think
Cincinnati University is a pioneer in what we call cooperative education.
A large number of those boys go out and work in the factories in Cin
cinnati and in the immediate vicinity, Dayton, Hamilton, Middletown,
and Springfield, for twoyveeks. Then they spend the next two weeks in
the University. I have the opportunity and the plans made to teach
these young men safefyr These men who will be in a few years the
foremen, the superintendents, the managers in that city and community
will have this thing in^their skins so deep that they will never lose it.
And that is my responsibility.
Now you all know that a man has a very high regard for the things
that he learns in his particular college. He thinks his college is just a little bit better than any place else, and that is perfectly all right. Now
if I am able to go before these young engineers add say, "Men I want
you to know' that you are the first college men who are being trained
by a member of the facility who is a regular safety man," I believe that
it will make an impression on those men which they will never forget.
I am going to teach them along the lines of these foremen's meetings. I am going to utilizethose lectures to a certain extent and blend them
with college experiences, and 1 think they will be very valuable.
Cu.m km ax lJKirK: How many students are there
school this year?
_Z_
Mk. IkCt.ux: About eight hundred all together.
in
the engineering
i want to introduce, as far as I can in the technical side of their train
ing, safety in machine^esign and things of that kind.
TKACH INC SAFKTY TO TKAC1IKRS
Here is another advantage that 1 think that I have. There is a college of education or a teachers' college connected with Cincinnati University that trains from eight hundred to a thousand teachers. I have arranged with the dean of thajt college to give a series of eighteen lectures, a credit course of eighteen lectures or lessons--1 call them lessons down there, which, of course, is more appropriate in the school--on this ques tion of safety, which is^ based in a general way on Dr. Payne's experiment in St. i.ouis. 1 go just a little bit farthei-. 1 intend to do a little field work. 1 want to take some of these teachers out on the street and 1 want them to see with their eyes what the hazards of the street are. I want to take them jjirough industries. (This is the latter part of the course, after they have become thoroughly interested in safety.) I want them to get it from the big, broad, viewpoint. Then I want to give
Local Council Officers
263
them one or two lessons in the mechanics of safety. I want to empha size such things as railroad Signals, elevator protection, railroad gates,
bells and signals, stop and gp signs, everything that has to do with
the mechanical side, and the rules that go with them.
So much for the teachers. jgHere is another important thing. In my
connection with the university^--
Chairman Pirn.'i:: You forgd^to speak of the school teachers who are
coming, one from each building.
.Mk. A1.cCi.ain: I am going T5 speak of that. I went to the-Board of
Education with a plan for public school teaching based on Dr. Payne's
experiment. I almost hesitate^ to call it an experiment now, because it
is no longer an experiment, itTis a proven fact. I went to the Superin
tendent of Schools. I said, "Dr. Condon, I want to call together one
teacher from the vai-ious buildings of the schools." Then I told him about creating a class for professional credit, and giving them a course
so that they can apply the teachings of Payne's book. Immediately it
met with his approval. I said, "I want your permission to make the
rounds of the schools to talk to the students eu masse for ten or fifteen
minutes, to give a background^to the teaching of this question of safety
in the schools. It will dignifyr and emphasize the local teachers' work."
It instantly met with his approval--no objection whatever. Further more, they placed at my disposal childrens' committees and things of
that nature which were already organized in the school to be used as
vehicles of safety.
T
It is my intention, men, toTginphasize this question of school safety in
the school. I spent five yearas a teacher. Sometimes they say, "peda
gogue" but I just like to be known as a teacher. I enjoyed it immensely.
I can live a half dozen livestTif I can get around to the young people. I think that I can go into those schools with my little moving picture
machine occasionally and give a little lecture to back up the teaching
of the local teachers, to emphasize that, and I believe that we are going
Lo get way yonder in our results. That, in a way, outlines m? program.
You men have the advantage
of me because you can come-here and stand up and say, "We did this
and we did that and we did^the other thing. We had so many men in
our classes, etc." All I can "do is to stand here and swell up my chest
and boast about what I am going to do. I really believe that I am going to do it, because I never unBertook any other proposition in my life where everybody has so whole-heartedly handed me the right hand of
fellowship and said, "McClain, we are with you; you are all right; go to
it; is there anything w'e can do to help you?" Cn.MJt.MAN Price: That means a lot. Mr. McCe-mn: Just to illustrate: in the city of Cincinnati there is
a very fine social service organization. The citizens will soon go into
a campaign to raise a little over one million dollars to carry on social
work in the city. We went, to the federation of these social agencies
and we carefully cultivated .iheir support, and they give us anything
that we ask.
264
Eighth Safety Congress
The other day the man who has charge of the Better Housing League
called me up and he said. "McClain, can you come down some day and
give a little talk to my visiting housekeepers? This question of home
safety, as you have emphasized it, has impressed me very much and I
believe that if you will instruct these visiting housekeepers a little bit, their activities will be a little broader." You know I am not going to
overlook a chance like that. That illustrates just how we are being
treated.
_
So much for our connection with the university.
On top of that we
have our regular industrial service which you men have already been
working on and have proved successful. We are laying our plans now
for our supervisors' schools. I expect also to have the foremen's schools.
1 got on the job in August. I was very anxious to try my strength. I
was so interested that I couldn't hold still much longer, so I decided to
have a big foremen's meeting to let them know we were in town. I am
a little chesty about this too. 1' knew hut few of the industries in the
city. I made no personal calls. We sat down and wrote letters, attached
a little blank at the bottom, requesting so many tickets to this fore
men's meeting, and wejiad some 1250 odd men out in Emery Hall, the
biggest hall in the city. Then I thought, "Well, you are off now and you
have got to keep it up."^ That gave me a little encouragement.
FiXAXCKI) r.Y BUSINESS MEN
k
The thing that will interest you Is how this thing is financed. This
whole department (we Jpeak of it as a unit because in making up our
budget for this department we included about ?7,500 for safety activities) will spend, I imagine "about $35,000 a year. A group of business men accepted the responsibility of financing it. In other words, they said, "You fellows go ahead and do your job, and you don't need to worry
about the finances. We will take care of them."
Well, these men simply guaranteed our existence and told us to get on the job. They have raised practically all the money, or will have done so shortly. They are going to all the industries of the city and are get ting subscriptions. I emphasize that word "subscriptions" in the light of what has been said. They say to a man, "We will have a man for you who will teach you employment relations; we will have a man for you who will come in here and help you improve conditions for your women; we will have a man come in here who is an expert in safety; we will have a man come in here who is an expert in industrial medicine. Put down your $200, and if you don't get all this service it will be because you don't ask for it. Ids there for you."
Our finances really aren't worrying us very much. This period of financing is to cover five years. When a man puts his little old $200 down for this year. It means that he has got to come across the next year and the next year^Later, if the department has demonstrated itself of true worth to the community, the university will make some plans of
financing It through the regular channels.
Local Council Officers
265
The money that was raise*! was taken to the trustees of the university and given to them to administer.
Have I left out anything Chairman Prick: I wantCyou to emphasize one point, that practically all of these boys who are working two weeks on and two weeks off in the shops--two of them hold one job--are absorbed into the industries, and occupy important piaceST .\Ir. McCi.ain-: I don't kndw whether any of you men are directly in contact with this cooperative system of education. It is working out to be a huge success to the young man who can't advance money for his education. He works two rfTSeks and goes to school for two weeks. We have found it to be a wonderful thing in Cincinnati. These men, as you readily see, are going out into the industries and are going to carry this microbe of safety with them, because I am going to put it into their heads so tight that they will tell their foremen aDoui it; they will tell the men around it. It will be one of their hobbies. To me, that looks like a mighty big field ior spreading this gospel of safety, it looks to me like throwing a stone out into the center of a pond. The waves go out and out and out until they reach the shore on all sides. (Mr. G. E. Clarkson, Pittsburg, took the chair.) Chairman Oi.arksox: All right, gentlemen, you can now shoot ques tions at Mr. McClain.
' 3>iscussion
A Mkmhku: I would like to ask whether you have included in your program a little publicity work whereby other universities in this country will be kept in touch with the work which you are doing. I had the pleasure some time ago ol3haking a safety inspection of one of our
largest universities. I was astonished at the lack of consideration that
was given to safety in their laboratories and in their methods of teaching.
Mr. McCi-ain; I might say^that T understand the Council will make some effort in the next few months to spread propaganda to all the active
universities of the country on this question of teaching safety. It is
going to start a campaign ta educate the universities. That may be a
little far-fetched, but the factris that they should start right there.
Mr. la. J. Smyth: How much of your program can be carried out in
a state university? For instance the University of Kansas is close to our
council in Kansas City, and it has offered cooperation through Prof. Sib
ley, the head of the Mechanical Engineering Department. In what way
could a university cobperate=rwith a local organization where the univer
sity is forty or fifty miles out of town, but draws on the city for a gTeat
many of its students?
7^=^
Mr, McCi-aix: How close are the relations between the university and
the city?
~
Mr. la. J. Smyth: Very close. Although the university is in Kansas
it is very close to Kansas City, Missouri, and the relation is a very close
one. We want to get their cooperation but don't know just how to go about it.
2GG Jhfighth Safety Congress
.Mis. iitCi Ai.v: l thfijk one of the things that is coining very shortly
is this: Universities are going to give credit for a certain safety engi
neering subject. I believe this will come first in the mechanical engineer
ing schools. It strikes Vne that the first thing to do is to put in a course
in safety engineering, and in that course not only stay close to the tech
nical side of it, but also go into the various phases of it. how it relates
to the employee and tq*the employer and to the problems of the foremen,
because these men are\ all going to be executives--I wouldn't exactly
say all of them, but the_ executives of industry will corn** from them.
CirAiKJiA.v Cr.AHKSo.Nr; In Pittsburgh we have the Carnegie Institute
and Pittsburgh University, both of which are connected with industry.
Their directors are the large managers and officers of the large indus
tries, and I have no dfljibt that if we would just start out in Pittsburgh
as you have started injCincinnati, we could affiliate with either of those
universities. Of course, Carnegie Institute of Technology is one or the
largest technical institutions in the country, and Pittsburgh University
is somewhat like the Cincinnati University--it is one of those cooperat
ing schools.
Mu. Coffin (Portland, Oregon): Has anything been done toward put
ting in a course of safety engineering In the curriculum of these tech
nical schools?
-
Mr. McCi.ain: Nbt^fo nl>' knowledge.
Mr. I-I. L. Rohi
Worcester County Council):
I think the -Massa
chusetts Institute of ^Technology has made a little start along that line.
I am not able to state^just how far they have gone, but I have received
circulars from which I infer that they intend to go into safety engineer ing, perhaps in connection with their mechanics course.
Mr. McCcaix: It seems we are right on the edge of the universities
taking this thing up. Our mail every morning brings in inquiries from
the whole United StbTes on our method of procedure. This is particu larly- true of the factjjhat the entire department of Industrial Medicine
and Public Health isTittracting nation-wide attention. It is new and an
experiment, and people are anxious to learn how the plan is organized,
what we are going to do. and what our relations with the university are.
Mr. Fki.i.mkh (St. Louis Council): Let me suggest, from the experience
of Mr. McClain and the other gentlemen, an idea which I have in my
mind? Why not have the local secretaries in communities where there
is a university, and where the local council is conducting a safety- super
visors' school, offer to'the engineering department of the university the
use of that school to_its students, and in that way get the safety idea
implanted in the heads of these prospective executives?
Mu, McCi.aix: That is a very good idea indeed.
Adjournment.
Q
LOCAL COUNCIL REPORTS
BOSTON SAFETY COUNCIL
W. C. Swift, Pbksiue.nt
Works Manager, Standard Woven Fabric Co., Walpole, Mass.
E. M. CofEtx, Secuetary-Tbeasubeb Staff Engineer, Associated Industries of Massachusetts,
1034 Kimball Building, Boston, Mass.
The New England Safety Council at a meeting early in the year, de
cided that its activities were, in a measure, duplicating those of local
councils already established at Worcester and Springfield, and therefore,
at a very spirited meeting decided to disband with the understanding
that the Boston Safety Council would conduct the activities carried on in
Massachusetts east of Worcester County.
The carrying out of this program led to the organization meeting of
the Boston Safety Council. June 12, 1919. Forty-eight delegates repre
senting industrial and other organizations were present. Mr. W. L.
Robinson, secretary of the Worcester local, outlined very clearly the activ
ities started in the center of the state, and Field Secretary Rasmussen
of the National Council was present and gave much valuable advice and
assistance. The Compensation Rating and Inspection Bureau was repre
sented by Mr. Magoun, General Manager, who gave a very pointed talk
on the value of safety work in reducing compensation premiums through
the Massachusetts Experience Rating Plan.
Our second meeting was held, June 27, with an attendance of thirty-
nine. Mr. Victor T. Noonan, who comes to Massachusetts from Ohio,
where he was director of industrial safety, gave us a very fine talk on
"Indifference, the Great Ally of Accidents". The following discussion
was led by Edwin Mulreadjv Commissioner of Labor in Massachusetts,
with very general participation.
At the meetings of the Executive Committee it was deemed best to defer
further activities until the "end of the vacation season, when general
membership meetings will commence and community gatherings for fore
men and employees, with speakers and moving pictures, will be facil
itated.
_
;;
CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI VALLEY DIVISION
C. B._ Habdis, President
United Railways Company
M. IiZTFEr.EMER, Secretaby
St. Louts, Mo- September 15, 1919.--Following the adjournment of the Congress of 1918. Mr. Carl L. Smith as Permanent Secretary of the Cen-
267
268
Eiyhth Safety Congress
tral Mississippi Valley JJivision o the National Safety Council began
the practical organization of the Division's work. A permanent organiza
tion was effected and the following officers and committees installed:
President: C. B. Harclin, United Railways Co.; Vice-Presidents': George
Aurien, Mississippi Glass Co.; D. E. Parsons, East St. Louis & Suburban
Railway Co.; Philip SJfemniel, National Enameling & Stamping Co.
Plants; Secretary: Carl D. Smith, St. Louis Chamber of Commerce;
Treasurer: Herman Spoehrer, Union Electric Light and Power Co. Committee Chairmen--^Boy Scouts: Major H. H. Simmons, Scout Di
rector; Complaint Bureatr: E. G. Marsh, Secretary Complaint Board; Edu
cational and Schools: GHB P. Knox, Assistant Superintendent of Instruction
Public Schools; Finances Arthur T. Morey, General Manager, Common
wealth Steel Co.; Fire Hazards: Wm. G. Panzer, Chief of Fire Department;
Industrial: J. C. Josse, Continental Portland Cement Co.; Legal: Hugh K.
Wagner, Attorney and Counselor at Law, 503 Fullerton Buildings; Liability
Insurance: Walter D. Thompson, United States Casualty Co.; Membership:
Paul F. Gutmann, Mississippi Glass Co.; Parks and Public Recreation:
Nelson Cunliff, Park CdtOmissioner; Police and Traffic: Barney Verheyen,
Assistant to Chief of Felice; Program: Walter S. Gemmer, Scullin Steel Co.; Publicity: W. B. AYeisenberger, St. Louis Chamber of Commerce;
Public Safety: Charles M. Talbert, Commissioner of Streets and Sewers;
Public Utilities: C. Howard Stewart, Assistant to Secretary and Treasurer
Laclede Gas Light Co.: Sanitation: Dr. G. A. Jordan, Assistant Health
Commissioner; Speakers^ Bureau: Dr. H. Geo. Payne. Principal, Harris
Teachers' College; Statistics: Dr. R. S. Vitt, Coroner, St. Louis.
District Chairmen: L. S. Brainard, Utilities Indemnity Exchange, St.
Louis, Mo.; J. W. Costley, Granite City Steel Works Granite City, ill.; H.
C. Davis, Wagner Electric Company, St. Louis. Mo.; Homer J. Hodson, East St. Louis & Suburban Ry. Co., East St. Louis, 111.; Edward C. Friede-
wald, Kolb Coal Company, St. Louis, Mo.; H. F. Hecker. Monsanto Chemi
cal Co., St. Louis, Mo:; Dr. Heber Robarts, Belleville, 111.; E. A. Robertson, Laclede Steel Company, St. Louis, Mo.; Duncan C. Smith. Aluminum Ore
Company, East St. Louis, Hi.; J. C. Townsend, International Shoe Com
pany, St. Louis, Mo.
'O
SCHOOL FOR SAFETY SUPERVISORS
The first activity undertaken was the institution of a school for safety
supervisors and a course of fourteen lectures on the following subjects:
1. Safety and The Manager: The Importance of His Support and. How
to Get It--W. E- Worth. Superintendent. Chicago Tunnel Co.,
Chicago.
--
2. Design and Construction of Safeguards--R. J. Young, Manager De
partment of Safety and Relief, Illinois Steel Co., Chicago.
Plant Conditions; Arrangement, Order, Lighting--C. W. Price, Gen
eral Manager, National Safety Council, Chicago.
4. What the Foreman Can Do to Promote Safety--Frank E. Morris,
Safety Engineer.^American Rolling Mill, Middletown, Ohio (Present,
Regional Field Secretary, National Safety Council).
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269
5. Bulletin Boards, and Other Ways of Reaching the Workmen-- W. R.
Rasmussen, Secretary Western Pennsylvania Division X. S. C.
Pittsburgh (Present, Regional Field Secretary. Xational Safety
Council).
=
6. Workmen's Inspection Committee and Meetings--M. L. Fellmer.
Commonwealth. Insurance^Company, St. Louis.
7. .Electrical Hazards--F. H-tReid, Bureau of Safety. Chicago.
S.Labor Management and Safety; Physical Examinations. Instruction
of New Men, Labor Turnover--A. H. Young. International Harvester
Company, Chicago.
9. First Aid--Dr. R. S. VittrCoroner, St. Louis.
10. Eye Protection and Safe Clothing--Fred M. Rosseland. Safety Enei-
neer. National Safety Council, Chicago.
11. Plant Sanitation--Dr. G. A. Jordan. Assistant Health Commissioner.
St. Louis.
12. Accident Records, How to Compile and Use Them--Frederick II.
Crum, Assistant Statistician, Prudential Life Insurance Co_ Newark.
N. J.
-r
13. Fire Prevention in Relation to Safety--Sidney J. William*. Secre
tary and Chief Engineer, National Safety Council. Chicago.
14. Qualifications of a Safety Engineer, His Duties and Opportunities--
J. A. Oartel, Carnegie Stef! Co., Pittsburgh.
were given to a class which had an enrollment of over four hundred and an attendance of over three hundred on the average. These fourteen lectures were followed by a general Review and Experience Meeting and the course closed vvith appropriate graduating exercises. May 22, in the form of an informal dinner at the Planters Hotel at which occasion General Manager Price distributed diplomas to two hundred and twenty-five grad uates (graduates being such students as had attended at least 75 per cent of the lectures). The first lecture whs given in the Directors' Room of
the Chamber of Commerce witlLan attendance of one hundred and twenty students. After the first lecture it was found necessary to secure larger quarters, and through the coopgFation of the Union Electric and Power Company the subsequent lectures were held in -the splendid auditorium
of that company on Twelfth and Locust Streets, and this auditorium was filled to capacity (450) on several occasions. This course of instruction has been productive of a great stimulus for safety in the industrial plants of St. Louis and wonderful results have been noticed in some plants that had never before paid much attention to organized, systematic safety work. The classes were in charge of Mr. Philip Stremmel General Superin tendent of the National Enameling and Stamping Company's Plants, whose enthusiastic methods anfl_strong personality were one of the most potent causes for the wonderful spirit prevailing among the members of the class. The members were composed of young men in minor executive positions, such as traffic mencemployment men, shipping clerks, etc., through the ranks of superintendents and work engineers into the ranks
of executives and managers. After the close of the school two meetings were held; one in the form of a dinner lecture on the newly passed Work-
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Eighth Safety Congress
men's Compensation Lav,' at which Mr. H. C. Davis, Assistant Treasurer of the Wagner Electric Company, and one of the members of the class, delivered a very comprehensive lecture on "Workmen's Compensation". The other meeting wartn the form of a get-together social, at which the Ford film "The Only Way" was shown and a beautiful class pin adopted and plans were made for the jiarticipation of the class in a boat excursion to be given by tho Superintendents' and Foremen's Organization-
SUl'KillNTENItENTS' AND FOREMEN'S MEETINGS
Four meetings of superintendents and foremen were held on the follow
ing dates: .January 30, 1919.
Mr. Rasmussen's experience in x'educing accidents
at the plants of the American Smelting & Refining Co., Omaha--W. R.
Rasmussen, Secretary, ^Western Pennsylvania Div. N. S. C., Pittsburgh. March 4, 1919. Opportunity--Victor T. .7. Gannon. United States Depart
ment of Labor, Washington March 31, 1919. Playing The Game--J. C. Townsend, Safety Engineer,
International Shoe CcrJESt. Louis. May 12, 1919.--Key "Men--Philip Strenimel, General Superintendent,
National Enameling &/Btamping Co., Granite City, 111. A musical and entertainment program was given in addition to these
splendid lectures. These meetings were attended by an average of eighteen hundred superintendents and foremen and their wives and were
very enthusiastically and interestingly arranged. Mr. J. C. Josse of the
Continental PortLand Cement Company was in charge of this feature of the work. Under the auspices of the Superintendents' and Foremen's Organization the Council arranged for a Boat Excursion on the Steamer St. Paul which took place on Saturday, August 23, and proved very suc cessful. A total of over fourteen hundred participated in this outing and the afternoon and evening was spent in a great get-together family-
style excursion.
: MANAGERS' MEETINGS
The following Managers' Meetings were held with enthusiastic attend ance of executives and managers from all the industries of our district:
February 21. Labor Turnover in Relation to Safety--A. H. Young, International Harvester Co.. Chicago.
April 10. HC. C. Davis. Assistant Treasurer of Wagner Electric Co. and Dr. R. S. Vitt. Cffioner. substituted for Mr. R. M. Little, Director of the Safety Institute or America, New York City, who did not arrive in time to deliver his lecture on "Conservation of Man Power."
May 22. The Missouri Workmen's Compensation Act and Its Applica tion--H. C. Davis, Assistant Treasurer, Wagner Electric Co., St. Louis.
MOTION PICTURES
The Council purchased a moving picture machine and the film "The Outlaw". It has been shown in plants of members all over the district and has proven of material value in the work.
Local Council Reports
271
1`KA K MRS llURIvVC
The Division maintains a bureau of speakers in charge of Dr. E. George Payne. Superintendent of the Harris Teachers College which furnishes speakers for clubs and organizations. A good many addresses were delivered by this bureau to organizations, especially before Parents' and Teachers' Associations. The service of the secretary was also freely ren dered for addresses on safety topics before assemblies of workmen and superintendents as well as other bodies.
I'L'Itl.IC SAKKTY
At the beginning of March a systematic campaign was begun toward the furtherance of Public Safety, under the chairmanship of Mr. A. T. Morey and with the following Sub-Committees: Vigilance; Street Cars; Statistics; Complaints: Playgrounds; Automobile and Legislation; Schools: Bulletins and Publicity; Police.
The Public Safety Committee inaugurated regular monthly meetings in the form of a dinner at which questions pertaining to Public Safety are taken up successfully. These assemblies have assumed the character of a civic institution of St. Louis and are attended by not only the mem bers of the Central Mississippi Valley Division interested in safety, but by the heads of financial, mercantile, transportation, and civic interests of our city. We have had present at these meetings members of the Board of Police Commissioners, heads of otir educational institutions. Chief of Police and his staffs the judges of our courts, prosecuting and circuit attorneys, etc. Underthe cooperation of this committee the laws and regulations affecting traffic and other phases of public safety have been promoted, and great results have been obtained. The enforcement of a one-hour parking ordinance in our city which reduced the number of automobiles parked in thencongested district by over 50 per cent and thereby facilitated traffic very materially, while reducing the chance of accident, is directly traceable to the work of this committee, as is the establishment of the whistle^ signal system hv the traffic police. The cooperation of the civic authorities of St. Louis is whole-hearted and we can safely say that these authorities have been made into safety enthus iasts. Astonishing results atfi being obtained by means of the Vigilance Committee which is composed of a number of the best business men of St. Louis and the purpose of >vhich is to report violators of traffic rules to the City Bureau of Complaints which diplomatically calls the alleged offenses to the attention of the offenders and is very successful in getting offenders to promise more jeareful handling of vehicles in the future, while at the same time establishing a record which could he used in proving to automobile drivers repeating previous offenses that it is inadvertent carelessness on their part which makes them transgressors. So far there has been no occasion to use this record in court. One of the judges of our city courts stated that since his tenure of office in April,
he has only had one repeater brought before him. The Daily Press of St. Ir>u!s has been tied into the work of the Public
272 Eighth Safety Congress
Safety Committee in a very gratifying manner. All the papers giving a great deal of publicity to the work of the Division.
BESVLTS
From figures obtained from the Coroner's Office the number of inquests held in the city of St-'-I-ouis for the first eight months of 1918 was 1140 --For the same period of 1919 this number had decreased to 1010, a decrease of 11-4/10 percent. For the same period the automobile deaths in 191S were 61 and in 1919--51. a decrease in number of 10, and, in percentage of 16-4/10 per cent--This in spite of an increase in automo biles from 23,000 to 41,000, or 7S per cent. Industrial fatalities decreased from 110 for the vearyJ917 to 46 in the year of 1918, a decrease of 58 per cent, and according to the statement of the Coroner's Office present figures indicate a further decrease in the neighborhood of 20 per cent.
3- SCIIOOI, SAFETY
With the assistance iof the Home Office, Dr. E. George Payne, Principal of the Harris TeachersjCollege compiled a syllabus on safety to be taught in the curriculum of ~all the schools in St. Louis.
On June 15, Jlr. Carl L. Smith assumed his new duties as Public Safety Field Secretary of the National Safety Council and Mr. M. L. Fellmer was appointed Secretary of the Central Mississippi Valley Division to succeed him.
rna.TECTKP activities for 1919-20
School for Safety ^Supervisors consisting of the following sixteen lectures, one General Review and Experience Meeting, and four Round-
Table discussions: ^
November 2S--Safety: and the Manager, the Importance of His Support
and How to Get It
December 5--Safegirards
December 12--Shop Lighting
December 19--Reaching the Foreman--What He Can ' Do to Promote
Safety
".
January 2--Bulletin Board January 9--Workmen's Inspection Committees
January 16--Head and Eye Protection
January' 23--Plant Sanitation January 30--LayoujEThf Buildings and Machinery February 6--Fire Protection in Relation to Safety
February 13--Electrical Hazards
February 20--First-Aid February 27--The Movement for Better Industrial Relations, Its De
velopment and Significance March 5--The New Employee--Instruction in Safety, Physical Exami
nation. Continuity of Employment
March 12--The Foreign-born American
Local Council Reports
273
March 19--Qualifications ojt a Safety Engineer--His Duties and Oppor, tiraities
SCHOOL FOR SUPERINTENDENTS AXD FOREMEN
In accordance with the plan of the National Safety Council there will
be a School for. Superintendents and Foremen consisting of ten lectures,
as follows:
1. Handling Men Ca general lecture on foremanship)
2. The Foreman's Place ^fnr Accident Prevention (including introduc
tory statement of theTsafety movement as a whole.;'
3. Design and Construction of Safeguards
4. Plant Sanitation--Arrangement, Order, Lighting, Sanitation
5. Educating the Workmen (including bulletin boards and instruction
of new employees) ___
6. Workmen's Inspection Committees
7. Eye Protection and Safe Clothing
8. Electrical Hazards
--
9. First Aid
"
10. General Review and Experience Meeting
MANAGERS' MEETINGS
We are projecting four or~ five meetings of the same high character as held during last year. The details of the subjects and speakers have not as yet been decided.
SCHOOL FOR CHAUFFEURS
Under the auspices of thedPublic Safety Committee, a School for Chauf feurs will be established, at Which the following six lectures will be given by competent speakers:
1. Rules of tbe road--parking regulations and traffic rules
2. Mechanical hazards and efficient driving 3. Hazards of the streets " 4. Accidents, statistics and reports
5. Safe operation of automobiles and trucks
6. Qualifications of a safliand competent chauffeur
The project is to give tojiiemhers of the Chauffeur's Class a diploma
similar to the one given to graduates of the Safety Supervisors Class of
1919.
^
STATISTICAL BUREAU
Plans are being perfected whereby all public accidents will be reported to the office of the Secretary and there statistically tabulated as to causes and circumstances. Industrial accidents, at least as far as they produce fatalities, will be treated in like manner.
BULLETIN BOARDS
The Public Safety Committee will endeavor to establish bulletin boards In all public garages and gasoline filling stations in the city and provid ing suitable bulletins through the National Safety Council.
274
Eighth Safety Congress
BUDGET
The activities plannecL_eall for a total budget of approximately $1AOOO for the year 1919-1920 tq_be equally divided between the Industrial and Public Safety sections. yg
CHICAGO SAFETY COUNCIL
G.Harvey
Ei-lerd. President
ArmourlS Company, Union Stock Yards
1 H.CirAni.H.s
Davis, Secretary
Conffhon'vealth. Edison Company
The program of meetings was delayed several weeks because of the
".Flu" epidemic. _A.ll o3he meetings except the first were joint safety dinner meetings with tlie^ Illinois ^Manufacturers' Association. The chair
man for each meeting was appointed by the joint body. The Executive
Committee held regulafZTheetings. each member taking an active part.
The general meetings held during the year follow:
November 27. 191S. fleeting called to order by President Fred M.
Rosseland. Report of Nominative Committee received and the following
officers unanimously elected, to serve until. June, 1920: President: H. G. Ellgrd. Armour & Company; Vice President: H. I-
Krum, International Harvester Co.; Secretary: C- H. Davis. Common
wealth Edison Co.; Treasurer: T. E. Barker, Miehle P. P. & Mfg. Co.:
Executive Committee: the Officers and W. E. "Worth. Chicago Tunnel Com
pany; H. M. Webber. Chicago Telephone Company; P. M. Rosseland.
National Safety Council. The meeting was then turned over to the chair
man of the meeting. H. L. Krum. who introduced the speaker of the evening, F. A. Carlisle. Manager, Friedlander Brady Knitting Mills. Mr.
Carlisle gave a very interesting talk on the important subject "Women
in Industry." A detailed discussion followed the address, during which
Mr. Carlisle answered many questions. January 29. 1919. '`Reconstruction Plans Based on War Time Experi
ence." Chairman "William Beve. "From the Standpoint of the Employee."
Ity John Walker. President. Illinois Federation of Labor. "From the Standpoint of the Employer." by H. F. Perkins. Division Manager. Inter
national Harvester Company. February 26. 1919. rotate Fund Insurance." Chairman, President 11. G
Ellerd. "Objections and Defects of State Insurance," by R. T. Caldwell, of Dysard and Caldwell. Attorreys. Ashland. Ivy. "Destructive Ten
dencies in America Today." by M. T. McKee. Secretary, National Council
of Insurance Federal ions Detroit. Michigan. The discussion of this sub
ject was exceedingly interesting. Mr. Caldwell's address was printed in
pamphlet form and Mr. McKee's speech was printed in "Manufacturers'
News."
March 2*. 1939.
"Working Condition Service, U. S. Department of
I-abor." Chairman. A. H- Young. "The Scope, Function, and Purpose of
this New Governmental Agency." by Grant Hamilton, Director General.
"Division of I-abor Administration." by "W. M. Leiserson, Ph. D., Chief
of Divisions. Air. Leiserson made a big hit with his straight-forward
statement of the fundamental truths of Industrial Relations.
Local Council Reports
275
April 15, 1919. "Industrial Surgery," Chairman, Doctor L. P. Kuhn,
fifteen Functions of Industrial Surgery," by Dr. Loyal Shoudy, Chief
Surgeon, Bethlehem Steel Company. "The Present Deficiency of Sur
gical Treatments and After ^Treatments of Accidents," by Dr. P. B. Mag-
nusson, Medical Director. Industrial Commission of Illinois.
May 7, 1919. "A Get Together Dinner Meeting," Chairman W. B.
Worth. "Entertainment During the Dinner," by Daw and Russell, En
tertainers. and Quartette of the Commonwealth Edison Choral Society.
"What Is Our .Job?" by R.T3- Richards. Chairman Central Safety Com
mittee, Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. Motion Pictures: "The Outlaw"
(Courtesy, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company): "Fit to Fight" (Cour
tesy, U. S. Public Health Service 1 ; "Careless America," (Courtesy. Uni
versal Film Mfg. Company): "Experience Meetings," 4:30 P. M. "Adver
tising Safety to Your Men." Chairman. H. L. Krum. " Proper Treatment
of Advertising Matter." P.^A. Power, Advertising Manager, Benjamin
Electric Company. Mr. Power pointed out the advantages of placing
stress on treating subjects from the positive, rather than the negative
viewpoint, because of the ^psychological effect obtained. General dis
cussion followed.
The attendance at each meeting averaging about 300 (attendance at
one meeting was TOO) . clearly indicated that the subjects considered were
timely and important. During the Spring efforts were started to bring
about a better financial condition which would enable the Council to
employ a paid safety engineer secretary. Progress was necessarily
slow, but it is believed that financial arrangements will he completed this
fall.
Tentative plans were made by the Executive Committee to hold a series
of district safety meetings ibut labor conditions seemed to render such
meetings impracticable andrthey were postponed until a later date.
Much, of the success of the work=during the year was due to the per
sonal work of Executive Committeeman, W. E. Worth (who is also Chair
man of the Industrial Relations Committee of the Illinois Manufacturers'
Association), and of the Chairman of our Program Committee, A. H.
Young.
^
The Safety Banner, inaugurated by the Chicago Safety Council in 1917.
was continued throughout the year. It is acknowledged to be a valuable
means of informing members of safety dinner meetings, items of local
interest, and as a desirable medium of communication between the Ex
ecutive Committee and the Membership.
DETROIT SAFETY COUNCIL J. H- Gor.Die. Peesidext
Cadillac Motor Car Company
H. T. Basses, Secretary-Tueasxjber
Linooln Motor Car Company
The Detroit Local Counful held but one meeting during the Fall of 1918, due largely to the influenza epidemic. The subject discussed was
Banquet
197
We are the dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow.
Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders' fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe. To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be^yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders' fields.
There is an old hymn, that wonderful hymn of ours--The Battle Hymn
or the Republic. The last line oL that hymn "As He died to make men
holy, let us die to make men free^' I want, to paraphrase for the benefit
of this little talk that I am tryingdio make to you: Let us remember that
as our men fought and died across the seas to insure the liberty and
freedom the founders of our government established, let us live to make
their children and their children's children safe. (Prolonged Applause.)
Tins Toastmaster: Mr. Richards, in thus closing the formal part of
the program for this evening, Om sure that ail of these ladies and
gentlemen desire me to tell you that we not only know, as you have said,
that we have a principle that is right, hut that we have leadership which
is right, and we will follow you every step of the way. (Prolonged Ap
plause.)
_
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Eighth Safety Congress
"Cooperative Accident Prevention." A most interesting talk was made by Mr. John A. Oartel of the Carnegie Ste'el Company.
At the annual meetingT January is, 1919, the following officers were
elected: President, J. H- Goldie, Cadillac Motor Car Company: VicePresident, J. M. Eaton,-Lincoln Motor Company; Vice-President, C. G. Axtmann, Detroit Insurance Agency; Secretary-Treasurer, H. T. Barnes. Lincoln Motor CompanjT Program Committee, R. A. Shaw, Ford Motor Company; Membership Committee, E. F. Lingemann. Hudson Motor Car C ompany.
The February meeting was the best attended dinner meeting e*er heW by the Council, 22S persons being present. The subject was "Uanscrau* Practices" and Mr. R. M. Little of the American Museum ci safely the principal speaker. Ti
The subiocl of the Starch meeting was "The Value of Uniform Act ideat Records," and the Employment Managers' Club was invited to attend, it was suggested that a joint committee be appointed to investigate the value of including an employee's accident record with his employment record. After due consideration the committee felt that such a plan was not advisable at this time;
No meeting was held jn April, but on May 16, a meeting was called to discuss plans for assisting in the Public Safety Campaign which the De troit Police DepartmenLAnd the Detroit Automobile Club were to hold during the month beginfiing May 20. Much credit is due Mr. George Walters. Secretary of thee Police Department, Mr. Charles T. Bush of the Detroit Automobile Club^Tand Mr. F. E. Morris, Field Secretary of the National Safety CouncilTfor their untiring efforts in behalf of the cam paign. There is no question as to the success of the campaign but it is felt that an even greater-result would have been obtained had the cam paign been held to one or two weeks rather than a month.
Plans fer securing a permanent secretary for the Detroit Safety Council were discussed during the campaign and it is hoped that definite action may be taken this Fall.
EAST ^CHICAGO SAFETY COUNCIL
J.- C. Smith, President Inland SteEL Company, Indiana Harbor, Ind.
E.= 0'M. Redpix, Secretary
Hubbard SteehFoundry Company, East Chicago, Ind.-
November 7. ID IS. Safety Engineers' meeting. Mr. TV. F. Grebe spoke on "Accident Preventionr.:" Attendance, 10.
December Hi, 191S. 'Workmen's meeting. Mr. S. J. Williams spoke on "Accident Prevention." Moving pictures were shown. Attendance, 95.
February 6. 1919. Workmen's meeting. Mr. Arthur H. Young spoke on "Workmen and the Safety Movement." Moving pictures were shown. Mr. James Johnston, Scotch comedian, in monologue, songs, and dances, and music by the East :J2fiicago High School Orchestra.
Local Council Reports
277
EAST ST. LOUIS SAFETY COUNCIL
D. E. Parsoxs, President
D. C. Smith, Secretary Safety Engineer, Aluminum Ore Co.
Things accomplished by the Council during the past year, for the city of East St. Louis, are as follows: Fifteen plant men have been attend ing the Safety Council in StzJLouis during the past winter: cooperation has been effected with the executive committee of St. Louis, financially and otherwise: we have placed in the public schools of this city books on Safety, and have secured the cooperation of all principals in the teach ing of Safety to the children^ much along the lines followed by Dr. Payne in St. Louis; attractive bulletin boards have been maintained in all schools and public garages, filling stations, etc.; a selection of bulletins has been sent to the various places: considerable work has been done along fire prevention lines through posters and through work in the various plants: monthly meetings have been held, where various plant problems have been discussed, and, acour last meeting on Friday, September 26, a special committee was appointed to meet with some of the city execu tives for the purpose of interesting the public in this work.
We were late in getting started this year, on account of the activities in Si. "Louis, and most of our finances and individual work went to that side of the river. Much that takes place in St. Louis along the Safety line is naturally .carried to the East side of the river.
ERIESAFETY COUNCIL
O. G. JDtcucock. President Hayes Mfg. Co.. Erie, Pa.
M. C. Goodscked, Secretary-Treasurer General Electric Co., Erie, Pa.
The work of the Erie Local Council for the past year has been in the main a following up of the work done in previous years. Practically no new work of any kind was attempted. Meetings were held each month during the winter Season which were fairly well attended. Two of these meetings took the form of inspection trips in local plants with a very much increased attendance. ^The discussion and program, however, at these meetings had to be very limited.
One public meeting was arranged, the speaker of the evening being Mr. R. M. Little, of New York.
The Executive Committee^is trying to hold a rally directly following the annual meeting of the Sational Safety Council, at which time re ports of the Cleveland meeting will be given and an attempt made to line up the membership for bettet work during the coming year.
27S
Eighth Safety Congress
LEHIGH VALLEY SAFETY COUNCIL
Morris Foetuin, President
Pennsylvania Cement Co.
.1. R. TSIui-i.Ki.VN, Secretary-Treasurer
Bethlehem Steel Co.
The fiscal year ending-June 30. 101!), was the most successful experienced by Lehigh Valley Local Council since its inception five years ago. De spite the fact that monthly meetings were discontinued during the fore part of the fiscal year due to war productional activities on the part of the membership, the resumption of the monthly meetings beginning with the Annual Public ^meeting in December and continuing through the six month period endingTn May. showed the membership enthusiastic and intensely interested in the work.
Lehigh Valley Local Council has banded together in its membership over sixty industries in the Lehigh Valley, represented by 103 individual memberships. The attendance at our monthly meetings during the latter half of the fiscal year was never below 00 per cent of our membership, which showed a lively interest in the subjects discussed.
December, ISIS--Bethlehem. Pa.. "Rehabilitation pf Injured Men." January, 1010--EastofiTPa.. "Accident Prevention." February, 1919--Allentown, Pa.. "Importance of Uniform Accident Sta tistics." March, 1019--Bethlehem, Pa.. "Importance of Safety Committees in Ac cident Prevention Work." April, 1919--Nazareth. Pa.. "Provisions of the Revised Compensation Law." May. 1919--Easton, PS^ "Industrial Morale."
NORTHEASTERN OHIO SAFETY COUNCIL
S. W. Tk.vkb. President American Stea and "Wire Company. Cleveland. Ohio
"A. H. Lintz, Secretary
Cleveland Chamber of Commerce
The activities of the ^Northeastern Ohio Division have been somewhat limited since the reporfjrendered last year until the appointment of the permanent secretary the latter part of April, this year. The inactivity of the members last year, naturally, was due to so many important officers being called to the assistance of our Government during the great War. During 191S new officefarwere elected to further the work in view of se curing the services of arpermanent secretary.
The permanent secretary took up his duties on April 23, 1919, at which time he immediately assisted in formulating a complete new executive committee. The committees elected on Miay 16 to handle new local
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matters were as follows: ^Annual Congress. Oscar McNab; Boy Scouts,
John K. Doan: Churches, Rev. E. R. Wriglu: Clubs and Organizations,
Fred H. Caley; Districts. (i_E. Pettibone: Education and Schools, G. A.
Green; Entertainment. L. BrBacon: Finance. A. C. Brown: Fire Hazards,
AT. R. Marshall: Industrial Relations. E. I-- Brady: Inspection, Safety
Codes and Safeguards. H. -I. Weeks: Membership. B. W. Nutt; Plant Or
ganizations, O. J. Lewis; --Program. Thomas Stanion; Public Utilities,
W. F. Weh; Public Safety, F. E. Waite; Publicity, R. ML Wheeler: Safety
.Week, T. B. Howe: Sanitation and Health, Dr. H. L. Davis; Speakers'
' Bureau, W. R. Carson; Workmen's Compensation, A. L. McKee.
Active work on the Annual Congress and Safety Week was started
about July, 1919. From this time on. the time of the secretary and the
executive committee was occupied in making ready the latter prepara
tions. A School for Safety Supervisors, comprising fifteen lessons, was con
ducted, starting on MarchJU, with one lesson a week. There were 137
students who completed this course and were graduated on July 7. The
entii-e program for the graduation exercises was unique in that the ar
rangements for the evenings were all taken care of hy a committee which
was elected hy the class. The main address of the evening was delivered
by Mr. C. W. Price on "The New Ethics of Business." The enthusiasm
displayed at the graduation exercises, which were held in the form of a
banquet, can well he appreciated when you learn that there were 125
present, notwithstanding tlia.t there was a street car strike on in Cleve
land at the time.
~
The class has since been called together by the class officers to be
told of the plans for the Annual Congress and Safety Week, and the same
enthusiasm was prevalent art this meeting, and many volunteered to serve
on the Local- Reception Committee during the Congress.
The secretary, in conjunction with Mr. Thomas Stanion, Chairman of
the Program Committee, and the district committees, conducted three
very success-fill foremen's Rallies. with an excellent program, uniquely
arranged, and had very gqBH crowds at each.
The Local Council held two monthly meetings for plant executives
during May and June. The first of these meetings was addressed by
Mr. R. M. Little, Director of Safety Institute of America, New York City,
on "Forethought vs. Afterthought in Safety.'' The other was addressed
by Mr. C. B. Auel, Director of Processes and Standards, Westinghouse
Electric & ManufactnringTo.. East Pittsburgh. Pa., on "Safety and in
dustrial Relations." A very large attendance was present at both of
these meetings and proved to us that our prospects for meetings of this
nature in the future are good, and it is evident we will have good crowds.
We hope to proceed with these meetings on the average of one every two
or three months during til winter.
The secretary has also given moving picture Safety shows and talks to
foremen and safety committeemen at about fifteen plants.
It being necessary to start work in connection with the Annual Con
gress and Safety Week about the last of July, all other local activities
were set aside with the exception of this work.
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Eighth Safety Congress
The Public Safety organization for the City of Cleveland has been com pleted, and the Mayor of the City has personally named and written to various influential men to serve on the respective Safety Committees.
OMAHA SAFETY COUNCIL
HI A. Johnson, President Omaha Gas Company
E. E_ Judd, Secretart-Treashrer' AmericarcSmelting and Refining Company
The Council has had one Foremen's Banquet, has held four meetings at various places throughout the city, and has taken in ,.13 new members.
PHILADELPHIA SAFETY COUNCIL
H. B. Habmeb, President
Johx"P. Mtjdd, Secretary-Treasurer
^The Local Section opSiied its program for the year of 191S-19 with a
very successful meeting" at its headquarters, the Engineers' Club, in
Philadelphia.
~
Dr. Francis D. Patterson. Chief, Division of Hygiene, Department of
Labor and Industry, who is well known in both National and Local
Council circles, addressed the November meeting on the subject of
"Reconstruction and Rehabilitation." A great deal of the text of Dr.
Patterson's paper has since been published in magazines, newspapers, and
publications of the statAajf Pennsylvania. The second meeting was held in December. The subject for discussion
was "The Woman in Industry." Introduction was made by Mr. J. .T.
Coffey. Supervising Inspector. Department of Labor and Industry. A very
interesting discussion followed, in which representatives from very nearly
all the large manufacturing concerns of Philadelphia participated.. In
general, the discussion was topical in form and considered the following
phases of the subject: ~
1. Laws gaveruing her employment 2. Moral protection
3. Physical comfort 4. Safety
Prior to each meetingTjf the Safety Council, an informal dinner is held
in the dining room ot the Engineers' Club. Through the courtesy of various members of thecLocal Council, music is furnished. The societies affiliated with the Engineers' Club have purchased a piano, which is used on these occasions. NeBHless to say, a splendid spirit of good fellowship prevails at these informal dinners and many subjects other than safety enter into the discussion. Sometimes near the close of the dinner, the strictly routine business;of the Council is gone over and finished so as tq
give the entire eveningjlo the paper and discussion.
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Mr. J. F. Conner, of the United Gas Improvement Company, gave an excellent lecture, entitled "Dangerous Practice." at the February meeting. His talk was profusely illustrated with lantern slides. At this same meeting, Capt. Matthew J. Shields, Field Representative of the American Red Cross, talked on "First Aid and Sanitation."
At the March meeting, Mr. Harry A. Mackey, Chairman of the Inter state Compensation Board for~ Pennsylvania, presented a paper, entitled.
"Three Years' Administration :of the Pennsylvania Workmen's Compensa tion Act." As the manufacturers at large were interested in a revision of the current act, Mr. Mackey's talk proved to be of the most vital interest.
Mr. Arthur Sellers, Chief Deputy of the Coroner's office in Philadelphia,
at one of the meetings gave an informal talk on "Industrial Accidents in
Philadelphia".
^
A special feature of the meeting in the Spring was the demonstration of the various safety devices? Such articles as goggles, protective face masks, leggings, and machinery guards have been shown at the meetings.
Mr. L. A. DeBlois, Safety BBgineer, E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Com pany, Wilmington, Del., spoke at one of the meetings on general safety matters. The very large attendance which marked this and several pre
vious meetings showed the increasing appreciation of the Local Section by the manufacturers of Philadelphia.
"Accident Reporting and Recording" was the title of a paper given by F. S. Crum, Assistant Statistician of the Prudential Insurance Company of America. This meeting concluded the activities for 101S-19.
SEATTLE SAFETY COUNCIL
B. W. Sawyer, PkksiuestTaxd CiunorAX Puiscicity Committee
Brace and Hergert Mill Company
T. H. Boyd, Secretary, IPSd Chairman Memisersuip Committee Safety Engineer, 94S Henry Buildlng.
Since our last annual report, the Seattle Safety Council has continued to conduct a vigorous Safety Campaign in the establishment of its mem bers. Active safety commit work and lectures to the employees have been constantly maintained in eacb plant, periodical safety meetings and banquets have been provided,^With a large attendance from each firm, with the result that our activities Jn the direction of accident prevention have been kept alive and constantly^ before both employer and employee.
We now have enrolled, a membership representing approximately 5,000 employees in the lumber, shingle, sash, door, box. and metal trades indus tries in Seattle and immediaTEe vicinity with a bright prospect of a very material increase at an early~date.
The Seattle Safety CouneilTwas created by a group of local employers in January, 191S, following jShich, application for charter was made to and favorably acted upon by the National Safety Council.
The Executive Committee selected Mr. T. H. Boyd, Chief Claim Adjuster and Investigator of the State=Industrial Insurance Commission of Wash-
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TSighth Safety Congress
Ingtoii, as its Safety Engineer, to organize and operate the same. Imme diately an intensive Accident Prevention Campaign was inaugurated and since the above mentioned date, we have devised and installed 1,564 safe guards of various designs, all of which was in addition to the require ments of the State Factory Inspection, to which each of our plants was
subject. As a result, iiceidents in our member establishments were actually reduced r>0 percent plus during the first year's operation, whil our statistics for the current year indicate a most gratifying condition and a still further reduction. This statement is endorsed by the State Industrial Insurance Commission of Washington.
The safety engineers _0f the various chartered Safety Councils in this State, realizing the necessity for a movement sufficiently broad In scope
and with proper police power to cover all industries in the State included in the forty-eight different classifications of industry and coming within the purview of the Workmen's Compensation Act, and having in mind
the particular need of a carefully drawn and equitable merit and de-merit rating system, more than a year prior to the convening of the last ses sion of the legislaturerillrew up the fundamental principles and frame work and had drafted into legal form for presentation to the Legislature, a bill which resulted inr the present state safety law, creating the State Safety Board. This is considered one of the most finished and up-to-date pieces of industrial legislation ever placed upon the statute books of any state and wonderful results are predicted from its application and enforce
ment. Subjoined are the present officers of this Council: President. B. W. Sawyer. Brace & Hergert Mill Co.: Vice-President,
H. C. Hilke. Seattle Cedar Lbr. Mfg. Co.: Treasurer. E. T. Verd, Bryant Lumber Co.; Secretary!!X. M- Boyd, Seattle Safety Council; Executive Committee: Alvin Scliwager. Schwager & Nettleton Lbr. Co.; Wm. A. Whitman. West Waterway Lumber Co.; K. K. Hopkins. Seattle Boiler
Works: Chairman Program and Education Committee. A. D. Cross, O. B. Williams Co.: Chairman Public Safety Committee. W. A. Steigleder, Holcom-Canal Lbr. Co.Safety Engineer, T. H. Boyd. Seattle Safety Council.
WATERSURY SAFETY COUNCIL
R. S. St'KRltV, Prksidext StHEvill Manufacturing Company
B. .T. Hike. Secretary-Treasurer SCpyill Manufacturing Company
The activities of the/Waterbury Safety Council may be briefly sum
marized for the year efiBing July 3.1, 15119, as follows:
A business meeting for members was held December 20. lOiS. at which
the following officers wire elected:
President. Roger S. Sperry: Vice-President Ex-officio. W. H. Sandland. Mayor: Vice-President! Whitman W. Bowers: Secretary-Treasurer,
Burton J. nine.
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283
A complete executive committee as well as chairmen of the various
committees were also elected: - ~
Plans for the work to be carried out were discussed and arrangements
for financing the Local Council made by voting to add 10 per cent assess
ment to the membership dues Of all members.
A meeting for superintendents and foremen was held January 30, 1919,
with an attendance of about one thousand. A program consisting of
speaking, moving pictures, andi singing proved very successful. A general public safety meeting was held February 27, 1919, at which
about one hundred and fifty'j^ere present. An excellent program of
speaking, lantern slides, and singing was carried out.
A meeting for all employee#, including foremen, was held April 24,
1919. about 250 attending. Two_svibjects, "The Neglect of Slight Accidents
in Factories" and "Goggles and Their Uses in Safeguarding the Work man" were covered by the speakers, illustrated with photographs. Music
was furnished, and moving pictures shown. An open air meeting for the general public was held May 23, 1919. in
the evening, about eighteen hundred attending. Two good speakers cov ered the subject of "General Public Safety" after which moving pictures
were shown. Music was furnished by the Chase Companies Band.
Exhibits included a lineman receiving a shock, simulated by flashlight
powder, at the top of a pole, and being lowered down, afterwards receiv
ing first-aid treatment. Also, of a man being struck by a trolley car. who
was also carried to the platform for first-aid treatment.
Interest in the Local Couflcll has been stimulated {Turing the year
through the efforts of the Chairman of our Publicity Committee in con nection with the various meetings, and with the Increasing of our pub
licity work we are expecting to increase our membership. During the
year, an important membership, that of the City of Waterbury, has been
secured.
_
Great credit is due to those^ho have served on the committees during
the year in making the meetings so successful. Our council having been
in existence but a short time, the work of the committees demands con
siderable time and effort which have been cheerfully given.
WORCESTER COUNTY SAFETY COUNCIL
J. F. Tlxsr.KY. President Vice-Fres. & Gen'l Mgr. Crompton and Knowles I-oom Works.
Worcester, Mass.
H. L. RobiXSOX, Secretary-Treasurer
Manager Employment Service Department. Crompton & Knowles Loom Works, Worcester. Mass.
Our regular Fall meetingsjwere resumed in October. I91S. at which meeting, we had Mr. John Higgins, at that time President of the New England Safety Council, in which he spoke of the necessity for each local
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Eighth Safety Congress
Council working out its~bwn plans under the supervision of the National Safety Council the same* way the local draft boards handle their work: under the Provost Marshal Organization.
Since then, regular monthly luncheon meetings have been held on the first Monday of each month, at one of the local hotels, and these meetings have averaged between twenty-five, and thirty members at each meeting.
One of our general meetings was held at Fitchburg, following which a trip was taken through the plant of the Simonds Manufacturing Company, where many interesting filings were observed in the manufacture of saws.
The last meeting of the season was held on a lake at Webster, where we had a shore dinner aiid general good time. Previous to the meeting, a trip was taken to the plant of the S. Slater & Sons, Inc.
It was planned to have such trips during each year, in order that the members may become better acquainted and to lighten tip the serious sides of accident prevention.
In order that every one, could get the most good out of the local Council, we organized a round-table group to make a study of definite types of hazards. Each group has a chairman and hold meetings once a month, reporting the results ojLtliese meetings at the general meetings. The groups are divided as follows:
1. Eye arid Safe Clothing Section
2. Machine Tool Section 3. Wood-working Section I. Power Transmission and Electrical Hazards r>. Foundry Section. -7G. Construction Section By having these various sections, we get away from generalities and' each member can attend the groups in which he is interested.
We have also formed the Consulting Engineers' Committee, who may be called on by any interested concern in Worcester County for advice of any kind on safety, andTwho are prepared to make an inspection for any concern and recommend guards wherever necessary.
Several of our members have had evening safety meetings for their own employees, with very satisfactory results, the attendance of some of them having been as large as five hundred.
The bocal Council itself, held a Foremen's Safety meeting during the Winter, at which MV. ft-j^M. Little gave a very interesting address.
Our plans for the corning season are to colbct accident data from each of the concerns every month and to compile this data, returning to them
a comparison of their own lost time accidents with the average for the whole county. We consider that this will enable us to have some definite figures to show prospective members, and will also cause a little competi tion among ouv members .to decrease their accidents below the average.
On the whole, the activities of the Worcester County Local are well on the way toward makingan alive Council and a benefit to all the members and to the community.--
Safety Bulletin Luncheon
ROUND-TABLE DISCUSSION
Friday, October 3, 1919
FRED M. ROSSELAND, Chairman Safety Engineer,^National Safety Council, Chicago
THIS luncheon round-table meeting was arranged for the purpose of discussing some of the ^essential features of a good, safety bulletin, and suggesting improvements in the bulletin service of the National Safety Council. About 100 delegates attended. The discussion was spirit ed and interesting, and was limited in its extent only by the necessity of adjourning to avoid conflicth the general sessioii in the afternoon.
SIZE OF BtJLT.ETINS
The Chairman described _fhe Council's present practice of issuing, in the general series, one large-bulletin (IT by 22 inches) every alternate week, and on the other weeks three small bulletins (SI* by 11 inches), with an occasional double-size bulletin (11 by 17 inches) where necessary. The sectional bulletins are practically all of the small size.
In the discussion which followed, it was generally agreed that bulletins of different sizes are desirable because they help to prevent the bulletin board from looking always ^tlie same. When a vote was taken, it ap peared that two of the menjresent were limited to small bulletin boards which would take only the rsmall-size bulletin. One other expressed his dissatisfaction with receiving a large bulletin every two weeks. All the others present indicated, their approval of the present policy.
TEXT VS. ILmSTKATIOXS
This, the Chairman stated, is a never-ending question. The Council endeavors to use Illustrations as much as possible, but a certain amount of text seems to be necessary, and in some cases quite a little text is needed to make the bulletin intelligible. It is very seldom that the Council issues a bulletin consisting entirely of text, and in such cases the number of words is as few as possible.
In the discussion of tliis_matter, several speakers remarked that, in spite of what the Chairman" had said, they thought many of the Coun-
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Eighth, Safety Congress
cil's bulletins still contained too xnucb text. Such a bulletin does not command attention unless^ it is signed by the company. It is ail right for a company to issue typewritten or printed bulletins consisting largely or entirely of text, overrits own name; but National Safety Council bulletins, which cannot be signed by the company, must consist almost entirely of illustrations in order to hold the attention ot the workmen. A series of pictures is better than an explanation in words.
The Health bulletins in;particular should be illustrated wherever pos sible, rather than consisting entirely of text, as they now do In most
cases.
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The meeting voted almost unanimously that the amount of text on Na
tional Safety Council bulletins should be still further decreased below the
present practice.
=
OKEWSOM.E BULLETINS
The Chairman stated : that every little while the Council receives a
criticism from some member, on the grewsome bulletins which are Issued
occasionally. To such a ^criticism the Council always replies that while
such bulletins are admitted to be unsuitable -for posting In a department
where there is no great hazard and where only women are employed, and
perhaps likewise in sonjr other departments, most of our membership
find an occasional bulletin of this sort very helpful and we therefore con
tinue to issue them.
^_
One member present stated that he had made a special effort to ascer
tain the opinion of tlieryvorkmen themselves, on this matter. In 126
shops which lie visited he received an unfavorable comment in only thir
teen eases.
Other speakers agreed that bulletins of this type, if properly prepared
and issued not too often, are a powerful means of attracting the attention
of workmen who are not moved by any other sort of appeal. The meeting
expressed its agreement with this view of the matter.
HUMOROUS OR CARTOON BULLETINS
The Council has received some criticism, the Chairman said, because of the occasional humorous or cartoon bulletins that have been issued re cently. It is said that Safety is a serious subject which should be treated in a serious manner.
In this discussion is appeared that some of those present agreed with the criticism just mentioned. Others, however, emphasized the fact that the average man will look at a cartoon where he will not look at any thing else: bulletins of this type attract attention and add variety to the bulletin board. When a vote was taken, a large majority of those present favored a continuation of the Council's present practice of issuing occa sionally--not too often--a bulletin of this type, provided always that the bulletin is so designed that it will not appear to ridicule or make light of the Safety idea^f^"
A., B, G Session
October 2, 1919
PHILIP STREMMEL, Chairman
Superintendent, Hot Mills, National Enameling and Stamping Company, Granite City, 111.
HAIRMAN STREMAIEL: J attribute largely our success of the school for Safety Supervisors in St. Louis last year (which you all know
was the largest class in the United States) to the fact that we started promptly at the stated time and finished, irrespective of how interesting the meeting was, at the closing time. We never permitted ourselves to go a minute over the time. What was the result? The men knew what to expect- The men knew that we would start on time and they were there, and they knew they would get out on time, and therefore we never permitted our meetings to dx'ag, and they were full of life.
As you know, this is an A, B, C session, and it is primarily for safety engineers and safety supervisors. To my mind the safety engineer and the safety inspector are the two vital men for safety in the plant. And so I am glad to see this splendid representation of men here this morn ing who have come to listen t<rmen who have had experience along these various lines. It now gives me pleasure to introduce to you Mr. C. B. Hayward.
Mr. Hayward: In taking up this subject I want to have you note par ticularly that it is the essentials of the safety organization and not the details that this talk is going to cover.
C. B. Hayward, District SaeEIv Mawager, Liberty MoTCAt. Ixsobaxce Company; Philadelphia, Pa.
When it comes to laying out and putting Into action for practical op eration, an organization the ^purpose of which is the reduction of acci dents through the elimination"of existing hazards, and the bettering of working conditions, in a plant, the problem involves executive, adminis-
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Eighi/i Safety Congress
trative, and practical ability, not different from that *b<WJi i# otitoer
productive channels. The development of this work and the
mQd
forth in this specific pbaseygf Industrial Relations, provide
iaiere*t
and an outlet for the energy of every man following this* twanrh of en
gineering science. It is taken for granted that he has had tber proper
training for understanding the possibilities of this industrial
esstty,
INITIATIVE, TRAINTNO, ANI) liOOIl JCDCMEXT ItKorlSt.H
The same quality of initiative, training, and good sense or judgment are required in the handling o_n. Safety Organization as in any of the vari
ous other departments of a plant. The directing of safety activities, mak
ing it a result-getter, is noTSOft job. The fruits of your labor are abso- lutely what you make them, and hard work only will bring you success. Safety Engineering is most"important to the industry that employs you,
and calls for the best in man if the best results are to be obtained. Hence, in presenting this^subject before you, let me have your atten
tion to this one fact: Safety work is a man-sized job and the essentials mean much or little according to whether or not you intend to carry the
activity to a successful finish. Know vour work--keep your fingers on the details--keep in touch with what others are doing in other plants-- watch the opportunities and make use of them to keep the work interest
ing and impressive.
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THREE ELEMENTS
There are three elements^ in the essentials of a safety organization which are distinctive in that they ai*e simple and basic in their scope. They form the very foundation of our plan and are not only necessary in the commencement but areigill more important in the continuation of its existence. They are elements of support, analysis, and action.
the: element op support
The successful operation of safety work in any sized plant hinges upon
its director or keeper. IJTfepeat for your benefit this last statement:
The proper functioning of safety engineering activities centers around
the man who is its responsible head. You who are here today are. to all
intents and purposes, the men whom fate has ordained to carry out this
work, making it an asset in your respective plants, and the element of
support, the faith and backing you require, may mean more than you
realize. Let us, therefore,~ analyze what the safety engineer needs in
the way of support hefore^ve go into the details of carrying on the or
ganization.
_;:z
Official Recognition. First, there should be no doubt about which side
of the fence the general manager or head of the plant is playing. He
should feel the responsibility of its success and be an absolute believer
in and follower of safe practices. Furthermore it must he known through
out the factory that the highest official supports the new movement in
all sincerity.
Foremen. Second, the ffiemen or men in charge of men should be let
known by their words and actions that safety is considered hv them as
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289
part of their duty to the employees as well as to the employer. The sup port in this game against chance is of vital importance to the outcome of the Issue.
Employees. Third, the support of the employees must be obtained and maintained through practical and common-sense methods. They will not lean to scientific, theoretical, dreaming practices put to them in a complex manner. Sound judgmgpt with simplicity will reach and keep
them. The first item of these three Is most essential to safety organization
and must be secured by the onerwho is to do the organizing before the work is started. The other twojan and should be obtained soon after ward. I once heard one of the foremost safety men in the country state that once a plant had the first JEwo of these elements of support within its walls, it had its safety organization. Experience has proven that there is a.completed truth in this statment and it will be vouchsafed for by any safety engineer who has been through the mill and won his spurs.
THE E1XMEXT OK ANALYSIS
Taking up the next step in the development of this general plan the element of analysis should be in sequence of importance. The details of the work resulting from anzgnalysis of the efforts to be applied in various lines, make it simple ter understand where the energies of the organization are expended. In .other words, this answers the question. Of what shall our work consist?^ It might be said in a general visualiz ing statement it covers three fundamental and vitally important phases of activity: Supervision, plant Inspection, and safety education. These three subdivisions are in reality the product of our safety department and are applicable to any size of plant whether there be 50 employees or 5.000 employees within its jurisdiction.
Supervision. The first item mentioned, that of supervision, may be car ried on by a general committee eompi-ised of only a few persons in po sitions of authority and meeting^once a month, or may be superintended by a safety engineer and a;corps of assistants who work under the guid ance of a general committee. The personnel of this supervisory board and the time given to the workjat hand should be determined by the size of the industry, the hazard ointhe operations and the number of em ployees. Comparison with industries of similar size and commodity for the market, which have had sofije experience with safe practices, is also a deciding factor in making this activity of economic value to your com pany.
Plartt Inspection. Considering'the second subdivision, inspection of the plant, and referring to supervision methods just mentioned, it is not difficult to see that the same range of operation is also possible under inspection. From weekly or periodical inspection in the smallest indus try. the work may be broadened to daily and constant scrutinizing of working conditions by a full time safety engineering department in the larger plants. It is necessary "in either case to make a study of acci dents that have happened, learn their causes and locations, assist in
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Eighth Safety Congress
construction of guards, etc. These are the details that proportionately
require a greater amount of time as the size of the plant increases.
Safety Education. In taking up item number three of the analysis,
the safety education JnfL employees, it should be understood that in the
actual work done by the safety organization this item is the most im
portant of the activities. Because most accidents are due to careless
ness, the great problem rests with the instruction of employees in safe
practices. The details of this work should be regulated to the size of
the industry as in supervision and inspection. I might take the time
to go over all these details but it is not necessary. The main thing to
remember is that this safety education is an important essential in the
organization.
^
1H.E EI.EMKXT Of ACTION
The element of action is the third and final essential of my outline on the requirements of a successful safety organization. It might be called
sincerity of operations It might be described as carrying out the details to a finish. If you intend to put a safety organization into action, make it a real part of theSplant's existence. This element has that bearing upon the whole plan of making it a live activity or a dead issue. The \ im, pep, or whatever, you wish to call energy, that is shown by the gen eral manager, the safety committee, and the safety engineer must be of such stable quality. tliat interest never lags and the work never gets
stale. The incentivecjo make your plant an ideal one in which to work and one where accidents are not known, should exist ten years from now as well as at the present moment.
coNcrmsioN
In conclusion, the sprain fact I wish to emphasize for your attention is that this presentation; of the subject before you is simple in its funda mentals and inclusive in its outline. The essentials are what you need and what you at thisAime should understand. It is unnecessary to enter Into details for yoU3an cover these through reference to safe practice standards in use throughout the country. You can get much of this in formation from other discussions at this very congress. The object of this discourse is to present to you facts that deal with the building up of a successful safety organization--facts that are self evident and clearly defined. Support you must have; analysis is the basis of engineering; and action is red blooded American determination.
Chairman Strk.m sn-:r.: I think we all agree with the speaker in the closing words of his. paper. I will now call upon the second speaker on the program. Mr^ Fellmer, the Secretary of the Mississippi Valley Division of the IvTatjonal Safety Council, who will speak to us on "The Foreman^--The Determining Factor." I am very sorry to say that Mr. Morris is ill and cannot he with us. He wrote me a letter a week ago
and said `` I am looking forward to my trip to Cleveland when we shall see each other eve . to eye." AVe have had Mr. Morris at our plant on a number of occasions to .speak to our foremen and to our safety com
mittee.
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THE FOREMAN--THE DETERMINING FACTOR
M. L. Felliier, Secretarv. 'Centra*. Mississippi Valley Division,
S .Natioxal Safety Council.
t Louis
The foreman is the keystone^ of the arch of safety in an industrial
plant. Let's first see what a foremans. A foreman has been placed in his
position because he knows the ytbrk to be done in his department, from the practical side. That is one-requirement. The second one is that he has been placed in this position -because a superior officer in the organi zation of the plant realizes that lie is a man who can teach others to do the particular work to be done in that department. , In olden times a foreman was a man who was running around--the old English term Is an "over seer". That terin implies a manwlio watches the other man perform his duties--a sort of a prodder, to kej|P them going. And also in the times of an abundant labor supply the foreman was given a great deal of leeway in the manner of handling the merj, and he very often handled them very much more forcibly than elegantly. He very often handled them by kicking them around and kicking them out at his own sweet pleasure. These times have fortunately passed and tiie foreman is now an entirely different rock in the structure of safety. The best term that I have heard applied to the job of foreman was applied by the United States Shipping Board during the war. They called their foremen "leaders", and that is what a foreman really ought to be. He ought to be the leader of his de partment. He ought to lead his^men, not drive them. That brings us to the point of a foreman being tire making or unmaking of a safety cam paign.
In one of our Round-tables inutile Central Mississippi Valley Division in St. Louis, a young foreman got up, after it had been impressed upon the foremen present just how necessary it was for the foreman to Instruct new men in his department in the specific dangers of their occupation--the young man got! up and stated that he bad not done so in the case of a supposedly^experienced operator of a certain ma chine. ' He had put him to work because the man claimed that he was experienced on that intricate machine, and when the foreman re turned to look after the new man he found him with his hand practi cally severed, by reason of a hazard which was peculiar to that machine and with which this otherwise^pxperienced workman was not familiar. This foreman then declared that thereafter he would never be too busy to Instruct a new man in the particular dangers of bis job.
FOKEMAN M UST WATCH NEW EMPLOYEES
If you were to see a graphic analysis of the accidents of any large concern, as to causes, places inJEIie plant, hours of the day, and term of service of the men involved, yon would find that your line representing men in the employ of the company during the first month 'is the longest of all. This is quite reasonable. When a man comes into a plant, he
2'.)2
Eighth Safety Congress
isn't always of the highest mentality and he is more or less bewildered. Me is over-timid, and the first thing he knows he gets hart-
Then my studies of =_the frequency of accidents in plants prove that after the first month you will find a downward curve In the awnber of Injuries happening to jjew employees, until the first effect of the hart gets worn off. Then a fellow becomes familiar with his sarrotnwiings, familiar with his work, and by about the twelfth or thirteenth month of his employment the curve gradually begins to increase sta. It is a strange thing, hut in "several analyses that I have made of the accident records of large conceuis, I find just that to be a fact.
That increase of the. curve is strictly attributable to the foreman. It is strictly a lack of supervision on the part of the foreman that brings this about. The foreman has a thousand and ` one reasons to be con tinually supervising TUs men in the execution of their duties, but the one reason that very seldom is brought out to the foreman Is a rather selfish reason. The foreman, as far as the department and its output are concerned, is the jgmployer of laborers under him. They are directly amenable to his direction. The efficiency of a foreman and his gang is gauged by the costjLf production in that department, and the cost of production is affected 3y the cost of accidents. So, from a selfish stand point. if the foreman .keeps down the cost of accidents in his department, he naturally proves to. his employer that he is an efficient man because his cost of production is correspondingly low.
A foreman who does not pay attention, to safety is. simply standing in his own light. When a foreman employs a man, or a man is sent to the foreman for employment, no matter how experienced the man is in the work for which he is employed, he has to be taught to do the work of that particular plant in the particular way of that plant in. a manner profitable to that plant. Only then is he a valued employee. Then it devolves upon the foreman to take every new man and break him in to do his work in his^way in a manner profitable to the plant or depart ment.. If he omits safety in the primary education of that man, and the man is hurt, he has to go through the same proceeding again and break in another man. This.increases the cost of production.
-- SAFETY AYI) EFFICIENCY
.Vow there is another tiling: If a foreman does pay due attention to the safety work, the men very soon will think that he is really con cerned about their physical welfare while at work, and they will feel free to come to hinland offer their suggestions as to the betterment of conditions in the department, and it will bring about a better feeling of understanding and confidence between the foreman and his direct charges; and by said, by when safety begins to permeate that little subdivision of the plant, the foreman will find that these men will caution each other against dangers and will produce a very favorable record of accidents. And again, the foreman having brought about that state of affairs in his department, will be free to devote more time to the actual production of his department, thereby further increasing his efficiency
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and putting himself into line cof promotion. So those are the selfish reasons for the foreman to put his shoulder to the wheel and make safe ty an actuality in his department.
Unless a foreman does just these few things, unless he is able to com mand the respect and the confidence of his men.toward the safety or ganization, you may have the Jdggest prizes, you may have anything that you can schedule, and your safety organization is going to be a fluke. The foreman, as our esteemed .Chairman has said, is the "keyman" of the situation. He is the man about whom the entire organization of an^ plant revolves, though his position in the organization may be a subordi nate one. By reason of his direct contact with the men and his posi tion as a transmitter of the wishes of the men to the management, he
stands right at the keystone or the arch. He is the keyman. If yon
take him out of any organization, your organization is bound to fall in efficiency and in safety.
Ckaikma.v Stkkmaiki.: There is no doubt about it, gentlemen, the fore man is the determining factor. The foreman today fills the most im portant position in the plant. AVhy? Because he is the personal rep resentative of the management.^He is the salesman who is selling the ideas of the institution to the men. The men have a conception of the institution to the extent that the foreman imparts the knowledge of the same to them, and therefore there is no question but that the foreman is the determining factor in any manufacturing establishment. It gives me great pleasure to introduce 3he next speaker, a man who was one of our lecturers last year in our school of Safety Supervisors in St. Louis, a man who gave us a very interesting message, Mr. W. R. Rasmussen.
.METHODS OF PROTESTING- SAFETY EDUCATION IX A PLANT
\V. R. Rasmusse.v, Regional FiTEEd Secretary, Natioxai. Safety Council
During the year and two months I was in. the Pittsburgh District and. in the six months that I have been out as Regional Field Secretary for the 'Katiouai. Safety Council, t have visited approximately 1,500 plants, and the most surprising thing to me during that year and eight months has been to see how few organizations really get the maximum results from bulletin boards. Why do-we put up bulletins? I would ask you this question*. Why does a commercial house advertise? I think we have it right there.
You know that practically every large concern, whether large or small, spends a great deal of money for advertising. We can't pick tip a daily newspaper, a magazine, or a periodical of any kind but we see 'some very high class advertising. Fattended a meeting of advertising men a short time ago at which one^gentleman stated that there were more brains put Into the advertising game than any other profession known.
Now if it is good business for the commercial man to advertise--and I think It has been proven that it is--why isn't it good business for the
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^Eighth Safety Cotigress
safety engineer to advertise? You have something to sell. You can't lay your merchandise op the table as the commercial man can, but you can lay your idea on the table--and how are you going to get them across with the great mass? ^Simply through advertising, and your advertising medium is your bulletin board.
KKi:r uvi-i-KTiN boards attractive
IE you were a commercial man and you expected to derive real bene
fits from your advertising you wouldn't write a half page advertisement, hand it over to the newspaper, and let them run it indefinitely. You
are paying big money for that space and you would want to utilize it and
get as many messagesracross as you possibly could. You would be very careful as to the location of that advertisement. You wouldn't want it
in some place where nobody would see it. Why does not the same thing apply in. advertising safety in our plant? I met a young man about two
weeks ago on the Pacific Coast, and as I walked into his plant I noticed an old dirty wall, full of smoke and grease. There were a lot of old dirty bulletins on the wall.__Some of them were torn, and it looked to me as though they had been_up there for a year. I said to him. "Why don't
you get some real bulletin boards, something that will attract the peo
ple?" He replied, "They don't read them anyhow; they don't pay any attention to them. Anyway I am only trying to reach workmen." That
was amusing. Could you expect any self-respecting man to go up and read an old, dirty, torn bulletin? When he said that he was only trying
to reach, the workmen^ I wondered whom these high priced advertise
ments are trying to reach. We are trying to reach the same men. What is the best method of using bulletin boards? I should say to
have a really active bulletin board, something that will appeal to the men. Usually the best color for a bulletin board is our safety color. I
would have it painted green on the outside. I would have it glass cov ered. I would have Aright at the top so that it would shine down and the bulletins would standout. I would have the inside of the board in
white, and I would have a removable back so that I could have different
material on each bulletin hoard, which I could take from one to the other and keep on down, the line until I had changed them all.
How often should these he changed? I should say at least once a
week; oftener if youZean, but at least once a week. The reason men
don't read bulletins inmlants is because they become an old story. There
is nothing there thatris- interesting to them. They have probably read
them once, hut that is^all. The boards have gotten dirty, and the men
are used to seeing tile same old thing there and hardly know that it Is
there.
_
WIIAT TO POT OX IlUr.tKTIX BOARDS
What shall we put in the bulletin boards? Of course we all get the National Safety CouiSJlJl bulletins. We want to put them in. but. that' is not enough. You have got to have .something local, something about your own plant interesting to your riien--for instance, bad tools that you find. Put them in"the bulletin board, and tell the story about where
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you. found them and what was liable to happen their use had been continued. Very often you have broken goggles. Put them in the bulletin- board and tell the story- Tell whose eye was saved l>y that
pair of goggles. A short time ago 1 was in a plant and saw an old, run-down wheel
barrow--as dangerous as anything could be. It was standing underneath the bulletin board, and the story was pasted inside of it, where It had been found and all about it. That was the first time I ever saw a wheel barrow used as a bulletin, but it was mighty good material.
Very often you find an article In the newspapers describing some acci dent that has occurred In a neighboring plant, or perhaps a plant at some distance, but something that might occur in your plant. Paste it on a large sheet of paper and draw an arrow pointing to it and let the men go up and read it.
This kind of bulletin boards is not the only kind. I have found that, a great deal of good can be derived from blackboards and chalk. These also must be kept very much alive. You can tell stories of different things that happen in the plant, not only safety but other things that you would like to have the men know. For instance, if a man is sick, ask somebody in that department to go to see him, put his name and address on the board. Put on the hoard the number of accidents you had the same week a year ago and try to beat the record. If you can't find anything else, there are a lot of safety slogans^ Use them'--they are good.
WlfKItK SIIQIU.I) THKY 15I-: Pl.ACKU?
Where should bulletin boards he placed? There is another thing
that a great many organizations get away from. I have seen more bul
letin boards at the front gate than anywhere else. They put them there, and when a man- is going out hr coming in he is usually in a hurry to
get to his work or to get home, consequently he never sees what is on
that bulletin board, unless it is something that can he seen at a glance.
I would say, place the bulletin board right where lie is working. True,
lie-does not read it every time^he passes there, but every time he looks
up it is a reminder. These men don't get hurt on purpose. They get
hurt because they forget, and if you have that bulletin where, whenever
they look up, they will see it. it. will remind them to be careful.
I find an honor rolla veryTgood thing. Start the first of the year
and put up the names of all the departments in the plant with a sign
something like this, "These departments have gone so far this year
without an accident." When they have an accident draw a black line
through the name of that department, not heavy enoughso that you
can't tell what department it Is, to show that it is a disgrace, that they
have had an accident. You will be surprised how bard those men will
work to keep their department .on the honor roll.
In getting men to wear goggles I have found this;a good illustration
to them. Take two glass eyesand put them on a small bulletin board,
with a pair of goggles, and this slogan, "WThich would you rather wear--
these or these?"
^
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Eighth Safety Congress
5THE "lUHTIKST ri.ACti" SH .V
Every organization has more or less trouble in keeping the plant
clean. I believe theibest method that has been tried is a sign about
twelve feet long, about one foot wide, stood up on two horses with these
words on it, "This Is the dirtiest place in the plant." Whenever you
find a dirty place, have the sign put there, but it isn't the safety engi
neer's job to put it there, (daughter.) Have a committee, which will
be appointed through one of your Safety Committees, and call it the
"JDirty Plant Committee," or some similar name. You can occasionally
go around and tell them about some dirty place that you saw, but let
them place the sign,because you don't want to get in bad.
The whole proposition of bulletin boards is to keep up the men's in
terest. It isn't only^Ihe bulletins that you put on tbe bulletin board,
but it is various ideas that you can get hold of that will get enthusiasm
into the men. For instance. I saw this used, bung right over the front
gate as the men went into the plant, "We have gone so many days with
out an accident." The number of days was changed each morning. If
they forgot to change the number of days there would be somebody in
the Safety Office asking them what had happened.
Another thing is jlbig target at the front gate, with rings around,
each ring representing an accident. A block of wood painted red is a
good color because that designates danger. If you have one accident put
it in ring No. J. If ytEU have two. put it in ring No. 2 so that the men can
see that somebody grot hurt. The meri want to know all about It, and
tlu- secret of your success is to get the men talking about it.
In getting out a bulletin to the foremen this has been a good method.
Take all the foremen in your plant and make a list of them, then the number of men each foreman has, the number of hours those men
have worked, the number of accidents each one lias had, the number of
days' loss each one^has had and the percentage of lost time. Put the
best man on top and the poorest man down at the bottom. Hand one
of those to the foreman every month. let him see where he stands and
you will he surprised to see how the man at the bottom will get up to
the top next month.__That shows whether the foreman can prevent acci
dents or not.
~
I think y-m have ah idea of bulletin boards--that it is advertising, ad
vertising surety in vgur plants. C.et the best methods that you can possi
bly think of, put it"Bn the basis of advertising, and I am sure you will
get it across.
-
Cii.mkman Stkk.msn-:i.: The statement made by our speaker that more
brains are put intoardvertising than any other line of business was a re
markable statemenedo me. and it proves to me that we are living in an
age when educationzls the foreword, and we realize more and more as we
go along the value M education. Those who are leading the forces of un
rest today have realized that for some, time and they have used it to a
great advantage in the form of propaganda, education, and that is what
tlie safety movement has to be largely a matter of education, a matter
of advertising.
n-
.{, If, C tfr&sit/n
297
Tr again gives me great pleasure to introduce our next speaker who was also one of onr lecturers before our school last winter at St. Louis. This speaker gave ns the closing message of our school year, anrl it was agreed by all who attended our school that he was the speaker.of the sea
son. Tt gives me great pleasure to introduce to you Mr. John A. Oartel.
" g Tap1 -ww---- "m. *<-- _ _i J>''" --
1
\VORKMKN*S INSPECTION COMMITTEES
J>h>- A. Oawti., Cititr, S\m-:ty Bi-ekau. C'akxkgik Stkki. Comi'a.vv, PrrrsrrT'Rnit, Pa.
In discussing the subject of__Workmen's Inspection Committees, I shall treat it under two heads--"The Man" and "The Job." We hear a great deal today about, selecting the man for the job. Why not do so in our safety work, which surely ranks in importance with any work that is being carried on in the world today? What type of man should we have to serve on workmen's inspection committees?
rllK MAN
IntfttUtt-nt mrn-. In using the words "intelligent men," I do not mean men wiTh the training of the schools or anything of that nature. I mean men who are at least fairly familiar with the safety work, with the process or operation which theyTare called on to inspect, and with the hazards incident to that operation or process. A mistake that has been made In the past has been that vehave not lined up men with the big idea of safety l have known men inythe mill in the old days--steel blowers, open hearth metiers. and rollers---who atwotiitey refused to Impart any information along their particular line to a beginner. They feared if they did so that after a time fhe beginner would learn all about the
process and they themselves- might be- displaced. They were afraid of their jofc**. f r were rafted upon to appoint workmen's inspection com mittees. the very firs? thing should do would be to- call the committee together in a meeting and impress upon them the bigness of their job. I should get the best safety enthusiasts I could, lined p to come and talk to them--men like f. W.JTPrice. K M. Little, and A. H. YoungI .should have that speaker teltrthem that they are about to engage in Tlgbt\ hig undertaking, an less a task than the saving of human life. The next thing T should do would be to instruct these committees thormiEbb in alt the hazards pertaining to rhe particular operations of their department. Blow do we go about ir now. in most cases? A letter is sent from rhe office to the foreman appointing John Smith. Tom Jones, and Sam Brown, on the Workmen's Inspection Committee for the next six months. Is it any wonder that their work is slipshod and ineffectual?
J/oit t.f rtcxrrj t'frmtnnn .tcM-tc. =t"nder this heading l want to include a number of qualities which I have nor the time to discuss In detail. They should be men of tact and discernment and should understand human nature. They should have the courage of their convictions, as
0
29S
Eighth Safety Congress
they may sometimesibe called upon to take issue with those Xn authority. They should be men of likable dispositions and broad sympathies, who have the power to draw out other men. They should also be of a me chanical turn of minch if possible, as they may sometimes be called upon to devise safeguards^ where they are needed. lit this short summary, you may think that Ilhave perhaps set the ideal too high--that the type of man I have described does not exist in the ranks of Industry. If you should make thaL statement, it would be only partly true. As long as we do not set up^hiSh. ideals that call for the best there Is in a man, just so long will our work and attainments be mediocre and we shall fail to accomplish deep tend lasting results.
- THE JOB
The work of inspection committees, in my opinion, should follow two
general lines, namely, inspection for mechanical hazards and for danger
ous practices.
-7
iliceTtcmicril 7igzurils, The safety movement has already borne much fruit
in the way of engineering revision, but perfection has not yet been
attained, and a great many accidents are still caused by Improper con
struction and lack of safeguards. We cannot hope to expect much sug
gestion in engineering improvement from the workmen's inspection, com
mittees, unless suclLglaring conditions exist that they should be appar
ent to everyone. We can. however, expect much from inspection com
mittees in the way of correcting dangerous processes that do not require
the services of a trained engineer. Some of the best safeguards that I
have ever seen and that have by their installation protected certain very hazardous processes-have been devised and developed by ordinary work
ingmen. If we take our workmen entirely into our confidence they will
surely come along with suggestions for safeguarding that will he benefi
cial alike to employer and employee.
Dangerous practices. We learn from our study of accident statistics
that accidents occutl to new men In the ratio of six to one. Here then
is work for the inspection committees. I do not desire to Intimate that
the entire instruction of new employees in Safety should be left to the
inspection committee. Not at all. That is the foreman's duty. The
foreman who today; does not take every new employee, or delegate the
duty to someone ^ejse who is trustworthy--the foreman who fails to
instruct every new employee in the hazards of his position. Is no longer
fit. to he foreman. ^He may lie good at getting out production, but unless
he conserves the lives and limbs of his workmen he is a liability instead
of an asset to bis nn..ipany. I think, however after the foreman has done
his full duty to the new employee in the way or instruction, there still
remains a great tieal that can be done by the workmen's inspection
committee. What more efficient work, what nobler work, can be done
by the workmeninspection committee. I ask you. than to prevent the
accident? This caii be done very effectively by the committee taking
charge of the newsman and "mothering'' him for a certain length of time
until he learns the_job thoroughly and is familiar with every hazard and
A, 7?, C Session
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dangerous practice. I would Jike to see a demonstration of this plan in
a plant that has a high accident rate. In a plant of this nature, the
committee would take charge and watch the new employee so closely
that he could not make a false move of any kind. If this could be done,
I am sure it would result in a reduction of accidents.
When we have done our duty to the itew employee, our work is only
partly done. There still remains the old timer, who because of his famil
iarity with the process, becomes careless and thoughtless. I have known
men of this type who disregard all safety rules. They are a law unto
themselves. They persist in baking a chance. They perform their work
in a way that results in accidents to themselves and their fellow work
men. They generally do this in the absence of the foreman. He does
not hear of it until an accident has occurred. There is a certain hesi
tancy on the part of all workmen in reporting practices of this nature to
ttje foreman, but a practice like this if persisted in will undermine and
wreck everything that has been done in safety education In that par
ticular shop. Here is your proposition--whether to allow a man of this
type to run wild and wreck your entire organization or to report him to
headquarters as yoxx would a man who is running wild on the streets
shooting up the town. Workmen's inspection . committees may solve
some of these problems by reporting such men to the foreman or superin
tendent. By advice--by admonition--by even holding a man up to ridi
cule before his fellow workmen, a man who engages in dangerous prac
tices may be made to see tlie^rror of his ways and turned from them.
I shall now outline briefly! some of the ways in which some of the
large companies carry on the work of their workmen's inspection com
mittees.
^
CAMIiKIA STKKI. COMI'A.VV
"In our plant we have nineteen safety committees composed of three men each, and their instructions are to make a thorough inspection of their department at least onfie a month and send us a written report. Their duties in addition to this consist of making an investigation of all serious accidents and spreading the safety spirit throughout their de partment all the time. AftefT each committee makes its report we liava an inspector go otit from onf_offlce, look up the various items, and have orders placed at once to have^them rectified. In some cases items found have already been ordered. TM
"These committees change every two months and consist of foremen and sub-foremen as a rule. Some of them do splendid worK, but as you know, we cannot always pickTJust the kind of men we would like to have in this work. These men are chosen and appointed by their own super
intendents who notify us of their appointments. At the close of this two months' period- we award a $1.0.00 prize to each committeeman whose de partment accident percentage shows improvement over the previous twelve months. ,The committee having the highest average improvement are awarded a grand prize -cH $20.00 each. We find this cash award a great incentive for our men to carry on their safety work."
300
Kiahth Safety Congress
A M KIRI CAN STI-KL A X U WIKK COJIMN'Y
"The workmen's inspection committees that we have been using in our plants in the past are known as Mill Safety Committees, and are composed entirely ofjank and file workmen. The committee generally consists of three members, who serve from one to three months, one man being kept on from tie previous month to act as chairman of the com mittee. Members of these committees are chosen by their respective fore men. the Chairman of the Permanent Committee designating the fore men who are to appoint a member of the committee each month. These men are picked fronvithe better class of workmen, those who are wide awake and familiar with the operations of the plant. The membership is not restricted to English speaking workmen, however, at least one for eign-speaking workman being placed on each committee.
"This committee makes an inspection of the plant once a week, and renders a report toiihe Chairman of the Permanent Safety Committee. These men are encouraged to observe and report any unsafe practices, as well as hazardous places and defective eqttipment.
"Each member of the Mill Committee is given a safety button when he is placed on the committee, which he is permitted to keep after he has been discharged from^ the active committee. This button indicates that he has served on the_conrmittee, and when he is discharged from the ac tive committee, he is instructed to consider himself still a member of the safety committee andjto do all in his power to promote safety in the mill.
"We have found these committees to be a very valuable asset in our
safety work, and have received many useful suggestions from them.
"We are at the present time changing our organization and substituting
departmental committees for the mill safety committee. There will be
one of these committees to each department of the mill. The committee
consists pf the shop or department head as chairman, and from three to
five workmen. The^Shenibership of this committee should represent, in
so far as practicable, the various occupations in the department. The
chairman should be permanent, hut there should be a rotation of the
remainder of the membership, the service of each member covering not
more than three months.
"It is the chief duty of these committees to make safer and better working conditions for the employees in their department.
"They make a study of the general conditions, departmental and occu
pational hazards and practices, and endeavor to encourage the coopera
tion of other workmen in reporting promptly for correction any existing
unsafe conditions, practices, or hazards through which personal injury
may result.
--
"These commit.teesrmeet at least monthly with their chairman, for the
purpose of making i formal inspection of the department, or inter-de
partment inspections, review accidents, suggest remedies, physical or
operating, and they^render a full report of the meeting with their recom
mendations to the Chairman of the General Safety Committee."
A, B. C Session
HOI
BKTHI.KHKSI STEKT. COMl'ANV
"The safety committee organization comprises four divisions or classes, three of these divisions being ^composed of qualified Safety Committee
men. "1. The Permanent Safety Committeeman--One in each department,
who has charge of all first aid and safety committee work there, and is responsible for first aid equipment, safety bulletin boards,, and the dis tribution of safety literature throughout his department. He makes writ ten reports of accident investigations in his shop. He is under the super vision of the Division Safety Inspector, and is compensated at the rate of $5 per month, for the detailedlattention he gives this work in addition to his regular shop duties. --==
"2. The Departmental TeantSz--Taking a course in First Aid and Ac cident Prevention, and who qualify for this work by completing the course with the Annual First Aid Meet.
"3. The Active Safety Committeemen--This group assumes their duties upon completion of the eourse,aBnd serve for one year, or until the next First Aid Meet. In company jwith the permanent safety committeeman they make an inspection of the shop once a month.
"4. The General Safety Oovinfitteemen (Once a Committeeman, always a Committeeman)--Those who have served for one year as active com mitteemen. This group are the^ auxiliaries of the active committees, but do not make the monthly inspection of the departments.
'Instruction of Safety Committeemen and Training in Accident Preven tion--You cannot qualify a man. for Safety Committee work over night, safety committeemen are not born that way. A man may be naturally careful and prevent accidents to himself, hut he must be trained in acci dent prevention if we expect him to look out for the other fellow'. Neither can we expect long service in the shop to qualify a man for accident prevention work. Very often he has grown so familiar with the danger that he does not see it for himself, much less point it out to his fellow worker. Men must be trained to see the causes of accidents and nearaccidents in order to prevent them. Such training must come rrom a de tailed study of the unsafe practices and hazards of a particular- depart ment. Safe practices covering the various operations are dwrelt upon. Departmental accident statistics and accident investigation reports ate used. Photographs and prints showing accident causes, help in the work. Current literature is ^quoted on the subject under discussion, and interebange of ideas encouraged. Much stress is placed upon the attitude and spirit of the committeemen in approaching a fellow worker on accident prevention work, realizing that accident prevention through education is a persuasive proposition rather than a command. A part of each first aid instruction period is devoted to this work.
"Safety Committee Activities--The safety committee organization is the natural agency for all human relations work in the plant, and the effectiveness of this organization can be largely measured by the degree to which it participates in plant human relation activities. The recent I.iberty Loan Campaign in the Bethlehem plants, and in the subsidiary
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Eighth Safety Congress
plants of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, was conducted by the Safety and Welfare Department. Twelve hundred of the fifteen hundred sellers at Bethlehem were mSnbers of the safety organization.
"Night school education, athletics, recreational centers, the injured, the sick, the unfortunate,~all plant activities of the human element are with in the realm of the safety organization. If the problem of the employer and employee is to be solved finally, the solution should naturally come through the medium of such a democratic organization trained to be con
siderate and helpful to the other. "A study of the accident statistics at Bethlehem covering the last'
three years of the unorganized accident prevention period, 1911-12-13, as compared with results of organized work covering the period, 1914-1510. shows an Accident- reduction as follows:
"i-ost eyes ..........------------------------------Amputations .....--................................. FUtal ........................ ..................................
Average reductioiyfor all causes
..33.65 per cent ..41.5 per cent .10 per cent
,.2S.3 per cent
"This reduction despite the fact that accident causes were many times increased due to War prortuctional activities."
CAllXECIK STEEt, COMPANY
In our own company, we have inspection and safety committees com posed of both foremen and workmen. At each plant there is a general or central safety committee, composed of department superintendents and assistant department superintendents. The superintendent of the plant, or his assistants is chairman of this committee. In each depart ment, there is a committee composed of the foremen of the departments. The department superintendent or his assistant, is chairman of this com mittee. In each sect ion of the department, is a committee composed of workmen, with the foreman as chairman. The committees composed Of superintendents and foremen are permanent; those of workmen serving for a period of slv months. The duties of the workmen's committees are to have jurisdiction over the section in which they are employed. They are required to inspect for both mechanical hazards and dangerous prac tices. There is a very t~Irr-r* connect ion and cooperation running through the entire membership of tbes? organizations. The matters discussed by the general safety committer- of the plant are handed down to and discussed by the department committees, and by them, to the workmen's committees. All r<-corjro>*<i*ti<m* from the workmen's committees are referred to the detsrt>e*t i-ommitter. and if necessary, to the general safety committee f the pWm for approval. We find that this system of safety organization sSVrr c<xd rmU. The superintendents and foremen form the backlxme of the orwanization. They assume the responsibility, outline all polirb-r. and djr-ct The work. The workmen have their part in inspecting and l<>i.int after their own little corner.
How thoroughly should ^.Tant be organized? Some statistics that I have gathered along fhi* Une may be interesting. I have found that a
A, B, C Session
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comparison of eleven plants of the same company showed that the plant
that had the most men on safety committees in proportion to the force, had the' best accident record. The proportion ranged from one safety
man to every thirteen employees, to one safety man to every* one hundred
seventy-three employees. The plant having one safety man to every thir teen employees has maintained the best safety record in the company
for four years. The other plant is near* the bottom of the list. Von may draw your own conclusions. To sum it all up, the same things that bring
success in any field of-endeavor^will bring success in accident prevention. These things are--organization; leadership, energy, tact and last but not
least, good horse sense.
3ZL.
Chairman Stbemmel: I wffiat to say a word about the man who just
read this most interesting pager- It shows what the safety game will
do for a man when he once becomes interested in it. Mr. Oartel today
is Director of Safety for the Carnegie Steel Company which employs
something like 50.000 men. This man entered this plant, as I under
stand it. became interested in safety, and in order that he might know
more about It and come in close contact with it, accepted a position at
-a reduced salary the being a married man with a family) in order to get
his start in the safety garnered today he is holding a very responsible
position. It shows what the safety movement is doing for many, many
men. I could tell you this morning a number of cases where young men
have gone into safety work because they were interested and had a vision
of the possibilities of it, and today have gone out holding responsible po
sitions in various industries at splendid salaries.
For instance, one young man five years ago was a time-keeper in one
Of the steel plants working at ?65 a month. ' Today he is holding a re
sponsible position in the safety field, receiving ?4,000 a year and travel
ing expenses. So there are any number of men whom I could tell you
about, just like this one individual, who have had a vision of the possi
bilities of this safety work, who are giving it their time, thought, and
attention, and are going into the work and are making a success of it
Now it gives me pleasure to introduce the next speaker, who was also one of our lecturers in our school last year and gave ns- a most interest
ing message at that time.--Mr. Sidney .T. Williams.
the fundamental, prixcipees of safeguarding
J.Sidney
Wit-mams, Secretary and Chief Engineer, National, Safety
Council,, Chicago
The first half of our subject is--what shall 1 guard? The second half is--how shall I guard it?
If you want your plant to'he 100 per cent safe, the answer to the first Question is--guard every moving part, wherever located, on which a work man might be injured if he came in contact with it in any way or from any cause whatsoever. If the moving part, is in a place "where" nobody ever goes," remember that some one is likely to go there sooner or later, in connection with the repair or maintenance or alteration of the ma-
;$04
'Eighth Safely Congress
eliinery itself or of the building:, or for some other reason which you can not anticipate. You probably have heard the classic story--a perfectly true story--of the man whose heel was cut off by an unguarded gear 14 inches below the ceiling- The man was standing on a scaffold, working on another shaft nearby! to brace himself he placed his foot against the shaft on which the unguarded gear was located, his foot slipped, and was caught in the gear. Many similar examples could be quoted of acci dents occurring in out-of-the-way places. Recognizing this fact, the Illi nois Steel Company rule book--to mention only one example--requires that all gears, wherever located, must be enclosed.
Yon may be puzzled by attempting to apply this principle to the guard ing of overhead shafting^&nd belts. Many shops contain miles of over head shafting which it is almost a physical impossibility to guard. On
the other hand, oilers and repairmen are frequently injured, sometimes fatally, on unguarded overhead shafting or belts. The only solution is. if the shafting positively cannot be guarded, to prohibit absolutely any work on such overhead transmission while it is in motion. Repair work, shortening of belts, etc.,-can be done during the noon hour or at night: oiling likewise--or betterZBtill. install automatic oilers, or oilers which can he filled from the floor: by using a special oil can with a long spout. For detuils. see the National Safety Council's Safe Practices pamphlet on this subject.
A gear or belt or other dangerous moving part which happens to be located below a table, oc_in some other place where It is partially hid
den. is not thereby madeZsafe. Someone occasionally must reach under the table to sweep or repair the floor, or to oil or repair the machine. Someone may slip or stuflTble so that liis arm comes in contact with a gear or belt which would be safe for the workman standing In his nor mal position. The immigrant totally Ignorant of machinery--and it is
hard for us to realize the completeness of the ignorance on this subject,
on the part of foreignera~brought up in farming districts--may delib erately put his hand or his finger into an opening that looks interest ing. just to see what it is. If he finds that "it" is an unguarded gear, it is easy to say that the^accident is his own fault--but that does not relieve our obligation to pay his compensation nor does it restore him to his vacant place in the gang.
What I have said of gears and belts applies equally well to any mov
ing part on which a man "might be injured--counterweights, cranks, re ciprocating parts such as ar planer bed. and so on: also, of course, to the operating point of machines.
CHAHACTKKlSTrc.S OK AX RKKICIENT GUAIjn
The second half of the-"problem is--as already stated--"How shall I guard it?" Here are a fevv points to remember:
1--A safeguard should he so designed and constructed that it will pre vent AI.T-i accidents on the part guarded--not only accidents to the op erator while at his regular work, but also to the operator or passers-by in case they slip or fall or carelessly touch the machine.
A., ii. C Session
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2-- The guard should notjnterfere with production. ff it does, it is
liable to be taken off. In designing a guard it is generally wise to con
sult the biah who will uSe^it.
3-- lit general, the guard should be attached to the machine and not to
the floor; if attached to the floor, use a connection which wilt interfere
as little as possible with sweeping. 4-- The guarded part must be easily accessible for oiling, inspection,
and repair. The door or removable section provided for this purpose
should be hinged or otherwise attached to the remainder of the guard,
or to the machine. If not, it Is likely to be left off permanently.
o--The guard should not interfere with cleaning and sweeping around the machine. It should, therefore, he kept generally about six inches above the floor.
6-- The guard should be strong enough to resist injury and keep its
shape. A light, flimsy guard soon becomes bent. and is discarded. A substantial guard is' cheaperjin the end.
7-- Incombustible guards rare preferred. Wooden sockets, soaked in oil, may become a serious rflre hazard. Metal guards are neater and wear much better. "Metal guards look as if you wanted to; wooden guards look as if you had to:" Guards may be made of cast iron, sheeL metal, wire mesh, expanded^ or perforated metal, or slats. Where sub jected to acid or fumes, wooden guards may be necessary.
5--It is desirable to interlock the guard with the operating mechanism,
where possible, so the machine cannot be operated unless the guard is in
place.
"
9--A safeguard can often be so designed that it will also serve to pre
vent wear on the parts guarded--for example, a solid gear enclosure. Let us consider the application of these suggestions to the design of
gear guards. Cast iron guards are preferred because they may' be made
to fit more snugly, presentia better appearance, and protect the gears
from dust and injury. In Hhops having similar gears on several ma
chines. the cost of patterns anil cast iron guards will be no greater than
the cost of "built-up" guards^ A cast guard of one machine may be used
as a pattern for making guards for similar machines.
Guards for a variety of Juachines, and in many sizes, may be more
cheaply made of sheet metal.. In large guards, an angle iron Is used
to make the joint between the flat sides and the curved part o the guard.
In smaller guards this joinL.may be made by^ cutting projections (like
saw teeth) on each side piece and bending these over to form a smooth
curve. The joint may then be made either by spot welding or by rivet
ing. Short pieces of angle iron may also be used to form the joint-- about %x%x^-inch angles, jyne inch long, 3 inches or 4 inches apart-
Gears should be completely encased; or where this Is impracticable,
should have a band guard with side flanges extending inward beyond the
root of the teeth. If there I is a spoke hazard, the gear should be com
pletely enclosed, or filled in-between the spokes. Belts, flywheels, shafting.^and large gears are often guarded by an
openwork, rather than a solid enclosure. Such guards should be so de-
a
:!08
Kit/hlh ffrtfrfy CoHf/rrss
the efficiency of the operators The real safety engineer will, where neces sary, study the operation ofTg machine until he understands it as well or better than the operator himself--as well as the foreman, the superin tendent, the master mechanic; and then he will apply their brains and. his own in working out either a guard, or a change in the machine, or a change in the operation, which will remove the underlying hazard and
make the operation intrinsically safe.
DISCUSSION
C'lr.vnt.Man Stkkmmki.: Now we have five minutes for discussion on each subject presented this-morning. We will start with subject No. 1,
"The Essentials of a Safery35rganization."
HI * I .K HOOKS
Mu. Rohin-son i California & Hawaii Sugar Refining Co.} : Is a book of rules desirable for every-Qfganization? We have about l.r.Oft employees.
Crobably about fifty tier cent are foreign born. I would like to know if it is a good policy to try^to introduce a book of. rules for every em ployee, necessitating the printing of that book of rules in different lan
guages? NIjt. NIcDonAi.t> lE. 1. du Pont de Nemours & Co.): We cover that
subject in this fashion, sir^ We make a study of our particular de partment. find its particular hazard. We then go ahead and perfect what
we term "House Rules.- governing that house operation. That is done through our various plant operations and we have found It very suc cessful. When a new niutTRinics into our organization, he is instructed by the foreman in the hazards of his occupation along the lines mapped out in these safety rules.^i
Nik. A. I-- Thompson i K.=I, du Pom de Nemours & Co.): I would like to add to what has been said about safety rules. It has been the practice of many concerns to get too many rules in the book. The fewer rules you have for house rules. The l>etter it will be. A man never reads a
long list, but if you will niake those rules just as short and snappy and few as possible, you will got better results.
Chairman Stick m.min:
Are there any companies represented here
today who offer a reward of any sort to any employee who memorizes
the hook of rules on safety?^
Mis. Thompson: I don't. Snow whether any of the Illinois Steel Com pany men are here or not. but they had a practice when I was with them
some years ago that the men had to staud an examination on the safety rules, and after they stood-the examination they were given a watch fob designating that they knew the rules.
Chairman Strummei.: rDoes anyone present require the members of
the Safety Committee to bezlhoroughly conversant with the book of rules before they are made a member of the Committee?
NIu. Thompson: 1 think all of them do. 1 know the Du Pont Company
A. Tl. C Session
:*on
does. I wouldn't stand for a man on a Safety Committee who doesn't know the book Of rules. AsSMr. McDonald has said, we have house rules in the minority of our plants. Our general rules, of course, govern all plants. We specialize on particular house rules in the exposives de partment and those have to be memorized by the men berore they are ""put on the Safety Committee, otherwise you wouldn't feel that a man was competent to serve on the Committee.
Chairman* STREMMEr.: I know many plants where the men do not know the rules. How many just simply ask your foremen to select men and have them appointed to th&Safety Committee?
i The attitude of the audience indicated that none of them did thls.1 Chairman' Stremniki.: The five minutes are up.
THE FOREMAN-----THE PKTKRM I >'!>': tAITOR
Chairman Stremniki.: Any questions or remarks on this sub ject? This, to my mind, is. the most important subject that you have before you this morning. The foreman or the foreman's organi zation in any plant, can make or break the safety organization to a targe extent. Interest your foreman: get them vitally interested in safety, then you have the cooperation of your foremen with your safety committee. If the foremeiriate an indifferent spirit toward the safety cause, then your safety committee is handicapped in its wor'> within the plant. I know foremen and you know foremen who have stated openly that safety is "all bull." and they haven't been interested in it at all. You know and I know that it has been a very difficult matter to interest the average foreman in safety because when we selected men for the position of foreman in days past we selected a type of man who possessed qualifications different from those which we require of them today. The type of man. whom we select today as a foreman Is a differ ent type of map from those we selected in days past. In days past we selected men who. if they could fire a lot of men, were considered good foremen. The more men fie could hire and the more he could fire, the more valuable we thought he was to us as a foreman, but that has <-hanged and today it is just the opposite. The foreman who can. hire the least men and keep thejoost men within his plant, who can have the least turnover, is the man whom we want. He must be a leader of men. A leader of men must have certain qualifications, and therefore the standard of efficiency for foT&men today is higher than it ever was, sim ply because he is the dominating factor in your plant. And the effi ciency 'of your plant, the efficiency of your safety movement In your plant, depends largely upotY the personnel of your foremen's organiza tion. Therefore he Is the determining factor in many respects, not only in safety but in efficiency and many other things. Therefore the ques tion of selecting foremen istene of vital importance to any management today, especially due to thergreat unrest Avithin our plants, and wise is the management who can select men who are leaders of men and who possess the necessary qualifications.
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Eighth. Safety Couyrcsi
who shouU) ixsTiturr xi:\v m i:n ?
Mr. Eric (Sparks-Withingtoir Co.) : In our plant we have a Methods
Division and an Efficiency DejSSrtment. I would like to know what part
they should play in the instruction of operators. Our Methods Division
studies the operations and efficiency of the machines. Is it advisable
to have that department instruct the men- as to safety and the use of
guards, or to have the foreman do it?
Mr. A. Li. Thompsox (E. I. 'du Pont de Nemours & Co.) : I consider
that instruction from the foreman is better than from the efficiency man,
because the operator works directly under the foreman and not under the
efficiency man. The operator does not feel that he is responsible to the
efficiency man, where he does:&el that he is responsible to the foreman.
1 have a couple of "areas" in fly plant where a new man gets a general
idea of his work before he is burned over to the house in which he is
working. The foreman in the, house where he is working is required
to go over the rules with him and instruct him in his work, and a report
comes in from the Safety Department that such and such a man has been
instructed and by wliat foreman he has been instructed. We follow that
up once in a while by going found and picking (.hat man up and ques
tioning him on the rules and asking him why he does so-and-so and his
reasons for it. Then we see what kind of instruction he has received.
I think you will find, at least I have found, that the instruction from the
foreman is the best.
SChairman
trkm .mki.:
There is another point: a man to be a fore
man in deed and in truth must be well-informed about his job and if he
is well-informed about his job and is able to instruct his men in any part
of the operating of his department, if, when a man goes to him for any information whatsoever, he is well-informed about his job--it immediate
ly creates confidence within the men who are under this foreman's lead
ership, and establishes a point bf contact that is very valuable from the
standpoint of efficiency in that department.
The time is now up and we-will pass on to the next subject. "Methods
of Promoting Safety Education-in a Plant."
WKI.I. IM.ANNKD lUH.I.I-rl'l X ItOARllS ItKINC KKS17I.TS
Mr. Mkaciia.m (Goulds Mfg. Co.) : It may be of interest to some of our friends here to know what we are doing along bulletin board work which I consider one of the most valuable means of education. When we started with our safety work we had six or eight bulletin boards, large clumsy affairs, strewn about over a great area and lots of the .fellows didn't see them. They were too far away from them. About six months ago we had made up some small boards, about, eighteen inches wide and two feet long, painted black. WeChad about twenty-five of them made and put them up in each department, where each man couldn't help but see them, and at the top of each hoard we put "KEEP YOUR EYES OX THIS BOARD." We kept that sign there for six months. At the end of six
A, B, C Session
311
months we put on this slogan "ALWAYS BE CAREFiTL--THE A, B, C
OF SAFETY."
..
We put uj> in each department on these boards the bulletins that re-,
ferrecl to the special liazards^bf that department- For example: a man
in the pattern shop or a man in the shipping room is not particularly in
terested in a molten metal hazard, but he does want to know adout the
hazards of his department. Ttight there let me say that I think that
good safety work consists metre in telling men about the results of get
ting hurt rather than the hazards of their department,., because nine times
out of ten the man knows mote about the hazards of his own occupation
than you do. Now with regard to department competition. I have had a little ex
perience in that and it hasn't been altogether to my credit. We employ
about eleven or twelve hundred men and we are divided into different
departments. We ha.ve six plants and I conceived the very fine notion,
as I thought, of pitting each department against the other in the matter
of accident reduction. I found this, that while the accidents went down,
the number of accidents reported decreased, they decreased because the
fellows didn't want to report them for fear of spoiling the accident record
of their department.
You have got to look out for that. So we immediately started a fore
men's competition, based on the number of accidents that the foreman
found necessary to send to a .physician for treatment, and I think in the
light of my present experience that that is about the best way to get at it.
If you start this competition business, be careful.
Mr. Perry {Eastman Kodak Company) : Another example of bulletin
boards will be of interest to you, I feel, in an industry reaching about 11,000 people. Within the last two months our antiquated open bulletin
boards of wood have been Tgpla.eed with a series of steel, glass-faced
bulletin hoards, illuminated, having the standard removable back. The
backs are changed in half ofrthe board, the board being of double con
struction. The backs are changed every day in one half, and from once to twice a week in the other, half. The usual bulletins can be roughly
divided into those two classes, messages to put across every day, and
messages which it is desirecLjto repeat for two or three days. These new bulletin boards are getting the messages to the people.
Previously they were,not reading the bulletins posted on the old boards,
which were often torn. BufTThese new boards have bulletins put up in a
clear.- bright-colored mannerr Most of them are printed on a regular printing press. They are attractive and neat, and I think the general
idea includes a lot of the brains that the advertising people are claiming.
It may be that the safety engineer could utilize some of the advertising
man's brains to a lot of advantage because these new bulletin boards are
working.
Chairman Stkem mi-:i.: The time is up. We will have to pass on to the next. "Workmen's .Inspection Committees." There, to'my mind, is a very important subject, notTonlv from the standpoint of safety, hut also
from the standpoint of efficiency.
3J2
Eighth Safely Congress
Mjt. Christy (International Harvester Co.): I would like to ask for a little information. Perhaps some of these brothers here can help ns out. Do you use a regular form for the use of the Safety Committee?
Mr. Mkaciiam (Goulds Mfg. Co.) : The merit rating board of the State of Jsew York provides a special form to be used for that purpose. There is a form for the safety inspector, there is a form for the various safety committees, and there is a form for the foreman's Committee and the General Committee. Those forms are in use in our plant.
SrECIAJ. TRAINING FOR SAFETY COMMITTEEHEX
Mr. Mn.r.KJA.v (Bethlehem Steel Co.): Just a word with reference to the special preparation for men for safety committee work: The Bethlehem Steel Company feels that men must be prepared for safety work. and for that reason has instituted a course which has been carried on now for the fifth year, a course of five months of two hours per week on company time, one hour with the instructor and another hour* with rehearsal. The work given in"this course is one-half first aid work and the other half accident prevention work. The accident prevention work is based upon at least a four year history of the department from which the particular Committee comis. As a result of this course the Bethle hem Steel Company have particularly trained for safety committee work over a five months' period, four thousand men during the last five years.
This last course just completed last Saturday culminated with the graduating exercises in the form of first aid meetings, with upwards of
1.000 men. During the time of their preparation they are not regarded as safety
committee men because we feel that they are not qualified for the work. After the course Is finished they go on as active safety committee men for one year or until the next group is prepared. After.serving one year they move over into the General Safety Committee. Ail of the safety com mittee men in the shop are led by one man known as the permanent safety committee man whose position does not change and who is paid, for the attention he gives to this work, a bonus of $5 per month. With the safety committee In the different classes, the permanent committee man who has charge of the work in the shop, the active committee who serve for a period of one yearTfnd the general committee--we never lose sight of a man. We believe in the slogan. "Once a committee man, always a committee man."
Chairman Sircmmki.: The time is up. Gentlemen. The next subject is "Fundamental Principles oLSafeguarding.'' Here is the opportunity for some of you men who are Just starting out in safety engineering and safety inspectors' positions to ask some questions.
r.I-AKIIS INCREASE EFFICIENCY
Mu. Hchks (Pacific Gas CD: I have hardly found a place where a guard reduced or interfered with the efficiency of the machine. With reference to railings, especially on a dam: we find the men cross that dam
A, B, C Session
313
inucli more Quickly with a guard rail. They will always hug the rail
going along.
^
Mr. Coffin (Public Safety Coin mission, Portland, Oregon): 1 believe
that one fundamental, basic problem here in. the safeguarding of machines
is to commence at the fountain head. The laws of the various states
vary in prescribing certain safeguards, but it seems to me that if these
various accident and indnstriaPconimissions and those who are respon
sible for safeguarding the plants could get together in a congress and
prescribe certain regulations, then they can go before the various manu
facturers and safeguard these machines before they are sent out to the
various plants throughout the country.
Chairman Stremmel: That brings us to our time for closing. I am.
sure that you will all agree with me that this has been a very interesting
session. I am sure that you and I will say that it was "good for us to
have been here." I take it that the men who have been in this A, B, C
session this morning are men who are safety engineers, safety inspectors,
officials or foremen or superintendents in the plants--they are men who
are striving to know more about the safety game.
OPPORTUNITIES OF THE SAFETY ENGINEER
I want to say to the safety engineer and the inspector especially this
morning these few words: this presents to you the greatest opportunity
that you have ever had in yourlife. If you will study the safety game,
if you will enter into the work with enthusiasm, if you will have a vision of its possibilities, I will predict for you, if you will pay the price,
that within two or three or four years you will be a bigger man, a better
man, a stronger man within the plant where you are employed; you will be in a position to demand a'greater remuneration; you will be in a
position to fill a more responsible position than you are filling today.
Let me bring home this thought to you. What is the safety move ment? It is simply answering in the affirmative the Question, "Am I my
brother's keeper?" We are our brother's keeper, and let us remember
that.
--
And men, how can you be a friend to man? By putting forth an honest
effort in your respective positions as safety engineers and operators, to
see that at all times you have safety first, last, and always I The meeting
is dismissed.
^
:uu
Eighth Safely Congress
would require an appropriation on the part of the company you repre sent. Think this matter over and later on we may develop the idea during the year and correspondence will be forwarded to you on the subject. Your opinion will beYtsked then, and whether or not your com pany would be willing to appropriate a certain sum in addition to the dues for the purpose of supporting such an office.
I would also like to call your attention to the entirely new departure in accident prevention work established this year--that of teaching safety to children, and through thenj^ reaching the parents.
Gentlemen. 1 want you to use every effort in your home town to try to put that thing across. You cat get a copy of Dr. Payne's book from the headquarters of the National Safety Council. It is something that is really a radical departure. It is well worth while, and if you will put it in towns where you have plants, the children will reach the parents, and the parents will finally get that safety idea, instead of scoffing at It, as some do at the present time.
I have attended a number oL the meetings of the Executive Committee of the National Safety Council^pf which I am a member by virtue of my chairmanship of this section, il want to take this occasion to advise you that never has a body of men^worked together in such perfect harmony for a common cause. The men of the executive committee never once consider themselves or their individual interests in taking measures for the development of the great idea. Gentlemen, this Council will prosper-- it must, because it is right! :=
I '1'he report of the ChairmaiTwas accepted.) Ciiaikman t.vxcii: Gentlemen, the next order of business Is a paper by Mr. A. D. Kaems. Deputy.Tjidustrial Commission of Wisconsin, Madi son, Wisconsin. Wisconsin. L-believe. is far ahead of a whole lot of our other states on the subject ofL.safety and safeguarding. I am sure Mr. Kaems will have something very interesting for us.
Mj{. A. D. Kakms (IndustriaL_Commission of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.) : Mr. Chairman and fellows. rTiave been assigned the subject of punch presses, and T believe it is a r^al question, because we know in Wisconsin that punch presses have given; the Safety Department of the Wisconsin industrial Commission more jfcr.ouble than any one machine in the metal trade, for the reason that theraccidents are all serious.
DIE CONSTRl'CTION--THK REAL SAFETY OF PUNCH PRESS WORK
Ai-wi'ST Ij. Kakms, Assistant to Safety Ekgixeeb, In'dustbiap Commission of Wisconsin
Punch presses give the Safgjty Department of the Wisconsin Industrial Commission more trouble thpp any other machine In the metal trades. Tor the reason that the accidents are always serious.
In 1916. 27 per cent of all the accidents in the metal trades were caused
Automotive Section
till
by punch presses, and 48 pefl'cent o all the serious accidents resulting
in permanent disability in theJnetal trades were on punch presses.
In 1915, there were 1,9SS days lost in temporary disability and 18,900
days lost in permanent disability. In 1916 there were 4.057 days lost in
temporary disability and 61,140 days lost in permanent disability. In
1917 there were 5.6S5 days lost 'in temporary disability and 77.6S0 days
lost in permanent disability. In 191S, there were 5.529 days lost in tem
porary disability and 82,250 days lost in permanent disability, for the
first six months of the present year there have already been 2.135 days
lost in temporary disability and 47.S50 days lost in permanent disabiliiy.
These figures show how dangerous the work on punch presses is. AM
accidents on these machines Have increased from year to year. In 1915
there were 141 accidents; inrl916. there were 326; in 1917 there were
341: in tDtS there were 3Sl;'in the first six months of 11*10 there were
1ST accidents.
Various reasons were givetftl'or these accidents, such as carelessness,
disobedience, inattention, sleeping, and so on. In only two cases, the
firms admitted that the accident was due to the improper setting up of
the machinery'.
__
We admit that more machines are in use today than ever before and
that more kinds of work are being done than ever before; but as we have
worked on safeguarding thesBLmaehin.es, we should have held our own
if the mode of our guarding was correct, but the figures I just gave show
the increasing seriousness of the punch press problem.
I can remember when the-Jirst gate guard was demonstrated to us.
showing that if even a lead pencil was left under the gate on the bed of
the table, the press could not be tripped- We thought that guard would eliminate accidents, but ft didn't.
Then came the two hand trips. When that was demonstrated, we
thought that surely would bo the thing to stop accidents, but accidents
occurred just the same. Then came the automatic sweep guard which
we thought would eliminate accidents. Yet we see that accidents have
increased from year to yearF^This is due to the fact that we are not
guarding right. Manufactures are doing their work in the same way and they are now trying to devise some mechanical way of stopping the
accidents. This is wrong. an<U can prove it.
WIY SO M A N Y ACCIUKNTS JIAPI-KN
Why have we so many accidents on presses? The answer is simple enough. It is because the operator must put his hand underneath the dies either to place the material in on which he is working or take it out. This can be easily overcome it we work out ways to place material in the die without using the hand, aTfd to take it out in the same way. This is not very difficult to do, and ifLis my purpose to show yon bow It can be done.
Where the work is done inrthe prober way. we have succeeded in stop ping accidents. How did we do this? Why. by building safe tools to do the work with and forgot alL about the mechanical guard, and we will
.318
Eighth Safety Congress
have to go a step farther and plan presses for certain jobs so they can be
done In a safe way.
2=
I have in mind, a plant In which thirty fingers were lost during 1917;
eight in one day. Yet by building safe tools, there has not been one finger
taken off in 191S nor in 1919 up to this time. This surely is a wonderful
record and it has been accomplished by just building safe tools.
Let me demonstrate to you how this was done. For instance, in re
drawing cups, the operator had to place the material in the die. The
right way was for the operator to take hold of the cup on the sides, but
in working fast, he sometimes^ missed his hold and then placed the index
finger of his hand inside the cup. when the ram came down it caught his
finger. At other times, the little finger was left under the bottom of the cup, and in this way. the litUe finger was taken qff. To overcome this,
we just built a slide and all the operator does now is to place his cup on
the slide and push it ahead. This is so simple that one. wonders why it
has not been done a long timoso. It has increased production and made
the work absolutely safe.
-
At another plant, a boy lost all of his fingers and part of the left hand,
in taking a piece out of the die. This work was of such nature that it
was necessary for him to use all of his fingers to take out the work. "We
overcame this by cutting out part of the lower and top die so that he
could use his thumb and index finger in taking out the work. In the
former method the operator used ail of his fingers and there was a great deal of hand strain. Now heL uses only his thumb and index finger, and
it makes no difference If the press repeats for he cannot be injured. A
gate which is on slides has been placed in front of the machine. When the iron is pushed into the 'press, it is straight, and passes under the gate; as it is formed he withdraws it and the gate rises and falls Into position of its own accord. To make this change did not cost ten dollars,
and the operation is now fool-proof. The young man who lost his fingers
was the superintendent's sonc
TICK PRESS REPEATED
At another plant, a young man who operated a press lost three fingers of his right hand when the press repeated. The young man claimed that the press had repeated; the superintendent said it was not possible as it was a new press. He took the boy to the doctor, and when he returned, said lie was going to run the press himself and prove that it could not repeat. After working one hour; the superintendent had the same kind of accident as the young man had. I went to investigate this accident and it looked to me as though it was not a difficult matter to remedy, and so stated to the superintendent. He asked me how it could be done. I said I did not know what to do at the time, but took two pieces home with me and that evening solved the problem of overcoming this hazard ous operation. I went to liintand said "I have got it figured out how it can he done safely". He asked me how. I found the die they used was closed on one side and the front, so that when the material was placed in, these two places acted as=a gauge. As these pieces were not always
. Automotive Section
319
o the same width and four holes had to be punched into the piece, it was
necessary to have the pieces fit exa'ctly in a certain place. I told him to
cut out the front and place inlthe other side so that the piece could be punched in. He said he had figured that out but it would have to be up
against the one side on account of the different sizes. We put springs In on one side and that overcame that trouble. Then he said the piece
would have to go in just so far. I said we would put in a gauge pin in
the back. He said lie had thought of that and could put in a disappearing
pin but when he wanted to push out the finished piece with the unfinished
the pin coming up from the bottom always displaced the piece so it
always would be necessary to reach In after it or pull It out with a hook.
1 said I will push it out just the same. You have been thinking of this
gauge pin one way and `I in another way. You are thinking of the pin (Coming up frpm the bottom and I am going to have my pin coming down
from the top. As this piece has a depression through the center when
finished my pin will release the=finished piece and it can be pushed out by
the unfinished. He just jumped up and down when he saw the idea and
said "You got it--You got it".
The only thing that was changed was that Instead of having a gauge
pin at the bottom I placed it from the top down, which cleared the work, and It could be pushed out instead of taken out. All they have to do now
is to push out the finished piece with the next piece.
At another plant a boy lost all of his second finger, all the third finger
and half of the index finger, and crushed the little finger and thumb.
This accident had been looked up and it was reported that the young man
bad tampered with the guard on the machine. This was given as the
reason for the accident. If this had been true, in our State the boy
would have been penalized fifteen per cent of his compensation; but as he was to receive only $320 for this accident, the Industrial Commission felt that they wanted to be sure that the boy h3d really and deliberately
placed the guard in such a position that it was of no use before penaliz
ing him. 1 investigated this accident and found that the press had repeated and that-the guard which was on it would not have prevented the accident. And yet for less than ?5 we changed the work on this
press and made It fool-proof. --All we did was to put the press on an
inclfne. slide the work in and have it kicked out automatically. We
closed the front of the press and left an opening through which the mate
rial could slide.
--
At another plant which used punch presses, one of our men called and
ordered guards for the presses. This was followed by a letter to inquire
wfaat progress was being made in guarding these presses. Finally the Commission received a strong letter from the firm, stating that it was
impossible to place the guards as ordered. Let me read the letter to you.
''Industrial Commission,
'Madison. Wis.
--
"Gentlemen:
"In reply to your favor of May 16, we have had several expert people,
. including the superintendent dt the company which manufactures this
press, endeavoring to devise some safety device, and we have also taken
320
Eighth Safety Congress
it up with several other expert people, and when they see the work we
do with the press, they state that nothing can be made, so far as they
ean see, that will enable us to secure output to permit us to use the press
and at the same time havers. safety device on that would be anywhere
adequate for the use in question.
"Of course, if the State -of Wisconsin will not permit us to use this
press without a device thereon, which doubles the cost of the work in
question, we will simply dump press in the scrap heap and have our work
done outside the State of Wisconsin."
I went down to this plant and as soon as I came in, the superintendent
started to tell me his troubles, and what impossible things we asked him
to do. And yet after thirty minutes I had convinced him how this work
could he done in a safe way, and you can believe me that he felt em
barrassed to think he had written such a letter. I can assure you that
this man was a fine mechanic, because lie showed me a machine he had
worked out and which could not make a mistake; yet as simple a thing as
building a tool for a punch press seemed impossible, due to the fact that
everi'hody he asked had something else in mind--thinking of mechanical
guards.
--
AX ESCJSEERINfl PROPOSITION"
So in building dies the thing to think of is how to get the material into
the press without using the hands, and taking it out in a similar way.
The work is simply an engineering proposition and demands mechanical
thought and ingenuity, and aTJevice which will fit one case will not. help
another. Every job is a little different, but every one must be worked out and can be made safe. Heretofore every man who had a new guard
had a cure-all, just as the patent medicine man claimed that a bottle of
his preparation cured all ills^to which a man is heir from chilblains to
whooping cough.
"
The trouble starts when yoirgo into a plant and talk to the man, telling
him to build safe dies. He has big things in mind and the one big thing is that he is always afraid that the production will be decreased. I will agree that the production must be kept up, today more than ever. Men
must produce more today than ever before. We will never see wages
down to where they were at one time, and the thing we must keep in mind is production for no business can exist when production is ham
pered. But if we keep up production at the expense of jeopardizing
hands, eyes, even lives, we nrust go under. No business, no city, no
country can exist when it ceasgs to have regard for the lives and welfare
of its people. One country has.just tried this and had to go under as it
deserved. So will every business go when it once loses interest in its men. We have had too much stop-watch production. We found out how much a man could do in five minutes and then figured out how much he
could do in an hour and in a^day. I believe that theory is absolutely
wrong. Let us take for illustration the boy who lost his fingers .in the
press on which the dies were easily changed. I made these changes
because I found that the boy was doing two-tUirds of the work, and the
press only one-third. The change I made was that the press now does
A.utomotive Section
321
two-thirds of the work and the boy only one-third. Instead of having the boy place the work into the press' and being compelled to take it out. leaving only the forming of the metal for the press, we made the press form the work and kick it out, ahd all the boy does is to slide the work into the press. You can see what this did to production immediately, beside making the work safe.
This idea of increasing the work of the machine and decreasing the effort of the operator, can well he compared to an automobile. Suppose you had only one set of gears in an automobile, and that of course would have to be a low gear. If you wm-e in a bad place, you could start; and then if you came to a smooth road and wished to go faster you would have to race your engine, and the faster you wanted to go, the fastei you would have to race your engine. If you wanted to pick up some ot the speed the speed-demons have, you would have to burn up your engine; it would be impossible to keep It cool. But we have three sets of gears, and simply shifting the clutch increases the speed of the car without increasing the efforts of the engine. The engine represents the average workman and the gears the ordinary punch press. The only trouble is that we have not been shifting the clutch properly; we have been burn ing up the men rather than usingsthe punch press to its fullest capacity. We have been burning men up at the job. and I want to say right now that men are working faster than we can safely work them, and a great many accidents are directly traced to that speed. F*or that reason tools must be built so that no matter what men may do, they cannot place their hands In danger zones. Let this great safety organization shift the clutch so that machines will do the maximum work and the human ele ment the lesser amount and do it safely at the same time.
0 03INCREASED I*R DrTCTI r .VJTD ELIMINATED ACCIDENTS
Let me take this plant in which thirty fingers were taken off in 1917 and which has gone on from Jantmry, 1918, up to the present time with out an accident; this has been accomplished by building safe tools. When I first went into the plant In 1917 and presented the idea of building safe dies, their master mechanic libld me that he had been in this work all his life time and the things 1^ talked about were impossible. After every accident I called on him again to try to make him see it my way. When I found that I could not get him interested in this, I had to try another way so I went through the plant to find some jobs on which I could increase the production. I^found such a job, which happened to be the cover for a coffee pot. This work was done in an unsafe way. It was blanked and formed out of sheet and the operator had to reach in to take it out. He was makingf 6,000 pieces a day, and six thousand times a day he had to lay his hand underneath the die. If by accident he would have tripped the press, or the press repeated, he would surely have lost his hand. They had had several accidents on this press and when I took the master mechanic to this job and told him that I could increase the output, he asked me how. He was immediately interested because he thought I did not know anything about building dies, but
322 Eighth Safety Congress
thought I might know something about production, and if it could help him, he wanted to know about it. Again I made use of my idea of the
automobile. I found here also that the man was doing two-thirds of the work and ihe press the other one-third, and we changed this, putting the press on an incline, putting^on a kick-out, and all the man then had to do was to move his material*. We put a basket guard around the press, and it made the job foolproof. The work was increased from 6,000 pieces a day to 13,000, an increase of 117 per cent, besides doing the work in a safe way. When this machine was put into operation properly guarded, I asked the master mechanic what he thought of the safe die, and he immediately said "Is this wliat you mean by building safe dies?" and I said "Yes, that is one of the ways; don't you think it is a good way?" He said, "Yes, there is nothing to this." 1 agreed that it was simple; just a little horse sense was needed.
Then we took the second, bad job on which a man had lost four fingers. 'In the report, the firm stated that the man had been out fishing during the day time, and while working at night he became sleepy and through
carelessness lost four fingers at this job. We made that fool-proof by building a new die for the machine and now it is arranged so the material is slid in and kicked out and the front of the 'press is closed. This job is fool-proof and we don't-care whether a man goes to sleep or not, he cannot be injured. This, _ef course, increased the output 100 per cent immediately in spite of the carelessness or lack of alertness of the operator.
It took some persuading to get this superintendent to adopt my plan of building safe dies and he^was not convinced' until after 1 had demon strated the feasibility of my plan. After I showed him liow to increase production and eliminate accidents, he became an ardent advocate of safe dies. Bet me read you a letter which he wrote sometime after giving my scheme a thorough trial: ~
March 18, 1918.
Dear Mr; Kaems:
:5f-
About a year ago when you came to this plant looking up punch-press
accidents, you advocated the plan of making dies in such a way that it
would be impossible for the .operator to he injured, or in other words,
making fool-proof dies.
I did not think a great deal of this and could hardly see how it would
be possible to make dies according to your suggestion. But after each
accident you called again ahd I will be frank to state that I did hate to
see you come as I knew beforehand what you were going to talk on.
I was finally convinced that such dies could be built and have several
In use now that 1 know have prevented accidents.
A short time ago. I instructed one of the machinists to make a die
which I had carefully planned with reference to safety. After he had
given this some consideration, he thought of a plan by which this die
could be made much safeOlian I had thought of, which goes to show that
all of our men are now interested in this matter and are anxious to plan
with us so as to avoid accidents.
Automotive Section
323
I am also pleased to say that our foremen come to me with ideas about making safe dies, and in some taises they have been very good.
I believe that with proper thought and care, most dies can be made so that at least a great many accidents will be prevented. It has also proven that. In each case in which a die was made safe, the production was increased, which is an indication^that a safe die is also an efficient die.
I hope to see you at the next meeting. Yours very truly. Master Mechanic.
At another time the same master mechanic became interested in an
other difficulty. I will show you a piece: This is the bottom of a coffee pot percolator and was always made in
three separate operations; First It wis blanked out, and formed; the next
operation was punching the holes and the third was trimming or sizing
it, and each one was a hazardous one because the operator had to take
the piece from under the die. A combination die was built for this and
it is now all done in one operation: blanking, forming and trimming;
throwing out the finished piece-_and^ separating the piece and trimming
by having them fall into a "V-shaped slide, which is open at the bottom
slightly, letting the trimming fall through and the finished pieces fall
into a basket. All this is done* by simply feeding a strip through the
press, and increasing the output 300 per cent. "What chance would your stop-watch man have against this? He could place four presses in a row
and work his men to the limit until they "burned up" and they could
not produce as much as this one! man easily, working alone. He is doing
his work in a safe way and they are doing their's in an unsafe way. The first thing this firm thinks of now when they are building a die is "How
can this work he done in a safe way?" I came into their plant not.very
long ago, and found the .superintendent, the master mechanic and the
foremen from the different departments in which punch presses are used,
in the master mechanic's roomerand I wondered what the trouble was.
When I inquired I was told that they were planning a safe die. When
you think -back only a short time ago, how the master mechanic had
said to me that this could not he done, you can imagine how I felt when
I found them planning such a die. Now nothing was said about produc
tion, but they talked of a safe die because it has been proven that every
time they built a safe die production was increased. . He told me that
every time they built a safe die production was increased from 15 to 300 per cent and they are now enjoying a 100 per cent increase in business
and all this without an accidenfTin 21 months. Let us think again. Only
a year ago, every time an accident .occurred in this plant, there was an
excuse for the accident. Every time the injured man was to blame, and
yet for a year and nine months it has not been necessary for them to
write a single excuse. Do you JHelieve that their men were better in 1918
than they were in 1917? I belieye you all will agree with me that the help
in 1917 was as good as in 1918, and if anything, it was better. The excuse
so often made that accidents were due to change of help had nothing to
do with it as I have proved. Scf I believe it is not hard to see where the
difficulty has been.
'--
324
Eighth Safety Congress
The trouble has not been with the men, but It has been with those In charge of the work by not providing men with sate tools with which to work. This must be done, or sooner or later we must reap what we have sown.
THE FOREMAN" A BIG FACTOR
Another big factor in this work is the foreman. As long as we must work with the tools as we have them now, he is the big safety factor in every plant. I don't care what your safety committees may do, but until your foreman has become a safety man nothing pan be accomplished for the reason that he is in contact with the men all the time, while your Safety Committee meets once a week or less frequently. The Safety Committee may plan ever, so well but it is the foreman who must carry out these plans, and if he is not converted to the idea of safety the plans are never fully carried out. It is surprising when a foreman once be comes "safe" how many dangers he can find in the work. I find in plants where the foreman 'has become "safe" he can show me .more dangers and things he thinks should be. remedied than any one can imagine. I have in mind one plant at which a large number of accidents had occured, and after having several meetings with the foremen where I had advised them to insist upon the men doing their work in a safe way, a foreman told me one day that he had lost the best punch press man he had. 1 said "Well, you are still running, but how did you lose him?" He said he had told the man to doJhis work in a different way, and the man had replied, that he could not do the work that way and make any money. The foreman told the man if he was to stay there, he had to do the work in a safe way, and the man refused. The foreman then told.the man that he was the best punch press man they had, but that sooner or later something would go wrong with the machine over which they had no control, and he would be injured. He said they would have to break in a new man anyway and might just as well start in now as later; if this man wanted to lose fingers he could not lose them there, that he
would have to go to some other plant to lose them; and the man quit. If this had happened a year ago the foreman would have been scared to death to think he was going to lose the best punch press man in the plant, but he was not ^afraid of it now because he had a platform of safety to stand on. Hegwas not afraid to break in a new man because he knew he was going Jo have a safe man. What effect did it have? The other men working there said: "Well if he lets the best man go. what will he do to us?" And the men saw the foreman meant to have the work done in a safe way, and realized that he was working for their interests. Again a year ago this foreman would have said: "Well, If he wants to lose his fingerg, let him; they are not my fingers." But now he said: "If you want to lose fingers you- will- have to go somewhere else; you can't lose them here." This foreman had become a safetyman. There is no further -worry over this foreman because we know he is on the job and where he stands. It is interesting to note here that the man who quit because he feared he could not make money and work in a safe manner is now back atf this same plant. He has come to realize that
Automotive Section
325
while he had to -work. It was better tor him and his family that he work
in a safe plant than in an unsafe one. In a meeting sometime ago, I asked the foremen how many of them
had explained- to-the new men the dangers on a press, and to hold up
their hands if they did. Not a hand went up, and I will be frank to state
that at least 90 per cent of all our accidents on punch presses happened
to new men. So you can see how necessary it is that the new men be
fully instructed in their work. The average foreman cannot see much
danger in the punch press. He thinks that if a man. will keep his hands
from under the die the man canii&t be injured. Not long ago, I investi
gated an accident where a man had lost a thumb- They had taken the work from the press on which the accident occurred and put it on another
which they thought was properly guarded and when I watched the new
man work I could see that it would only be a matter of time when he
would lose not only a thumb, but both thumbs because of the way he was
doing the work.
`
When I called the foreman's attention to this he said "My. my! 1
showed him twice how to do the work right." So you can see that while he had shown the man the correct method of work when he started, he
then let him alone and the operator had formed the habit of doing the
work in an unsafe way. Of course, this foreman was not a safety man,
and accidents are bound to occur in such places.
. SAFETY BEGINS AT THE TOP
But the big factor in all this is that safe tools and devices cannot be built unless the head of the firm is interested. If he is not interested, we cannot expect the superintendent to he interested, and if the superin tendent is not interested, we cannot expect the foreman and the men to be. So it all begins at the top, and it is surprising how little has been done to sell the idea of safety to plant executives; the men who must, determine the policies of this safety movement.
I went into a large plant not long ago, in which thirteen fingers had been lost during the first six months of the year. When I told the Gen eral Superintendent that they had lost 13 fingers inside of six months, he said. "The Hell, we have!" Now that shows he did not know a thing about what occurred. The man who took care of the accidents saw that the injured man got proper medical attendance and when it was all over, the compensation was paid; if hewas not able to work, on a punch press, other work was given to him. It was not thought necessary to burden the general superintendent with little things like this. Let us suppose that instead of 13 fingers taken off, material had been spoiled amounting In dollars and cents to compensation paid for these 13 fingers what would have happened? Would they have been able to get by with it? Why, no. Requisitions would have to be made out for new material and in the end it would have been necessary to come to the attention of the general superintendent that five or six .'thousand dollars worth of material had been wasted and I am sure he-would have been interested in knowing the cause for this waste of material.
326 Eighth, Safety Congrest
I have in mind a plant'where three hands were lost in 1918, and when the first hand was lost, twent to the plant and showed them how this
work could be done in a safe way. I am sure it would not have cost more
than ?50. to have done this, but the superintendent in the department absolutely declared the man was to blame for the loss of his hand; that
he would make this change, but the responsibility was on the man just the same. Only a short time later another report came in of a hand
lost, and I went again.. The superintendent again claimed the man was to blame for this second accident, for not attending to his work; that if he had, the accident would not have occurred. But they promised to
change the work at or.ce,^and yet before it was done, the third hand was
lost. It was then done, ahd the same accident cannot occur again. The superintendent also informed me that it had not decreased the output by
a single piece.
_
Now let us stop and think. Suppose this man at one drop of the ram had spoiled two thousand, dollars worth of material, and this had been brought to the attention of the general superintendent. When he called in his assistant and the foreman of the department, and they both told
him that the man was careless and he had been warned several times but bad not heeded the warning, and for that reason had spoiled two thou sand dollars worth of material, would he have shrugged his shoulders
8nd have said "That is too bad!" Why no. And if a few weeks later this same machine had spoiled ?2,500. worth of material and again the
superintendent and the foreman of the department had been called in
and again informed the general superintendent that the man on the job
was careless; that he had been warned to take care and that the man next to him had warned lilm to be careful or he'd spoil the material; but he had been careless, would the general superintendent have shrugged
his shoulders and said "That is too bad!" If he did, he would soon ruin the firm, if a few weeks later this same machine had spoiled $3000. worth
of material, would he again have said, "Too bad!" Why no; there would have been a housecleaning long before that. All this material could have been replaced, but hands cannot be replaced because they are God-given.
I will tell you why someJBrms are not Interested in fingers, hands, and even lives. Hands and fingers are figured In the overhead* expense and do not cost the firm anything.' The consumer pays this overhead expense. But material cannot be figured that way and for that reason, they are interested in material and not in fingers. The public that is paying for this has not grumbled over what it has cost but some day it will awaken
and demand that this work that they are paying for be done in a safe way. Several states have" passed laws which authorize inspectors to go
into the plants and seal dangerous machines so they cannot be used until they are made safe, and all will agree that punch presses should come In for their share of such sealing. Are we going to wait until that overtakes us in all states, or are we going ahead and do the things we should do? I say again that the heads of the firms must become interested and must
begin to think how it must feel for one to be injured. Unless they can
put themselves into that place, they cannot know. I am showing you the picture of a young boy sixtljen years of age who has lost his hand due to
Automotive Section
327
the fact that he was not properly instructed by the foreman, or to the
fact that the machine was. not properly guarded. How would you feel
if that was your boy brought home? Let me show you a picture of a man
who has lost his arm due to the fact that he was not properly instructed
in his work, or that the machitH-r was not properly guarded, and suppose
it was yourself brought home to your family. Now, we men often think
that we are the ones who are carrying the big load, but that is not true.
It is the little woman at home who is taking care of the family all day,
who sits up at night and nurses^ them when sick, that carries the big
load, and then to have the breadwinner brought home crippled for life.
How would you feel? That is exactly how these poor unfortunates feel
when they are injured and their loss of limb or life may be directly
charged to men higher up who have not yet become exponents of safety.
I was in a hospital the other day when the nurse told me of a man who
came in to have a Anger dressed. When she saw his other hand she
noticed that it was terribly crippled and she wondered how a man with
such a hand could get in. I told her as I had told many a man before
who had a crippled hand to keep his hand In his pocket while he looked
for work, .that this man kept his hand In his pocket while he looked for
work knowing no one would hire him if it were seen. Not long ago I
held a meeting in a small town_at which a superintendent related how
only a short time before he had hired a man and when the man came to
work next morning, he noticed how badly crippled one of his hands were-
The superintendent did not know what to do. He took a chance and
allowed the man to work and found him to be a good mechanic and satis
factory' in every respect. The superintendent stated, however, that if he
had seen the man's hand, he positively would not have hired him.
Just think how you would feel if your hand was crippled through no
fault of your own, and it would have to be hidden when you went to look
for a job. How do you suppose such a man feels toward the society in
which he lives?
--
SAFETY WORK LIKE RKLTGION
Safety work is like religion. I do not care a snap *for the man who goes to church regularly and then tries to get the best of his fellowmen; that is not religion; nor do I care a snap for the man who talks safety
and does nothing; that is not safety. Safety must be within you. If you follow out the few simple things that I have suggested, punch presses can be made just as safe as any machine in the metal trades.
DISCUSSION
Chairman Lynch: Gentlemen, it is in order to ask questions of Mr. Kaems If you have anything you'd like to straighten out.
Mr. Fred Hazel CO. J. McQuistion Co., Detroit) : I'd like to ask Mr. Kaems on what press most of jfhe accidents happen?
Mb. Kaems: It is on the quick action press. If yon went through, our records in Wisconsin you would find that not 10 per cent of the accidents occur on the larger presses; a much larger percentage occur on the small, quick action presses.
:28
Eighth Safety Congress
Mr. A. W. Uakiiks (National Cash Register Company, Dayton, Ohio):
We can make our dies safe, but I believe we ought to get more to the
root of the matter.
~
We have developed a system of tripping our presses by operating two
air valves. There are many tripping devices on the market, but almost
without exception a manlan operate the press with one hand and have
the other perfectly free__This is absolutely impossible with the device
we are using. We have it so arranged that a man operating a press
that runs 125 strokes to;the minute can't feed it faster than that. We
have had our experts try^to beat that and only one man succeeded. 1-le
beat it when nobody waDhere to witness.
There is just one place a press can break that will cause it' to repeat,
and that is in the springs; If you have a flywheel press you have three
little short springs any one of which breaking will cause that press to
repeat.
~
Right now w* are going over all of our presses and replacing those
springs. We have about 200 presses, 95 per cent of which are the small,
fast-action presses used for blanking, forming, and piercing work. It
costs money to replace those springs but it-doesn't cost as much as the
cutting off of fingers.
We have reduced our accidents over 95 per cent in a force of 200 men.
When a man loses a finger there. I tell you. Gentlemen, the Safety Com
mittee is due for a callingT
On our work we first blank and then we shave off a great deal of the
metal. We do that to get away from milling. It is faster and a cheaper
operation. Sometimes wfhave only one-thousandth of an inch to shave
off. and the stock must toe put into a nest ttoat is tight, otherwise we will shave all on one sideband not on the other.
A man must put his hands underneath there, and it is entirely due to
this air trip that we are able to cut down our accidents. We are working
on a scheme now that may work and it may not, but up to the present
time we haven't been able to solve this problem completely.
Mr. G. H. McCi.aix (Cincinnati Local Council): I was connected with
a concern, before my present connection, using a large number of punch
presses, and we were convinced that the duplex trip was the final' word
In protection and safety. =We were resting on our oars until one day a
lad lost two fingers and a half because the press repeated, and since then
that firm has learned that they can't put absolute trust in a press with the
duplex trip because it is^a: mechanical device that involves a good many springs, and if any one oEJhose springs failed to work it is likely to mean
the loss of a finger or hand. I'd like to ask Mr. Haems' opinion on that.
Mr. Kakms: Absolutely true! Anything that is mechanical makes it
necessary to deal with certain springs and other things which are bound
to go wrong at some tirae^ If you could once get a press that was abso
lutely non-repeating, you would have the solution of the problem, but we
can't get that, and so we^have to deal with so many' different things in
the press.
This firm I mentioned that cut >ff 30 fingers in a year has gone 22
months without cutting off a finger, without an injury. We did it all by
Automotive Section
32J>
building safe tools. We had oneJob there that gave lots of trouble; the making of the little piece that belongs in the bottom of a percolator. It took three operations to make that piece--first, to blank and form it; then to pierce it; and then to trim it. Now it is all done in one opera tion--formed, pierced, and trimmed--the trimming falls down into one receptacle and the finished article falls into another.
All .the operator has to do it to take a sheet and run it underneath. We do not care whether the press repeats or not; the operator does not have to place his hand or fingers in the way of the die.
One report we received told of four fingers that were lost on a new die. The report said the man had gone to sleep; but now we do not care if he does go to sleep. Just as long as he does not fall off of the chair and crack a leg. because he cannot put his bands underneath the die.
Mr. Frank Elwell CDelco Company, Dayton, Ohio); In using air trips, if the air pressure goes down due to leaks or some other reason, the press will repeat. I was wondering if'anything could happen to the supply of current on electric trips to cause the press to repeat.
Mr. Shaw (Ford Motor Co., Detroit) : If the current isn't there, of course it will not pull down the plunger. If there is no current your
press will not trip. On the top of our machine we have a switch so ar
ranged that every time the press goes down it breaks the current; there
is then no chance of the current Deing continuous.
Mr. E. J. Clarke CGeneral Motors Corp., Detroit) : In commenting on punch presses I notice that no one has mentioned the automatic press, the type of press about which Mr. C&Se can inform you from his experience In the New Departure. In that plant there is a press which has the die
operating horizontally and as the parts are blanked and formed they drop out automatically. The press operates continuously and Is fed automatically.
Mr. E. Roth (Cleveland Metal Products Co.) : There are three distinct features we have to contend with on punch presses. In the first place, the dog is apt to block. If there is a key on the shaft, the key is liable to break.
We have devised a safeguard for our presses so arranged that even if all the springs break the press can be controlled.
Mr. Shaw: If the spring breaks, the press will repeat. If anything breaks and your hand is under there, it is going to come off.
Mr. C. T. Banks (Michigan Mutual Liability Co.. Detroit): Am I to understand that someone has solved the problem of guarding the punch press and making it fool-proof, if Something doesn't break?
Mjr. Roth: Yes. sir.
Mr. Banks: Well, let's take, tor instance, a punch press that !a on jobbing work, where you put a die^ on in the morning and run it up to noon, and in the course of the afternoon change it several times more. And in the courses of those changes you have different thicknesses of material. What kind of a guard dayou recommend to be adaptable to all of the different kinds of material that go through that press?
Mr. Roth: We have devised a guard that will meet all conditions.
330
-'Eighth Safety Congress
When we run a blanking job we have a guard that has a glass front and wire mesh sides. We ^permit just enough room to get the stock under neath. If anything, it increases the output. Our guard- is so designed that it will guard-any kind of a die and any sort of operation.
Chairman Lynch: The time is up on this discussion. The next order of business is a paper by Mr. L. C. Kahle, Chief Engineer of the Inde pendent Lamp Wire Company, New York City.
ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT, ITS INSTALLATION AND GUARDING
L. C. Kaiii.k. Chikk Engineer, Independent Lamp Wire Company', Inc., New York City-
The importance of properly guarding electrical equipment is beginning
to be generally recognized, and it has progressed considerably from the
time when some electricians, who were pioneer Safety First exponents,
hung a piece of cardboard marked "Danger" on a piece of electrical
apparatus.
--
We must protect aTT electrical apparatus so that when Bill carelessly
leans up against a switch he may finish his yarn in comfort and not in
the hospital. Then again there is the electrician who thinks "Oh, I have
beeu working around ^ ~>ctricity all my life, and I never got hurt yet."
I think the problem of guarding to protect the latter man is the harder,
and anything which can be done to make it hard for him to get hurt is a
step in the right direction.
The chief operator of a large railway power house told me that his
greatest accident hazard was the human element, that his.best men some
times take a chance. ^Familiarity breeds contempt" and it will take much
thought and ingenuity in the matter of guarding to help counteract this
human failing.
The manufacturers of electrical apparatus .and accessories are constantly
devising new ways of Insuring absolute safety and in every easfe when
they advertise a new. product, its safety features are prominently men
tioned.
^
I. once knew an old engineer who had made several crude guards for
switches, and he was trying to convince a fellow engineer in another plant
of the value of his guards. "Huh" (this engineer said) "the only way to
guard that stuff is txtJock.it up and throw the key away and then some
body might find the key.."
I am glad to say that that sort of an argument is giving way before
modern ways of guarding against electrical accidents. ,
Much has been written and discussed about what voltage should be
considered dangevouC' and it seems .to be the opinion that .anything above
440 volts is dangerous. However', much depends on the, conditions obtain
ing, and 1, personally, have had a very severe, burn from 6 volts. I had
a ring on my finger ind was oiling the motor in my car. I had the oil can
in my hand and my ring made contact with the live side of the starter
switch. Instantly thff ring became red hot and I had difficulty in removing
Automotive Section
381
it from my finger. The finger had a blister *4 inch, high all around it_ Later, infection set in and I had a pretty sore finger for a while, so hereafter I will consider that the voltage of any line I come near is of
high tension. I consider that all electrical apparatus should be 100 per cent safe
regardless of voltage, because the fact that the voltage is low and not dangerous, makes the average person more careless.
Safety apparatus is inherently more difficult to inspect than open apparatus, but the manufacturers have made the parts more rugged and therefore more reliable so that the necessity of extra work due to* failure of apparatus is lessened to a large degree. Safety apparatus naturally is of higher first cost than previous standard apparatus, but the accident liability clause of various states makes the employer liable' for accidents to employees. So there is a financial justification for the use of safety apparatus in addition to the main, reason, which is a humanitarian one.
In considering safety as applied to any industrial plant, the source of current, either from sub-station or private power plant, should be first considered.
In one of our plants the power Is obtained from a sub-station at 13,200 volts and enters the plant transformer house about 5 feet from the prop erty line where it is transformed to 4,400 volts with the power company's
transformers. From the transformer house it is conducted to the plant
sub-station where it is again, transformed to 440 volts and carried to the bus bars of the switchboard.
There are disconnection switches on the 13,200 volt line coming into .the'. transformer house and oil switches between transformers ;in trans former house and those in private sub-station. There are also oil switches between transformers and bus bars on switchboard so that both sides of transformer may be killed, making it safe to work on same. By having an oil switch operated from switchboard connecting bus bars to feeder, this section may be killed so that it Is safe.
The oil switches are against the wall and about 10 feet from the back of the switchboard. This is a good feature for nothing is more conducive to an accident in back of the switchboard than lack of-room to work properly. A platform covers the connecting levers from the switchboard.
The transformer vault is locked and no one not authorized can enter. The openings at the ends of the switchboard are closed with heavy wire partition and the door locked so that only an authorized person can enter here.
SAFETY FEATURE IX COSSBCTIOS WITH SWITCHBOARDS
The latest safety feature in connection with switchboards consists of an enclosed standard unit removable panel switchboard, which may be built up to form a complete switchboard, as the bus compartment is arranged so that bus bars can be continued from unit to unit through openings in the, side wall. These panels are made In the form of a truck, and should a breakdown occur, the entire panel can be moved out, as it is mounted on wheels. As soon as the panel is removed, the connections are auto matically broken so that workmen have no live parts to handle. Barriers
Kighlh fittfeiy Congrcsx
prevent accidental contact should any one enter the compartment when the panel has been jemoved. It has ail interlocking device making it impossible to either remove or replace the panel with the breaker closed. A padlock may also toe used so that no tmauthorized person can remove the panel if the breaker is open. These units come complete with instru ments, oil circuit breakers, instrument transformers and other appliances which may be desired, and should a breakdown occur, a spare unit can be immediately placed in service without taking the power ofT the main bus. It is stated by the manufacturers that this change can be made in less than a minute.
Kl KCTRICALI.Y-HEATKI) K.N'AMKUXG OVENS
The method of control for the electrically-heated enameling ovens is
interesting and makes for safety.
The switches for these ovens were originally -on an open-faced panel
in the enameling room and naturally under the right condition a spark from a switch mighty cause an explosion and fire. These ovens are now
controlled from a central point called the control room which is situated
at a distance from the ovens. This room is of concrete construction and
has a switchboard on which are mounted the thermostatic relays which control the temperature of the ovens. This eliminates a very dangerous
fire hazard and centralizes the control in connection with these ovens.
I would like to mention the fire-fighting apparatus in the ovens. There is a pipe drilled with holes running each side the length of the oven
and in case of fire the steam is automatically turned on and the fire is
smothered by the blanket of steam. It is also possible to use Foamite to
extinguish the fire. A.1I lighting fixtures through the enameling departmen* are fume proofT the receptacle being of a fume-proof composition. The lamp is screwed into this and then is covered with a glass globe whicn screws on to the receptacle in such a way that if a spark should
in any way occur in_the interior of the globe, it could not reach the
outside.
--
All panel boards controlling the lighting throughout the plant are of
the safety type with push-button switches mounted on a slate frame. These switches are covered by a steel door provided with a catch. The
fuse holders are mounted outside the safety frame and are covered with
a steel door provided with a lock preventing unauthorized persons from gaining access to the fuse compartment.
The motors driving the pumps for the clarifiers are direct geared to
the pumps doing away with the fire hazard due to static from driving
belts.
.
Ni:\V TYPE Of MOTOR-STAItTINli SWITCH
A new type of motor-starting switch, which is low in first cost but
provides complete prelection to both the operator and the motor, has just been placed on the. market. It is designed for connecting single or poly
phase alternating current motors of from 1. to 10 horsepower, 250 and 550
volts, directly to the Jine without the use of auto-transformers or resist
ance.
=T
Automotive Section
333
All of the mechanism with the exception of the opening handle is' en closed with a steel box. Paris needing regular inspection, are easily accessible on opening a door inzthe cover; but this door cannot be opened except when the switch is in the "off" position (nor can the switch be closed when the door is open) and all parts reachable are then dead.
Therefore, it is impossible to: receive injury from contact with live parts when either operating or inspecting the switch or making ordinary adjustments and renewals. The upper part of the cover is held in place by screws and so can be removed without difficulty by authorized persons, thus exposing the entire mechanism to inspection.
No voltage protection to the^motor is provided by a magnetic release which opens the switch automatically on a failure of voltage. Overload protection is provided by means of relays, resembling cartridge fuses in appearance, each of which contains a contact connected in series with the release magnet. Harmless momentary overloads have no effect on the relays, but as soon as the load on * the motor becomes dangerous, the contacts open the magnet circuit and the switch automatically flies open. The contacts ' then automatically reset themselves. The switch is so arranged that it cannot be kept closed on an overload or no-voltage even if the handle is held in the "off" position.
.Enclosed switches may be used wherever the ordinary knife switches may be applied. The switch parts are so mounted inside of the box that the door over the fuses is autoniatically locked when the switch is in the closed position. When the switch contacts are open, the door can be opened after turning the handle to the "off" position. With the door open, in which position it is held by means of a catch, the switch cannot be closed. When the switch is In the open position it is impossible to reach the hand in far enough to touch the live contacts. The switches are made with the fuse holders in such a position that the fuseholders are atways "dead" when the switchndoor Is open and fuses can he replaced, therefore, in perfect safety. The door of the safety switch may be locked shut by a padlock thus making impossible to be operated by inexperienced persons and only persons who have access to the key can replace a fuse. A padlock may also be used to lock the switch in the "off" position so that safety is provided to the_workman in case the -switch were acci dently closed.
Automatic starters for both direct and alternating current motors may be had. to operate which you dimply press a button and the motor accelerates with scientific exactness preventing excessive starting current making it possible for aiiy inexperienced hand to start a motor without injury. The starters are totally enclosed in sheet-iron cases which may be locked shut and the line switch may be locked open by inserting a padlock. This is a good safety" feature for then no one but the person holding the key may operate the starter.
Quick stopping may be obtained with the direct current starter by the use of a drum reverse switch which provides dynamic braking in the "off" position and speed adjustments jaay be obtained by the use of a master switch and Held rheostat combined. With this arrangement the handle
33
Eighth Safety Congress
My idea is to .put polarized receptacles in all places where we use extension cords. ^One side of all those polarized receptacles is the grounded side of the circuit. That part of the plug cap which goes into the polarized sideT of the receptacle is connected to the screw side of the socket. T believe that is going to make it safer.
CnAimrAx Lynch: T think this must conclude our discussion on this topic. I am sure'fyou have all been waiting to hear Mr. Shaw on "Our Method of Safety Education."
ABSTRACT OF PAPER ON
OUR JSTETHOD OF SAFETY EDUCATION
R. A. Shaw, Dephtment of Safety and Factory Hyoiene, Ford Motor Company. Detroit. Mich.
IXTRODUCTORY
Gentlemen. I will give merely a synopsis of our work. Our system of Safety Education lias proved successful because the number of accidents, have not only been cheeked, but have decreased. This is strikingly shown by a comparison of the months of October 1916 and May 1919, when there were .194 and 40 accidents respectively; a reduction of nearly SO per cent in three years, while the number of employees increased 18 per cent.
Our fiscal year ending August 1. 1919. shows only 1 death among 50,000 employees, and ntdeaths for 11 consecutive months.
GUARDING
The first thing W& do is, keep all machines, conveyors, and other neces sary equipment in a safe condition with efficient safety guards or. devices. This convinces tlrel employee that the Ford Motor Company is willing to do its share; and creates a desire on his part to do likewise.
EPUCATIONAt REQUIREMENTS
Safety Education^should be something possessing power to cause inspi rations and develop the individual along the lines of safety. It must be the thing to encourage men to respect the "safety laws, and love human ity to such an extent, as to endeavor persistently to prevent suffering by reducing accidents.
A certain amount of humor is necessary in this work. It develops cheerfulness, which produces a fertile mind for the reception, of seed (new methods) anti causes it more readily to take root and become (as it were) a tree with many branches spreading in all directions, comfort ing those in need^T
MOVING PICTURES
The Safety Moving Picture is a vital and important phase of our work. It shows the less'iintelligent workman the safe and unsafe ways of doing things. The pictures are acted by their fellow employees and conse-
A-utornotive Section
337
quently produce personal interest and enthusiasm. There was a 27 per cent reduction in accidents^ during the period these pictures were shown.
In conjunction with them we had different foremen talk before the men. to bring out more specifically the hazards encountered by the men in their respective departments.
SAFETY HTJI1.ES
Safe working rules are not all put in one large volume as is the general custom. Rules for punch presses, saws, milling machines, cranes, elevat ors, etc. are printed separately on a booklet cut pocket size with detach able section on the bottom which is signed by the operator and kept by his foreman.
We feel that in this way they are read and the results gratifying.
- -- nULLETINS
Bulletins are changed eachu week in our 100 bulletin boards. This serves to acquaint the employees with the different hazards. When plac ing them in the boards, we watch to see whether the foreman is anxious to look at the new bulletin; if so, one-half of our desired accomplishment is attained, hecatise the men will soon follow.
INSPECTORS
Our minute-men, or as some term them, safety inspectors, patrol the buildings, and are ever ready to cooperate with the men or their fore men in any safety requirements.
interchanging ok ideas
Safety Suggestion boxes agl placed at each entrance. -No prizes are given because we believe that all of our men are interested in safety to such an extent that they will gladly give their ideas to prevent suffering to themselves and fellow employees. We also have the use of the "Ford Man" to advance the interchanging of safety Ideas.
MONTHLY SAFETY STANDING
A Monthly Safety Standing is compiled and distributed to the dif ferent departments, to stimulate a race between them. A letter from the Managers and President, to departments free from accidents, also cre ates a desire to he free from accidents.
LINING UP AT STREET CABS
A crusade, to line up the men at the street cars, has been successful. It matters not how many thousands of workmen are waiting for the cars, you will find them lia<d up one behind the other. Our exhibit at booths 5 and 6 contain pictures of this system in operation.
338
-- Eighth Safety Congress
CONCr.tTSIOIf
Gentlemen, I do ntHT wish to burden you with a lot of ideas which you
no doubt have had experience with, but I do feel that if you are to be
successful in educating the workmen in Safety First, you first must have
ideas that will seem Treasonable and practical to them, and make them
see that safety is to their advantage.
Universally, you will find that men are reasonable and will cooperate in any movement that is beneficial to them, if they only understand it
to be such.
This is why Safety: Education is absolutely necessary. You will suc
ceed in the same degree as you are successful in presenting your ideas to the men in a way readily understood by them.
Before we give a rfile book to a workman and allow him to put it in
his pocket, the foremSn first reads over all the rules to the man. If the man understands the rules, is willing to live up to them, he signs his
name and badge number on a detachable section which is torn off and
filed at the foreman's desk. The foreman will cooperate in safety, but he must have absolutely a
fair and square deal___The men who cooperate in safety must also have
a fair and-square deah For instance, if you have an accident, it. is a dis
grace for the company to allow that man to say, "The foreman has
never told me anything about my particular job." On the other hand, the foreman can sayp "I talked these things over with yon; read the
rules to you and you "said 5rou thoroughly understood them. You signed
your name here, which implied that you would practice and live up to
these rules."
i
It doesn't mean that you have anything on the man in a legal way by
which you can take This compensation away, because I wouldn't dream
of such a thing. It is' iust a backing to the foreman.
I have heard so much about saws. We have a few rules on saw3;
not many, but just a"lfew that a fellow will read. They do not tell the
size of the shaft and saw. or a lot of stuff like that, but they tell about
saw guards and a fewTlther things of importance.
Our largest rule berok is labeled, "Safety on Cranes and Elevators."
We have put in here the safe load for manila rope and the safe load for steel cables, for an operator should know what his cables will stand.
Another, rule book is. "Safety Rules and Suggestions for Shipbuilders." When those shipbuilders got started and had twenty boats under con
struction it was like a sham battle, only they weren't using bullets
After six months of education we had a reduction of 75 per cent in ac
cidents.
tST "
-
We also have n few rules for the crane operators, which are placed up
on the frame in the cab. so there is no question about their not having
seen the rules.
On every crib in the plant we have three styles of goggles. If a man
goes on a job where there is light dust, he picks out the light goggles. Where there are heavier particles flying around in any operation, of course they choose theiiheavier goggles.
,
-dLUlumui iua tswciun,
-j,,..
The rule hook we got out on punch presses tells how to put the hands
on the machine. It also gives other details, and it certainly hits the nail
on the head.
7"
I think that moving pictures jure very effective. The men will see
themselves in the picture, and if you make it just a little bit humorous,
so they will poke theirneighbor in theribs and have a goodlaugh, it
will have a more lasting effect.Theygo home and
tell their wives
about being regular actors, and You know how that stuff goes. The wife
will have to come and see the picture too, just in order to see her hus
band on the screen.
--
And then you can supplement the pictures with a short, snappy talk,
telling the men it is part of their work to make the safety plan a suc
cess. At each meeting drive some one point home. Do not try to give a bunch of thoughts in your talk, but make one point conclusively and
let your pictures do the rest. Then the next night make another point,
and so on.
:--
Chairman Lynch: Gentlemensit is necessary to appoint a Committee
to nominate your officers for . the ensuing year. I will appoint on the
nominating committee, Mr. Michael Barratt, of the Michigan Bolt and
Nut. Works, Detroit; Mr. F. X. Wells, of the Packard Motor Company,
Detroit: and Mr. J. H. Goldie, of the Cadillac Motor Company, Detroit.
Adjournment.
~
FRIDAY MORNING SESSION
HE meeting convened at 9:45 A. M., Mr. James J. Lynch, of the
X Chevrolet Motor Company.TNew York, presiding. CitAiiaiA.v Lynch: The first number on the program is a paper on "Employment and Safety," Mr. 13. F. Blank.
EMPLOYMENT AND SAFETY
E. F. Blank, Manacku or Employmkxt asu Safkty, Buicic Motor Car Company, Font. Mich.
The subject has a number o different angles, but I am going to deal more particularly with the relation of the Employment to the Safety Department. Few safety men realize the accident prevention work that can be done through the Employment Department. .
Safety work should start withTthe new employee when he is selected and assigned to his job. The qualifier should consider carefully the type and size of men he is dealing with, and whether they are mentally and physically equipped for the position.
PITY.SIC.M. I-'.X AM I X.vnu.v .NKCli.SSAMV l'OK Pl.ACltM KNT
The man should then be given a thorough physical examination, and should any defects or deformities show up that could disqualify him for the position to which he has Theen assigned, he should return to the
340
~Kighth Safety Congress
qualifier for better placement or rejection. For instance, if. you should have an applicant who--was subject to epileptic fits, you wouldn't want that man operating a crane or some power driven vehicle where his own life and that of others^would be in danger. Or if it should be discovered that he had the sight of only one eye, you wouldn't place him on a job where he would be liable to lose the sight of the other eye, or where he would be liable to injure or cause others to be injured through his inability to judge distances accurately.
These are merely some examples of what we encounter in placing the new employee on the right job. The new employee seldom realizes how much has been done for his own safety before he has reached the job on which he is to work.
I have a few figures jwhich might be interesting to yon. Out of 20,000 men examined at o\n- plant In X91S there were 17,839 defects recorded. This in itself, I believer is convincing evidence of the necessity of phy sical examination. There were 631 rejections during this period, and 712 applicants put to work under observation of the Medical Department. The percentage of rejections was very small but when you stop to con sider the conditions in 1918, when we were short of men due to war work, when we were practically hiring the lame, the halt, and the blind, you will wonder why we rejected as many as 631. The physical examina tion is absolutely a safety measure, and should not be overlooked. It is one of the most absolutely worth-while propositions In connection with employment and accident prevention.
Most industrial concerns give out books of rules and instructions to their employees. These books should really be given out by the Em ployment Department right at the time the man is hired. A few signs or slogans on a bulletin board well appointed in the Employment De partment will have a good result. The first impressions are the most lasting.
INSTRUCT SEW KM IM.OYEK IN SAl'KTV
The new employee should be impressed with the fact that he is enter ing a factory in which everything possible is being done for the safety of the men. and that his help is needed to make this factory a safe and healthful place in w*hich to work. Statistics show greater accident rates from new employees than from old men, therefore particular care should be taken in the training and instruction of the new men. The employ-* ment manager as well as the safety engineer is interested in this because a large percentage of the labor turnover comes from men of less than a month's service. A great deal of this can be traced to inadequate means of training, instruction^ or supervision right at the start.
Some of you have training schools for instruction, but most of us rely on the foremen to instruct our new employees properly. The foreman's position Is a very important one in any organization; he must be human and patient; he must understand human nature, and possess that per sonal touch that will win the friendship and confidence of his men.
If your new* man is entrusted to a job, be sure that he is qualified to do that job. He must realize the importance of proper training and his
Ji.'UHf'HlUHUO UU'l <VH-
: csponsibiiity in that position. Some foremen are better fitted than others
to do this training work, and to them this should be assigned. It is
very desirable to make a good ^safety man out of your job setter or assist
ant foreman because he is closer to the men and they feel that he is one
of them. No matter who the instructor is, the job of training is a
mighty important one, and il^should not be slighted. It is your best
chance to make the new employee a safe and steady worker for your
organization.
^
Most plants have well defined!safety organizations. The safety engineer
or the safety director is expected to work out means of reducing accidents,
just as the employment manager is expected to reduce the labor turnover.
The problems of the safety engineer and the employment manager are
identical, inasmuch as their greatest problem, 1 believe, is the gaining of the cooperation of the foremen. This is purely a matter of education.
You must win the foreman's confidence, in order that he shall know
that your recommendations for a change of operation or the installation
cf a guard or device is for the best. He must be with you heart and
soul in order to make the operation successful. You must sell yourself
and your recommendation or suggestion to the foreman on the job.
And so it is with the employment manager. He must have the utmost
cooperation and confidence -of the foremen in order to be successful In
his work. He must be close enough to the foremen so that the latter
will help the employment manager, through proper training and instruc
tion and supervision, to hold the employees on the job.
1NDUSTK1AL HKI-VTtONS IIEI-AKT.MEST
The Industrial Relations Department is a department of service. The success of this department depends entirely upon cooperation. Each sub department, whether employment, safety, welfare, or what not, has a distinctive service to sell, aria your job and mine is to sell that service. The method of selling depends a great deal upon the make-up of your organization, and the polieieg^of the management.
Good results can be obtained through foremen's and superintendents' meetings. By calling the foremen together periodically their interest in safety work can be stimulated. And if the different departments are properly coordinated one with the other, the employment manager or welfare director can take advantage of these meetings to drive home the important points concerning his work.
Shop publications are an ^excellent means of getting your message be fore the employee. A good deal can also be done by maintaining personal contact with the employees and the foremen. You must be sales engineer as well as safety engineer, and if you are part of a well organized indus trial relations department with a well defined salespolicy, you will find no trouble in selling the service which you have to offer.
DISCUSSION
Mr. A. H. Bisrmkykr (Cincinnati Milling Machine Co.): Mr. Blank
spoke of employing defectives. I would like to know the practice o the
342
Eighth Safety Congress
Buick Motor Car Company^--do they employ an applicant who has epi
leptic fits?
-
Mb. Bla.vk: We have some epileptics in the plant. We are not mak
ing it the policy to hire them, but there are certain jobs where you can
place such men, on bench inspection, etc., where they won't be in dan
ger of injuring themselves-any more than they would be on a farm or
anywhere else.
=
My statement was really an exaggeration to bring out a point. We
hire epileptics only in exceptional cases where a man is especially
qualified for some particular line of work. Of course, if his spells are
frequent we do not hire him. There are certain places We have such
men at the present time, but they have to be well placed.
Chairman Lyxck: Do Jon have any method of taking care of men
who are defective?
=-=-
Mr. Blank: We have some in the shop who give us some trouble once in a while. We have a man running a lathe who has thrown a
fit a couple of times. Now, it seems to me in the larger shops the man is confined more than in smaller ones, and in the latter case he
can get around and he isrliable to get into some trouble more than in
the former instance.
~
Mb. R. A. Shaw (Ford Motor Co., Detroit) : This brings up a topic
that is very human, and it is a thing I think all industries must take
part in.
If every firm wdtlld take in one new man who is subject to
epileptic fits, it would beya fine thing, but if several reject them, then, some firm that has a big heart has to make a special job for those men.
Mr. E. B. Cask (New Departure Mfg. Co., Bristol, Conn.) : I would like to inquire of Mr. Blank what the percentage of turnover is under
his system.
r
Mb. Blank: Our percentage for 19JLS, of course, ran pretty high, due to war work, but at tlie present it will run around 100 per cent. We
keep a weekly tabulation wd a monthly summary.
Mb. Wm. Powki.l (International Harvester Company, Chicago): I'd
like to ask Mr. Blank to describe the manner of introducing the new employee--that is, after he has been hired, up to the time he reaches his place of employment.
IN'TItOnueiXG THE NEW EMPLOYEE
Mr. Blank: The new employee comes into a. waiting room and is interviewed by an outside Jgterviewer. This man turns away any one he knows is not qualified to fill' any positions that are open, and either a record is made of his qualifications, or he is told to return at a certain time. If he is found to betra man we can use at that time, he is passed on to the qualifier inside^yho assigns the man to his work. He then goes to the physical examiner. Should he be found b^the doctor to be, through physical reasons,^disqualified to go on the job, he is returned to the qualifier. This brings the doctor and the selectors close together. If the qualifier explains TEp the doctor the nature of the work (the doctor isn't supposed to know everything about the shop, but of course
Automotive Section
343
they know more than a lot olLJother fellows in the organization) and
the doctor thinks the applicant can do the work, he will pass him.
Then the man, if he is hiredTI is passed on to the write-up, where he
is assigned his work and a record is made for the pay roll. etc. In our
plant he is then delivered by automobile to the factory to which he has
been assigned. We have thirty-nine factories and they are scattered
over a good deal of ground---all-in one bunch, but spread out over a plot
one and an eighth miles long and six blocks wide.
So he is delivered by automobile to the head time checker of the
factory in which he begins work, and is there entered on the roll and
signs his clock card, and is delivered to the foreman on the job. Then
our man from the employment department gets a receipt from the
foreman or the departmental clerk. So he is passed along out to the
foreman who meets him personally, and the man either goes to work
immediately or comes in the next morning.
Chcaikman Lynch: Do you-give these men any safety instructions
before they go to work?
^
Mr. Blank: Only our Rules and Regulations, book is given them
there. We do not give any general safety instructions at the employ
ment department on account of the varied work to which the different
men would be assigned. It ctxuld be done to good effect in a general way, however, and when, the inan reaches the job have the foreman
explain the specific dangers of 'the operation he is to go on.
Mr. E. B. Case: I believe it is an important safety measure that
when a man is employed he should he taken by the runner, or who
ever takes him to the foreman, to the gate by which he is to enter
the plant. Prom there he should be conducted to his place of .employ
ment by tbe most direct and "safe route, and the possible dangers ex
plained to him on the way. Then he should be formally introduced to bis foreman.
Mr. Blank lays particular stress on selecting men who are qualified
for the position. I'd like to ask to what extent he is able to select men
who are qualified for certain positions in the factory. Mr. Blank: Ordinarily by trade questions, cross examination, etc.,
the qualifier can pretty well toll whether the' man is telling the truth.
In fact, that is what he is there for--to read personality--and if the
man -is telling something that is \intrne. why. he can usually catch him in some way. But there:are cases that get by. I imagine prac
tically. every employment department has had instances where the man,
when he got out on the job, got cold feet and admitted that he was not
qualified for that position.'
^
Mr. Glenn Byers (Corn Products Refining Co., Granite City, 111.): I
would like to ask Mr. Blank liow much time is consumed in placing the
man on the job under his system. Mr. Blank: From the timehhe man is called in it does not take much
over fifteen minutes. We have a stripped examination, of course, and
that takes a little time for disrobing and dressing again.
Mr. A. C. Clark (Delco Company. Dayton, Ohio) : I'd like to ask Mr.
Blank, what action his company takes in regard to defects that are
344
Eighth Safely Congress
detected after the man becomes an employee of the company. Suppose,
for instance, he develops a venereal disease--what do you do in that
case?
--
Me. Busk: Once in a while it comes back, and, of course, that man is referred to proper medical care.
Mb. Clark : company?
Suppose he gets a disease while an employee of your
Me. Buxk: In that ease I imagine the- doctor would request that we lay him off until he is properly able to go to work again. We don't have
a re-examination except in case of transfer, and of course it would be
disclosed at that time, ^T it were, he would be sent home until such
time as he would be able3o function properly on his operation. Mr. Clark: After a nan is employed is there any follow-up as to
whether he is satisfied with the job? Does any one from your office pay
him a visit to see that he is acquainted with his fellow workmen and is
getting along well on thefjob? That is the method we pursue. We have
a man who does that in addition to his transfer work. He gets a list of
the new employees and Zhiakes a visit throughout the factory, and he
makes it his business to grab the new man by the hand and see that he
is acquainted with the man next to him. He asks him whether he is perfectly satisfied with the job. and so .'on. and we -find it a good scheme
because then the fellow doesn't think as soon as he lights on the job he
is forgotten, and in a great many cases we find that the man working
next to him is a fellow with his ears pinned back who doesn't pay any
attention to the new many And so when the man from the employment
department goes up to him and grabs him by the hand and wants to
know how he is getting along he feels there is a warm spot down there
and that he hasn't been forgotten.
Chair max Lynch : That's a fine idea.
Mr. Bla.vk: How manf^do you hire a day?
Mr. Clark:
that.
We average about fifty to seventy-five, and possibly over
Mr. Buxk: He has quite a job.
Mr. Clark: Yes. but he^gets away with it.
Mu. G. H. Hawes (O. 37 McQuistion, Inc.. Detroit!: Mr. Blank, I'd
like to ask if the book of rules and regulations which you hand your
new men are printed in any foreign languages.
Mr. Bi.axk: Mo, sir. There is only one language in the United States,
according to us.
Mr. Glkxx Byers (Corn'TProducts Refining Co.. Granite City, 111.): If you want to reach the foreigners it would be a good idea to get text
books and have them attend school, but your safety literature should be
printed in English only. That is the way we are doing it.
Mr. F. A. Fredrickson ^Industrial Commission of Wisconsin, Madison,
Wis.) : I'd like to ask MrTTBlank if there is a discrimination as to wages when you find some of the^e physical defects on the employee.
Mr. Blank: Not according to our system of assignment. If a man Is
assigned to a certain jobyhe is able to do that job with a hundred per
cent efficiency, as far as physical fitness is concerned. If he wasn't, ne
Automotive Section,
84b
wouldn't be assigned to that job. He'd be assigned to some other, or else
rejected. Mu. Fkki> Hazel (.O. -J. iVLcQuiston, Inc., Detroit) : I'd like to ask Air.
Blank what form of records the medical department keeps on applicants
f^r employment, and to what extent they are used after the man is put
to work, and are they used for any future reference with regard to his
safety qualifications for the puijsbse of replacing that man or promoting
him- to any other position?
^
Mb. Blank: That medical record has nothing to do with promotion
except in case he should ask for a transfer, we would refer to his card
and find out what his physical examination showed up. If there was
some defect which might prohibit his transfer to that specific operation
his card would show it. Of course, he'd probably be given a re-exam
ination, and if it was deemed advisable to put him on light duty or out
side work, why, we would transfer the man on the physical record.
Skckktajky Howe: When a man is introduced to the work do you have
instructors there to break the man in. to the job?
. -AIk. Blank: There are certain men assigned to that work in each
department, and they do tliat along with the other productive work.
t'sually, the man who introduces the new men to the jobs Is the assist
ant foreman or what we call the "job setter".
Skckktary Howe: Does that assistant foreman train the man along
safety lines while he is Workington the job, or into the job? Is that a
part of his duty?
^
ATk. Blank: Yes. He points "out the way to the new man. And we
get in contact with the foremen doing this work through the foremen's
meetings, and by the safety engineer talking with these foremen, at these meetings he % can get over any message he wants on instruction and
training.
'
The line of instruction isn't exactly the same in every case, because
your job is different, but the man" who is breaking the new one in, points
out the specific dangers of the particular operation, whether It is a lathe,
drill press, or some other machine, or even if it is In handling stock.
Chairman Lynch: Gentlemen, I'd like to close this matter and take
up the next talk. We sent a letter to each member of the Automotive Section asking them to send in their opinion on the standardization
proposition, and as a result a great many letters were sent to Mr. Goldie.
In fact, he wrote me and said that he had too many letters. Everybody
seemed to be interested in the matter.
r want you to pay particular attention to this, and this is the matter I
had in mind when I suggested the resolutions and the committees for:
following out the work. A resolution at the end of this paper, if yon
gentlemen s<\p fit, or a motion to^ppoint a committee for the purpose of putting through a resolution I think will be in order after you have
heard Mr. Goldie. Gentlemen. I take pleasure in introducing Mr. Goldie.
346
Eighth Safety Congress
STANDAKDJNATION OF GUARDS (EXFEK1ENCF OF THE AUTOMOTIVE GROUP)
J. H. Cor-uiB, CAurr.BAC Motor Company, Detroit, Mich.
The tiling that Mr. JUynch. and I were interested in on this particular question was the movement, as you know, to standardize by either federal or state statutes the building of guards, and the applying of guards to machinery. I have come in contact a good deal with state boards and with courts in the matter of accidents, their settlement, causes, and compensation laws, and I have been inclined to think, that on the whole it would be impossible to make any standard reasonably applicable.
REASONS FOR NOT STANOAJSUIZINU
There are two or three reasons for that. 1 think the biggest reason
(with all due respect fifco the gentlemen who are sitting here from 'the
Wisconsin Industrial Commission, and I understand there are some other
state men here) is that we have often placed upon our state boards for
factory inspection service men who are not qualified, because they are
placed there purely from political connection. Just a few days ago a
factory inspector came into my office and wanted to talk to' me about
guards. The man. hadjever been in "a factory in his life; knew nothing
about mechanics, and the only job the mail had ever had in his life was,,
that of a carpet salesman for a wholesale carpet house. That man was
on the job because his~brother-in-law happened to be at the head of the
factory inspection service of the state. That is one of the _ biggest objections, men, to standardization--the
fact that it is so absolutely impossible, due to our political machinery, to
get fully qualified mention the job to interpret these statutes with refer
ence to standard guards.
I think the second big' objection would be the attitude of the employer.
I know that I have felt, and I believe that a lot of you men have felt,
that the employer is beginning to see lie must do safeguarding because
his pocket-book has be hit by the Compensation Act. I will grant that
is true in a lot of .casfes. I do know, however, in a lot of cases the
employer has gone ahead with safeguarding and humanitarian methods
because he wanted to keep his men from being hurt. But if it is true that men are being compelled to guard because of the necessity to save
money on compensation; those men are going to look for every possible
loophole to get out of putting a guard on a machine.
I believe that most of you men who come in practical <*ontact with the
guarding proposition -will agree with me when I say the biggest loophole
they find is that the guard is impractical, ihat it can't be put on, that it
is going to tie up production, or the physical circumstances are such that
it can't be done.
fife
Now, I am here to sBy that if you have a standard specification made
by a federal or state statute, you are going to have one fine time to get
the man to put it on nnless the state or federal officials are around to
sL'iitomotive Section
347
jump on his neck. I tbink that. is where the biggest objection is going
to come.
7~~ ' '
Now, if that same manufacturer can have the service o a trained
safety' department with men o^ mechanical ability, with men who can
work with him, and even adjultnf necessary, a different system of pro
duction in the department, so that a guard can be put on the machine
to make it safe in the opinion oh the trained safety man, then I think the
real object of safety work has been accomplished. The men who must
work around that particular guard are protected, and I don't believe that
there is. any necessity in this cag for any specified guard.
Perhaps this discussion arose largely from the recommendations that
have been made in numerous instances by insurance companies and state
officials and some long-haired men in safety work, that a guard on a
vertical belt should be six feet high, or six feet six inches, or something
of that sort. Mr. Shaw says it IS just as reasonable to say ten. I have
seen in my limited experience in observing these things, guards four feet
from the floor that I can't help but believe were perectly safe from the
standpoint of hazard from the -moving belt.
There are other guai-ds that Tiave been suggested on pulley and hor
izontal belts. Some years ago I had an argument with a certain manager
in our plant with reference to the guard on horizontal belts. He couldn't
see any sense to it anyway; it wss all'foolishness! Just about the time
we were having our argument a first class man in aur millwright depart
ment walked down the passageway between a row of machines, when
one of the metal fastenings on thiTbelt came apart and gouged an eye out.
From that time we didn't have to argue metal guards on horizontal belts. If somebody sat down and attempted to standardize the proposition,
there would be absolutely no limit upon the number of operations upon
which standards might be set, and no limit upon specifications that
might be made. It would be absolutely unworkable in the ordinary
plant. We in our own company are looking forward with a lot of hope to
the day when we shall be in- a new factory wh.ere we will have every
thing done to the last word in factory machinery, belting, and working
.conditions, but if any of you ffign would come over to see us at the
Cadillac factory now, the small ^number of accidents would seem unbe
lievable when you consider our working conditions. We have men work
ing where machines are so- crowded that you wonder how they ever get by at all. If we didn't keep on the job at all hours with safety inspection
and with the installation of guafjjs, and all this with the backing every single minute of the plant management, we wouldn't he able to keep
from killing men every day in the week. But if you are to say to your
management today that they have-to put on a certain guard because the
state law says so--well, I know what we'd be up against.
OI-I'OSEO TO STAXAKOJZATIOS13JIs-DKR FEDERAT, OK STATE STATUTE
I believe this group could well go ou record as being opposed to stand ardization under federal or state statute. I do think, however, that with tlte movement on foot in the National Safety Council at the present time lor the establishment of an Engineering Section, it may be possible for
348
JhJighth Safety Congress
our group to work with this new Section, to have adopted by the Council,
If you desire, a standardized guard system as recommendations of the
Council or of this group, or both, but not as a must-be-done proposition
by 'any state or federal board.
v
I find that the insurance companies, on the whole, are very glad to follow the recommendations of the National Safety Council on guarding.
And I think the average insurance company is willing to follow the
recommendations of a good, safe, sane bunch of engineers, although some
of the insurance companies are not giving credits on ratings in some
states where there is a standardized guard statute at the present time,
if the particular employer or manufacturer does not live up to the stand
ard set by the state. -== Most of you men who come in contact with the new machine that
comes into your plant have discovered that sometimes a lot of them come
guarded to a reasonable extent, but in a lot of cases the guards applied
by the manufacturer of the machine are not the guards that your own
safety organization would recommend. For that reason I say if we have a standard of guards set by the Federal Bureau of Standards and by the
state boards, you" will have to make" It so general and so absolutely
applicable in the case of every manufacturer of machinery as well as
every user of machinery, that it seems to me absolutely unworkable,
because if the manufacturer goes ahead and puts on a lot of guarding on
his machinery and charges it to the purchaser, the purchaser is going to
be up in the air abotif it when the machinery is delivered to the plant
and he finds that the machine with guards attached is not suitable to the particular operation for which it was bought.
Mr. Lynch was kind^enough to remind me of a statement I made about
getting too many letters. I didn't get too many, although I told him I
was swamped with the number of replies I got to the letter which he sent out with reference to the opinion of the members of the Automotive Section on standard guarding.
I am not going to attempt to take up all your time with reading all
these letters, but I want to read extracts from letters that came In from fellows on the firing Mine. I say that the only way to get this thing
ironed out is to get-a=real idea of how it should be handled from the
fellow who not only has to put the guards in. hut who has to fight the
management all the time, or argue with the management as to the merits
of the guard and whether or not such guards can be purchased or applied.
OPINIONS OK MKJIHEI OK AtTOMOTIVK SKCTION ON MTANPARP (iUAttl)ING
Here is a letter fronFan automobile parts company. I am not going to mention these namesJiecause some of you might be embarrassed:
"It is our recommendation that a committee be named representing the tool builders of the country, who will assist with a practical outline for guards that will he effective and that will conform with the general design of machine tools, rather than put on some makeshift guard which is usually ordered byTJte state board."
I-don't quite agree^ith the makeshift proposition, but I do think that
Automotive Section-
349
the recommendation that the matter be passed upon, by tool builders
falls in line with the recommendation or the thought in the back of the heads of most of the fellows who have been thinking on the subject that
the matter ought to be recommended by some men who are really qual ified to make the recommendation, and that it ought to be a recommend
ation and not an order.
Here is a company that uses a lot of gear machines: "Many of our machines, the Gleason gear cutting machines in par ticular, have a cast iron guard which closes the pulley vent, with slots
at the top for allowing the driver belt to run through. We have the type of guard necessary where a machine has to be adjusted by hand, but the
commission (New York) would not accept the guard as standard."
Another member writes, with reference to the United States Govern ment standard for these guards:
"We sincerely hope that it will not only work in conjunction with the National Safety Council, but give the matter serious consideration with
the idea of standards that are practical, so they will not work a hardship on either the operator or the manufacturer."
That is the idea of every masr who comes in contact with this par
ticular subject--to have the thing made reasonable, so that it will be workable. That is the big trouble^ that is likely to result if we have to leave it to some highbrows on standards, rather than practical men on
engineering problems.
=
The works' manager of another large company, after discussing a lot of the guards which are not practical, makes this remark:
"It has been rather a hobby with the writer to be a step ahead of the game, and we are very proud of some of the remarks and decisions made by the Safety and Health Inspection, and also the Compensation Board of our state in regard to the conditions in our factory. But it is the
writer's belief that standard guards cannot be made except as adapted to particular types or sizes of machines for guarding in the proper manner; that is, that while a cylinder grinding machine is used only in the front, the feed and pump mechanism in the back is free, and conse
quently presented to the aisle as a^ source of danger to passing operators, but the makers while guarding the wheel do not feel it is necessary to
guard the back part of the machine.
"You will certainly have our hearty cooperation in any steps taken
along the line we have indicated. _ We believe that considerable could be
done in the education of inspectors by placing them upon merit, rather than political preference or reward."
That didn't happen in Michigan; nor in Wisconsin, either. "The state factory inspectors do not visit on the average oftener than once in one and a half years, arid from my past experience with them
they are very lenient. They have.riot as yet required any guards installed
i>rior to the adoption of the tradiOregulations to be changed to conform
with present regulations."
t
That is to their credit. A very good letter was received from one of
or members who evidently made an exhaustive study of the subject of
350
^Eighth Safety Congress
standardization. I anOorry the gentleman is not present. I understand
he is in another section. "My first criticism of standard guards is of the term itself, or the
promiscuous application^ of that term to various parts or to individual
sets of specifications. -Guard specifications in general are subject to such frequent alterations and revisions that even at the present time the term "standard" in this connection is used in anything but its accepted sense. In consequencC3> the revisions an undue hardship is imposed on the well meaning and honest industries to comply with the unusual rigidity, and it makes it necessary to rebuild a disproportionate number of apparently adequate, guards.
"At the same timer-the inflexibility with Which these specifications are applied by those administering them leads to a great waste of material and labor in constructing guards of disproportionate dimensions, merely for the sake of compliance, rather than for the fundamental reason of protection." --
Now, men, there is the whole argument in a nutshell against stand ardized guards. Guards will be built merely for the sake of compliance rather than for the fundamental reason of protection. I think that the experience of the Automotive Section, and the experience of the National Safety Council as a whole in the work done by the members of ihe Council on accident prevention, is that the spirit rather than the law has been working on the matter of guarding. I think it has been done from the humanitariatnstandpoint as much as, if not more than, from the standpoint of the saving of dollars and cents. That man goes.on to say:
"It seems to the writer that the matter of standardizing guards withouc reference to standardizing the equipment is a proposition, to a great extent, like putting the cart before the horse, in that even in the indi
vidual plants great variations of construction exist in different places of equipment designed to perform the same operation."
That- is true iu a lot of our plants where even the physical conditions are different in the same plant. I know in our own plant we have crowded machines into such positions and driven them In snch a way we wouldn't even think of doing if we were operating under different physical conditions inzlhe plant. He continues:
"With this in mind, the idea of attempting to disregard not only indi vidual difference of construction, but plant differences as well, seems rather far fetched. --It would seem that the installation of inflexible specifications by the state or insurance carriers was an attempt to place not only the burden hut the expense of adoption on the industry rather
than on the state or insurance companies. It also seems it is an attempt to place the industry-at a permanent disadvantage in respect to com pensation for injury by unguarded machinery, in that the state or insurance carrier has constant recourse to the technicalities of standard construction as a defense."
Another: "Our experience has been that a guard necessarily must be constructed to fit the situation in hand. So far as is practical we have aimed to standardize all the guards used."
I believe that is the experience of every man in the Automotive Section
A-utarnotivc Section
351
--make the matter practical, and get it as nearly the standard, as pos-
SiUie. I might speak of jusL a little experience in. our own company.
We have been attempting to design and work out some system of stanu-
ard guards on grinding wheels and buffing wheels, and through the assist*
ance of our friend Air. Shaw Sid some of the ideas that we have been
able to steal from some of the other fellows, together with the ability
of our good safety engineer, we'have worked a standard guard, and while
it does cost a lot of money to build the first few guards, the company
works' manager was very heartily in favor of using them.
This extract comes from a letter from the superintendent of the plant
of . the Sterling Motor Truck Company:
"We have not been hamper very much in making our guards to
certain standards, either by the state or the insurance company. They
only give us a few fundamental rules which any one considers in making
an efficient guard, and I personally believe they should be made to suit individual needs."
I think that is a mighty fine'tribute to the gentlemen from Wisconsin
who are here today.
The assistant general manager of the General Motors Truck Company
has this remark to make:
"To sum up the guarding of machinery, we find in our case it is neces
sary for us to study our requirements and arrive at what we believe to
be the best each time a guard is moved."
There is the point again by rman who has had to deal with it in a
great many instances.
Here is a paragraph from jz letter received from the Underwriters
Laboratories:
_
"It naturally follows that standardization should have consideration
in connection with the production and use of any mechanical appliance;
that development is but the outcome of natural economic laws and pos
sibly the application of Darwin's theory of the survival of the fittest.
Afevertheless, authorities in enforcing the use of devices should refrain
from pursuing the course of bringing about actual standardization as to
form and character of appliancrused.
"We attribute much of our Tfuceess in the past to a policy rigidly
adhered to of a standard of performance rather than specifications as to
design, material employed, etc.J To pursue'any other course results in throttling development, and while on the surface' standardization appears
to have become necessary, it is a fact that standardization in results is
the primary object of interest ts the users and to regulatory bodies."
I have just given some of the points developed in the letters received
in reply to Mr. Lynch's circular. The whole object of my taking
this subject and the whole object of talking as I have and reading the
excerpts from the letters receives is to start a discussion from the mem
bers of the Automotive Section. ~ If we are going to make this an experience meeting, the only way is tirhave everybody shoot questions Just as
fast as we can so that we may have some new ideas on the subject, or
ideas perhaps opposed to some [ol these I have attempted to bring out
:Ciiairmas Lynch Gentlemen, Mr. Goldie has been extremely inter-
:ir>2
Eighth, Safety Congress
esting. I am sure you will all agree. There is one point that hasn't been brought out I wish you gentlemen would discuss. If any of you are from New York state and know of this experience, kindly bring it out.
Sometime ago the standard guard in New York was 5 ft. 6 in. That waa passed on by the Bureau of Uabor. The rating board accepted that as a
standard and gave a credit for it. A year or two later they passed a new standard guard of six feet.
When the inspector got on the job he looked in his book of standards for the rating schedule to compare with the standard guard that had been applied a year or two before. He saw that the old standard guard was not six feet; it was six inches short--not standard, no credit.
Gentlemen, discussion is in order.
DISCUSSION
Mr. J. A. Dickinson (Bureau of Standards, Washington. D. C.): There is no intention on the part of the Bureau of Standards, nor has there ever been, to put through any codes by legislation. In the first place, we don't believe=it Is a government function. We don't believe tbat using the club is the 'proper idea.
The Boiler Code Committee has shown the proper way to handle standardization, and that is to make it so good that the states will be forced to it. The A.. S. M. E. Boiler Code Is today undoubtedly the best boiler code ever published, with the possible exception of the Ontario Boiler Code, which is copied very largely after the former with a few added requirements. ^
About four years ago the Bureau of Standards started in cooperation with the electrical engineers and the underwriters and a dozen different associations to produce an electrical safety code. That code today has been revised twice and is just about ready for publication. In spite ol the fact that it has never been officially published there are in the United States today no less than eight states that have made that a law. Bj making your other codes equally good you will force their adoption bj popular demand for them.
There is one thing on which I believe Mr. Goldie will agree with me, a: a good attorney, and that is the fallacy of attacking a standardizatior code, or law because its administration is poor. The code should not b forced upon the people in an ironclad, stereotyped form, but with goo common sense, and it takes men of. experience to administer it and mak the necessary waivers and exceptions where the demands arise. N indexible code can be made. It is a physical impossibility. But you ca make a code that will apply in eighty or ninety per cent of the cases ths will save thousands of dollars.
There are a couple of points Mr. Goldie brought up that I am mighl glad to see. One was the question of the manufacturers not buildir Standard guards. Wow can they build a standard- when there is i national law to build on? The manufacturer will 'build a guard th. will take care of the hazard in a large percentage of the cases. Guardi machines are comiiyg. We have to do something to meet the competifcii
Automotive Section
353
of the other fellow. And we will put on some sort of guard that perhaps
won't pass, so we will -have to tear it out. Mr. Goldie has pointed out that guards should be fitted by experience,
and yet he goes right back on his own assertion, stating that in their new factory everything is goings to be the last word in guarding.
I am speaking from eight years' experience in the safety field, as a
practical safety man, and you "will find that most of the men In the
Bureau of Standards are men of that type. My contention is that until you have covered your obvious hazards and shown your workmen that you are really trying to take care of the mechanical hazards, you cannot get your eductional work started.
Chaismak Lynch: These things I hold here are a tentative program you are getting out; recommendations that haven't been adopted yet. I think you show 6 ft. & in. on the belt guard.
Mb. Dickinson: That is a tentative draft that was drawn up last June. There has been no real work done on that machine guarding code yet.
Chairman Lynch: Then will your committee consult the Automotive Section regarding their wishes?^
Mr. Dickinson: We certainly will he glad to cooperate In every way.
EXPERIENCE OK BUICK MOTOR CAB COMPANY
Ms. R. F. Thalneb (Buick Motor Car Co., Flint): Regarding educa tion'and safety work, I believe, "myself, that machines must be guarded before we can carry on our educational work, but I'd like to cite the instance of the Buick Motor Company in Flint. Some years ago a recom mendation was made to have six-foot guards installed throughout the plant where the man who recommended them thought they were neces sary. The result was the guards were made up and installed.
The installation of those guards created more discontent among the men and hindered the safety movement in general in that plant more
than anything else that could have been done, because guards were put
up that were impracticable. As^you were going through the factory the men would say to -you that the guards were a joke. Now, a guard that
is built so high, past the point where there is no danger, will naturally be
taken as a joke by the men in a movement of this sort. The quicker we can get the men out in the plant to use our appliances,
our guards, the better it is for us, and that is the only way we can get something that is practical. The trouble with these high guards is that when machines are moved they will not suit the new condition. I have found that to be true especially^during this period of movement since the war work is over and machines can .be put back into their old posi tions, where the large guards which formerly suited the purpose do not conform to the new conditions ofi the machine when set up again.
In my estimation, the only way to protect against that Is to mqire a guard that is adjustable on the machine and does not have to come up to an ungodly height. In my mind, I think the issue at hand this morning is whether guards should be built a standard height--not the standard ization of guards, but the standardization of height. We might stand-
".">4
--- Eighth Sitfriy Vungrrss
ardize guards, but to standardize guards with respect to height, I think
Is something that is out of the question,
Mr. C. D. BankT (Michigan Mutual Liability, Detroit): Mr. Goldie's
remarks which he dug out of that voluminous correspondence reflect our
opinion (speaking for the insurance company I represent) that stand
ardization on most .guards is impossible. That has been our experience.
Perhaps some of you remember yesterday that I got up here and ques
tioned somebody about a punch press proposition. Somebody here said
that if a punch press broke down four things had to happen to it, and if
any of those four^things didn't happen to it, why, they couldn't be in
jured. I took exception to that, and he told me that "Seeing was believ
ing." So I went out yesterday, and it was proven to me beyond any
doubt that standardization of punch presses, anyhow on guards, would
be impossible.
--
In their plant that man has about three hundred punch presses of
every kind; some of them they made themselves: and when I tell you
they are a hundred per cent guarded and they are not all guarded alike,
and every one of them are fixed so they are foolproof, you can see how
standardization of guards, at least on punch presses, would be impossible.
Mr. H. KsotuiAN'CMaxwell Motor .Co.. Newcastle. Ind.): Have any of
the men in the room any records of any men or percentage of men
being hurt from a vertical belt that is four inches or under? We have
been keeping records for six months at our plant and we haven't had a
case of a man being hurt either on his hands or any part of his bods'-
from a vertical bell that is four inches or under.
It seems to me ^as though the guards on the Oleason gear cutting
machine answer the purpose fairly well. I won't say that belts over four
inches should not_.be guarded, due to the possibility of the larger belt
hurting somebody, but vertical belts under that size I don't think need
to be guarded, except at the pulley where the belt comes on.
ANALYZE TUB ACCIDENTS
Mr. E. J. ClarkHT (General Motors Corporation. Detroit) : We should analyze the accidents and apply our guards and our- remedies according to what those accidents represent.
A state factory inspector came into one of our plants with nine hun dred employees, and said, "You have to put up high six-foot guards." Sixty per cent of the employees were women and forty per cent men. 1 said, "Let us analyze this thing. Let us first find the necessity for changing all of those guards and putting up six-foot guards. Let's go dawn to the hospital where they have the records."
So we went down" there, and found that in one year and three months (as far as we traced the records back) not a single belt accident had occurred among nine hundred employees in that plant. He said, "I didn't think such a thing was possible: that Isn't the general rule." "Well," X said, "let us go into this thing along sane and sensible lines." So B took him to another plant where four thousand men were employed. In two years--the period for which we were able to trace the records--we found two belt accidents, both on overhead belts, on the counter shaft.
Automotive Section
355
You can't go to the hard-headed factory manager and say to him,
"Here, we want a contribution for six-foot guards around this plant."
Time and again I have gone into the back yards of plants and seen truck
loads and carloads of six-foot guards. Why? Simply because the man
agers are antagonistic to it, and also you can't place a man on a machine
to do piece work and then say to him, "You have to waste your time*
fiddling with that guard." He will steal that guard out from under your nose with the most adequate supervision. I have been in a plant where
they have done it. In the StudeTjaker plant I have seen guards where
the arms attached had been sawed off with a hacksaw, and there a man
had plenty of time to saw them off despite all of their supervision.
What are you going to do with that kind of a thing? Can't you see
that the managers eventually say, "Boys, this safety business is all bosh! We can't go on with It. It is cheaper to pay the losses." That is what
you are confronting. What we ^ant to do is to make this tiling con
structive and not destructive. There is a limit to everything. The extremest has no position in this field.
What brought forward this idea originally was the tendency on the part of the different states to ruir into the proposition of six-foot guards
irrespective of the actual necessity for a guard.
Mr. A. Li. Kaems (Industrial Commission of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.):
1 believe the thing we should know first is: Where are our accidents? In our state we don't insist upon the six-foot guard. We don't care
anything about a six-, six-and-a-half-, or a seven-foot guard, as long as it
takes care of the hazards.
Mk. D. R. Livingstone (Reo Motor Car Co., Lansing, Mich.) : Regard
ing the six-foot proposition, I feel a good hit like Mr. Clarke, and have worked along that line.
Mr. G. H. Hawes (O. .T. McQulltion, Inc., Detroit) : I have a specific
instance in mind that Mr. Clarke failed to recall which I think should be brought up, of a plant where we have so-called six-foot guards or
unreasonable guarding going on throughout the plant. These guards
ultimately reached the scrap yard and have been displaced with guards
that are more sensible and more adaptable to the individual hazards of the different operations, and the actual cost In accidents in that plant
per man employed has been reduced from 47 per cent to close to 4 per
cent per man per month for accidents.
We feel that the reduction came not only through changing the guards,
but through a greater sympathy on the part of the individual working
man, and a greater sympathy on the part of the management and support, on account of the sensible, reasonable engineering principles applied to
the Individual hazardous conditions.
Mr. Goldie: I feel today somewhat in the position of a boy who sticks
a stick Into a hornets' nest when he knew about what would happen
before poking It in. I knew exactly what was going to happen when I
made the remarks I did.
--
My friend from the Bureau of ^Standards got me wrong on some ideas. I am not at all opposing standardization. I am in favor of standardiza-
:{f>G
fC*/htft Safety ('oHtjresx
Hon as far as it In
XM3 ** tar s k is made as recommenda
tions rather than made *-o*mpw4*ory'.
I would malif this rx<i. and X think he will agree with me:
That some of us fellow* down on the firing line ought to be kept in touch
with the work of the rcip4wW<s. when *tadards are being worked out.
The committee can set m*e*p jr*eij good ideas from some of the men
who are right up acainxt the real thing with the human element and
with the mechanical eie>ctrt in the factory.
To start the ball rotlitMT, 1 *orf you. Mr. Chairman, that a Committee
on Resol lions he appointed by the Chair, to consist of three men (and
1 will put In that motion that X won't be on the committee) to draw
resolutions giving the attitude of the Automotive Section with reference
to the matter of standards. With the recommendations of this group both
for and against the movement on standardization.
Me. DicKi>!itM 1 would suggest that in. addition to that, a cooperative committee be appointed. It is all right to outline your position on this movement- We are1 mighty glad to have it. but the fact is we want the actual active cooperation, because work on the code will probably be taken up fairly soon. Whether that will be sponsored, by the A. S. M. E. or Bureau of Standards. I do not know. We are waiting until the forma tion of the Standards Association is put through to decide on the bodies best fitted to handle that. I rather imagine It will be the A. S. ML E., but in any event the cooperative group will be called together from all fields Of Industry. If yoTT appoint a Cooperative Committee at this time I
believe it will be worth while. I would suggest five men.
Chairman Lynth: It is moved that a Resolutions Committee be ap pointed. as outlined by Mr. Goldie, to consist of five men. as amended by Mr. nickinson.
<The motion was unanimously carried.)
EXPE-RJENTCK AT NITRO
W. E. Wh.i.iams.i Safety Bnuinkek i.v Charge. U. S. Explosive Plant "C,"
Nitro, \V. Va.
When our Government decided to emer the war against Germany the providing of explosives was a subject that received considerable discussion and a lot of legislative action. As a result of the findings of the War Board it was decided to build a. number of plants for the sole purpose of manufacturing various gases and explosives that would be required by OUR BOYS when they arrived over seas. Smokeless powder being essen tial to the elimination of the Hun, was one of the most needed of these explosives. As a result of this need our Government decided to build United States Explosives Plant "C" at Nitro. West Virglnia.
The plant is located on the Kanawha River about fifteen miles below the State Capital, which is Charleston, and Is surrounded by hills that
iMr. Williums wasr^nol present :il the Session, l.ut sent in !-is paper for printing in advance.
Automotive Section
357
lend beauty to an otherwise, to some people, undesirable establishment.
This plant was designed by the ^Graham, Anderson, Probst, and White
Company of New York and the actual construction of the project was en
trusted to the Thompson-Starrett Company of New York. These two com
panies, when operating on the ground, cooperated in the safe designing
and building of this plant to the extent that accidents were mostly of a
minor nature. The actual construction of this plant was begun when the
engineers arrived at the site in-December 1917 and the first building
that was erected was, the barracks for the housing of the workmen, com
pleted January 1, 1919.
The conditions for building were not of the best. The ground was not
in a fit condition to do much excavating, being subjected to the frequent
attentions of Jupiter Pluvius who reigned supreme; and you can
imagine what the men were up against when I tell you that this ground
was mostly red clay. This clay was of such a consistency that for stick
ing to anything and everything it would make a celebrated glue look and
act like so much water. The workmen wrote maudlin verse upon their
working conditions and, if you will pardon me, I will attempt to give you
a sample:
-r_
There is mud in your eyebrows.
There is mud in your nose. There is mud-in your hair.
There is nmd in your clothes. There is mud in your coffee.
There is mud--Gee, how it grows!
Where isn't there mud?--Nobody knows.
Yet--in spite of these conditions^ the workmen stuck to the job like true
Americans.
--
Mr. Milo S. Ketchum, a noted Engineer whose works have been adopted
as a standard by the engineering profession, received theCappointment of Director of this plant and to him. is due considerable credit for the safe manner In which the actual construction work was carried to completion.
I wish to call to your attention the fact that the Safety Department was
under the direct supervision of Mr. Ketchum and as a result of this ar rangement, safety suggestions and devices were given, the necessary au thorization that would insure of their being carried out or installed when
ever conditions warranted.
--
SATETT ORGANIZATION
The Safety Department was designated by the United States Employees' Compensation Commission to administer the Federal Compensation law as applied to civilian employees ~snd as a result of this arrangement a fairly large staff was necessary to handle all details in an efficient man ner. The personnel of this department of Safety and Compensation was as follows: Safety engineer In charge, assistant safety engineer, three safety Inspectors, one general inspector, chief clerk, two stenographers, one typist, two clerks; in all, twelve employees.
358
Eighth Safety Congress
Safety Inspectors were provided with, horses to enable them to cover
the territory assigned them, which was about foo Hundred, acres each,
but even with this added facility they were kept busy from morning
until night. Inspection blanks were furnished to all inspectors and at the end of
each day their reports were turned over to the assistant engineer who
checked them for their practicability and later checked their installation. One suggestion only was allowed on each sheet, this sheet forming a com
plete record of the entire transaction, being dated with the day of the re port, the date of the beginning of the work, and the date of its comple
tion.
--
Each week a meeting was held in the safety engineer's office at which
all the Inspectors, the chief clerk, and a stenographer were present. The
meeting was called to discuss the conditions and practices that required
attention and also to give the Inspectors an opportunity to discuss any
peculiar condition that existed in their respective territories. Standard details were arranged and stairs, pits, wells, machinery, etc.,
were guarded according to the detailed plans that were designed for each building, the guarding being done "before the building was turned over as complete. The proper; place and time for'the safe-guarding of ail classes
of machinery and buildjngs is when the. plans and drawings for said ma chinery and buildings is still on the drawing board.
The buildings were checked for unsafe conditions before being turned over by the construction foreman, all safety recommendations being taken
care of while the construction work was under way. One point that waB
very carefully gone into and that had a very beneficial effect upon the
foreman was, that ice never made a suggestion until absolutely sure that it would be practical and a material benefit. As a result of this method more than ninety pcrjgent of recommendations made were carried to a
successful conclusion.
RKSULTS or THE YEAR'S WORK
The final results of the year's work can be summarized in- a few words as follows: The average number of employees for the entire year was 9,596. Of this number there was an average of 182 admitted to the hos pital for treatment weekly with injuries such as wood splinters, scratches, contusions, abrasions, etc., instructions having been issued to the fore men to send all men to the hospital for treatment no matter how small an Injury they received. The result was that only 414 infection cases were treated during the entire year. In other words we had only eight Infections per week for a working force of nine thousand men or an aver age of one per thousand, roughly speaking.
The actual lost time days were 1,440 or an average of one-sixth of a day per employee for a period of one year, these figures based on an eight hour day.
METHODS OP 3AFBTT WORK EMPLOYED
The work of our safety inspectors was of a varied nature, in fact It ranged from the inspecting of water and sewer excavations to th.e inspect ing of the erection of two hxindred and fifty foot power house smoke
A.utoniotive Section
359
stacks. When the water works system was about to be started the Inspectors were on the job to see that there were no unnecessary risks taken, and due to their good work we are able to say that only one minor ^accident occurred and it involvedTno lost time. .When the water intake was being built and the excavation. had reached the stage where it was necessary to build caissons, the assistant engineer went with one of the inspectors to take a look at conditions. When I entered the air lock the
foreman in charge, a genial Irishman by the name of Murphy, turned to me and said, "Hould yez nose and brathe tr-oo yez ears for if yez don't ye will be in the divil of a fix win yez get tr-ooC.j This was Murphy's way of saying "Safety first" and with his men he stood ace high and always got
results. The greatest contributor to the accident list was our old and familiar
enemy trails Plus Carelessness. In fact I might conservatively estimate that about 60 per cent of all accidents were nail injuries and our inspectors were ever on the job preaching the seriousness of the nail hazard.
Handling materials naturally was one of the contributing factors when you consider that there were more than four hundred buildings erected for the manufacture of smokeless powder. There were also erected 29 store buildings, 43 hospital buildings, and more than 1,250 bungalows for the workmen, in addition to which there were 90 residences erected for the executive officers making In all more than 1,800 buildings constructed In a period of nine months. This would average over six buildings a day.
Naturally you would expect to have a great number of deaths in an enterprise of this magnitude, and you will no doubt be surprised when
you are told that there were only eleven deaths due to accidents during the entire year ending December, 1918. One method employed to educate the men in. the safe way of doing their work was the use of some good bulle tins. We had scattered around the plant some forty bulletin boards that were equipped with removable fillers, these fillers being made removable so that they could, be prepared in the office and then the inspectors could take them to the bulletin board to which they were assigned. The system we used required the bulletins tQi'be changed daily. We would start a bulletin in box No. 1 and the next day transfer it to- box No. 2. From box No. 2 we would then transfer the same bulletin to box No. 3, and so on until that filler -was returned to the office. We used National Safety Coun cil bnlletins and also others that we designed ourselves. The latter usu ally pertained to accidents which occurred on the plant, or to conditions which existed here, and these seemed to make a bit with the men as they were often personally familiar with the topic.
I bad opportunities to speak to the men on several occasions, and dur ing the summer of 1918 had the good fortune to be able to take a hand In getting a band together that could play fairly well. We would start for a certain point and play a march or two; when a goodly crowd had gathered I gave a heart to heart safety talk that never lasted more than ten minutes. Immediately after ^he talk a singer or an instrumentalist would entertain them after which I made it a point never to let the men
get away before the question of making things safe had been put up to them In such a way that results would he forthcoming, and the record
.W<i>
Eighth Safety Congress
*** ***. acutdr- shows clearly tiiat the vorkmro kept their promises. Tiro deaths occurred when, an ambnlance that was out on a night run
cot suited up in the signals oC a train crew switching loaded cars of ma terial in the . .ant about midnight. The ambulance driver and the doctor vbo accompanied, him were killed almost instantly, and the automobile
va made into the finest lot of Junk that I have ever seen.
Osar of the most remarkable things from the accident prevention stand point happened daring the building of the power plant. This power plant rovers an area of 240,000 square feet. This includes boiler room, power hooMe proper, and coal bunkers. The coal bankers have a capacity of .'-0.0041 tons and the daily consumption is 2.500 tons every 24 hours. < -ual I* handled by traveling cranes using clam shell buckets. There are 3t horizontal hollers generating 1034 horse power each or a total of 35.156 horse power per day of 24 hours. When running full capacity there are pumped each 24-hours 40,000,000 gallons of water, this amount being necessary to supply all needs of manufacturing purposes as well as the supplying of all employees' bungalows. To safeguard the health of the workmen this water is tested daily for colon bacteria. Not a single case of typhoid fever has occurred since the filtration plant -was put into opera tion so you can readily see the water supply is of the best. Not a single death, or permanent disability accident occurred while this project was under way.
The electrical hazard was also a very serious one, the plant being wired
with high voltage cables, the trunk lines carrying 6,600 volts. This voltage is then stepped down to 4,400 and then down to 220, this being the aver age voltage used throughout the reservation.
There are 11 miles of narrow gauge track and 46 miles of standard gauge, the narrow gauge track being used for the electric storage battery motors and powder^cars, and the standard gauge track for the moving of all standard rolling stock handling materials to and from the plant. Rail
roads were responsible for the deaths of four men and the permanent disability of one. :
When the actual manufacturing of powder was under way there was need for the men to exercise more precaution than during the construc tion period and the one thing that the Inspectors preached was careful ness. A clean house reduces the fire hazard and as a fire would have disastrous results every precaution was taken to insure the safety of all employees. Rules \V5re put into effect with very gratifying results as there is on record only one person that received severe burns, this accident being to. a powder operator who turned off the water that is necessary to keep the revolving ^knives from heating up when they are cutting the lengths of powder tt standard size. This woman was so severely burned
that she was not expected to live when admitted to the hospital. The surgeon at the hospital did a good piece of work and the woman finally recovered.
In the manufacturing of powder, sulphuric and also nitric acids play a very important part. If you will allow' me I shall give you a brief sketch of the manufacturing process as applied to the making of smokeless powder.
Automotive Section
:jt>l
PROCESS or manufacturing smokeless powder
Raw sulphur when taken from the railroad ears is dumped into a series of bins that are located directly behind the burner houses. This sulphur is then placed into a slowly-revolving drum where it is ignited and the fumes are then carried through jat series of lead pipes. Oxygen is then added and the fumes pass through platinized asbestos. The mixture is then conducted through glass wool filters to insure that it is purified and at the conclusion of this treatment we have what is known as CO per cent sulphuric acid, this acid' later being concentrated to 99 per cent.
All dirty cotton is placed in the huge kettles that are known as dlgestors and from there it is conveyed by vacuum to the bleaching house where all foreign matter is removed. When the cotton reaches a certain stage of cleanliness it is put through a continuous drying process that finally de livers the cotton in a clean dry condition. This cotton is then blown by the fan through a conduit and finally delivered to the nitrating house stor age room. The cotton is then placed in the mixing tubs and a certain percentage of prepared acid is added. After it has been mixed thoroughly a flood valve is opened and the mixture is dropped into the wringing machines where the excess acidJs removed by centrifugal force. Any foreign matter getting into the wringers at this period or the shutting down of any individual wringer would cause the mixture to fire, and should this occur it would meatT the closing down of that particular wringer for one-half hour to allow it sufficient time to cool. Airplane fans, thoroughly guarded are used to disperse the nitric fumes when a pot fire occurs. After the necessary time has elapsed the wringer is shut down and the contents are removed through the bottom of the wringer by the operator who forks the cotton down with an especially prepared fork. The fork has the tines capped with brass balls, this being neces sary to eliminate the hazard of causing a spark when the fork hits the side of the cast iron pot; while the operator is forking the treated cotton into the opening it is flushed down into the drowning sump where it Is kept in constant motion. This treated mixture is then pumped into long flumes where it can be deflected into any one of a hundred tubs where it goes through a boiling process, after which it is passed to a large tank and subjected to a considerable beating necessary to break up the cotton into very fine particles. From this point it passes through screens and finally brings up at the blending house where it Is thoroughly mixed with other hatches to insure a mixture that will be as nearly uniform as pos sible. It next goes to the final wringers where the excess water is ex tracted from it and It is then placed in an almost dry state into what are known as pyro cars and shipped in these cars to the clearing house. At this stage the mixture is known as gun cotton.
The gun cotton is now placed In tanks where a revolving spindle keeps it in motion and ether Is added to the mass which emerges In jelly form. This Is removed and pressed int<T blocks and placed into cans for trans missions to what are known as the press houses. These presses have a die placed In the lower end which is equipped with a number of holes the necessary diameter of the powder. Inside each hole there are placed
3K2
Eighth Safety Congress
projections to cue the longitudinal holes which are necessary for the rapid combustion of the powder. The colloidal, as the powder is known in this state, is then raised by means of small elevators to the floor above the cutting machine floor and is placed in the mouth of the ram guide and
the ram, in descending, forces the colloidal through the die holes and
forms a continuous string that is fed to the cutting machines where it is cut up. The powder is then stored in houses where the ether is driven from the soft or green powder, and, after a certain period, it is removed to what are known as water dry or the natural air dry houses where it is allowed to reach the required seasoning necessary.
The final process before it is packed for shipment is blending. To accomplish this the powder is hoisted to the top of a tower and is then allowed to drop upon a large spreading plate from whose sides- it falls
into another hopper. From this hopper it then falls upon another spread ing plate, and finally rests in a large hopper equipped with a gate which
will allow a certain amount to pass through into weigh scales where it is automatically placed in boxes for shipment. All metal work that comes into contact with the powder is grounded so that static electricity, that may be generated, will not throw a spark and cause an explosion or a fire. Although thousands of pounds of acids were used we had very few bad burns. Our Safety inspectors made it a point to spend a consider able amount of their time around the places where the greatest danger existed, cautioning the workmen at these points to pay strict attention to business and formulating among these workmen certain safe working habits that they Teadiiy adopted. Their success in keeping down acid burns exceeded oiTr expectations.
CREDIT DUE TO WOHKMEX
In summing up The entire situation in my experiences on a Government
explosives plant I wish to give due credit for the excellent safety record
made to the men -who were in a large measure really responsible, and I
may state that the finest number of real men that it has ever been my
pleasure to work with were employed by the engineering And construction
companies. Their accepted motto was, "safety first, east, and
tub
time." and safety cooperation could be had at all times.
:Chairman Lynch I am going to call for the report of the Nom
inating Committee, and then we will ask the members to-give their names
to the chairman-^either to me or to the new chairman--regarding those
who wish to serve 'on -the committee. Then later we will appoint the
committee to take"up the matters of standards:
Mr. Barratt. will you kindly report?
REPORT OF NOMINATING COMMITTEE
Mb. Michael Barratt (Michigan Bolt and Nut Works, Detroit): It is the unanimous:report of the committee that James J. Lynch he re elected as chairman of this section, and Ft. A. Shaw as vice-chairman; and that R. F. Thalner be elected as secretary of this section.
The report of the committee was unanimously adopted. The meeting then adjourned. ==
Cement Section
October 2 and 3, 1919
H. G JACOBSEN, Chairman Manager. Accident Prevention and Insurance Bureau. Portland Cement
Association, Chicago
THURSDAY MORNING SESSION*
HAWMAX JACOBSEN: This is the fourth cement sectional meeting
we have held In connectiorrwith the National Safety Council's Con
gress. The meetings we have previously held have been very successful
and interesting and instructive talks have been given. I hope this year
we will have more discussion of. the various subjects. We have some
very important subjects on our program; they sbould be of great inter
est to all cement men.
--
The first paper is by Dr. C. E. Coleman.
PHYSICAL EXAMINATION, FIRST AIL AND CARE OF THE INJURED AT CEMENT PLANTS
Dk. Charles E. Coleman, Plant Physician, Marquette Cement Manu facturing Company and Lehigte Portland Cement Company,
Oglesby, III.
orga n iz ation
At the two plants I represent Tire have committees of which the com pany physician is the chairman. " There is a slight difference in the or ganization at the two plants. L like some features of both. At the Marquette plant we have a man from each department at the safety meet ing and an alternate from each department automatically becomes a member of the committee when the regular member's term expires. They ehange' every six months. Then we have a man from each department whom we try to train as first-aid man.
EQUIPMENT
We have a centrally located fi.rSth.id room with all necessary equipment for treating injuries ^and making physical examination of employees. In
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Eighth
Congress
the various departments we have first-aid cabinets, not the ordinary stock affairs, but cabinets we have fixed tip ourselves. In these cabinets we have bandages o several sizes, tourniquets, hemostats, iodine, boric acid solution, applicators, cotton. 1 to 2000 bichloride of mercury solu tion, bicarbonate of sodium solution for burns, and aromatic spirits of ammonia. We also have blankets and litters at conveniently located parts of the plant. '
PHYSICAL. EXAMINATION
Every man hired is examined. When a man comes to me for exami nation I size him up as he comes in--his gait, height, approximate weight and general contour. I can tell hy that to a fair degree whether he is physically fit or not. Then I go on with the examination.
The first thing I do is to weigh the man. Then I measure his height, look at his nose, throat, teeth, listen to his heart and lungs. Close ex amination is made^Ior hernia and varicosities and particular stress ia laid on examination of the eyes. It is surprising that some men are blind or almost blind in one eye and don't know it. That sounds funny to some of you, I expect, but it is true.
As an illustration we have a victim right in front of us. Mr. Jacobsen came in one day and said, "Why do you make such a close examination of the eyes"? I said, "Sit down and I'll show you." When I got through with him. I told him not to go to an ordinary oculist but to an eye specialist. Mr. Jacobsen's left eye I found to be in poor condition and SO per cent of our men have some defect in their eyes. When I have fin ished with the examination of a man's eyes our examination blank is so complete that the man can take it to any oculist and have glasses fitted if necessary. It is just the same as if he had had an examination that he would havCIto pay for.
Ivext I have the man remove his clothing in order to make a thorough examination of his body. The teeth are also examined and a chart taken of them. Although, we have not done anything In respect to dentistry work we give the_man good advice as to the use of a toothbrush, etc. This examination is not made to find perfect specimens but to find tbe right man for the,work. I think we have examined about 700 men at the Marquette plant during the last eight months and have had about ten rejections. OfiB^had hernia. The man was given good advice and told If he had his Jhernia fixed, he could come to work. Others had ve nerea! diseases. A,man with syphilis if in an infective stage is not put to work.
If a man has bad eyesight, we are not going to put him on a motor car--he might run over some one. If he has a bad heart we don't want him shoveling coal, or doing some manual labor like that. We give him an easy job. We have found positions for those men. In the past, if a man was deformetL had a leg off, or something like that, he would he a watchman. Three years ago there were two watchmen at the Lehigh plant each withouha limb. Now one is second engineer and tbe other Is running the coal house engine. Both are making more money and doing better work than they did before.
% * Automotive Section
365
CARE OF TUB INJURED
If men have small cuts or bruises they come in to see me during the
clinic hour. I . give them the -necessary treatment and. see them every
day as long as necessary. I believe we are saving money by having these
men lose that time each day to come in and see me. We have found .
that only a few piece-workers are hard to get in but that is all. The
other men are willing to come and all are satisfied. The more serious cases, of course, we take to the hospital. We have no hospital at either
plant.
A good treatment to prevent infection of wounds I have found is
ehloramine-T. That is a new chlorine preparation generally called Dakin
solution. I use one tablet to a four-ounce bottle of sterile water. By
bandaging the bruise and keeping It wet all the time with this solution
the wound generally heals readily. There is another preparation we use --di-chloramlne-T. It is an. oily preparation and we use it in strengths
of from one to five per cent. By using this solution on a rather bad burn
a short time ago perfect healing was obtained.
We have a good many scalp; wounds, but I believe we have not lost more than one day this year ^on that account, although in one of the
cases four stitches had to be taken.
We have had several fractures at both plants this year, all foot or
hand fractures. I take X-ray-pictures of all fractures. A man often
gets a bump and just a little splint is cut off a bone in a finger and this
makes one of the most troublesome cases. Tbe finger swells and a stiff
joint is likely to result. FoiTThat reason I take an X-ray picture of everything that looks like a fracture. Of fifty or sixty X-ray pictures
I have made this year, all but four or five proved to he fractures. In compound fractures, where the hone comes through the flesh, never
pull the bone into the flesh, thS" thing to do is to put iodine on, because,
as we all know. Iodine cleans- and infection will be prevented even if the bone should happen to slip "back. We have a metal splint which can be adjusted to any angle to fitzthe limb and good results have been had
in using it.
We have had one case of cement suffocation this year, the only case
in two years. A boy had gone3nto a bin and someone piled the cement
down, covering him. I got .there almost immediately. The hoy was
taken home'and did not seem to be in very bad condition. He carried a
little temperature and spit quite a bit of cement for several day3 after
I had given him ammonium Jshloride to bring up the secretions. The
hoy has fully recovered.
=
Shock is something we must be very careful with. Almost any severe
injury may cause shock. There is only a slight degree of difference be tween fainting and shock. Fainting is caused by blood leaving the
brain. Shock is the same thing, only to a greater extent. What must
be done first is to get the head low. The symptoms of shock are pallor,
rapid pulse, clammy, moist skin, and the temperature Is usually sub normal. Sometimes the finger nails and lips get blue. External heat
must he applied as quickly as possible. I also use morphine atropin hy-
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Eighth Safety Congress
poderinically- At thezMarquette plant we have two Uypodermoclysis out fits. In case of severe^shock they will come In handy. We have not used them yet, but they are there in case we should need them.
An electric shock Is usually not fatal at once. The heart beats for some little time after. It is necessary to get bodily heat and respiration almost immediately. ^The center of respiration In the brain is stunned and breathing ceases, -although the heart is still beating. Remember that prompt and continued artificial respiration is of the greatest im portance in these cases. First find out if the man has anything in his mouth. Then you can begin to apply the resuscitation method with which you are familiar. Personally I believe in the insuflation method. I use that method diT a good many newborn children. The first aid schools say that by that method you are blowing carbon dioxide into the man and doing hinj no good, but I think by this method he gets more respiration than by any other I know. Lay the man down, put a piece of gauze over his mouth, blow into his mouth, fill up his lungs with air and then press that out, working about 18 times a minute. I do not be lieve in lung-motors at all at the plant.
MCTHOU OK TBKAT!.V(i IICIIXS
In treating burns our method is to use a saturated solution of bicar bonate of soda at the first-aid station. Then the doctor is called and if the burn is bad I use parresine, which is a wax. You can get ambrine, parresine, liquidine; they are ail about the same. In treatment of burns you should carefully clean the part by douching it with a comfortably hot one per cent Dakin solution. Clean the part as well as you can; if there is any loose burned skin clip it off. If we have a third degree burn, we use a waxed gauze which is rather open, somewhat like a fly screen. We spray this with the wax. then put on cotton and spray again and repeat this until we get like a little splint over the wound. A sprayer can be used in applying the wax; I use the DeVilhliss atom izer. When the atomizer is^-ot available, a fine, soft camel's hair brush may be used. The brush is dipped into the melted wax and applied with ihe utmost gentleness: not only to avoid unnecessary pain but to cover all parts definitely and smoothly.
To prevent infections we try to see every injury, nd matter what kind St is. If a man has an infection--it may be a swollen hand--he generally comes in and says. "L didn't sleep last night." That is the reason he came to see the doctor. --
We wrap the hand in a towel saturated with , a 1 to 2,000 solution of bi-chloride. It does not have to be bi-chloride, you can use plain water; the reason I use bi-chloride is' because if the man is Infected I do not want to infect any other part. Wrap the hand completely with the towel. If there is a spot left open a blister will break out on that spot. After covering the hand we put it into the electric light cabinet from IS to 30 minutes. I refer to the electric light cabinet illustrated and fully described in the July-August 1919 number of the Accident Prevention Bulletin issued by the Bureaii of Accident Prevention and Insurance of .the Portland CementzAssociation. After the first electric cabinet treat-
Cement Section
367
C=r ment, patients say the pain is gone.
cases of sprains.
'-
This treatment is equally good in .
I have removed some very large pieces of cement from the nasal cavi
ties of the workmen. The best procedure Is to break the mass, so there
will be no laceration, as this would be the outcome if the piece was re moved en masse. The after-treatment is to keep the nostrils clean for
a day or two. I usually use equal parts of iodine and glycerine.
CKMEXT IX THE EYES
We also have a good deal of trouble with cement in the eyes. The thing to do is to stop the burning as quickly as possible. We get the man to the first-aid room immediately and by placing him on the operating table
we haVe him in such position that we may make a pool of his eye. We never use eye cups, as it is never certain that the man will open his eye with an eye cup over it. We use a solution of boric acid; this neu tralizes the lime in the cement and in a minute or two the burn has stopped. Then we use a few drops of cocaine, if you have no physician at the plant, use holocaine; you need no license for that. Holocaine will do the same work as cocaine, but is a little slower. The patient after this treatment is at ease; you have his confidence and can work on him readily. After having made the eye insensible, to remove any sub stance a good loupe is necessary7 I use the B. B. loupe which is some thing every plant should have. As an after-treatment I use argyrol or a two per cent holocaine ointment. It keeps the pain down. If after an eyeburn a man's eyelids stick together the next morning, he has a little infection, and then we have to Use 25 per cent argyrol. This spring we
had a great deal of what is commonly called "pink-eye". A workman will say the cement is burning his eye. We find it is only one eye, and it is a case of catarrhal conjunctivitis. In those cases we use 25 per cent ar
gyrol.
If a man gets a foreign bodyTsticking to his eye, I make the eye in sensible, pick the piece off with an eye spud and put argyrol on for two or three days. We have no trouble when we pursue that method,
if the man comes in immediately. It Is the man who lets it go for two or three days with whom we have trouble. We had a case recently. The man came to me and said, "Three days ago I hurt my eye; I think it is burned." I told him to go to an eye specialist immediately. That man
by this time has lost complete Use of the eye. The specialist could do nothing for him.
I think a very good feature is the daily clinic. All cases of minor in juries are seen and treated. We also carry a small line of medicines at both plants. I do not know whafryou gentlemen have to contend with but
we have a large number of foreigners and they are all "bad sick" here,
there, or other places. In such cases our small supply of medicine Is a
great help to us. It is given to the men gratis. It has taken a year to
educate them to come to me, but they are coming every day now. It Is
not only the men from the plant, we have a number of calls from the
people in the office.
=1.
yes
Eighth Safety Congress
In respect to general. sanitation our plants are continually making im provements, by installing wash and bathhouses, lockers. Improving our drinking water, etc. We find it is rather difficult to keep the plants clean, I do not know why. Because there is dust around Is no reason why there*
should also be a lot oO-ubbish. I believe a cement plant can be just as clean as any other plant. I do not mean free from dust, but free from rubbish. Yotir workmen can do much in helping you in this respect if
.the right methods arejused.
DISCUSSION
Chairman Jacoijsk.v^ Have you any questions you want to ask Dr. Coleman? You had one, Mr. Josse, which I asked you to defer until the-
discussion of this paper; Mu. j. c. Jo.ssk (Continental> : The doctor answered the question about
the length of time tlie*arm or the infected part was to be left In those
cabinets. Dr. Coleman (DehiglT and Marquette): As I said, that all depends on
the individual: some men can stand it longer than others. But the thing to do is to have the part thoroughly covered. That is, the wet towel, or
whatever is used, has to cover the whole part entirely. Wherever it isn't covered, the man will become blistered, almost invariably.
Mr. .Tossk: I have another question on this parresine treatment. You
say that you build up this with gauze, cotton, etc-, and the parresine.
How long will that treatment stay on? Dr. Coleman; If itZJs a recent burn, you can leave it on for about
three days.
Mr. .Tossk:
'31.
We have had burns recently, and they had to be treated
every day.
Dk. Colic .man:
Somfcof them do.
Mr. Jossk: The water got in beneath this treatment.
Dr.' Coleman: Did you use parresine wax?
Mr. Josse: No.
Dr. Coleman: That allows the serum to run out. That is why you
can 'leave it on three davs when you use that method. The cotton will
absorb the effusion and you can leave it on longer. There are some men
who. we say, are "pussy." The pus doesn't come from the inside, it
comes from the outside;, but we have to watch, to prevent its getting on
the Inside.
3E
Mr. Josse: We had a case recently where a man was being treated
and died of toxin poisO&lng.
DAKIN SOLUTION
Dr. Coleman: Dakin solution is very effective. You can get tablets, and one tablet, makes a quarter of one per cent solution. I use it as a gargle for all throat_troubles. as a mouth wash for all conditions of the mouth, and for all kinds of infections, or wounds that we think will be come infectious. I had a man whose skin was cut to such an extent that
Cement Section
360
every time he bent it opened. I didn't give it a chance to become infec tious, although it was awfully dirty. I splintered it, cleaned it as well
as I could, and had the chloramine on it, that is, the water solution, for
three days. Then I took the bandage off. I didn't take it oft in the three days, because I felt sure that I would get into trouble if I did. Then I took it off, and the wound healed by first Intention. The tendon was exposed in that case, but there was no trouble, although I looked for it, as those men are not at all clean.
We sometimes have hobbies^ The Dakin solution is mine, because I
am getting results from it, and that is what we are after. We have had
results with our electric cabinets, and we believe in them. And I don't feel that it is out of the way at all to say that bis chloramine-T is the
best thing we ever had for industrial work. It is cheap--we get 100
tablets for 65 cents. It is very easy to apply them. Put one tablet In a four-ounce bottle of sterile water. Don't use any but sterile water, be cause if you do it will precipitate the chlorine and you will have nothing.
Results were obtained during the war from this solution that could not have been achieved in any cither manner. Men who had badly-infect
ed wounds were cured by this method. The peculiar feature of It is that it irritates the outside of the wound, the good, live flesh, but it does away with the necrotic tissue; it seems to eat it up, and the healthy tissue
builds up right under it. I think all plants could profit by using it. Of course, I suppose the. physiciaar would have to authorize It, but In the places where a physician does Sot come to the plant every day, if you will try chloramine-T in a watery solution and di-chloramine-T in an oily
solution, you will eliminate many of the cases that are causing you a
lot of annoyance now.
Mb. Scelicher (Lehigh) : In your ambrine treatment, what success
have you had?
__
Dr. Coleman: That depends"a great deal on the size and character of
the burn. Mr. Josse said they had a man who died from toxin. I pre sume he had an Infected burn.
.Mb. Josse: Yes, although at, first this man did not seem to be very seriously burned. The accident happened about 11 o'clock at night, and he was taken to the hospital immediately. The parresine treatment was given him at once, but the man got gradually worse.
Dr. Coleman: When the analysis was made, wasn't there any sign
of kidney trouble?
Me. Josse: No kidney trouble at all. He was only a 19-year-old boy.
He had the most expert treatment we could give him, but he died just
the same.
^
Dr. Coleman: We had a man last.year who was burned badly. He
was like a human torch. I suggested at the time this happened that all
men who work where they can easily catch fire should be provided with woolen clothing. This man had on cotton clothing, and he threw some coal dust into a place where itrexploded, and it set him afire immediate
ly. He had no pain at all. rjtnew he was going to die. We just used vaseline on him. but that was only because we wanted 'to do something. He had no pain,-he was burned beyond pain. His essential nerves were
37<
Eighth Safely Congress
all gone, and he died the next day. His was a fatal case right from the
start.
Mr. Jossk:
__ We had a fatal case like the one you mentioned- The
man's clothes caughtflre from some coal dust which had exploded, and
he started rtmning. Before they could get to him, his clothes were
burned off him, and of course he died. But the other case I mentioned
happened because of the curiosity of the young fellow. He wanted to see just how thingsjooked *`in there", so he crawled in through some
hot ashes.
^
Dr. Coi.kma.v: How long did he live after it happened?
Mr. .1 ossk: He lived three weeks.
I)k. Coi.f.m a x: That sounds unreasonable, hut it could have been pneu monia, and other things. The parresine treatment is good, if it is given
properly. The whole idea of keeping the burn covered is to keep the air
away from it. whether we use soda, vaseline, or some other method of covering it. I don'C bother putting wax on the smaller burns; I just
cover them well with vaseline, a sterile vaseline, and bandage them; but the more extensive burns--and we don't have very many of them --
we treat with parresine wax.
Mr. Schi.icher (L.ehigh>: The reason T asked that question is be
cause the ambrine people have put a case on the market, and I won
dered whether you use that case. Dr. Coleman: Xo_ we bought tlie parresine. which is practically the
same thing. We bought it from the Abbott Alkaloidal Company, of Chi cago. They caTl it parresine. but ambrine would do the same thing. It
is a wax method. Major Reninukr Cehigh i : I saw them use ambrine in France. Mr. Foktiix (Pennsylvania): Do yott make a physical examination
compulsory at the plants you are connected with?
Dr. Coi.kman: Yes.
itn. Forttiv: Do yon ever have any objections on the part of the
men ? Dr. Coleman:
Never, unless they know there is something the matter
with them.
zz
Mk. Forteix: How long has that system been in force?
Dr. Coleman: Iuias been in force for two years, and we have never had any difficulty, except in one case where a man had poor eyes, and he
knew it. 1 happened to know this man's brother, who also had bad eyes.
In fact the whole family bad bad eyes. This man is likely to go blind
any day. so I was only too glad when ne quit. Mr. Fortkin: I thought you said you had 10 rejections out of 700
men, or something like that. What was the cause of the other rejections?
:Dr. Coleman Bad hearts, hernia, and venereal diseases. We don't always reject theni. but we put them to work where they can work with
out injury. For example, there was a man who was injured while work
ing for the city last year, who had a very bad hand. He came to our plant, after he got so be could use his hand for work, and as they need ed men very badly at the time, they employed him. I told the employ ment manager at the time that this man could not do any hard work.
Cement Section
:*71
He went to work marking carsZand I told him at the time not to do any
hard work, because we couldn't hire him for that. After a while, they
wanted to get cerrfent out, and they put him on trucking. It was bis
fault, of course, and a few days later he came down to me with his hand
swollen. If we have men who have hernias, we tell them not to do heavy-
work.
_
Mb. Fobtuix: Instead of telling the man that he should not do cer tain classes of work, wouldn't it be more proper to tell the foreman who
is directly over him what kind of work he can and should do? Dr. Corjeman : Of course the foreman should be informed. We had a
man not long ago whom we found in the coal house with a bad, leaky
.heart. He went to work in the morning, and in the afternoon he was
examined. He had a very bad leak, and wouldn't have lasted a year in
the coal house. We put him to work as a belt tender, and he is getting
along very nicely now. He is making a living for his family, and will
probably live for years.
--
Mr. Fortuix: It seems to me, under those circumstances, that a physi
cal examination isn't of very much value if you take men, whether they
are physically fit or not, and attempt to put them on special work, and
then they are put on other work.
:Dr. Coleman We have tried to fit the men for the work that is best
suited for them, but it is a very difficult thing to do. The past summer,
for instance, it was hard enough to get men at all. We have taken men
who were nearly in their seventies. You have to allow for the fact that
the labor market is very scarce where we are, and we had to take men
whom we felt we didn't want--that is they weren't physically fit--and
take chances on them.
Mb. Fobtdix: That is what I wanted to bring out. Is that due to
Shortage of labor, or is'it your usual custom?
use now?
What practice would you
Dr. Coleman: We are still short, although we are getting a little
better pick of men, but the labor market is still close.
Mr. Halfin (Marquette): It isn't as bad as it has been.
Mr. Jones (Atlas) : Have you any method of following up people who are absent from work because of sickness or accident in your plant?
Dr. Coleman: We haven't-gotten that far yet, hut I think that is
coming. I think that a little later on the physician will look after every
man in his plant. If men are sent home, and we have men who live in
different places around the plant--some in La' Salle and Jonesville--I go
to them. If they are at the hospital, I go to them there. We are keepr
ing track of them pretty well.M If we have a man with his finger off,--he
is able to walk, but he Isn't able to work--I have him report to me
every third day in order to keep him in line, and as soon as he is able
to work, we send him to report to the' insurance company, and then he
comes back to work.
Chairman Jacobsen: Haveryou any other questions to ask the Doctor
about this proposition? I have seen this work out from the very begin
ning, the method of physical^ examination and keeping close watch on
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Eighth Safety Congress
the men in case of injuries, and there is no doubt as to the benefit that,
can be derived, if it is done right and done conscientiously. I know of
plants where certain accidents have occurred, and less than half the
time that usually is lost by such accidents was lost in these plants. In
some places, they eliminate about 75 per cent of their time loss on this
account. It stands to reason that if a man comes in with a small scratch
on his hand, and gets it treated, he is going to go back to work as Boon
as he can.
-
Ms. Fostdin : Has that been during the war period?
Chuvirmas Jacobses: Yes. 'What is the difference after you have the
men in the plant?
Mb. Fokicix: They don't want to stay.
Chairman Jacobsen : You can't expect your men to follow out your
instructions, if they are not looked after. You have to have somebody
to handle that work. That is. the basis of the whole proposition. If
you have nobody to handle the work, it is not done.
Mb. Fortuity: I know of lots of large plants that have always, prior to the war, made physical examinations of their men, but they had to
abandon that idea during the war period, because they had to take any thing they could getf
Chairman Jacobsen: I am not talking about the physical examination
as much as the daily check-up on the men.
Dr. Coleman: If we know our men, we know just about what to
expect from them, TMrro matter whether they are incompetent or not. I
believe it is a cheek. Another thing that I want to mention is the
thorough understanding between the employment manager and the doctor. We try to have that as much as we can.
Chairman Jacobsen: Are there any other points that any of you wish to bring up on this matter? This is a very interesting question, of
course, and it is something we ought to look into. We still have far to
go on it.
t~
Mb. Lawniczek fLa Salle) : We have a scheme of checking up our
men at our plant. =3Ve have our foreman report every man who does
not report for work. Then, we find out what the cause of the absence is.
In regard to fitting^a. man for a certain job, if a foreman should get a
man who is not fit for a certain place, he turns him over to the employ
ment man, and he is put Into another department. During the war period, if the foreman couldn't get along with a certain man, we would turn that
man over to the employment department, to be put into another depart
ment. In that way, we cut our labor turnover considerably. Lots of
times it was the foreman's fault that the man couldn't work for him, and lots of times we have had. to change a man from four to five different
departments heforelwe discharged him.
Chairman Jacobsen: How long have you had that physical exam
ination in force in our plant?
Mb. Lawniczek: About three years, and it is working out very nicely.
We had a case of strangulation in a rock-bed one time, and after the
doctor examined the man, he found he had locomotor ataxia. If we had
Cement Section
37: l
known that was the condition, of the man at the time we employed him. we wouldn't have used him in that bed.
Ckaibman Jacobsen: The physical examination is a very difficult and
delicate proposition, but because it is difficult. I don't believe there is
any reason why we should not give it careful consideration. We will
have to go on the next subject on our program now. which is "Sanitation
in Cement Plants." Mr. B. L. MicKay, of the Buffington Plant of the
Universal Portland Cement Company, has been prevented -from coming
so Mr. G. C. Huth, of the Duluth plant of the Universal Company, will
read that paper.
=
SANITATION IN CEMENT PLANTS
B. 1... McKay, Employment and Safety Insfectob,
Uviversar. Portland Cement Company's Buffington Plant,
Buffington, Ind.
Sanitary conditions are gr@.t factors In the successful operation of every industrial enterprise and give to that industry character, which is the foundation of every success in life.
I fear the subject of sanitation has been sorely neglected in a great
many of our industries and should be given more thought.
One of the greater problems in operating any industry is the shifting of men from one place to another.
Results accomplished by the safety and welfare movements have demon strated that there can he no stability of labor unless working conditions are sanitary-, agreeable andjafe. One of the great secrets in handling men, if not the greatest, is to keep them contented, and in order to do this physical surroundings must not only be safe but healthful.
Plant sanitation equipment is a part of these surroundings and plays an important part not only in the happiness of the employee but also In the health and happiness of his family.
Prom my experience in employing men, I have found our sanitary conditions a great asset, as they appeal to the better class of men; for he who Is clean physically is clean morally.
The tremendous attention bestowed upon the work of sanitation, the increasing large sums spent annually to preserve the health of the em ployees and their families are two of the outstanding features in the work of the United States Steel Corporation's Bureau of Safety, Sanitation, and Welfare. Already the annual expenditures run into millions.
DRINKING WATEB
One of the first things I would like to mention is drinking water. Con taminated drinking water has unquestionably been one of the most po tent agents in spreading disease in industrial plants, and it is only within the last few years that tfie importance of furnishing germ-free water has been recognized and acted upon. Therefore, one of the first steps In san itation Is good drinking water.
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Eighth Safety Congress
There isn't anything/I know of more refreshing anti healthful than a glass of pure, clear water.
The most sanitary and convenient method of furnishing drinking water to large numbers of people, such as work in Industrial plants, is the bub bling fountain. It Is all important that the design and operation of the bubbling fountain is such that the germs of disease from an infected per son who has used it cannot come in contact with the subsequent users, and that they become entirely removed from all parts of the fountain com ing in contact with the- users.
These fountains are heing used in our plants and give perfect satisfac tion. Our drinking water is furnished from the Gary Water Works and Is the same that is used in hundreds of homes in that city. I would like to recommend that these fountains be installed in every department and department building, just as near to the workmen as conditions will per mit. Convenience should be the object in all sanitary installations.
LOCKEBS
The next thing I want to mention is lockers. Upon entering employ ment one of the first requirements of an employee, is a place to keep his or her clothes, so that it Is possible for them, to make a complete change, before starting and upoiTtbe completion of the day's work.
It Is my experience that the individual locker system is most satisfac tory to the employee, and by using a sensible locking system the lockers are always accessible for inspection. Employees are expected to keep their lockers clean,' but inspection is necessary.
The lockers should \he made of metal, substantially constructed, and connected in units to the best advantage of the space available and should be closely connected with both lavatories and bathrooms. Each unit of lockers should be set in a double row, hack to back, on a concrete plat form about 18 inches from the floor. This platform should extend about 12 inches on each side of the lockers. This makes a very suitable seat and is also convenient in flushing out the locker rooms as the platform keeps the lockers from any dampness that would result from the flushing.
Lockers should be of a sufficient height to take care of the average length coat. They should be set on a base of four legs about 8 inches from the floor or platform. They should be about 64 Inches in height--width 15 inches and depth IS inches. There should be a shelf at the bottom of the
locker, for the shoes. This shelf should not be on a level but slant to ward the hack with a screened opening for ventilation. A shelf should also be installed at the top of the locker about 54 inches from the floor, and extending about lOuinehes from the back. At least three hooks should be installed under the shelf, also, if possible, grooves for a cross bar for the purpose of hanging noat hangers if desired. Here also should he open ings for ventilation, which, with the openings at the bottom of the lock ers will allow a free circulation of air at all times. The top of the lock ers should not be flat, as It has been the custom to build them, but they should be built with a slanting top, the pitch heing toward the front, thus preventing the gathering of dust and rubbish.
Clement Section
A good locking system is ithat operated by the handle pulling down
latch bars which fit in grooves at either end, this making it impossible
to pry open the ends.
^
The system of locking that we are using is a metal bar fitted through
the latch on lockers. Each bar has a hole at either end large enough to
admit almost any lock. The two holes are for the purpose of putting two
locks on each locker, one to be furnished by the man and the other by the
company. This system of locking has been found very satisfactory and
also very convenient as it has been the means of saving many an em
ployee's lock from being broken, when he left his keys at home. When
ever this happens the key for the company lock is obtained from the
foreman and the locker opened, without any damage. This system has
also been found very convenient for inspection.
LAVATOBIES
Some of our lavatory equipment consists of white enamel steel ware,
but the greater part is of cement and of a design to suit the purpose.
Those of cement have been acid-proof treated, and have been found effi
cient.
Hot and cold water is always available and connected to mixing valve
where it can be made the desired temperature. The lavatory units have
no stoppage at waste openings, in order to assure each user that he may
wash in clean running water, which has not been used nor can be used
by any one else. Liquid soap dispensers are installed in all lavatories.
SHOWER BATHS
Shower baths should be dqfiipped with shower heads, each shower con tained in an enclosure for the purpose of privacy, and thorough Door drainage. 1Jhe baths shouldJLbe contained in well-lighted and weii-ventilated rooms free from all draught. In order to prevent-discomfort to the users. Shower baths should be closely connected with locker rooms.
TOILETS
Toilets should be located~conveniently to and easily accessible from, all places where persons are employed, and with outside exposure for light and ventilation. This is very important.
Our standard consists of . full porcelain and cement urinals equipped with pipes for constantly running water and separated by slabs for pri vacy. Solid porcelain closets with open front type of seats, automatically flushed by seat action. Each closet in a cabinet with a door. In every case lavatories, toilets, and wash rooms should be installed in each de partment and be for the use of that department.
A janitor should be placed in charge of every wash room lavatory, and toilet. All lavatories and toilets should be equipped with a faucet and hose for flushing purposes. ^
WASTE CANS
Waste cans should be furnished every department in order that refuse can be properly disposed -SEE. This is a great problem and every effort
Eighth Safety Congress
should be made to curb the fly nuisance that causes so much sicknesB. Signs should be posted in^ conspicuous places ever to remind the employee to help keep the plant clean.
WALKS AND ROADS
Good walks and roads throughout the plant is another step in. plant sanitation. It permits thorough cleansing. There is a complete network of concrete roads and walks around our entire plant leading to and from every department. The roads and walks are washed and cleaned regular ly. Another thing is the settling of dust on windy days, for dust is a carrier of disease. We have a system of fire plugs throughout the plant where hose can be connected and yards sprinkled as required.
It is a habit to take more or less pride in looking and feeling well dressed and clean, for Cleanliness is truly next to Godliness. I believe the better dressed and cleaner an employee is the greater asset he is to the business.
The concern then, which has all the sanitary conveniences will attract and hold a better class of workmen as well as educate the negligent, for the workman is not worth while who would not prefer employment in a place where he can wear a good suit of clothes to work, change when he gets there, put on working clothes, and when he has completed his day's work, bathe, and don his street attire, feeling, like a new man.
A. Bulletin issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Indus try declares that the chief aim of education is to train the individual to do the right thing at the appropriate time without having to think. From habit the varied activities of our daily life become automatic, leaving the higher powers of the mind free for the performance of their own peculiar work. In order to mak^the nervous system our ally and not our enemy in relation to habits of health it Is necessary to make automatic as early as possible as many acts as we can which will promote our physical well being. The employee and his trade, the employer and his profit, the product and the national output, are either helped or injured hy the meth od of living of each individual. It is generally recognized that the chronic habits of unhealthy living produce industrial inefficiency, and is striking ly illustrated by alcoholism, but such losses among employees are easily controlled because they are apparent. On the other hand losses from faulty personal habits or bad housing conditions are more difficult to an ticipate and remove. For this reason it is harder to convince a worker that habits of health anil cleanliness will increase his earning capacity as surely as intemperance will decrease it. Factory, shops, and tenement supervision, restriction of hours of labor, prohibition of child labor--all these welfare movements inculcate in the people of the community, where they operate, habits of health which promote efficiency.
CHAtRjtAx Jacobsen: This question of sanitation In cement plants is probably bigger than we sometimes think it is. Years ago, I believe few industrial plants gave :mch attention to the question. It is a thing that has to develop slowly. It will probably take a year or two before you get the system working.
Oement Section
377
The idea of putting in. a bathhouse, change room, and things like that, is a very good one, "but if you build those houses and don't take care of them, the men will have them looking like shacks within a month. If you don't want to keep up the house you build, I would advise you not to build it. because you will do more harm than good. Where it has been done in the right way, it is very easy to see the results.
In the last two years I have visited 50 or more cement plants, and I have found probably 20 bathhouses among them, and most of them are in fairly good condition. The companies have come to realize that if they want to keep that equipment, they must keep it clean. Are there any gentlemen here who wish to discuss any part of this paper?
DISCUSSION
Mb. Fobtui.v: I don't think there is very much to discuss in that paper, but I presume that 7when Mr. McKay refers to bathrooms, he really means shower rooms, because you don't have bathrooms. In the past, there Is no question but that nearly every cement plant considered its -workmen; but the price of cement, as you all know, didn't permit spending much money. I think nearly every cement plant, as long as
it is in prosperous condition, is only too willing to do everything
possible for its employees, and will spend as much money as necessary to better their conditions." There is no question about that.
Mb. Josse (Continental) f And another thing, Mr. Fortuin, you will And that most of the cement plants are old plants. W)e can't take Universal as a criterion, because they have plenty of space. Take our plant, for example; we are get down on a small piece of ground, with a railroad on one side and. ar,:ereefc on the other, and we couldn't expand until we cut out enough quarry to expand. At present we are using Keokuk power. The engine and boiler rooms are being converted. We are moving the engines ou7 and they will probably be removed by the first of the year. That will give us room for a nice looking locker room and nice shower baths. WeTimprovised a shower bath a couple of years ago, but it was a dusty and dark place, and the only persons who used it at all were the office mefiT I think it is just as Dr. Tucker says, the cement workers are the cleanest fellows in. the world, if they can bathe on the company's time. And I suppose that is what it will all come to when we get our shower baths up; the men will have to bathe on the company's time if we want them to keep clean.
Mb. Fonrrmjc: At our plant we now have locker rooms, showers, and toilets. It Is a beautiful place and kept very clean, in fact we have a man who has nothing to dp but keep it clean. We employ women in the bag department, and we have separate place for the women. It is fine, and they appreciate it.: We allow them to change on the company's time.
Db. CorntAs: In the Lehigh plant, we formerly have had a man janitor. For the past four months, we have had a woman doing that work, and now we have a good, clean locker room; it is rather incon-
.,78
Eighth Safety Congress
venient, because when the men come in she has to go out, but that is the only inconvenient part of it.
Chajhman Jacobsen : Major Reninger, wouldn't you like to speak a few words to us on your installation? You have probably had more
experience on that than any of us. Major Reninger (Lehigh): The installation that we have out at
Oglesby is the installation we have at all of our 15 plants. We have tried to divide up our washrooms and locker rooms so that they would be scattered around Jthe plant; instead of having one central locker room, we thought it would be better to have two or three. The foundry men, the carpenters, the locomotive men, the belt men, and all the others each have their own place. We have arranged our toilet rooms and locker rooms witlr the washstands in the center of the room. The washbasins are madeTJT steel, white enameled.
Mr. Forttjin: Are the showers there, too? Major Remisoeb: Yes. We built this locker room with the wash
basins in the center. ^ Mr. Fortuis: Would you consider this advisable in a small plant? Major Reninger: --Yes. I would, because it avoids congestion. We
originally had one big locker room, but we divided it up into a number of smaller ones. At cme end. we have the foreman's locker room. That is separate from the--workmen's locker room, and it is for the use of all the foremen. They come together there, and they have desks on which they can do their writing. Chairs are placed there so that they can sit down and have a conference.
Bach man has his vwn locker, and at each end of the room we have shower baths; there are four shower baths in each washroom. There is an attendant, whojteeps the place absolutely clean at all times. We try to keep the tops: of the lockers free from any material whatever, waste or packages, or old shoes, or clothing. If a man leaves his stuff on the top of his locker, when he comes for it at noon, it is gone. They all know they are not supposed to leave rubbish around, and if they do, the janitor cleans it out. That is one thing we are very, strict about. We have the open-type locker, so that we can see just what every man has in his locker. They can have their change of clothing in there, but they dare not keep any rubbish or any old clothes that they can't use. If they have any in the lockers, the janitor finds out whether or not they want to use it, and if they don't, he destroys It.
Mr. Forttjin: How about the dust? Major Reninger: We have tried to keep the washrooms away from the plant as much as possible, that is, away from the dusty parts. They are well built, have windows and ventilation above the tops of the loekers. Of course, you can't prevent some dust coming in, hut the place is washed twice a day, and we have walks leading into the washroom. We are now trying to have lawns around every washroom, so far as possible. Mr. Frame (Alpha): Major Reninger, how do you obtain the hot
water at the different washrooms that are scattered around your plant?
Cement Section
379
Major Reningeb: That comes from the boiler. We pipe it from the
boiler room to the shower bath.
Mb. Josse: Did you every try the scheme of turning the steam into
the cold water?
------
Mb. MacPetbidgk (Lehigh) : Invariably you will have a man scalded,
if you use that method.
Mb. Fbame: Major Reninger, do your men do all their washing up on
the company's time?
--
Major Reningeb: Yes.
Mr. Hatpin' (Marquette): - What percentage of the men do not use
these lockers?
-
Major Reningeb: I am softy to say I can't answer that. I have been
in the service for three years, and I do not know what has gone on
during that time.
-
Mr. Kxeckner (Lehigh) : At our Newcastle plants they are used 100
per cent.
Mb. Halpin:
It seems to me that the greatest difficulty with this
bathroom question Is that all the men will not use them. A large per
centage of them would rather go home and wash there. How do you let
the men wash, on company time? How do you arrange it? I believe
you said you did that.
^
Mb. Fortuin: When the shift changes, the night shift comes on a
little earlier so as to give them a chance to wash.
Mr. Haipis: I m&n your day men, your men who work eight or ten
hours a day.
Mr. Fortuin: The 10-hour men are allowed to quit 15 minutes early.
They are also allowed 10 or 15 minutes when going for luncheon.
Chaibman Jacobsen: Mr. Huth, what is the system out at your plant
at Duluth? Do the men wash on the company's time or on their own
time?
--
Mb. Huth (Universal) : They do it on their own time, and practically
every man goes away from the plant clean. We haven't had any difficulty
at all.
--
Mr. Schlicheb (Lehigh) : _ Have you had any trouble with respect to
foreigners and Americans washing in the same room?
Mb. Fort-uin: In our plant in New York State, there is only one place
where we have washstands installed, and there is no difficulty in that
respect at all. We keep the lockers for the foreigners on one side of the
room, and for the Americans on the opposite side. We try to keep the
lockers separated, but there Is no difficulty as to the washing. They
get along splendidly.
-=
Mb. Josse:I believe the feeling of antagonism between foreigners and
Americans is very rapidly diminishing. We have experienced a lot of
trouble with Americans working with foreigners in different capacities,
hut I think that condition is diminishing very rapidly. The war and the Americanization movement the Government has started have helped a great deal toward that end. I think it is a Very good movement, too.
Chairman Jacobsen: I would like to know how you could teach the
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Eighth Safety Congress
cleaned the thing out when the night men started, and they were given the same instructions. They also had four men working on it.
They had it all cleaned out, as they thought- ' One man crawled in and said there weren't any more hot ashes in it. The mill, of course, was shut down and we wertT grinding clinker. That was all we could do. One young man came over from the clinker pile, and while the other four men were talking this young fellow crawled in under the drier. There must have been some hot ashes still hanging up above the drier in some way, because they came flowing down right in front of the manhole. The boy crawled right through the hot ashes to get out of the manhole, although there were three manholes he could have gotten out of. That is the man we thought wasn't burned very badly, but after lingering along for three weeks he died. The man was only in our employ about two weeks. The first man who was killed was a foreigner. How are you going to educate these men to have self control? That is all that was required. This foreigner, if he had stopped and brushed his leg, or jerked his trousers off, would never have been even blistered. These are very important things to know, and they are pretty hard to teach to the foreigners.--
There are other dangers that you can get away from. For instance, there are burns. We never before have had burns at our plant, except small ones. We recently had a young man in the electric shop who had been shellacking a motor, and he got some shellac on his hand. After finishing the jobr be went over to the gasoline can, poured out some on his hands to, wash them, then reached into his pocket for a cigarette, lit a match, and both hands were on fire in an instant. He wasn't burned dangerously but he was burned so that it hurt him. That incident went all over the plant and it did a wonderful lot of good. I don't think there will ever be another man there who will light a match
with gasoline on his hands. That kind of an accident is really a help, if it doesn't hurt the man seriously. He was only out one day, hut it hurt enough so that he isn't going to do it again, nor any of the other men. It happened there was a safety man standing about three feet away from him at the time, but he didn't itnow what this man was doing, and could not prevent the accident. Everybody to this day "kids" this man about lighting a match with his hands full of gasoline.
The difference between the foreigner and the American is like the difference between a broncho and a thoroughbred horse. When a broncho gets scared, you can't 5do anything with him, hut you can stop a thor oughbred. In that firstaccident, if he had been an American, very likely lie -would have arisen to the occasion and put the fire out, whereas the man being a foreignetjiis wits left him. He could have gone 10 feet to three or four men who- were nearby, and they would have bad the fire out for him in a few seconds, but he went the other way, just out of reach of everybody, arid he had on only a pair of trousers and a thin
undershirt, which burned off. That accident made me feel bad, because I had begun to think we were
just about "it" on accidents. It just shows you how quickly you can
Cement Section
383
"stump your toe"; of course -Tt makes you feel pretty bad, but after you get away from the shock of the first few days, it is an incentive to work harder. I think the majority of our men now realize that every thing we are trying to do is really for their benefit. While I admit that these accidents put the figure on the wrong side of the ledger, that isn't the first consideration with us.
SAFETY WORK CKOWtNO
Our first consideration has been the conserving of man, his life and
limb. But by doing that we are also cutting down our insurance rates
and putting money where it belongs, because you are not going to make
any money by selling your cement and making a profit on it, and then
giving it to somebody who wad hurt or killed while making the cement.
That is a waste of energy and a waste of money, and those conditions
have to be met and overcomer Of course, we are just scratching the
surface safety work now. It is growing very rapidly and it is going to
be easier for us later. The longer this safety movement works, the
easier it is going to be for all of us. As you know, a great many of the workmen travel from o'neTplant to another, and if they get safety
Instruction at one plant, and go to the next plant, that instruction will
come in handy. While this pioneer work is very slow and very discour
aging sometimes, I am sure wd are getting results from it all over the
country.
'
~
The only place where I know positively we are getting results is in the
St. Louis district. .1 have a chart which I got from the coroner up in
my room and I intended to bring it down here. The reduction in deaths
in the industrial plants in 1918 over 1917 was 57 per cent. During the
first eight months of this yearrthe reduction over that of 1918 has been
29 per cent. So you -see this intensified work of the industries in and
around St. Louis is telling.
Of course, the work is a little further along in St. Louis than it is in
a great many other cities. We. have had two years of intensified indus trial safety work. For instance, we have foremen's and superintendents'
meetings once a month. We start the latter part of this month and continue meeting all through Jhe winter and early spring. These meet
ings are attended by from 1,50b to .2,000 foremen and superintendents,
and we always have the best authorities on the subject under discussion
that the United States affords^ so that the St. Louis district is not a
criterion for the rest of the country. But the same thing, you will find,
is taking hold here in Cleveland very effectively, and you will find it
going all over the country.
MEDICAL EXAMINATION NECESSARY
Missouri is about to have her compensation law go into effect, and the doctors' medical examination will then be necessary because we have records in the Safety Council from various states where this examina tion ^ is not in effect in the different plants, and we have found that a man will come to the plant with an injury or a defect that is not ap-
384
Eighth. Safety Congress
parent, unless a physical examination has been made, and after working for a while, he will develop some condition which the compensation law allows him a certain amount for. Some of these cases have been traced, and we found that the same man had done the same thing in three or four different places, ^md got the same compensation in all of them. So it becomes almost a necessity, where the compensation laws are in effect, to really have some=kind of medical examination. Even if you can't place the men where they should he placed, you have that record, so that you are protected when they sue for compensation. That, I think, is one of the reasons why we will all be compelled, especially in Missouri, to give our men the "once-over" at least, before we hire them.
ACC1DEKTS SERVE TO CORRECT HAZARDS
The best time you can find out what your hazards are is when you have
an accident. We analyze an accident when it occurs, and try in every case to eliminate the reason, or the cause, or the chance for that same accident to happen again. Mr. Jacobsen knows that we did that until this burn case; and xigver before had we had a case of that kind. Where this puff of fire came from we don't know, but It is our opinion that the fine coal dust was Oh top of the grating which these two men were walking over. We have latticed grating. The coal that is mined near St. Louis carries a very large amount of sulphur, from 4*4 to 5 per cent, and burns very readily after being pulverized and dropping on anything that will catch it. We have to clean our coal room .twice a day in order to keep this coal from burning. When we were able to get coal from southern Illinois, Franklin County and that part of the country, we weren't bothered that way. But since the war, that coal has all been divertedlto Chicago, and we don't get any of It. So we have to have our coal room floors swept constantly; we have one man. there who does nothing else. Twice a day, the millers shut down, the mills and sweep all the qoal off anything that is likely to burn. It is our
opinion that some of this coal was hot, and they couldn't see it--it
doesn't blaze, of coarse^--and the man walking across the grating knocked some downT There was enough air and coal dust to cause a, little flame to come _ up his leg. The man right next to him said there wasn't a puff big enough even to burn the hand. He didn't know this man was burning until he screamed. He said he wasn't two feet from him, but he managed to get away. He tried to grab him, but the man was so terribly excited that he couldn't hold him.
FIREPROOF CJLOTimSTG
The solution, I think, to this burn case is fireproof clothing. That can be obtained very cheaply. The Commonwealth Steel Company fur nishes suits of clothing to their men who operate acetylene burners and electric welders. They buy an ordinary suit of overalls, and the solution they use I think ishmagnesium chloride. It is very cheap. They buy the overalls and jumpers and soak them in this solution, and sell them to the men at justlwhat the overalls cost them. When the men wash
Cement Section
385
the overalls, if they want to use them again, they bring them back and the company soaks them again in this solution.
That is what I am going to do in our coal room, and after this I am going to make a dustless coal room if I possibly can. We have analyzed
the causes of our accidents, and we have eliminated 95 per cent of them by eliminating the causes. The only reason we hadn't eliminated the cause of this accident is because^ we never had one like it before and we didn't know there was any danger of one. Of course, we feel that we are responsible for this man who was burned, because he was burned while doing his daily work, and it is really up to us to compensate his family. But I don't think we"can be blamed for the accident that occurred to the young man who crawled in under the drier to see how it was constructed, although, of course his family naturally think that we should pay for it.
EDUCATION OF MEN DIFFICULT
I don't know of anything else^ I can say in regard to educating the
men, except that it is a continual grind and no fun. It is a hard job;
you have something to do all the time. You can't let up on it for a
minute.
....
Since we have started this safety work, and since Mr. Jacobsen has
had this Bureau, we have givenlhim a report of every scratch. In 90
per cent of the cases there is no time lost at all and nu injury except
a scratch, but they are brought into the laboratory and are dressed, and
we make out a report regardless of how slight an injury it is. Mr.
Jacobsen is receiving.,-a great many reports, hut with the exception of
these cases very few of them arf of a serious nature.
We had one other serious one that I think I had better tell about,
because I think it will do us all good. We had a man who used to run
a "dinky" for us, who was taken in the first draft. He was in the
front line trenches for three or Your months, was gassed, and got hack
after the armistice was signed." He came to us for his old job. That
was about the first of the year! and he got his old job of running a
"dinky" on our stripping field. Tin March or early in April, we had a
very long siege of rain. It lasted for about three weeks and the field
got in such condition that weraconldn't use him there; he wanted to
work for us and we wanted terkeep him on the job. We were con
structing a little conveyor to try our pulverized coal in rock driers,
and had it all up, and were just putting the screws in.
efficiency oftSRone pressure method
The assistant superintendent and the draftsman took two men--one had been working on this job"for some time and the other was this "dinky" engineer--along to put the hangers in the casings and put the screws in. About three feet away there are three wires running to an electric light transformer, carrying 440 volts. After they got everything ready to go to work, the young man who had been working on this job for about two weeks said to the "dinky" engineer, "John, those wires
386 -- Eighth Safety Congress
over against tlie wall are wet; they are perfectly insulated, but they are wet and we liad better not touch them, we might get a shock." John wanted to see whether that was really a fact, so he put his hand over on one of the wires, and both men were knocked off the conveyor. When we got to them one-man was breathing but the other apparently was dead. We were taught the prone pressure method In a safety school at St. Louis last winter, and three of the men whom I had sent to this school started to wprk on this man. He seemed to have no pulse, no heart beat, and jab breath at all; he was all blue. These boys rolled him over on his stomach and started to work on him. I telephoned the chemical company in our part of the town to bring their pulmotor. X think it was about 40 minutes before the pulmotor arrived, but in the meantime they had started artificial respiration. A doctor came with the pulmotor, and bur plant physician was there. They decided not to use the pulmotor at all, hut just give the man oxygen. He was out about an hour and ten minutes all told, before he started natural respira tion.
The general opinion of all of the electric companies in St. Louis--I happen to attend a_meetlng with them every week--is that a man is easily resuscitated Jfrom an electric'shock, if he is reached within 10 minutes, but that aftej- a lapse of from 10 to 12 minutes, there is. no hope for an electric shock victim. This man is all right now, so far as the electric shock is concerned. He was unconscious for four days. When he started his natural respiration, it took six men to hold him.
There was a condition that we could have eliminated, and we did eliminate it inside of 30 minutes after the accident happened. Those wires were placed in conduit. They were underneath the eaves of the roof and we had no idea that anybody could ever touch, them, but they were touched.
When you have an accident, if you analyze it you can eliminate the chance of the same accident happening again, so if we have accidents they are going to be new accidents. The old accidents, and the old causes, can he eliminated to a very large extent.
DISCUSSION
Chairman Jacobsen; I believe that is a remarkable thing they did down there. If they hadn't known about this Schaefer method that man would certainly have died.- Had they had a pulmotor, me man may have died just as surely, because perhaps no one at the plant would have known how-to operate it, or the motor would have failed to operate. That shows what it means to be prepared for something that may happen five years from now. They may never use it--let us hope they will never again have a chance to use that method there or at any other mill--but let them he prepared when the emergency does arise.
I heard of a case, through a report I received from one of our member companies. It happened on the ground floor, bo that the man had no occasion to fall any place except on the floor. There was a door leading outside; it was raining very hard that day and the wind blew the rair
Cement Section
387
in on the floor. One of the men volunteered to close the door, but the mill operator ordered him to leave It open. Immediately afterward he went over to start the motor, and that was the last of him. The rain had soaked the electrical equipment. The man died.
Those are the most Important things In our work, I believe; those are the things we must know about. That method Is so simple that a child could do the work. One person^could do It alone, or at least he doesn't have to have a big crew with him. The main thing is, as Mr. Josse said, to get it done immediately.
Mb. Josse: I was over at the safety exhibit yesterday afternoon.
They have a small oxygen tank there with the pulmotor exhibit that has been perfected, I believe, oh account of the gassing over on the other side. All there i3 to this is a. small oxygen tank, and you can use the oxygen from any tank that you have at your plant for oxygen welding; just fill it any time you need it. It has a reducing valve so that the pressure is very slightly abovir the atmospheric pressure. It can be used In connection with the--Schaefer method. The mouthpiece Is strapped around the mouth; the man is laid on his stomach; then you turn on .the oxygen and start working on him. Every time he exhales nothing comes Into his lungs, but when he inhales, a little oxygen goes in. I think that process is going to be the real thing. There is no good done, of course, if the pulmotor is used by somebody who is not an experienced operator.
Csdurman Jacobsex : The Schaefer method is now considered by all authorities on that matter to be the most efficient method, and I believe everybody ought to train himself in it. In the last issue of the Accident Prevention Bulletin I had occasion to give a full description of it, and I believe all that Is necessary will be found there in the chart. Get your men In the plant to experiment with it a little bit.
St. Lquis, as Mr. Josse says, is one of the shining stars in accident prevention work in. general, public as well as industrial. We have another man from that locatioxr and I think we ought to hear a little bit from him. His plant has started some novel methods of educating the men and getting them to see the dangers connected with their work. Mr. Ross, of the Missouri Portland Cement Company, will you tell us a little of your experiences?
Mb. Ross (Missouri): We have our committees--the foremen's com
mittee thought it had done everything It could do in the way of sug gestions, so we organized the workmen's committee. For the most part this committee Is composed of foreigners. They were bashful at first and wouldn't say anything. We. had a stenographer at the meetings to take the minutes down and wff made a round-table of It; we brought in cigars and they got to joking; then they became very efficient and everybody was anxious to offerJhis suggestions.
One of the things we have done Is to teach the Schaefer method to the men and to make an inspection^)? the mill. I suppose over 90 per cent of the men In the mill know how to resuscitate a man from shock. In
line with accidents, we have worked out the scheme of taking a photo
3S8
Eighth Safety Congress
graph of how the accident happened and the manner in which it could
have been avoided. We^post that photograph up just as soon as we cau
finish it. which usually is the next day. I do that myself in our mill,
and I think that is a better scheme than using some of the bulletins we
receive. Those bulletins don't apply to cement plants, while the actual photographs of cement plant accidents do apply. The picture is put up
in the morning, say at B o'clock, and about half an hour later If you go
around, there will be a; half dozen to a dozen men talking about it, past
members of the safety; committee and people who have not been on committees.
Ckaibmax Jacobsen:^ What size are the pictures, Mr. Ross? Mr. Ross; They are;about post-card size. Chairman Jacobsen:__I wanted to bring this matter to your attention. As a matter of fact, Lliave slides here of all the photographs AEr. Ross
lias taken, and as soon as the management of this hotel will permit us to get our material, we'will show them, which I think will be tomorrow.
I have several other slides which I will show here, that I think you will
be very much interested, in seeing. Dr. Coleman (Lehigh and Marquette) : We had a cement sectional
safety meeting at La Salle this year, and there was lots of good stuff
suggested. I have spoken to Mr. Jacobsen about having a kind of query column in his bulletin^ What would help a whole lot is a description
of this man being hurt by electric shock. If that had been printed a good many- of us would probably have looked around and found some of those places in our own plants. I believe if we could bring up and dis cuss our views in the -Accident Prevention Bulletin, it would he helpful.
Mr. RicnARDSoN OMSE-quette) : I would like to ask Mr. Josse a ques tion. When you have The workmen's meeting, that Is the safety meetings,
who presides?
Mr. JoSSk: The workmen appoint their own chairman.
Mr. Richardson: And how often do you change? Mr. Josse: Every three months we change one man from each depart
ment. and those men elect their own chairman. We don't have a thing to do with it. I dofiJt go near them at all; nobody does. They bring
in their own recommendations in an envelope and put them in a box. Mr. Richardson: -And how do...,you eliminate some of those recom
mendations?
...
Mr. Josse: We write to the men saying that a certain recommendation
is good and will be complied with as soon as possible. We have three men who do practically nothing else but put up guards and do other work that the safety Committee recommends. We say this recommenda tion is good and will be complied with as soon as our men pan get to
it, or that another is impossible for us to comply with at the present time. We may say, "If the conditions change so that we can do it, we
will be glad to take^eare of it," or in another case, "If we comply with this recommendation, the hazard in another way will be greater than
it Is at present." __ We let the men know that we examine their recommendations and
give them considerable thought. It is surprising how few bad recom-
Cement Section
389
mendations they bring in. The men who are working right where the
accidents occur can bring in some of the best recommendations you ever heard, and most of them are simple. We don't have any more scalp wounds. They have all been eliminated by screens at the points where the rock would drop off the elevator or conveyor. We haven't had a scalp wound for a long time, just because of these committees' recom mendations. And It doesn't cost much money to comply with them.
:Chairman Jacobses I think Mr. Josse brought up a very good point
in the talk he has given us--that is, to let the man know what Is being
done with his recommendation, and to recognize him as one of yonr
organization. He is really an official you might say, when he is on the
committee. It may be a good or It may be a bad recommendation. I
don't believe the man will care much whether it Is turned down or
taken up, as long as he knows that action has been taken on the proposi
tion. If a man turns in a suggestion and you let him wait a couple of
weeks for an answer he gets "lukewarm"; then if he doesn't hear any
thing for a month he drops the whole proposition and you will never
hear from that man again.
--
I believe there should be more efficiency in connection with the han
dling of that kind of work at cSnent plants, and not only cement, but
any other industrial plant. It is the handling of human nature, that is the whole proposition. Good, common sense is going to put the thing over much more quickly than anything else.
Mr. Fortuin: Under the Pennsylvania state law, if you want to get credit for all they will give you Under the Compensation Act. it is neces sary to have a safety engineer in conjunction with the safety committee. But you can appoint any one, and call him a safety engineer.
Mr. Josse: In St. Louis we discovered that there was no such person as a safety engineer. So last winter we had a Safety Supervisors' School, comprised of 15 lessons. And as I said in speaking about the Schaefer system, if we never got another thing out of that school we will have at least saved that man's life, and Isn't that worth while?
Three of our men and I attended that school for- the 15 lessons. Mr. Ross was also one of the members and several from his plant. He can also tell, you of the wonderful benefits we derived. Of course, we were all new, we didn't know anything and we don't know very much yet, but all of that education helps and there Is where we learned the Schaefer system and saw it worked out. They put a man up on the stage and showed how it was done, and it Is very simple.
One day last week there was a= storm in St. Louis and a wire of the Union Electric Company was broken so that it hung down on the street. A man passed this wire and put'his hand on it to push it away and of course down he went. As it happened, there were a couple of boys passing at that instant who knew the Schaefer method. They turned this fellow down on his face and started working on him, and they had artificial respiration, started when a doctor came along. The doctor stopped them. He said, "That man should not be on his face," and he
turned him over, and started working on him. That man Is dead today.
:>0
Eighth Safety Congress
and the fellow who has to pay for that man's death is down, here at a
meeting today. He has now given instructions to all of the men in all
of the departments not to pay any attention to what anybody sayB, but
to keep the Schaefer method going.
Chaibmax Jacobsen: That gives me another idea, and. that is the
doctor at the plant. I think the doctor is one of the greatest helps that
you can have at your plants. If you have the right doctor, who knows the
men. or at least knows their way of thinking, that doctor can help you
more than you realize. Why don't you get your minor accidents re
ported? Why do the men sometimes go for a week before they come in
with an infected hand which then is far beyond tbe doctor's help?
Probably some of them don't like doctors; they think tbe doctor is
always ready with the knife, and they have a general dislike for doctors
treatments. If the doctor can get all of that nonsense out of tbeir heads
you will get along far better than you do now.
How is your plant situated with respect to a doctor? How quickly cai
you get a doctor? JThat is another very important point. Sometime;
you want a doctor quickly--you may have a man tangled up In a gea
or something like that, and have an arm or a leg torn off. That mai
will surely die before the doctor gets there if it takes an hour or s
before he arrives. =L received a report the other day or a man who wa
smothered in a cement bin. I asked them bow long it took to get
doctor. It took them an hour. Of course the man was dead.
How are you equipped for taking care of your men at the plant whe
an accident occurs?. Have you a room set aside for that particula
purpose? It is not_enough to say that the chemist--and that is til
explanation I generally get--handles All that work in the laborator;
He can do that in case of minor injuries, a scratch of a finger, or som
thing like that. But Just let us take the case of a coal dust explosion i
a coil house, or a premature explosion in the quarry, where you probabl
have half a dozen men. injured at the same time--where are you golr
to take them until the doctor comes?
It is very easy toorig tip a little room with a couple of cots and thlnj
like that in it. andllkeep it clean, and have that room used for notliii
else. It may be years before you have to use tbe room, and I admit
is difficult to keep that in mind, but you must have it. In many cases
becomes dirty and is neglected. It is necessary to keep that room
good condition so that if an accident should happen you can take ca
of the victims, and the doctor will have a place to work when he com
to the plant.
-^5=
Dr. Coleman: With reference to being prepared, last summer
soon as the hot weather came on I gave specific Instructions that shot
any man be overcome with heat, either by heat stroke or exhaustic
we should know about it immediately. A man in the boiler roc
became sick, as he thought. He was getting heat exhaustion. He we
out and crawled between two buildings to take a rest- Luckily, a m
came along investigated, and found the man unconscious, or almost
Suppose nobody there had known what to do--that man might have d?
before T could have! gotten to him. But instead of that, he was carrJ
Cement Section
391
into the first-aid room. We have an electric fan there, and that was
turned on him, alcohol was rubbed on his arms, a blanket was thrown
over him, and he was kept warm?^ That is all that saved his life. How
long he was lying there before found we do not know.
Another case: They were doing a lot of rebuilding this summer, and
a man was overcome by the heat. The foreman said. "Throw water on
him." He thought he had fainted. Fortunately, I was right at the plant
when this happened, and in 10 Thinutes I was at the man's side. I
gave him hypodermic injections land took him to the hospital, and in
three days he was back at work. =
Mr. Ross (Missouri): We recently had a lecture by our physician,
who laid a great deal of stressjon heat stroke and recommended that
we post minutes of his lecture in our first-aid room, which we will do
as soon as they are completed. --About 40 former committee members
heard this' lecture, and -every oneTTf them will be given copies to digest
thoroughly.
--
Chairman Jacobsen: If you will let us have those minutes we will
reprint them and have them sent out.
Major Reninger (Lehigh) : There is one thing that we sent around
to all of our plants, I think that was Circular No. 8, issued by the
Bureau of Mines, describing their method of first aid. We sent about
25 or 30 copies to each plant. It was very complete. This circular can
be had for about five cents a copy from the Government printing office.
Chairman Jacobsen: While that circular is very good. Major
Reninger, I think the more personal contact and local flavor you have
to the thing, the better it will work. Now if your own doctor would
give the men those instructionsrand have them printed probably on
the company's letterheads, or something like that, it would take better
than if it came from the Bureau~bf Mines. Of course, that is only my
personal opinion.
_
Mr. Ross: This physician has been our doctor for 14 or 15 years;
everybody knows him and they will pay more attention to what he has
to say than they would to any Government bulletin, I think.
Major Reninger: Of course, I realize that there is nothing like advice
from the physician, but what I meant was that by having those books
around your plant, in a second a man could pick one of them up and
look at it and know just exactly iWhat to do. It illustrates the Schaefer
method and all those other things:
Chairman Jacobsen: As a matter of fact, all of our plants should
make it their business to get all the Government bulletins de
scribing any kind of work relating to our industry, and I think we
should see that the men get those bulletins. There have been some
very valuable bulletins issued on explosives, and things like that.
Dr. Colemak: Could I ask Mr. Halpin to tell you what he told me
about our meetings that lagged this summer and what happened at the
plant?
Mr. Halrin (Marquette) : What the doctor refers to is this: During
the summer, we were shut downrfor some time because of our- construc
tion work, repair work, and other things. We let the meetings go and
:;`>2
Kitfhth Safety Cont/rrss
we lagged on safety^ work, and our accidents increased I believe, about CO tier cent during-that time in comparison to previous months in that year. That is a little evidence of a hat will happen when you let a thing go. which is a very easy thing to do, tinless yon are at it all the
time.
----
Mr. Fortci.v: Do you think those accidents were due- to your laxity
in regard to safety work, or due to the fact that you had men employed
on work they werTTiot accustomed to?
Mr. Hai.pis: rj don't believe it is on account of change in work,
because the same men do the same work they do every day. even during
the construction period. Mr. FoRTirtx: Nevertheless, when a plant is down, the men are on
repair work, and _they don't work with the same efficiency that they do
when the plant is operating.
Mr. Haumx: You may attribute part of it to that. I suppose. I won't say we were dowp^ all the time. We were down for three weeks, and then we ran, buC^still the construction work went on. on the outside, lint I know that the cause of the accidents was that we jttst let everything lag: nobody tried to do anything. We let the meetings go for about, three months, whereas before that we had had a meeting ever" two weeks. The men.TKot so they didn't care. The first meeting 1 called, we had about lOJJpen where we should have had 20. They didn't care to come: they were ''too busy."
Mr. .Io.ssk: I believe the only way to get full attendance is to have
your meetings on the company's time.
Mr. Ross: Wre have a meeting every week, even if we have to shut
down some department of the mill in order to hold it.
Mr. Hai.pin: _Of course, the foremost idea in all plants is "cement first." and that is_the way %ve went at it. Everything was thrown asid< to load cement. ^JSometimes you have to teach the management a grea deal, or you won't get anything out of the men. The battle is with then more than with the men.
Ma.ior RicnixoEbt I might say that we had the same thing. But w
were pretty fortunate in the East. We have five plants where safet;
work has fallen rgff during the war, and we didn't know just what to d
10 reestablish
and to get the men interested In the safety committee:
So we got the plants at Ormrod, West Coplav. and Fogelsvi!
together. and jve have a meeting once a month now. Th
month the meeting is at West Coplay. All the safety committees froi
the three planlsr&et out of their particular plants in the morning, leav
at about half-past ten. and get over to West Ooplay at about half-pa
eleven. We have our own boarding house at each plant for the offi<
men and the foremen. We give the men a good dinner, then make t
inspection of the plants and quarries, then come back and have deci
sions. You would be sui-prised to see how clean that West Coplay pla
is. becatise there are safety men coming from ail the other plants, w!
their eyes wide-open. Those men find the smallest defeet, that can found. What one man doesn't catch, somebody et**- will. and you wov
Cement Section
393
be surprised to see what a great difference that has made in the last
four months -in all three of thoseTplants.
Chairman Jacobsen: That is always the case when a new man comes
into a place--he generally sees twice as much as the old man. It is a
good thing, if a company has more than one plant, to have a little
friendly rivalry between them.
Major Reninger: We try to get 'the Vice-President, Mr. Ritter, out
there, or Mr. Bear, the chief engineer, or Mr. Woodward, in case the
men have any questions to ask, and you would be surprised to see how
easily they go at it.
Chairman Jacobsen:
` When ITgo into a cement plant I find a whole
lot of things to talk about, but _I have to be very careful because I am
just there by tolerance. I recently made a visit to a plant in Oklahoma.
They hadn't had any bad accidents at this plant for a long time. I Baid
to the plant manager, "You areT'unning along rather smoothly now; I
think you are doing fairly good work." "Yes, we are," he said, "although
the other day we had a surprising accident. We had a line-shaft about
eight feet from the floor, with a collar and set screw. Eight feet from
the floor that shaft was running--20 revolutions per minute. Next to it was a platform with a stairway. A man wanted to get up there, and
instead of using the stairway, he crawled up there in some manner--
we don't know how--and got caught in that setscrew and was killed."
What would this manager have said if anybody had come in and said
that setscrew was dangerous? -A person would have been a little In
doubt as to whether that point: should be brought to his attention or
not, because he could hardly see the setscrew. This shows that small
things can cause big accidents.
Are there any other points you would like to bring up? If not, a
motion to adjourn is in order. ^
(Motion made and carried fa adjourn.)
FRIDAY MORNING SESSION
HAIRMAN JACOBSEN: The first paper we have this morning is
C "Hazards in Cement Stockhouses. Packing and Shipping Depart
ments." I think you will all agree with me that in these departments we
have some peculiar hazards which very often are difficult to take care of.
and a little deliberation on that subject will be of advantage to us all. Mr.
Russell Frame, of the Alpha Portland Cement Company, will read a paper
on this subject.
^
HAZARDS IN CEMENT STOCKHOUSES, PACKING AND SHIPPING DEPARTMENTS
R. Frame. Secretary, CentraT. Safety Committee, Ai.Pii.v.PaRTr.ANn Cement Company, Easton, Pa.
A study of the causes of personal injuries in connection with cement t manufacturing will disclose that, the screw conveyor and sliding materials
:m
. Eighth Safety Congress
are always among the leading hazards. The Stock House and Packing Departments, having such a large proportion of these risks together with other dangers, are worthy of careful consideration.
Taking the experience of the Alpha Company at eight stock houses and six packing rooms, during a period from January X, 1918, through July 31, 1919, they furnished about 8 per cent of the total injured, the same per centage as to total days lost, and the only fatality on our records during the years of 1917 and 1918. Half of the men injured were compelled to go off duty. This runs close to the general average from the studies of the Association.--
BINJIAIi'S FATAL ACC1DEJTT
With reference to the fatal accident, the employee (a foreigner) had been in our service over two years and was following his regular occupa tion as .binman in a small stock house in which the cement was stored on the bin plan. The employee was directed to do his work in Bins No. 5 and No. 6, each one having a capacity of 4S00 barrels. This certain afternoon there remained 400 barrels in each bin which had to be hoed in feeding the cement to the screw conveyor. After loading one car of cement the foreman failed to receive an answer to his signal and upon investigation found that the deceased instead of working in Bins No. E and No. 6, had gone over to Bln No. 3, where he could secure the required cement with, far less real work on his part as compared with the hoeinj he would have to do in the former bins. His portable light he left hang ing in. Bin No. 5. Working on a contract basis we think caused hin to change from an almost empty bin to a full bin where he could hav less wearisome--working conditions, and his further neglect to affort himself ample light contributed to the recklessness resulting in his deatt
HAZARDS or STOCK JIOTTSKS
Cement stored in bins presents greater danger to the workmen durin the course of its removal than is usually found in the Open Hous
At Martins Creek we have two types of stock houses. No. 1 has bee partitioned off into bins where a known quantity of cement can. be stor< for special orders, tested and .sealed, and-drawn during the presen* of the inspector^who is sent to the plant to see that the cement In h shipment comes: from this particular bin. The capacity of the bins is s follows:
1 bin 10,000 barrels 1 bin 6,000 barrels 2 bins 5,400 barrels (each) 1 bin 4,000 barrels 1 bin 2,300 barrels and the remainder of the bins each holding 2,600 barrels. No. 2 Stock House is 270 feet long, 73 feet wide, and the walls are 39 fe 6 inches high^ZThe capacity is 1S5.000 barrels. There are no bins such
described in Stock House No. 1, the cement being discharged at differ*
points from the overhead screw conveyor and left to follow its natu course as it strikes below. This has been termed an "Open Stock Hous
Cement Section
995
The storage bin has a limited capacity and while being emptied the
cement tends to cling to the surface of the partitions and therefore gives
the working face a steep pitch. When the cement is being disturbed to
cause a flow, the workman must be on his guard in event of abrupt and
heavy slides of material, which "Very often occur. The space in which
the man can safely do this work is limited, the bin may not have adequate
natural or artiflcial lighting, the flow of cement creates a continuous
dust and the man will have his entire lower limbs wrapped up with
cement sacks that retard quick ^movements--all of which increase the
chances of injury. In case a maiPis covered up by cement it takes only
a few moments for him to smother to death.
In an open stock house having tunnels the conveyors in which are fed
by spouts and arranged at short distances apart, the cement that does
not flow to the opening freely will remain in small low piles In the
stock house. Men-have plenty of room, more light, and better ventilation
during the course of hoeing the cement.
When walking over the top of cement in an open stock house during
the course of taking an inventory, care must be exercised against starting
a slide. At one of our plants a? Finishing Mill foreman, appreciating
this danger, has been known to follow the chemist in the course of this
inventory without the knowledgeJ3f the latter, so that he-might be close
at hand in case of accident.
.=-
Sometimes we find a small leak in the stock house roof or' sidewalls,
through which moisture will penetrate and reach the cement when the
storage is well filled. In cleaning the last cement from the stock house,
there is 'a danger from any cement which has hardened sufficiently to
hold fast to roof supports, to other overhead construction, and to the
sidewalls. At Plant No. 6 a formation which was clinging to the eave of the roof fell and struck the binman across the back, causing a disability
of 70 days duration. Another mair was injured in removing hard cement
from the stock house sidewall.
In 1914 the Association received a report of a man being kilted by a
slide of cement caused by jar from the railroad. This brings to mind
another source--the deep-well blast in the quarry. - Every man should
be ordered from the stock house during such blasting. Our experience
shows that slides are induced by the accompanying jar. Particular care
should be observed when working in freshly-ground cement, as It is
known to move quickly and in heavy slides upon disturbance. During the course of the removal of cement, the safe practice is to .
work not less than two men at any one time; to .furnish, a long rod and
long handled hoe to start the cement, ropes where conditions permit their
use, and careful instruction to men. as to the danger should they undercut
the cement to induce slides, together with a rule that hoeing should be
begun from the top1 of . the pile and the cement worked on the terrace,
plan. Compressed air is a good agency to start a flow of cement from..
a bin. The floor of the stock house between, the tunnels, when con-.
strueted on an angle, will induce a greater free flow of cement.. The "Association Bulletin," of February. 1917, contained an interesting account;
fS'Jli
= Eighth Safety Congress
o
of the man in the bin being furnished with an extension carrying a push
button to signal persons on the ovitside when in danger.
Drawing cementrin tunnels by reason of the limited ventilation is a
dusty occupation and there are numerous cases of cement getting into
the eyes. A good Hesign for tunnel construction is that described in the
August, 1918, number of the "Association Bulletin." We have the con
veyors in the tunnels of one stock house set in a concrete trough which
is built up from the floor and on one side of the tunnel so that the
attendant cannot-walk over the conveyor gratings. This gives room
for thorough inspection, and is convenient in case of repairs. Where
artificial light is required, due care should be given to keeping the system
in good service.
All bins need Strong iron ladders. These should be guarded, and con
nected with, the ladder at different heights in the bin there shpuld be
working platforms protected by guard rails and toe hoard. This con
struction will give the workman a chance to go about his work more
freely, and affords.better safety. We had an employee who lost 49 days
when, to avoid a slide, he jumped on a wooden ladder with such force
that he broke the wooden rungs and fell into the cement. Last year a
report was furnished the Association of a fatality due to the bin collapsing.
In this connection the construction of bins must allow for a liberal factor
of safety. At one of our stock houses, iron columns in between which
were inserted wooden planks were found inadequate, as the columns
buckled and broke loose at the top fastening. An all-steel bin designed
by the construction company's own engineer proved a failure in a near-by
plant. When wooden partitions are used a liberal use of iron supports
and a frequent inspection is advisable. Reinforced concrete makes very
strong bin partitions. Since 1910 we have had them in one of our stock houses, built of S-inch walls, 1? feet by 30 feet, for a bln of 3000
barrel capacity. ---
Recent storage construction shows the silo method of reinforced con
crete to be in favor. Single containers, built high and narrow so as
to promote self emptying, with port holes through which to reach from
the outside to disturb any cement that clings to the side walls, would
remove many of our present hazards. In addition the tunnels connect
ing these single ^containers would permit all necessary openings direct
to the outer air to secure good ventilation, better light, easy access, and
a general improvement in present working places.
The dangers of j|, screw conveyor are too well known to require a lengthy
review. They are like poison gas in effect, causing death or permanent
injury. Long ago the screw conveyor was indicted, found guilty, and
sentenced for life_behind strong iron bars, made up in form of a heavy
grating % inch rods spaced at
in. centers, secured to angles--3 in. by
214 in. by % in.^r-^placed legs down, in sections 11 ft. 9 in. long and bolter
securely in place^ This guard is your gas mask, and we must insist or
the same recognition of its value by keeping it in place, as all soldier:
who were compelled to have their masks on their chests ready for instan
use. Many casualties in the late war were due to soldiers not havinj
gas masks for Immediate protection, and the cement industry can poin
Clement Section
397
to a long list of amputated limbs and fatalities caused by the lack of appreciation of the awful dangers of screw conveyors and the necessity for the best guards and inspection service to overcome this menace in. every department and in every location in the Plant.
To eliminate further danger^ and dust, a ^4-inch thick plate, the full width of the conveyor and covering the entire length, excepting such places where material is inserted, it added. The plate is fastened with bolts to the grating angles.
HAZABDS OF PACKING AND LOADING
In the packing room, the Bates Machines need guards on the main drive belt, the gears, the pulleys on the bin feeder drive, and the eccen trics in back of- machine. Out records show one man lost two fingers in the gears and another had a close call from fatal injuries by having his clothing caught on small feeder drive pulley which had a piece broken from tlange. Twenty per cent, of our accidents in the packing room and stock house are due to cement spurting into the face and eyes of the operator on Bates Machines, duetto a bag bursting or a small hole in same.
Only a small percentage of our employees will wear goggles. I have been advised that a member company follows a practice of
having a small equipment at the stock house for giving immediate treatment--only an eye wash--as soon as a man gets cement in his eye, claiming that if the chemical:action of the cement is neutralized imme diately, the usual burn will be prevented. They have now followed this method about eight months arid during that time have not lost one single day from a cement in the eye accident.
On hot days in packings freshly-ground cement, the men often experience chafing of the arms and fingers. Our experience has been that there is a good deal of lost time on this account and the extent of this disability may escape attention because the ailment is not classed as an accident, and therefore the same complete reports of the full facts are not received and kept on file. The decisions under Compensa tion Laws have been so liberal to the claimants that we may expect to be required to pay compensation: for a serious infection or death resulting from this cause. We hope the medical department of some member com pany can offer an ointment _that is quick healing and antiseptic, to be kept on hand for immediate Use in case of chafing and the men educated to obtain prompt treatment, as a means to reduce this lost time.
The question of dust control in the packing room is in the mind of every manufacturer. State factory inspectors have registered a criticism on working conditions, and who knows how much longer the workman will tolerate them.
The Security Lime and Cement Company is reported as having secured good results with an installation of the Bates Valve Bag Company which produces a draft and collects the dust so successfully that the air in this department of the Security's plant Is practically free from cement dust. The Alpha Company is about ready to try out a collecting system, recently designed.
Trucking has its hazards jLJi men striking their hands, slipping on the
398
Eighth Safety Congress
Moor, and upsets wlien passing over the runway. New men need instruc
tion as to proper methods in handling a truck. The shitting of cars at packing rooms has its dangers. Failure to
give the workmen proper notice before the shift is started, neglect of the men to heed the ^warnings, cars breaking loose, men crossing In front of and jumping--on cars, are responsible for accidents. At one plant where the tracks to packing room are on a grade, we have derailers and the crew must give the packing room full notice of a shift about to be made before the cars can pass the derailex*.
The stock bins and overhead walks' require the standard guard rails with toe boards. A fatal injury on our record shows that while engaged in conveyor repairs over the bin a bar slipped and caused the man to fall from the platform on top of bin. The same standard guards that are generally used in other departments of the plant will afford necessary protection to belts, pulLeys, gears, sprockets, chains, clutches, and electric apparatus which make up the general machinery hazards. Care should be exercised to see that machinery, particularly that in tunnels and elevators, is equipped with locks to prevent starting up without notice while men are working in positions where they can be caught.
Education of the workmen in safe practices has a large field in the stock house and packing rooms as it takes time to train new men and because of the importance of having an efficient crew on duty each day to load your cement promptly, and therefore have it arrive at its des tination in shape satisfactory to your customer.
DISCUSSION
Dr. Colemax (Lehigh and Marquette): At our plant we recently had a cement-burn case. I never saw a man so badly burned. If he had been in fire he couldn't have been burned more badly. He lost two days. His arms were burned from the wrists up to the back and he was burned around his waist. "We used a zineochinol ointment, and I really believe if we could get the men to put that on before they go to work in the hot weather, it would prevent that burning.
Chairman- Jacobsen: That question of cement burns is a very im portant one. We all have trouble with it in the summer time. I don't know that it should really be called a burn. It is really an irritation of the skin I suppose-- caused by the dampness of the skin and the ce ment dust coming in contact with it, and the effect of the elothing rubbing on the skin.
Db. Colemax: Yes that is right, but it is a burn. Mr. Frame: It has been our experience that often our regular packers will want to take time off because of chafing on their fingers, hands or arms. Of course, we don't class it as an accident, but we may get caught some day. Mr. MacFetridge (Lehigh) : It may become a compensation case. Chairman- Jacobsen- I don't think there is any question about that; it is caused during work at the plant.
Ceinent Section
399
Mb. Fbame: Mr. Chairman, do you get many reports of disability from
that cause?
-----
Ceaibiuk Jacobsen: Not a great deal of time lost. They are mostly
just doctors' treatment cases. Mb. Fobtttin (Pennsylvania) : The old-time packers use lard for that
and when the new packers come on, they are instructed also to use lard.
It takes all that chafing away, and also takes the cement out of the pores.
'The only- trouble they have is when their fingers get sore, which is in
the stimmer time. Major Rkninckr (Lehigh) : Do they apply the lard before they start
work?
Mr. Fobtxjin: No, when they get through.
Chairxran Jacobsen: Dr. Coleman, what effect do you think bathing
facilities would have on It? :Db. Coleman No effect at'all; the man is burned when he comes in. Chairman Jacobsen: Do you remember when we had Dr. Turner at
our cement safety meeting ar Bethlehem? He holds a different view
point on that. He claims it can be eliminated to a great extent if the
men will keep thoroughly cleanDb. Coleman: At the Lehigh plant, I believe Sr, per cent of the men
bathe freely, and we have Just as many cement burns there as we do at
Marquette, where they don't bathe quite so freely.
Mb. Fortdin: If you want the cement off your hands, or your neck, or wherever it may he, you either have to take it off with a dry towel
or use cold cream: water won't take it off. Cold cream is really the best.
That is what I have used; it takes it all off. Dr. Snelling (Trojan Powder Co.) : I would like to make a suggestion
along that line. I believe the primary cause is really a preventable one. I am not acquainted with this particular phase of the matter, but I have
had experience with a somewhat similar matter, in which irritation was
brought about by working with a dusty chemical. In that particular case, -a found that the trouble was confined to men who perspired freely, and occurred on those parts.of the body where the chemical could touch
the skin, and where the man perspired freely. -It was a rather serious
problem at the time It camehip, and I investigated the matter. I de cided I would preyent it from the beginning by preventing perspiration.
It happened that at this time a proprietary medicine was coming on
the market for the use of ladies who didn't want to perspire nnder the arms, particularly. We analyzed that material and found it was per fectly harmless; it was made up of aluminum chloride. It costs only
a few cents a gallon, and it completely eliminated our trouble. I can't:
see why, at the beginning of Jbe hot weather, you couldn't let the men try a wash of this with a piece of absorbent cotton. It closes the pores,
and prevents excessive perspiration. I don't know "whether that will
solve your problem.
~
Mb. :Forttjin I don't think Dr. Snelling understands the method of packing cement. Have you ever been in a cement house where cement
was being packed. Dr. Snelling?
400
Eighth Safety Congress
Db. Sxeleixg: No. _ Mb. :Forttjix The men get sores on the neck, as -well as the hands,
and they perspire all over their bodies. They become saturated. Dr. Sxerlixg: Really, though, it would be where there was an exces
sive amount oi dust and an excessive amount of perspiration. If it weren't confined to those particular parts of the body, you would have
this difficulty all the time.
Dk. Colemax: I tried a 3 per cent solution of formaldehyde on the
feet, and it worked there. I have never tried it on the body. I think
athough, that if we usr some grease it probably will eliminate
great
deal of trouble.
t--
Mr. Forttjix: I would like to ask Mr. Frame, when he refers in his
paper to a man working in a bin and the foreman not receiving an an
swer to his signal, what that signal is.
Mr. Fra ale: Electric lights. By pressing a button the light is turned
on and off in the bin where the man is working.
Mr. Fortcix: Is there a light in each bin? Mr. Frame: Yes. = Mr. Fortuix: Isn'fzit a fact that when no cement comes to the bin they try to locate where the man is, rather than go to the signal? Mr. Frame: Yes, but this foreman gave the signal on account of a car being finished. They loaded the car and he wanted the man out there for some purpose or--other. He gave the signal and the man didn't
answer. Mr. FoBTrix: But at other times they don't try to locate a man as
long as the cement fszrconiing into the bin? Mr. Frame: No. Of course they would signal him In case of a break
down in the packing joom. Mb. Fobtuis: When you referred to the chemist taking inventory of
your bins, you said that the foreman followed him up for fear he might be
covered up in a slide. Haven't you.a walk over your bins? Mr. Frame: In this particular case it was an open stockhouse and
not a bin stockhouse^and there was no walkway on the side at all, but only overhead where the screws come close to the roof.
Mr. Fortijjx: Can't he see down into the stockhouse that far?
Mr. Frame: He. can. but he won't trust his judgment that far.
He
would rather walk over the-stock piles. Mb. Forttjix: You also referred to ladders in bins. Couldn't you get
your men inside the bins by having an opening in each bin from the out
side, through the stockhouse wail?
MR. Frame: Possibly we could, but we never have had that arrange
ment.
Mb. Fortuin: Wouldn't that be better than having a ladder going into
each bin?
___
Mr. Frame: Hardly. Suppose your opening would have to be on the
far side of the bin. Tf_your bin were full you would draw from the front
side, and a man couldn't get into the bin unless it was a very high door. Mr. Forttux: If the bin were low yon wouldn't have occasion to use
a ladder.
Cement Section
401
Mb. Frame: After the first big tap you have to use a ladder to go into
the bin.
zr
Mb. FoBrrmic: We don't have ladders and seldom have occasion to
go into the bins. If we do; we have a manhole on the outside that can
be taken oft.
Mb. Frame: How large a, bin is that?
Mb. Foktuis: Four thousand barrels capacity. Mb. -Frame: How much of it will flow freely? Mr. Fortui-s: It will leave three or four hundred barrels. Mr. Frame: We don't have a bin that will empty out that much. Major Renixger (Lehigh) : Do you put toe-boards on your screw-
conveyor platform?
--
Mr. Frame: Yes.
-
Major Rekisgek: We had them in most of our places, but the Pennsyl
vania law at the present time has eliminated that. We take them away,
so that we can clean up our top runways. Mr. Frame: Our standard is open walkways. Major Renixger: That is our standard but we don't have them in all
of our plants: Mr. Fortuik : There is one Other question I would like to bring out.
Mr. Frame refers to the packers invariably getting dust in their eyes.
That is a point we raised at a local council meeting in Allentown, at
which I had the pleasure of presiding. The matter was brought up for the reason that there was a law being formed to compel the wearing of
goggles in cement plants. _We attempted to find out from the members present as to whether their- eve accidents were mostly due to cement in the eyes. The majority of them said they didn't have any.
This matter brings up that same subject. Apparently they have lots of ' trouble, and I would like to find out from the representatives of other cement companies, out West, whether they have the- same troubles.
We have them, as I explained at that time, but we have compelled our men to wear goggles. We get special glasses for them. Our safety com mittee compels them to wear the glasses, and if they don't wear them they can't work in our plant. We enforce that rigidly.
Mr. MacFetridce (Lehigh) : What do you do during the labor short age, even "fire" them then?
Mr. Fortuin: Our men--do wear them, although we did have some
trouble at first in gettingrThem to do it.
Chairman- Jacobsex : I remember once I had the pleasure of visiting the Alpha Cement plant at Cementon. I noticed all the packers wore
glasses there. I -asked them whether they had any trouble and they said, "No, we prefer to wear the glasses and take no chances on having our eyes burned." I don't know whether they maintain that practice
any more.
--
Mr. Frame: Possibly we had a different crew of men at that time.
Mr. Fortuix: I wouldZlike to find out whether there are mills not in
our district that are having this same experience.
Major Reninoek: I can; speak for our Western plants. Take for in-
402
Eighth Safety Congress
stance our Mitchell plants--49 accidents reported, 19 of them eye cases
from cement dust. They don't -wear glasses. We have tried to Install'
that system but they absolutely refuse. We have the same trouble at
Mason City, Iowa.
Mb. Fobtuix: The reason I bring that out is that at the meeting the
majority of the representatives claimed they had' no eye accidents due
to cement getting in the eyes when packing cement.
Mb. MacFistriikie: The condition existed but I don't suppose they
thought it serious enough to give it any attention.
Dr. Coleman: Could you enlighten me as to what kind of glass that
is? And do the men have trouble with the moisture on the glass?
Mb. Foktttin: I think they do sometimes. I really don't know. Dr.
Coleman. The glass is made by Wilson, of Reading. It is a light
weight glass. We use two kinds, the heavy ones for chipping, and the
light ones in packing.
'
Dk. Coleman: I tried ^wearing glasses myself. I tried regular automo
bile glasses; tbey fit very tightly and kept out the dust, but I perspire
rather freely and my trouble was that there was a steam on the glasses
most of the time, and I couldn't see. We have had a lot of trouble from a
stream of cement getting out of bags at the packing machine. I think
the week before last we had a lot of bad bags, and we had seven, cement
burns in one day. One man lost one day but that was all the time lost.
Mr. Lawniczek (La Salle) : We don't have very much trouble with
cement in the eyes, unless we get new packers. At this time of the
year, when we get new packers, they forget to turn off the valve. The
bursting of bags doesn't bother us any because our men sit above the
machine.
Mr. Josse: To eliminate the danger from old bags we tack some sacks underneath the man's seat, so that the sack hangs down below the
bag. When the hag comes down, the sack tacked to the seat being pli
able, it is not in any way impeded.
.Mb. MacFetiudge: We don't trip our bags; we lift them oft.
Mr. Fortxtix: When the bag is placed on the valve it gets right on
the seam and becomes All wrinkled--this will happen to new bags
sometimes--then when it straightens out under pressure a hole gets
into the bag and the cement shoots right out toward the man's face. Mr. MacF'etriihse: Our packers sit higher and don't catch that, hut it
catches the men down below.
Mb. Josse: That is why we have the sacks nailed down on the bench
behind the man sitting up on top. I don't think you have so much trou
ble getting the men on the machines to wear goggles as you do the men
.on the trucks.
Mb. MacFetrtdge: The man on the truck Is the man who needs the
glasses, but he won't wear them on account of perspiration and dust.
Mb. Josse: I saw a goggle over at the exhibit which they claim elimi
nates that trouble. It has a very fine gauze right up close to the glass,
which keeps the dust out, but the air can get in.
Chairman Jacobsen: It seems to me that if Mr. Fortum has been able
Cement Section
403
to get bits nca to wear the glasses, there is a possibility that all the
plants might do the same thing. There is no question about their being
a salcfosrd. aad gfasees should be used as much as possible. In regard to eye accidents though, I wish to tell yon that if we had only the time
lost on eye accidents is packing houses to contend with, we would have
very few days lost. Wost of the eye accidents that we get are usually
cawed la the machine abet*, and there are other places that cause really
bad eye accidents, so it weald pay you to give a little more attention
to wearing glminr in thoeSl phwi particularly. I never saw anybody
wearing f
s arwd tfce-crasber and we have a number of bad ac
cidents there. An* in the quarry and various other places, we have
many eye accidents.
Am there any ether things yon would like to take up in regard to
Mr. Frame's paper? What about the screw conveyor? I think we ought to consider that a'little hit.
Me. XMfttttMc; Everybody is guilty, there is bo argument. 1U. Pamist; If we keep them covered the men cake the covers off.
Mk. XacFferamer.: And if you "fire" the men the plant can't run. Mi. Hams (Marquette): We have a watchman at our stockhouse who visits, the aBey eace every hour. He has a station there and he has to go la once an boor to see that the conveyors are covered.
Mi Fosttix: Are they loose covers? Mi Himx: They are wooden conveyors and the covers are nailed
down. Chaibmax Jacobsex: There is no question about the danger. We all
know that, but bow to eliminate the hazard is another proposition. I think it is mostly a matter of education.
Mb. Josse: It is a matter of education, just as I said yesterday. It is a slow and bard process, but it has to be gone through, and if all of ns work toward the same goal we will get the men educated some time.
Chairvan Jacobsen : T Think you ought to put up to the men in
actual figures what has happened on screw conveyors, and get them to see it in that light. A man may work around a plant for years without appreciating the danger, he may walk along on screw con
veyors until the day that some one has left off a cover, and then he is hurt. If they could see in plain figures what happens every year, in the way of accidents on screw conveyors, they would probably look at It in a different light. What do you think of that concrete screw conveyor
cover I had in the Bulletin^ some time ago?
Mb. Josse: It would be all right if it were not too heavy to lift. I feel this way about it: I .think that we have disciplined oar men, or
the safety committees have; disciplined them so that very rarely do they leave the covers off any more, whereas the covers used to he off all the time. I would say it is a matter of education among the men themselves, and the safety committees In your mills can have more effect on the men
who take these covers off than the bosses can.
Mr. Lawniczek (La Salle) : Do you bolt your cover?
404 Eighth Safety Congress
Mr. Josse: We bolt some of them. We use a C-bolt. The others are
just laid on. Those that are taken up frequently are just laid on.
Mr. Lawniczek: We used to have a triangle on each side; we didn't use any clamps; that holds the cover down, and also prevents the dust
from coming out.
-
Mb. Josse: That is good. Chairman Jacobsen: What about the question of the cars at your
pack house, the box career whatever you ship your cement in? We have
had a number of accidents at the packhouses by men being caught be
tween cars, run over by cars, caught between the car and the platform,
or even between the car and the roof of the platform. 'There is a haz
ard there that is worthy of consideration.
Mr. MacFetbidge (Lehigh): Whose hazard is it in case the railroad
company sets in several empties, and the brake fails and your men don't
know It? Chairman Jacobsen: J think you will be held responsible.
Mr. Josse: About a month ago three of our negroes were hiding be
tween a string of cars, which were five or six feet apart. They were in
the yard gang, and were taking a rest. The switching crew hitched to this string of cars four tars of coal ahead, and of course pushed the cars
together. Two of the men got out but one was caught. It gave him a
terrible wound. It took about 200 stitches to sew him up. Rut to
come to the point of who is to blame for this accident, it is a mighty close
question in Missouri. Itris going to be a hard job to decide. The Mis
souri Pacific Railroad representatives, of course, have investigated it.
and they got all the details from the other men. We are taking care of
the injured man and are waiting to see whether the Missouri Pacific
is going to pay for this or not. We are going to have a pretty close fight on it, I believe. *
Chairman Jacobsen: They were not hurt during their course of em
ployment, they were just fooling around when they were hurt.
Mr. Josse: Of course, the industrial contract these railroads have with all industrial plants that have switch tracks has the clause that If
any of your men are hurt by their crews, you are responsible, but I be
lieve the court holds that they can't make you responsible, because there
Is no comeback the other way. It is not a two-way contract, and there fore we are not responsible. So we are going to have a fight.
Mr. MacFetridge: Would you naturally think, then, that it is up to
us to inspect all the equipment that comes in there, to find out if there
is a defective brake?
Chairman Jacorsen:
There is no question about it so far as the
compensation law goes. If a man is hurt at your plant, you will be
held responsible for him.
Is there anything else on this paper? If not, we will go on to the
next one, which I know you will all find very interesting. The title of the paper is "Safety Factors in the Use of Explosives in Cement Rock Quarrying," and it has been prepared by Ur. Walter O. Snelling. Director
of Research, Pennsylvania Trojan Powder Company.
Cement Section
405
SAFETY FACTORSF1N THE USE OF EXPLOSIVES IN CEMENT ROCK QUARRYING
Db. Waltbb O. Snellikg, Director of Research, Tbojax Powdm Com pa xy, Allexto'vx, Pa.
A cartridge of explosive may be thought of as a small bundle in which
a very large amount of energy is bound tip in latent form. Just as a
knife owes both its usefulness and its danger to its sharp cutting edge, so
it is the ability to explode which gives an explosive its utility and its
hazard.
^
By a better knowledge of the characteristics of explosives, and a more
complete understanding of the proper methods for their handling, the
number of accidents arising from, their use is constantly decreasing. Acci
dents do not "just happen"; behind every accident there must be a chain
of circumstances which lead, step by step, up to the final result, and the
more complete our information is in regard to the influences of all the
factors entering into any"given operation or procedure, the simpler it
will be finally to bring that operation or procedure to a basis in which
the chance of accidents will be reduced to a minimum.
It is always helpful to bear in mind that explosives form no exception
to the general rules of cause and effect. In order to liberate tbe energy
that lie3 latent in a cartridge of explosive it is necessary to apply to the
explosive material a sufficient impulse of some sort to commence the
chemical changes which jve call detonation. Friction, or a heavy blow,
or.-even a very tiny spark, may be sufficient to start the cycle of chemical
and physical changes which lead to explosion, but without such primary
impulse the explosive will remain inert, and its bound energy will be
dormant for months or even for years. Accordingly It becomes = quite
important for every one whose work has to do with explosives to become
as familiar as possible with their characteristics, and to acquire a thor
ough knowledge of the principal conditions which may lead to accidents
in connection with their use.
UNLOADING THE CAR
The first point at which the quarry superintendent is likely to be con cerned with the handling of high explosives. Is in unloading the; car which brings the material from tbe manufacturer's plant or magazine. The manner in which the cases are packed In the car is prescribed by the rules of the Interstate Commerce Commission, the method having been carefully worked out with the thought in mind of reducing trans portation risks to a minimum, and insuring the consignment of explosives reaching its destination in good condition.
It is quite uncommon to have a car of explosives arrive in damaged condition, but where the- contents are found to be damaged, and cases are broken or otherwise in improper condition the matter should be reported to the transportation company, and the condition of the damaged cases should be carefully determined. If there is evidence that the roof ' of a car has leaked it Is always advisable to examine the condition of the
406
Eighth Safety Congress
cases of explosives under the leak quite carefully. Nitrostarch explosives
when very wet become insensitive and difficult to explode, while nitro
glycerin explosives under thersame conditions tend to "leak" nitroglycerin,
and this free nitroglycerin is of course far more dangerous than is the
nitroglycerin in absorbed condition in the original explosive. Cases of
explosives which show exudation of nitroglycerin should be handled with
the most extreme care, and every precaution should be used to avoid any
friction, or any jar or blow that might be sufficient to cause an initial
explosion which would undoubtedly communicate at once to the entire lot
of explosives.
^
In unloading a car of explosives, just as in handling the cases of
explosives in all subsequent operations, care should be taken to avoid
unnecessary rough handling. It is true that cases are on record where
boxes of dynamite have fallen in quarries for a vertical distance of 100
feet or more without explosion, and it is also true that railroad accidents
have occurred in which cars loaded with explosives have been literally
torn to pieces without explosion resulting. It is just such facts as these
that make it so difficult for the average user of explosives to hold a proper
mental conception of the degree of care which should be used in handling explosives, and to draw a clear distinction between that over-cautiousness
which leads to a general fear of explosives on the one hand, and such
careless handling on the other hand as amounts to true foolhardiness.
A case of high explosives need not be bandied with quite the same care
that would be given to a crate of eggs, nor can it be handled with quite
the same roughness that would be used with a block of stone. Between the
two extremes lies that safe ground which leads to the handling of a case
of explosives with that degree of care which its nature warrants, and yet
with the absolute assurance that when handled in this careful way the case
of explosives is practically as safe to handle as any other box of like
weight would be.
~-
It is needless to say that the throwing of cases of explosives from a
car to a man on the ground is to be condemned, as is also the too rapid
passing of cases of explosives through a chute. -I have often seen explo
sives loaded through a cliute~bf considerable length, and once during the
unloading of explosives from a boat I saw a case of explosives - broken open by striking another cage of explosives which had become stuck at
the bottom of the chute. I do not doubt that this sort of handling
could be repeated many times without, explosion, but nevertheleeB
I feel confident that the operation involves some risk and Is there
fore to be condemned. The handling of the cases, a few at a time
by means of a small truck is decidedly preferable to the use of a chute
unless it is quite a short one, and the passing of a case of explosives from
one man to another is a great deal better, than the throwing of the case,
with the possibility of the man failing to make a good catch and dropping
the case.
r
MAGAZINES FOR STORAGE OF EXPLOSIVES
A good deal might he said as to magazines for the storage of explosives. It is most desirable that a magazine should be water-tight and well ven
Cement Section
407
tilated, and in addition should be located sufficiently far from, surrounding buildings to offer proper safety. As to the actual type of construction for a magazine opinions differ widely. The Bureau of Mines advocates maga zines made of cement-mortar, and Tech- Taper 18 gives a rather full descrip tion with bill of materials for a magazine with a capacity of 20,000 to 30,000 lbs. of explosive. At the time Tech. Paper 18 was pub lished the cost of a magazine of this kind was $400.00, but the price would of course be materially higher at the present time. The walls of the Bureau of Mines magazine are 6 inches thick, and the roof and door, both of which are also of cement-mortar, are 3 inches thick.
The principal advantage of cement mortar of the composition sug gested by the Bureau of Mines is that the material is substantially bullet proof, and yet crumbles so readily under a blow such as would be pro duced by an explosion as to greatly reduce tbe danger from large flying pieces of material.
MAIS AND ATJXILIABY MAGAZINES
Where It is desirable to carry a large stock of high explosives at a quarry, it is preferable tft, provide a main magazine located at a safe dis tance from the quarry, and an auxiliary magazine close to the quarry for the day's supply of explosives. The magazine for high explosives should always be located a proper distance from the detonator maga zine or storehouse, and it is very important always to bear in mind that detonators and high explosives should never be stored together. In spite of the fact that the storing of detonators with high explosives has been, most strongly condemned by government and state bureaus, and by practically all investigators who have studied the matter, one occa sionally sees rather clear violations of this simple rule of safety.
MAGAZINE SITE
The selection of a magazine site, particularly for the main magazine, is a matter to which some thought can profitably be given. It cis well recognized that an outcropping rock ledge forms a less desirable loca tion for a magazine than alluvial earth or'sand, since in the event of an explosion the earth waves are transmitted to a considerably greater ex tent through rock, and destructive effects are thus more extended than when a magazine is onra compressible and less rigid foundation.
METHODS OF THAWING EXPLOSIVES
Where nitroglycerin, explosives are being used during cold weather it is necessary to provident thaw house in order to insure the explosives reaching the work in proper condition. It is interesting to note that frozen explosives appear less sensitive to a detonator, and more sensl- tive to ordinary shocks or blows than the explosive in its normal condi tion. This subject has heen under investigation for a number of years, and a large amount of information as to the cause of this peculiar phe nomenon bas been accumulated. At the present time the belief seems to be that although frozen nitroglycerin is relatively much less sensitive
408
Eighth Safety Congress
than liauid nitroglycerin, yet frozen explosives, in part because of their
rigid condition and in part because of the presence within them of crystals
of nitroglycerin, are in unfavorable condition to resist friction and forces
which tend to distort the form of the cartridges.
The thawing of frozen explosives should always be carried out at a
relatively low temperature, and any effort to quicken the thawing action
is to be condemned. Wheironly small amounts of explosives have to be
thawed, a double jacketed vessel may be used, in which the heating agent
is water at a temperature or about 50 degrees C. (122 degrees F.) The
temperature should never exceed 55 degrees C. (130 degrees F-)
While explosives are being thawed their sensitiveness seems to be in
creased somewhat, and accordingly both during the thawing operation
and while the explosive is still warm after thawing, exceptional care in
handling should be exercised.
Where a considerable amown of explosive has to be thawed, it is best
to make provision for thawing at one time the entire amount of explosive used in a day. and for this purpose a special. Thawing bouse is necessary.
The thawing house should br located at a safe distance from all quarry
buildings, and should be provided with some means of indirect beating.
Technical Paper IS of the iturvaw of Mines describes a type of thaw house
which is recommended by the Pomn. and in which exhaust steam or hot
water is utilized as a nreaus of supplying beat, the heating coils being
placed in a small shed adjacent, to the thaw house proper.
"Make-shift" method* of thawing have led to frequent accidents, and it should always be home in mind that the thawing of frozen explosives is
an operation which should be given careful thought. Where electric
current is available it has been the custom in some quarries to place re
sistance coils or resistance.bars in a magazine for the purpose of maintain ing a temperature above that at which the explosives freeze, but acci dents have been directly traced^ to this arrangement, and indirect heating,
with the heating element placed in an auxiliary fire-proof box connected
with the thaw bouse by a One or by some other like means, is much to
be preferred.
^
In thawing explosives the use of a high temperature for a short time
is much less desirable than a considerably lower temperature for a longer period. Although temperatures as high as 50 degrees C. (122 degrees F.)
are sometimes used a temperature of 40 degrees C- (104 degrees F.) is
much to be preferred. The long-continued exposure of explosives in a thaw
house should be avoided, and the Bureau of Mines has called attention to
the fact that some explosives, such as gelatin dynamites, have been known
to decompose and explode after only a few days when continuously
heated.
I'KIMABV A NO SKCOXDARY BLASTING
The characteristics of different types of explosives is really the subject for a paper in Itself, and' I feel that this matter, and a study of the factors on which the selection of explosives for any particular type or blasting depends, would require more time than can be properly given to them in this paper. With proper explosives from 3% to 4% tons of
Cement Section
409
rock can usually be obtained per pound of explosive used, but this also
is a factor which is dependent upon many conditions in the quarry, so
that a direct comparison between, blasting in one district and In another
district is often impossible* and sometimes leads to conclusions which
are unfair to really good practice in a district in which unfavorable con
ditions such as clay parting seams exist. I have known of districts in
which the "lay" of the rock and its toughness have caused 2% tons per
pound of powder to represent really excellent blasting, and I have also
seen districts in which 4 tons of rock per pound of powder was being
produced by blasting methods which by improvement could easily have
been raised to at least 4!4 tons per "pound of powder and possibly some
little higher.
It should be remembered that the cost of the powder in the blast is
far from being the sole factor to be considered in blasting costs. Many
a quarry superintendent has found to his cost that a primary blast in
which too little powder wap used may lead to an increase in the cost of
shovel work and of secondary blasting entirely out of line with the small
difference between the cost of the powder originally used, and that which
would have been required for a well-balanced shot.
It is the cost of the rock at the crusher which the quarry superintend
ent should regard as his standard of comparison, rather than the cost
per ton of the rock immediately after a shot. Frequently it will be found
that adding one or two cents per ton to the cost of the primary blasting
will result in a reduction of three or four cents in the cost of secondary
blasting and steam shovel operation, and the wisest economy is that
which looks beyond the first cost, and gives careful consideration to the
ultimate cost. Secondary blasting is at Jiest to be regarded as a necessary evil. Mod
ern practice tends to reduce secondary blasting to a minimum by the fol
lowing methods:
^
a. Improvements in primary blasting, for the purpose of reducing to
a minimum the amount of rock which mnst be block-holed or
bulldozed.
^
b. Increase In the size of shovels and cars* and increase in the opening
of the crusher to take rock in larger sized pieces.
These two methods of procedure should in fact go hand in hand, and as
manufacturers are today building crushing machinery of greater strength
and with increased size of inlet, and increased skill on the part of the
superintendents and foremen is leading to constant Improvements in
blasting methods, we can confidently look forward to a steady improve
ment in regard to secondary blasting operations.
METHODS OF FIBIIYG
Two methods of simultaneously firing a number of shots in quarrying are available, one method being by the use of electric detonators, and the other by the use of detonating fuse or cordeau.
Cordeau, frequently known as "Cordeau Detonant. or Cordeau Bickford" Is lead tubing filled with T. N. T. Experiments have shown that such cordeau explodes at the rate of approximately 5,300 meters per second.
410
Eighth Safety Congress
and accordingly where a lumber of holes are connected together by means of lines of cordeau the holes become in. effect one single hole.
Electric detonators are copper capsules which contain a detonating charge of fulminate of mercury or equivalent material^ and a small loop or "bridge" of very fine wire, which can be heated red hot by the passage of a very small electric current. As the rate at which an electric current travels is stated to be 300,000 kilometers per second (186,000 miles per second), it is evident that where a number of electric detonators are connected to a single source of electric current, their detonation is ab solutely simultaneous for all practical purposes.
Both cordeau and electric detonators have their advantages and disad vantages for the simultaneous firing of large blasts. Where a number of widely separate charges are to be simultaneously fired electric detonators
have some advantage over._the use of cordeau, while on the other hand cordeau has some advantage in wet holes, and particularly In holes where the explosive charge is interrupted by lengths of stemming for the pur pose of "raising" the average height of the charge.
One of the advantages possessed by cordeau is that as the line of cor deau extends the entire length of each hole, the entire column -of ex plosive is brought into detonation at a speed which is determined by the
rate of detonation of the cordeau itself. If, for example, a hole 100 feet deep were to be filled with an explosive having a rate of detonation of 3,000 meters per second, and the explosion of its charge to be brought about by an electric detonator placed in the bottom of the hole, the deton ating wave would pass through the column of explosive at this rate of 3,000 meters per second. If instead of this arrangement a line of cordeau extended from the top to the bottom of the hole it is evident that this would communicate detonation to all parts of the explosive In contact with the cordeau at the rate of detonation of the cordeau itself, instead of at the normal rate of . detonation of the explosive. The explosive would still probably detonate at it3 normal rate, but the cordeau would increase the rate at which the column of explosive would appear to deto nate through its length. Opinions differ as to the advantages which are gained from this simultaneous detonation of the entire length of a column of relatively slow explosive. For certain special purposes there can be little doubt that it helps bring about a desired "timing" of the explosion of several different types of explosive used in a single blast, and possessing different normal rates of detonation. The use of cordeau as a convenient and safe Jheans of simultaneously firing a number of holes is increasing, and many quarries have replaced the use of electric detonators by this methodjof firing holes.
When electric detonatorsare used in blasting in well-drill holes, the best practice is thought to be the use of at least two detonators in each hole. The detonators should be so spaced that the uppermost de tonator Is about equally far from the top of the .column of the powder and from the center of the. charge, and the lower-most detonator Is sim ilarly equally far from the bottom of the charge and from the middle of the charge. By this arrangement the detonator occupies the center of the column of explosive of which it Is to bring about the detonation. In a
Cement Section
411
well-drill hole having 60 feet of powder the lower detonator would be 15
feet from the bottom of the hole, and the upper detonator would be 15 feet from the top of the column of explosive, the two detonators being 30 feet apart. Whenever Electric detonators are used, care should be taken that several feet of powder are above the detonator, before tamping the powder, since the fulminate contained in detonating caps is much more sensitive than any high explosive used for blasting purposes, and the strik ing of a detonator by the tamping bar, and particularly the grinding of a detonator between the tamping bar and the side of a hole, would be practically certain to lead to an accident.
In lowering electric detonators into the hole the best practice Is to at tach the detonator properly to a cartridge of explosive so that the cart ridge will hang perfectly plumb when suspended from the wire. The cartridge is then lowered by means of the wires to its proper position In
the hole. If sufficient care is not taken to have the cartridge of explosive hang plumb from the wire it is very apt to strike against the side of the hole while being lowered, and to cause a "jam." On account of the de tonator being in the cartridge, a cartridge so caught should of course be dislodged with considerable caution, and it Is better to take a little more care in arranging this priming cartridge, so as to avoid the difficulty and danger of attempting to dislodge it when caught.
When cordeau is used in the hole, it is also best to use a cartridge as a "weight" to carry the cordeau to the bottom of the hole. The advantage of having a. cartridge on the end of the line of cordeau, in addition to keeping the cordeau straight, is that it enables the blasting foreman to tell by the "feel" as soon as the line of cordeau has reached the bottom of the hole.
No advantage is gained by having more than one line of cordeau in a hole, and accordingly this is never done. If there is reason to. believe that a line of cordeau has been broken off in tbe hole ft Is sometimes good practice to lower another line of cordeau into the hole to the depth at
which the break of the first line is known to have occurred. In using cordeau. It is well to remember that in spite of the remarkable
rate at which the explosive wave passes through the material, it does not have the ability to jump a gap. Even so small a space as two or three millimeters (one-eighth of an inch) acts as an efficient barrier against the transmission of the detonating wave, and for successful re sults it is imperative thatr there should be no break whatever in the con tinuity of the line of cordeau.
SAFETY IS LOADING WELL-DRILL HOLES
In primary blasting the use of well-drill holes has now largely sup
planted earlier methods of bench work, and although I will discuss safety
precautions mainly from the standpoint of well-drill methods, the same
principles will generally hold good wherever open cut blasting work" is
being done.
7^
In the loading of holes particular watchfulness should be given to insure
the complete absence of ^sparks or hot cinders from' the steam shovel.
412
Eighth Safety Congress
from locomotives, or from the steam well-driller. Those who have watched
a steam shovel at work at night will probably have a better appreciation
of the menace that sparks represent, than those who have only seen the
work going, on by daylight, and it should be remembered that it is not
only those sparks which are visibly red which are capable of igniting ex
plosives, but that hot cinders which appear quite black may be at a suf
ficiently high temperature to bring about an ignition. I am inclined to be
lieve that rather more accidents during loading are catised by hot cinders
than are usually attributed to that cause, and the only safe practice is
to keep all sources of sparks away from the vicinity of the holes during
the time that loading is going on. Some quarries have small tents which
are placed over the holes while they are being loaded, and while this
is better than no protection whatever, yet it is not so satisfactory as the
complete removal of source of sparks during the time of loading.
Of course lighted pipes, "cigarettes, or cigars should be rigidly excluded
from the vicinity of loading operations. It is even best that men engaged
in loading should have no--matches In their possession, since a hole in a
man's pocket or some other accidental condition hard to anticipate may lead to a match droppingdown in the hole, or falling on the rock near
the hole where it may be stepped on by the men loading the bole. Even
gasoline engines are to be considered as a potential source of sparks. It
is true that a gasoline engine only occasionally throws out sparks, but the
carbon which accumulates on the piston head and at the end of the cyl
inder is ejected from time to time in glowing condition, and this, to
gether with an occasional backfire makes a gasoline engine a possible
source of accident if too near a hole during loading.
In loading the hole with explosive, it has been proposed from time to time to use holders or clamps'of various sorts, in order to avoid dropping
the explosive to the depth of the hole. These are not commonly need how
ever, and experience seems to show that the hazard in dropping a cartridge
of explosive through a hole 100 or even ISO feet deep. hs very email In
deed. The first cartridge^would naturally wtcBi to he the one meet likely
to explode if detonation from the shock of dropping
rwafer a consid
erable factor, since the later cartridges drop on the i.taBOso sorshed by the
cartridges already In the hole.
m,vi;NTryv.
The experienced blaster is abhr to ksflft t gwed
aftwoff fh* ewsdttton
of the hole from the sound made by the tWat eaSPWidee *s it drops down,
and the sound of the cartridcr icriklsr the bwftsUBi f *t*e ftofte. or Kifkiag
the surface of the water--if the boie t* w^..
gw< * Pstieraat&e the fact
that the cartridge has gone
to tie
tt S* excellent
practice to "follow-up" The hole by moanurretwigrts after ench case of
powder has been loaded, a case of powder
fiSVTSag a ~ri*e" of
about 4 feet. There is always the chance of cartridges "harartttg" on the
side of the holes, and thus leaving an air gap between the powder beneath
which has been loaded properly and the point at which the first cartridge
thus becomes crossed in the hole- If the "rise" in tbe bote is carefully
followed by frequent measurements such a "block" tn tbe hole will be
Cement Section
413
promptly noticed, and the condition can be readily corrected, but it a
considerable amount of powder is loaded over the crossed cartridge be
fore it is discovered that a "choke" exists, the matter is naturally more
difficult to correct. An experienced loader can usually tell from the sound
made by each cartridge as it drops that it has landed properly on the pow
der already In the hole, but occasionally a cartridge will bang on the sides
of the hole even with good loading practice. A single cartridge can be
dislodged safely by the careful use of a tamping stick, but if the "hang
ing** of the cartridge has not been noticed, and more powder has been
loaded on top of this cartridge, so as to leave a column of two or three
feet of powder above the choke, the dislodging of the material becomes
more difficult. Biforts to dislodge such a choke by the vigorous use of
the tamping bar are decidedly dangerous, and this procedure should never
be followed. The best practice is of course to prevent any column of
powder from building up on a "choke," by using the measuring line suf
ficiently frequently to keep 1ST close touch with, the level of the powder
in the hole, and by paying proper attention to the sound made by the
dropping cartridges as they land on the powder beneath. If a "choke"
should occur however and more than a foot or so of powder should be built
up over the crossed cartridge, "the safest procedure is usuatly believed to be
the cautious driving of a sharpened stick abont 2 inches in diameter
through the "choke," followed by the flushing out of the powder above
the "choke" by means of water. Unless a quite excessive amount of water
is used, this procedure will not cause the loss of the bole, as the powder
will detonate in spite of a rather considerable amount of water which
may be present after this treatment.
The size of the cartridges used in loading the hole is sot a matter of in
difference. For the standard 5%-lnctt
hole the- 4%-lnch by
10-Inch cartridges are com meaty seed, satesa the
i qtrfte rough and
ragged. In which case f-toch by Mach or
by IMSeft cartridges are
used. Using cartridge* which
toe tsmrnfi. hr a dtfeaorraatage. because
the proper density is the SeSTfe the* Wh*5?
fe Sgtafa. while using
too large cartridge* ie a ggpe.Tracreage, bn. airae* the
of such, cart
ridges catching on the
of B5e ft#** fe
raefWMMd. As a
matter of fact the ehseawe <C* <**#*
s beg* h tfteneased by
the use of cartridges wwffi_wfe igSPB*F tee
=*e fee
and for
well-drill holes the ia<ra WI>8i' ofemWff iMWPB- he owe frb <dIter than,
the diameter of the he**. _
In measuring the hole a sfrecTm the*" give* We beat f'wuKII. (fcitftough fn
many quarries the
>roSfe be met Bhrffeeff. Whatever may
be the method adepts* fe beep
mr %*
of pewter In the
hole, the point
uquunaar b* sefesem
u* a* laUiAillii of the
measurements betog tbaae-
wMOWc We lewder always to
know the height ef the
m Wfelfefe
'<tr nvaoeife*
The extent to which n*** ahhe
dwa** funding really
depends upon the type mt e^fEccT** wn*r% l* a iwm toadied. and therefore
should more properly he cr>wij)> re4 a ri*iudtna with a 4hewioa of the
414
Eighth Safety Congress
selection of powder for vartou types of Masting. Tamping of the ex plosive during loading is quite desiraMe in tbe case of the more plastic nitroglycerin explosive*, bot increasing use is being made in cement rock quarrying of explosives which require little tamping, and indeed in many quarries tbe explosive is mot tamped during tbe loading, tbe tamping bar being only used at tbe end of tbe loading operation in compacting the stemming in tbe bole.
I have seen some rather surprising tamping bars at various times, ranging all tbe way from solid iron bars to iron' tipped wooden rods. Once, in Investigating a "mysterious" accident which had occurred on a piece of railroad work on which a nitroglycerin. explosive of low nitro glycerin content was being used, I found that although suitable wooden tamping bars were supplied to the powder men hy the contractor, a pow der foreman had `"shoes" made of lengths of iron pipe fastened to the end. of each of the bars, "to keep them from fraying out so quick," and nat urally the inevitable happened, and several men lost tbeir lives In theresulting explosion.
Even wooden tamping bars can be unsafe if too heavy or If carelessly bandied. It is not infrequent for sharp pieces of rock to become imbedded in the bottom or sides of a wooden tamping bar, and no one needs to be told that such a tamping bar will strike a spark under favorable condi tions by rubbing against the side of a rough hole. The tamping bar should not be too large, in order to avoid excessive friction against the side of a hole, this precaution being particularly important in connection with piston drill holes. "7
A suitable layer of powder should always overlie each priming cart ridge containing a detonator. Detonators are always to be treated witb great respect, and having two or three feet of powder above the detonator before allowing any tamping to be done is an excellent rule.
TAMPING THE STEMMING
The energy that might otherwise be spent in tamping the powder can be utilized to advantage at the top of the hole in thoroughly tamping down the stemming which is applied over the powder. The first two or three feet of stemming should sot be tamped, but after this the stemming can be tamped down quite hard, and indeed, if care is taken not to damage the line of cordeau or the electric feed wires, it may almost be said that the harder the tamping of the stemming material, the more efficient the shot will be. Experiments haye demonstrated this point rather thoroughly, and a shot which is well`confined does perceptibly more work per pound of powder used than can, be obtained from a shot in which poorer con finement has been provided.
If explosives are to be tamped, however, it is most important that too much force should not be used. A rather considerable number of accidents have been due to' improper use of the tamping bar, and to the use of un suitable materials as'tapping bars. It should be evident from what has already been said that the presence of any iron surfaces on the tamping bar is a potential source of danger, and that the use of too heavy a tamp ing bar also involves a rather heavy risk. I have sometimes been told
Cemient 8+eti*
415
that a. heavy tamping' bar has advantage when it to pru{ci;i; astit. and there may he some truth, in this, bat the tact remains That when im properly nsed such a bar becomes a source of danger, and the chance oC the bar being improperly used is always present. I have been told of one case In which a type of tamping bar which has been used for some years with perfect safety by a powder foreman was used in his absence by a less experienced man, and in the course of the loading operation a choke developed and an effort was made to drive it out with the tamping bar, and an accident resulted. A lighter tamping bar would have been safer in this case. Just because of the possibility of the misuse of a heavier bar'by an Inexperienced or careless man.
It is usually unnecessary for workmen to stand on the rock lying in
front of the line of holes after the loading begins, and this is a safety
precaution which may accordingly be given consideration. Should a pre mature explosion occur from any cause daring the loading operation, the
chance of men being injured is naturally less if the workmen are on the
far side of the line of holes. Instead of between them and the quarry face.
1COKKECTISO_W BES FOB HBIKG SHOTS
It is of course evident that the final connecting up of the electric deton ator wires, or the cordeau connections, should not be made until shortly before the blast is ready to be" fired. When electric detonators are used, the method of wiring or connecting up a shot is a matter to which thought should be given. Where only a few shots are to be fired the detonators are often arranged in series, and fired by a blasting machine of the usual type, but in quarries where A good deal of blasting is being done, and
where quite a number of holes are to be fired at one time, the parallel method of wiring is often preferred, the electric current-being furnished from the power circuit. The connections should always he in parallel when current from a live wire Is used In firing the blast.
As electric detonators are sensitive to relatively small currents, and may he fired by "stray" currents the existence of which may not have previously been known, the wiring should always be In the hands of competent and trustworthy men, and the holes "should not be connected up until the shot is practically ready to be fired. Several cases are known where electric detonators have exploded apparently without cause, and investigation has shown that the wires were abraded at certain points, so that direct contact was established with moist earth or with some conducting metal. In coal mining several accidents have occurred through stray currents from a passing electric locomotive finding passage through an abraded wire to a charge which was not yet ready to be fired, and at least one accident in a cement quarry has been found to be due to a quite similar cause. These accidents only emphasize the- point already Drought out, that the lead wires connecting up the separate holes should only be attached when the tamping of the holes has been completed, and When the blast is ready to be Jlred. In addition, the lead wires should always he kept In good condition, and should be taped if any. abraded spots are found.
416
Eighth Safety Congress
One of the points which is to be avoided in the connecting up of a blast is too great haste in malting the electrical connections. Wires loose ly twisted together do notform a good electrical connection, and more than one quarry superintendent has no doubt criticized his powder fore man and his blasting men for a poor blast that has in fact been due to the failure of some of the holes to be fired by the electric current, the detonation of these holes qpming through the shock from adjacent holes, and too late to enable the explosive to do its proper share of work, in the blast.
The lead wires should not be brought near the exploder wires while loading is going on, and all the connections of the blast should be com pleted before connecting the battery to the lead wires. The custom of having shots connected up to the lead wires and firing hattery before work around the holes hag; been completed is strongly to be condemned, and there is always the possibility that some one will unintentionally fire the blast under these conditions, in the effort to "test out" the battery or the connections without realizing that electric detonators are in the circuitProbably the safest methodLthat I have seen for preventing accidents from the unintentional applying of current before the blast is ready, is the placing in the circuit of-at special block, which leaves the circuit open unless a special form of key is placed in it. The key is retained by the man responsible for the blast until the time that the current is to be applied, and is then inserted. Where firing is done from a power circuit a modification of the samp principle may be applied, or the switch con necting the lead wires may he locked in position, in some suitable way. The one point which I consider quite important is that one man should be responsible for the circuit, and that this man alone should have the key controlling the switch or the safety block.
In firing with cordeau the electrical circuit should be made before the eSploder is placed in the special union which connects the detonator with the main strand of cordeau. The manufacturers of cordeau provide special attachments which may bemused either with electric detonators or with de tonating caps, and in addition special tools are provided for slitting cor deau in the making of connections and joints.
SAFETY IN SECONDARY BT.ASTINO
The rules for safety aHS efficiency in the handling of explosives in connection with secondary blasting operations are of course not dissimi lar from those rules which should he followed in primary blasting opera tions. In block-holing onejpound of explosive will represent fully the ex ecution that ten pounds of the same explosive will even in a well placed "dobie" or mud cap shot, while a poorly placed mud cap shot is notorious ly wasteful of explosive. It is frequently economical to use the larger quantity of explosive required by the mud cap shot, because of the cost of the drilling of the holes in the block-holing method. A few years ago the situation was much more difficult than it is at present, but recent improvements in light air hammers have materially cut down the cost of secondary drilling, so that the alert quarry superintendent will bear con-
Cement Section
417
stantly in mind the advantages for and against the block-holing method. Where mud capping is donevrit is -well to remember that earth and clay are much cheaper than explosive, and that a somewhat larger pile of dirt will be equivalent to a noticeable amount of explosive in the charge that is necessary to break the rock.
Proper protection for workmen in the quarry from fragments thrown
by the blast should of courSh be provided. The usual cylindrical safety shanties of boiler plate provide rather satisfactory protection if located at a suitable distance, and if the doors or openings are turned away from the direction of the blast.- in firing a large blast no one should be per mitted to remain on the quarry floor in front of the blast even though the distance may seem safe, for small pieces of stone are frequently
projected with exceptionally^ high velocity and are capable of causing
serious or even fatal injuries, at a distance considerably in. excess of what would appear normally to be a safe distance.
PEP.CENTACE OF ACCIDENTS UCE TO EXPLOSIVES
I do not believe it is best to end this discussion of safety factors in connection with the handling of explosives, without calling to your at tention the rather small percentage which accidents due directly or in directly to explosives bear to all accidents which occur in connection with cement rock quarrying^ Some years ago I had occasion to investi gate and classify the accidents which occurred in coal mining over a period of years. I had read, as all you have, of those terrible accidents due to the explosion of coal dust which at times sweep through the en^.^ tire extent of the mine. One such accident, at the Couriere mines In"-' France, led to the loss of more than a thousand lives, while in our own country two such accidents_Ied to the loss of 350 and of 250 lives respec tively. On taking up the matter of tabulating all accidents which had occurred in coal - mines however, and of classifying them according to their cause, I was rather surprised to find that accidents due to ex plosives and explosions together were really rather a small fraction of the total number of accidents which occurred. -The Bureau of Mines has recently reported that for the year 1918 there was a total of 2,579 fatal ities in connection with coalmining in this cduntry, and of this total 135 deaths were due to explosives, and 129 deaths were due to gas of coaldust explosions. Accordingly only about one-tenth of all fatalities were due to either explosives or^xplosions, and only about one-twentieth of all the fatalities which occurred were directly due to accidents from explosives.
Government statistics in connection with quarry accidents show rather similar results. In Tech. Paper 165 of the U. S. Bureau of Mines acci dents classified by cause arf shown for the year 1915, and of 149 fatali ties in quarries or at rock dressing plants and mills the number killed by explosives was but 2S. this figure including not only all fatalities due directly to explosives, but also all fatalities due to flying pieces from blasts and other indirect causes.
41S
Eighth Safety Congress
ACCIUKNTS FROM EXl'LOSIVSS IX CE1IKXT ROCK OKARRIKS
Mr. Jacobsen has very kindly given me figures in regard to accidents from explosives reported to him during the year 191S by members of your association, and from these figures I note that of all fatal accidents of which lie has record which occurred during the year 1918 somewhat less than S per cent were due to explosives, and somewhat more than 92 per cent were due to other causes than explosives. Of all accidents, including fatal and non-fatal accidents, those due to explosives constituted some what less than 2 per cent"of the total and those due to other causes than explosives constituted more than SIS per cent of the total.
This is a rather satisfactory record, and.shows quite clearly that ex plosives. far from beingjgpe of the most dangerous factors that von have to contend with, are really less dangerous than many other factors to which much less attention is usually given. Falls 'and slides of rock cause many more fatalities titan do explosives, both in coal mining and in rock quarrying.
The ratio which the number of fatalities due to explosives bears to the number of fatalities Jfrom all causes is considerably higher in quarry ing operations than in either coal mining or in metal mining. It is in teresting to note however^ that the number of accidents due to explosives in the quarries of the members of your association, compared to the num ber of accidents from all causes, represents a materially lower ratio than that which exists in the-quarry industry as a whole. The last available figures from the Rureatcof Mines show that 19 per cent of all fatalities in and around quarries--and including crushers, rock dressing plants and mills were due to explosives, while the figures which Mr. Jacobsen has collected covering the operations of the members of your association show that the percentage of fatal accidents due to explosives was only 7.9 per cent of all fatalities, or less than half of the ratio which exists when all quarrying operations of the U. S. are considered.
It should be our aim th improve still further the good record from a safety standpoint which explosives now have in quarrying operations, and I feel sure that this result will be obtained by that spirit of cooperation and mutual heipfutnessifor which your association so truly stands.
DISCUSSION
:Chairman Jahirskn As Dr. Snelling said, there are very few acci dents happening from explosives in the cement rock quarries. We ought to he proud of that. Still we ought to remember that we have a condi tion there where the ^carelessness of one man. can do an enormous amount of damage, and we ought to keep that in mind all the time. I know there are several,people here who want to ask. Dr. Snelling ques tions. and I also know there are several who have had experiences lately which will be of considerable interest in connection with this subject.
Mr. Lawxiczkk (La"Salle): I would like to relate an incident that happened at our plaiiCTthe day before I left. We occasionally fire "dobies"' ahead of theEBhovel. We have a signal, and also a shelter
in
Cement Section
419
bouse for the men to go into before the shot is fired. One of our men
was carrying a fuse, along swith the dynamite he had to use for the
"doby." As he- was passing the shovel, it was fired, and a cinder fell
down and the dynamite became ignited. He bad the fuse m his hand,
and that caught, fire, but he had presence of mind enough to throw the
dynamite away. As it exploded it tore two of the doors off the shovel
and blew all the windows out of a locomotive that was standing close
to it. Fortunately no one was hurt, although the force of the explosion
blew the hat off the engineer! who was in the cab.
Chairman Jacobsen: Hr. Snelling has a paragraph in his paper, which
he did not read. He recommends that you look at your steam shovel
at night in order to get a good idea of what the actual condition is. and
particularly on a dark nighjy then you will probably get a little better
idea Of what comes out of the smoke stack. Huring the daytime, nobody
notices that, of course, nor^ever thinks of it. From this case you can
see that there were sparks that nobody would think of ordinarily. I
have often seen powder stored in big quantities without protection, and
there is no reason in the world why an accident couldn't happen in a case
like that.
Mr. Jossk (Continental):^! have a few questions I would like to ask
Dr. Snelling. I want Hr. Spelling to understand that I don't mean any
thing personal in this. This is for the benefit of the Cement Association
--that is what we are here"tor, and if we can get anything out of this
discussion we want to get Jtf. While this one question I am going to
ask you refers to your own powder, I don't wish you to take this as a
personal matter at all-
-
Three years ago we were; loading a large shot, 22 holes. We had
used a lot of Trojan powderr'and we thought we knew how to handle it.
We loaded 21 holes, and Were on the 22d hole. We had about 150
pounds of powder in it. The "powder monkey" was sitting on the side
of the hole, and the men were handing him the sticks, and he was lis
tening to hear them hit. Hgniropped a cartridge in, and the next thing
we knew his head was blown off and six or seven others were injured.
We have asked six or seven different powder experts of their opinion
in this case and none of them has been able to tell us anything. So
we are still in the same frame of mind that we were in at that time.
I would like to have you explain if you can what happened to fire that
cartridge. There wasn't a pipe or a match on the job, nobody was
smoking, no fire from a "dinky," or anything: we were a quarter of a
mile away from a "dinky." X had personally left the hole about 20
minutes before it happened.
. Dk. Ssei-uxo: For a number of years past my work has been primarily
in connection with research, and I have learned to have very great con
fidence In the uniformity of natural laws. X do not believe that any
accident ever happens without an adequate cause, and accordingly I feel
that in investigating any accident it is desirable to look at the.situa
tion -from this point of view. We have all seen cartridges of explosives
dropped into much deeper holes than in the case mentioned by Mr. Josse,
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Eighth Safety Congress
and I know that day after day many holes are being so loaded in-differ ent parts of the country ^without accidents. I have perfect confidence that under normal conditions powder can be dropped Into holes day after day without accident, and accordingly it is necessary that we should consider this particular affair as quite an exceptional matter, for
which we are Justified injpoking for some most exceptional cause. Conditions could not have been 'quite the same at the time this hole
was being loaded as prevail in the many other holes which are loaded each day in the same manner without accidents occurring, since other wise we would hardly have justification for our belief in the uniformityof the working of the laws of nature. Some condition must have been different, and accordingly! our problem narrows down to a search t.o determine what possible factor could have been present in this particular case, to cause a result so ^wholly different from normal conditions. There are cases on record where holes being loaded with high explosive have been known to detonate gjuring the loading operation, and in at least one of these cases it is known that a piece of stone from the side of the hole dropped down the_bore the instant before the explosion occurred.
uurnjfi's "SExsinvexEss test"
It is well recognized that a thin layer of an explosive caught between two sliding surfaces may under certain conditions l>e caused to explode. A chemist by the namejgf Dupre, connected with the British Service, gave this matter some -little study some years ago, and developed a "sensitiveness test" which, furnished quite a surprise to explosives men in general. Mr. Dupre=ound that by spreading almost any type of explosive in a thin layefrupon a wooden floor, and. striking It a sbarp but glancing blow with, the handle of a broom, he could produce the ignition or explosion of the sample. Many explosives which have proved
to be very safe in commercial use were found to ignite or explode when
subjected to this test, and accordingly it is necessary for us to believe that under quite exceptional conditions of friction, and particularly under the influence of glancing blow trom a hard and sharp object, almost any explosive caiijbe caused to ignite. A piece of stone dislodged from the collar of a hole might furnish, in some exceptional case, the particular combination xit sliding friction and glancing blow that has proven to be the most ^effective in causing an ignition. Unfortunately it is not a wholly impossible thing for pieces of stone from the edge of a hole to loosen and drop down, and in the light of Dupre's "Broomstick Test" it seems rather cigar that a piece of stone of the proper size and shape might produce under rare conditions just the conditions of fric tion that would bring about an ignition. Fortunately, the dislodging of a piece of stone from the collar of a hole is far from being a common occurrence, and in addition the size and shape of the stone would have to be just right, in order to be effective. If the stone were too large, or if it were too small,Jhe conditions necessary to produce the glancing blow might he absent. Jn addition the stone would have to have sharp edges of the right type, ~in order to provide a surface capable of limiting
Cement Section
421
the friction to a narrow edge. Provided all of the factors were within the necessary limits however, a stone could undoubtedly cause an ex plosion, and I might add that this result would occur without reference to the particular type of_explosive which was being used. I have recently installed at our research laboratory a pendulum friction machine of the type designed by the Bureau of Hines for the purpose of testing the sensitiveness of explosives to sliding friction, and 1 believe it is only fair to state that no nitroglycerin explosives which we have tested have shown as great resistance to sliding friction in this test as nitrostarch explosives have shown.
It is my desire always to be perfectly fair in any discussion of acci dents. and so I think it is only proper for me to say that any explosive may occasionally be involved In an accident, no particular type or class of explosives being free from this danger- If a material is an explosive, it necessarily is capable of exploding when certain conditions are present, and such conditions sometimes arise through wholly unantic ipated causes. In investigating accidents you will occasionally find however, that some of the conditions are very hard to determine and even when you think your have fully determined all of the possible
factors in the case, there may still be other factors which are hidden.
Now you say that there^were no steam shovels around, no matches, nothing which could cause ^sparks, lly experience in powder plants has shown me that matches will sometimes be carried In spite of the most careful instructions, and even detonator caps are sometimes carried loose. A tiny hole in a man's pocket may lead to either a match or a detonator cap falling to the ground, under conditions quite favorable to the causing of trouble. For several years past I have devoted some attention to a study of the many possible causes of accidents In the handling of explosives, and~J can assure you that these causes are of the most diverse nature. In the particular case which you have men tioned however, I am inclined to believe that a piece of rock falling down the hole represents the most reasonable explanation of the matter.
I do not know whether this fully answers your question or not. Mn. Jossk: I think it does. You have brought out a point that has been the only question in my mind, after making a most thorough investi gation covering a period of six months. You mention friction. In my opinion that is the only thing that could have caused our accident. When we first bought Tibjan, it was supposed to be less sensitive than the gelatin and nitro-dynamites, so when we got our first small batch to try--there were only about 5,000 pounds--we took several cartridges up on top of the quarry, and threw them as hard as we coaid over into the middle of the quarry, to see if they wonld explode. They did not. Another test we made was to set up a 5 by 10 cartridge about 50 yards away, and shoot "it full of holes with a rifle, and it didn't explode. Finally, we were using No. 6 detonators on our "doby" work, and very frequently a No. 6 didn't explode a stick of Troian, so we felt quite confident that It was not as sensitive as the other dynamites. In the accident I referred to we were using 5 by 10 sticks, dropping
422
Eighth Safety Congress
them SO feet, and we had dropped about 150 pounds. Before dropping the cartridge, we had men on each side of the "powder monkey" rip the paper with a knife, sccjthat when we tamped, it would fill the hole.
My opinion is that some of the dynamite from the cuts on the side of the cartridge probably adhered to the side of the hole, and in dropping the stick, it recei jd the proper amount of friction to explode it. I think that is very likely the onlyjway the powder was exploded. It had dropped about 70 feet, and it hadLlbeen dropped long enough so that the other man was handing another^tick to the "monkey." It almost got to the bottom of the hole beforejit exploded and it shot off the 150 pounds that was in there. The next hole. 10 or 12 feet away, was not disturbed.
Mr. MavFktiuiiuk (T-ehigh): Isn't there also a possibility that in
drilling the hole, there might have been a jagged rock sticking out of it. and when the dynamite went past that projecting piece of stone. It
would create sufficient friction? Bn. Snhi.i.ixo: One particular point has been brought out which I
believe could be given aTlittle further discussion. Most quarries slit their cartridges, and if itJwere not that many holes are loaded with slit cartridges every day, and as such an accident as has been mentioned is
extremely rare, we might ^possibly attach importance to this factor. As a matter of fact however.lhe mere slitting of a cartridge probably has no particular significance1 as a factor in the producing of friction, although I will not say^that under exceptional conditions this might not be true. Tn this coffiiection I will relate a little incident which happened in Washington a few days after the sinking of the Titanic. There was a little gathering of prominent scientists, and one of them said "Did you know that the sinking of the Titanic was caused by striking a rock?" As we all knew that the Titanic had sunk in midocean by coming in contact with an iceberg, there were of course general protests from the others in the group, but the scientist who had brought
up the subject held hisrground, and said that he would undertake to
prove to all of tis that the Titanic struck a rock, and that it was this fact which had led to therloss of the vessel.
He then took up the matter step by step, showing that icebergs are merely licating parts of Tee sheets or glaciers, and that the lower part of every glacier contains rocks which it picks up during its formation, and which it holds rigidly. This man was a noted authority on the Alaskan glaciers and his statement of the manner in which the lower portion of the glacier picks up and holds jagged pieces of rock was most convincing. He then took, tip the matter of the physical characteristics
of ice, and showed us that ice is entirely too brittle a material to he in any way capable of making a slit through the heavy steel of a vessel's hull, except by head oidmpact. But the Titanic did not strike the iceberg head on, but instead sidewiped the iceberg, the shock of impact being so slight that somejpeople on the boat did not know that anything unusual had happened. He then showed how utterly impossible it was for any projection of ice alone to be capable of cutting the steel hull of a boat by a sliding impact, since in such a case the projecting
JDement Section
423
piece of ice would have been ground off by sliding against the boat's
hull, and under no conditions whatever could the very heavy plates of
steel have been cut by the rragile ice. But if a piece of rock were
held rigidly in the side of the iceberg, it would provide just snch a
cutting edge as would be necessary to explain the peculiar rip through
the steel plates which extended almost the whole length of the vessel.
The mass of the iceberg would have furnished the necessary rigidity,
and the sharp edge of the rock wonld have provided the necessary cutting
edge, and the whole incident became explainable. I left the gathering
fully convinced that the explanation was the correct one. and that except
for some firmly held pieceJof stone in the side of the Iceberg the Titanic
would have gone on its way quite uninjured from its brush against the
side of the iceberg. Tn an unusual accident, we are fully justified in looking for an unusual
cause. Is it not possible that a small stone, or still more likely a small
splint or flat stone might catch in the slit of a cartridge and form a
sharp cutting edge as the cartridge went down the hole? If a cartridge
of explosive alone could produce sufficient friction by sliding down a hole to produce an explosion, then we wonld expect to have accidents
every morning and every afternoon, since cartridges of explosive, both
slit and unslit are dropped every day down many holes in many different
kinds of rock, sometimesTthrougb smooth bore holes and sometimes
through rough ones. We.'have all Heard the "pound" of the cartridge as It strikes the bottom of The hole, and we know that it must be moving
very fast to make such a thud, and that the friction against the side of
the hole must be considerable. Yet such an accident as you have de
scribed is not only uncommon, but indeed is exceptionally rare. You
have yourself brought out the point that you threw cartridges of Trojan powder to the bottom of your quarry, and that you shot through cart
ridges with a rifle, which is not very gentle treatment by any means.
My own belief is that the mere friction of a cartridge cannot under
any conditions cause an ignition. There must surely have been some
other condition present. JA. sharp fragment of rock catching in the
slit, or a small piece of htone being dislodged by the cartridge, and
following it down the hole,5ieems to be a much more logical explanation.
Perhaps some of you have_had the experience of getting a bad cut on your finger from turning the pages of a book. It seems unreasonable,
because your skin is tougher than the paper, but if you get the edge
against your skin in just the right position, you will bring blood. So a small piece of stone, falling down a hole and exerting friction from a
narrow cutting edge against_tbe side of a hole could undoubtedly produce
sufficient friction to cause .an accident and I might add that this would
occur without particular "reference to the type of explosive against
which the sharp cutting halge should exert its friction. Fortunately,
however, such a condition is extremely uncommon.
Mr. MacFetridge: Had that hole been sprung a short time before'the
accident occurred? Mr. Josse: No.
--r-
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Eighth Safety Congress
Mb. :MacFktkiiksk We had an accident happen once, where we had
sprung a deep hole. Twenty or thirty minutes afterwards they were
working on that hole, and there was an explosion which killed two men.
Mb. Jos.sk: Another point was brought up, namely that perhaps we
had just drilled the hole, but the hole hadn't been touched for 14 or 16
hours. It had been drilled the day before, the evening of the day
before.
Dr. S.vkj.ljng: While jve are on the matter of unusual causes of
accidents. I would like to bring to your attention a matter which came
up during the building oflthe Panama Canal. They had several accidents
in springing holes, the c
cause of which was at the time unknown.
They would drill a holt, and sometimes on getting ready tor the first
spring, the powder would go off. I was asked to look into the matter, and
found the situation to be very perplexing. The explosive which was
being used was nitroglycerin dynamite made under government specifica
tions and carefully inspected before it went down to the Isthmus. The
examination of the explosive did not disclose anything which would
give us a clue, but later the accidents were considered to be due to the
production of heat from, chemical action in. the hole resulting from
certain minerals coming in contact with air and water during the drill
ing of the holes. I myself, had an interesting experience along this line,
in connection with a spetSmen of a mineral called marcasite, which is
a sulfide of iron quite similar to ordinary pyrite, but of slightly different
chemical constitution. I ^obtained a very fine specimen of this mineral
and put it away in a case; quite proud of the excellent purchase I had
made, but after only a few days the specimen was reduced to a pile of
oxidation products, quite different from the original material. The
specimen bad been dug up only a few days before I received it, and
although it had been perfectly permanent for thousands of years while
buried in the earth, it commenced to go to pieces almost as soon as it
came in contact with the sir. The chemical changes which go on under
these conditions can produce heat, in just the same way that lime will
produce heat when it conies in contact with water, and the accidents in
the Panama work to which. I referred were finally concluded to be due to
this particular factor. Of course such a condition as this is most unusual,
and I do not remember -of any other case in which sufficient heat to
produce ignition of powder has ever been found to be due to the oxida
tion in the hole of minerals, although of course you are all familiar with
the fact that piles of com containing certain sulfur minerals are very
apt to catch fire simply from the heat developed within the pile by
chemical changes produced by the oxidation of the sulfur minerals.
Fortunately minerals of this type do not have to be considered as
factors in the nunrrving of cement roclc, and accordingly I brought the
matter up only because -of its interest as a most exceptional cause for
the ignition of an explosive.
Ciiajrmax Jacousex: Xhave jotted down a few things which I just
took from our accident JCSports that we receive from the various com
panies, to-show' you how we have accidents, due to handling explosives.
The first one says, "Touched lighted match to blasting' cap, to see if it
Cement Section
425
would explode."' It did, and the man knows, he Is short three fingers.
Another Is a defective, or delayed fuse, which caused delayed explosion,
and the man was hit by a stone and killed immediately. Then we
have a number of accidents, due to flying stones from shots. The men
have been ont in the quarry so many times, probably during shooting,
that they think they are perfectly safe. They do that once too often,
perhaps, and I believe we ought to pay more attention to that point.
Mr. FortitIn. you had an accident at your quarry at the beginning of last
year: yon had a number ot-men bit by flying stones at the same time,
or something like that. D It was nothing very serious, but It might have
been-
--^
lt.uot Rkxixokr (Lehigh) : Do you have a shelter house?
M*. Pomrctx (Pennsylvania): Yes, hut they didn't get in them.
M.wok RKM.tntut: Do you have enough of them?
Mr. Foktvj.v : Yes. You bring one thing to my mind now. We blow
a whistle from the time w are ready to blast until the blast is over,
and then we give the double signal, to show that the blast is over. On
the blowing of the whistles, all the men are supposed to seek shelter. On
this occasion you refer to^ they didn't, that is they didn't get far
enough away, and this shot spread out farther than they had expected
It to.
QUICK TUIXKI.VG SAVES I-IKE
Mb. Frame (Alpha): We recently had an Incident that might have resulted seriously in our NOT 4 quarry. The blasting gang was lighting a number of "dobies", probably ten or twelve, and about half of them had been lighted, when the man caught bis foot between two large stones, and couldn't release himself. Of course, he was very much frightened, he knew the fuses were burning behind him, so he yelled as bard as he could, and sTome of the men nearby quickly ran In and pulled the lighted fuses from the dynamite. It took quite a little effort to extricate the man from his position. It shows that quick thinking on the part of his fellow men saved that man's life. -
Mr. Scixi.iciier (Lehigh): I would like to know whether Doctor Snelling ever had any caps explode while they were being handled?
Dr. Smuxc: I never have. I have always wondered at the freedom from accidents with caps, due to the fact that occasionally you would ex pect, fulminate would get loose, and would get between the metal surfaces of the box. I have several times made the same inquiry and so far I have never heard of a case where a box of caps has exploded while being opened, although it has been reported that a coal miner met with an accident while opening a^box of caps in the mine, a drop of blazing oil from the miner's lamp dropping into the box while he was opening it.
AIb- Schxiciier: tV/i had an accident in our quarry last May, where a box of caps, containing about 40 or 50, exploded and the man who was opening the hox had two hands blown off and the side of his face blown off. He died that night. Nothing was near them to have caused the explosion. One of the otherlSnen had put off a shot, and a- small stone
426
Eighth Safety Congress
lilt this box. The man walked over to it, took the lid off, and off they
went right in his hand. iL Dr. S.veu.i.mi: I think Abe stone hitting the box is very likely the ex
planation of the accident.~ln the manufacture of caps care is taken to get rid of loose fulminate, by putting the caps In a drum with sawdust which is then agitated. The caps are then sieved to separate them from the loose fulminate and sawdust, the object being to get rid of any particles of fulminate which might be free.
Now, in this particular case, the stone which hit the box undoubtedly damaged the caps. It probably loosened the fulminate in some of the caps, so that tills could get between the tin lid and the sides of the box. Any Quick movement in jspening the box would undoubtedly be sufficient to set it off.
Mr. Snii.iniKii: According to that, don't you think it would be bet
ter to keep them in a paper container?
Dr. Sxku.ixi;: That isa matter that lias been considered, hut I believe
that accidents have been too infrequent to make the cap manufacturers
feel that any advance would be gained by changing their present practice. Mr. Sem.iciuat: I took this matter up with one of the Du Pont men.
and lie told me that thjs was only the second accident they knew of that had happened in that way.
:CiiAiMiAj- J.wouskn JX'here is just one thing more X would like to
have you hear. This is iii connection with explosives, and it is a matter that Mr. .rosse will 'bringTup. and ask Dr. Snelling's opinion about.
Mr. .Iossk: This matter is not a new one to several of the gentlemen in the room, they have Jjeard me ask this question before, b*ut for the benefit of those who have not heard it I want to mention a peculiar accident of thawing we bnd last February. We had a small shot ready, the holes ready, and were waiting for the dynamite. The car came during the afternoon. The quarry foreman told me all the dynamite was hard. The weather at that time was mild, although it had been freezing before. The foreman suggested that we unload the dynamite and haul it up on the hill and thaw it near the holes, which we decided to do.
All the dynamite was taken up on the hill, and we had a thawing house that we pulled around with a team wherever we needed it. It had double walls and therfiLwas no floor in it. We pulled this thawing house down near the shot, and we unpacked about 5,000 pounds and laid it on the shelves JLriside. The floor was the earth, but we threw dirt around the edge to keep the air out. There was a four-inch square hole for each steam line to go into the radiator. This radiator was a large pipe, laid on a couple of stones off the ground. We hud an exhaust line of a quarter-inch pipe. The "dinky'' engine was 135 feet away, and we connected the steam line. The quarry foreman had given Instructions to the watchman that in case the dynamite was soft about midnight, or getting soft, to shut off ji little steam, and if it wasn't soft, to turn on a little more steam, but Hot to carry the steam above 70 pounds.
At midnight the watchman went in and felt the dynamite and it was getting soft, so he shut-off a little steam. Shortly afterward he said he heard a cracking noiseZjnml 'looked over, and the entire house was hum-
Cement Section
427
ing from tlie inside; the flames vrere licking the outside. He didn't
know what to do. He shut off the steam immediately and notified the
second quarry foreman, the rest of the dynamite was piled up about
30 or 35 feet away. Theientire house burned up. the heat from this
ignited the other pile, and thaL entire 14,000 pounds of dynamite burned
up and didn't explode.
.
I presume this was covered at a cement safety meeting we had in
St. Louis, where it was said that ignition can happen, even though your
dynamite is being thawed perfectly, that it can happen from the internal
heat of the dynamite itself. But in my opinion, or at least from the
knowledge I have of other cases, there are very few cases where so
large an amount of dynamite burns up and does not explode; we cer
tainly were very fortunate^that it didn't explode. It would have killed
75 people if it had exploded^ because the boarding houses--not over 500
yards away--had 50 men sleeping in them, and those houses would have
crumbled like shells. There are 20 small three or four-room houses up
there besides, and I presume about 75 people were sleeping in them.
The weather report showed that the wind was blowing away from the
"dinky," and it was blowing the smoke and the sparks. If there were
any, away from the dynamite, and that is the only thing, m my opinion,
that kept the dynamite froiSrbxploding. That is another case of unusual
things happening, I think.^f: Did you ever hear of a large amount of
dynamite burning up without exploding?
Dr. SKEr.i.iJfG; Yes, I have_pn several occasions known of large amounts
or dynamite burning withouT exploding, and I have also made burning
tests myself, using considerable amounts of material.
The cause of the original ignition of the powder is a matter of some
Interest in this case, and LTbelieve must be laid to the self generation
of heat in thawing. This is a factor about which comparatively little is
known, and I believe a few years ago the whole subject was practically a mystery.. in the course of some work which was being done at the
Bureau of Mines we tried tol see what would happen when nitroglycerin
was heated, and a box was7 constructed of heavy plates of steel, and
provided with a small window of very heavy plate glass so that occur
rences In the inside of the Eox could be observed. The purpose of the work was to find out what W& could about the cause of the "unexplained"
accidents which occur in thawing nitroglycerin explosives. Accidents
during the thawing of dyngffiite had frequently occurred under circum
stances which were very hard to explain, the explosive sometimes catch
ing fire, and sometimes detBnating, and in either case the causative
factor being very hard to determine.
We put a small tube containing nitroglycerin in the apparatus, which
was so larranged-that we could heat the tube by means of a small electric
heater, and could control the temperature from the outside of the box.
After a few experiments, we noted that the nitroglycerin appeared to
be hotter than the heater was. To explain this I will tell you how we
made the experiment. IVeYad a glass vessel filled with paraffin oil,
this glass.vessel resting on an electric hot plate. The test tube contain
ing the nitroglycerin was surrounded by the bath of paraffin oil, and we
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Eighth Safety Congress
had thermometers, or rather electric thermocouples for measuring the temperature, placed in 'both the paraffin bath and in the nitroglycerin in the tube. As vie assumed that the nitroglycerin could only be heated by taking up heat from the paraffin bath, we naturally assumed that the
nitroglycerin in the tube would always be slightly colder than the paraffin bath, in proportion to the heat "lag," but we never thought that there would be any chance of the nitroglycerin becoming hotter than the oil. In making the experiment, however, we found that although at the beginning the thermocouple iu the nitroglycerin indicated a lower temperature than the thermocouple in the paraffin hath, yet after a short time the thermocouples registered the same- temperature. This was
a most unusual matter, because if you are heating a thing, the thing which you are heating should not become hotter than tne source of heating. So 1 had the heat cut off, but even after the current was cut off from the electric heater and the paraffin bath began to drop in tem perature, the temperature of the nitroglycerin kept right on rising, and
a few minutes later the tube exploded. This was a most interesting and unexpected result, and we continued
the experiments for some time. The results have been, published in Technical Paper 12 of the Bureau of Mines. We found that there was a certain temperature beyond which any particular sample of nitroglycerin could not be heated without starting internal changes which themselves produced heat. Accordingly if you raise the temperature of the nitro glycerin to the temperature at which it begins to give out heat from internal changes, it will keep on getting hotter, even if you take away the original source of heafr Just how rapidly it will heat up will depend on the mass of ihe sample, and most nitroglycerin explosives are good
heat insulators, so that the heat that is evolved is stored up and this
Increases the rate at which further decomposition goes on. This gave us another line to work on and we made some tests to
see what would happen if nitroglycerin were heated to the point where decomposition with evolution of heat commenced, and were then rapidly cooled so as to withdraw heat as fast as it was being generated. We surrounded a tube of nitroglycerin with a jacket through which we
could pass very cold water, and under these conditions we succeeded in distilling nitroglycerin, the decomposition going on at a temperature between that at which the internal changes commenced and that at which detonation occurs.^
It seems probable to me that in the case which you describe some portion of a box of tlie explosive must have been placed where it received heat sufficient to commence internal changes, and where it received heat
more rapidly than it could give the heat off from the free side of the box. If you had a walLmade of boxes of dynamite three boxes deep, you could only apply heat very gradually to the innermost box, without danger of supplying heat faster than it would be transmitted through
the other two boxes, which would tend to act as heat insulation. Just as your winter overcoat is effective in keeping the internal heat of your
body from radiating outwards, so the two outside boxes would serve to bold in the heat applied-to the innermost box. In the case which you
Cement Section
429
have described a. box probably got heated, not to its explosion temper
ature, but to the temperature at which, it commenced to evolve heat from internal changes. The_ outer boxes still served to hold in this heat
and accordingly the temperature kept right on rising, until finally the
temperature became sufficient to cause some of the explosive to Ignite.
There are many cases on record of large quantities of dynamite and
other high explosives burning -up completely without explosion, although there is of course always some risk that the burning will pass over
to an explosion. If your TIBxes had been long exposed to radiant heat,
this fire would not have lasted a great length of time before it would
have set the other boxes 02; fire. Mr. Josse: In 10 minutes everything was all burned up. Dr. Smsluxg: I am inclined to believe that the fact that the dynamite
in the second pile caught Jire in the case which you described, was a fortunate occurrence. In "other words, I believe that dynamite which
is on fire is safer than dyifiamite which is being baked by radiant heat, but which is not on fire.TM When a stick of dynamite is burning the
material burns away fasted than the heat penetrates the cartridge, and
under 'these cireumstances_explosion is much less likely than when the cartridge Is penetrated by _ heat without the heated portion being con
tinually removed. As you all no doubt- know, miners sometimes place
cartridges of dynamite in the oven of their stoves at home to thaw, and
then forget and leave the=material there until someone starts the fire up again. Under these circumstances the dynamite seldom catches fire,
but nearly always exploded thus proving that it is safer to let a large
quantity of dynamite burruaway than it is to heat it up gradually without letting it catch fire.
So, taking all things into consideration, it seems to me that the whole
set of circumstances that you have described were alL rather favorable to you, and the fact that the two piles were close enough together to allow
the second pile to catch fire from the first probably prevented an ex plosion, which might have_ occurred had the distance between the two
piles been such as to permit the second pile to heat up more slowly
from the radiated heat from the thaw house.
:
:- Chairman Jacobsek Daes that answer your question, Mr. Josse?
Mr. Josse: Yes.
.=5^-
Ciiaikman Jacobsen: We have one more paper on our program, which is on "Platforms, Walkways, Stairs, Ladders, and Floors in Cement Mills." This is a very important point in our accident prevention work.
The paper has been prepaid by Mr. E. R. Abbott, Safety Engineer of
the Canada Cement Company.
PLATFORMS. WALKWAYS. STATRS, LADDERS, AND FLOORS IN CEMENT MILLS
E. R. Abbott, Safety Engineer, Plant No. 1, Canada Cement Company, Ltd., Montreal, Canada
The above subjects have been taken up so thoroughly with regard to construction and safe practices, in bulletins issued by the Association
430
Eighth Safety Congress
(Nos. 2 and IS), the Safe Practices pamphlets issued by the National
Safety Council (Nos. 2 and 11) and in Hansen's Universal Safety Stand
ards, that very little can bg_ added. This paper will be in the nature of
personal experiences we hraye had at Canada Cement Company's Plant
No. 1 and I will endeavor^to show good and bad points that we have
found.
rz
Cement plants that are being designed today take into consideration
accessibility to bearings, overhead drives, etc.; but in many of the plants
built several years ago this^was not done and it is difficult to make these
places safe for workmen. __
About five years ago we took up seriously a Safety-First Campaign,
and it was early realized 'that good housekeeping and a clean mill were
necessary if we were going to make any progress with the campaign.
It became apparent to us that in order to keep our mill clean it was
necessary that we should replace the wooden platforms and walkways
with platforms made of material that would not allow the dust to sift
through when being swept and cleaned up.
PUTFORJIS
In our grinding departments the ball mills, pulverizers, and tube mills are driven by motors placed on elevated platforms, or galleries, about 10 feet above the floor of the mill building proper- The pulley of the motors overhangs the edge of the platform, the center of the motor pulley being about or 6 feet above the center of the mill pulley. When these plat forms -were originally installed they were built of timber covered with a 3-incli wooden floor. These platforms were never very satisfactory, owing to the fact that there was more or less vibration to the motors, which caused serious trouble with the hearings and coils. Another ob jection was the fact that .whenever the floor %vas cleaned a shower of dust was precipitated on the floor beneath, through the cracks caused by the drying out of the flooring boards. It was also difficult to keep rail ings in proper repair, due to^the vibration. Eventually we replaced these wooden structures with solid reinforced concrete platforms, with stand ard pipe hand rails along the edge, and steel and concrete stairs leading from the main floor to the_pIatforms. These platforms have been highly satisfactory in every respect.
A more difficult problem was presented in the replacing of wooden platforms around elevators^along line shafting and other necessary over head walkways and platforms, as well as floors in bridges, connecting dif ferent buildings and carrying conveying machinery. Owing to the fact that our mill had to be kept in operation while these replacements were being made it was necessary for us to use different types of construction. Wherever possible we put in forms and cast concrete slabs reinforced with wire mesh. This we consider the most desirable type of platform floor. In some cases we used what is known as "Ferro Dovetail' sheeting, cov ered with 2 inches of concrete on the upper side. This makes a very satisfactory floor, provided the lower surface is kept painted, or is cov ered witli cement piaster^ Another method was the use of perforated
Cement Section
433
steel plates, but we only Used this material where it was impossible to make use of concrete as these perforated plates had the same objection from the standpoint of cleanliness as the wooden platforms.
Pulverized coal is conveyed from the coal house through an overhead bridge to the kiln room. To eliminate dust collection on the floor of this bridge and thus lessen the liability of an explosion, a floor was constructed of flat iron bars on edge, spaced about one inch apart.
We have under contemplation, plans to erect in our coal house, a sys tem of walkways leading :Tfbm all elevated platforms to a stairway built outside the building, so that employees will have a quick and easy exit in rase of fire or an explosion.
STAIRWAYS
Stairways have been the; cause of a great many accidents. Beyer states
that out of approximately '30,000 accidents reported in one State during
one year, from all causes, about 1 per cent came from falls on stairs.
In addition to minor accidents these falls caused fractures and other seri
ous injuries in many cases-and one death.
The most satisfactory type of stairway for mill buildings, that we have
used, are those made from-7-inch channel stringers with treads of O-inch
channels filled with concrete and finished rough with a wooden float.
Standard specifications call for risers on . all stairways where the dis tance to the floor is over 5 feet. If sheet metal be fastened to the under
side of the stairs, thus preventing any material from falling through,
risers are not required.
We also use stairs of solid concrete and those that have been erected
inside the mill building have proved very satisfactory, but we have not
had the same success with the outside ones. This is principally due to the fact that in removingiSnow and ice in the winter time the concrete
becomes chipped and damaged to such an extent that it is dangerous and
is exceedingly difficult to repair. The most serviceable and durable type
of stairs that we have foiUBI for outside use is made of channel stringers, with %-inch plate tread covered with 2-Inch planks which are bolted to
the plate.
~
ALLEYWAYS AXU TUNNELS
All our conveyor tunnela under storages at this plant are of solid con crete construction. Where single conveyors are used the conveyor is placed against the wall atone side with a walkway along the other side. These tunnels are constructed 7 feet wide and 7 feet high. Where dou ble conveyors are used thA tunnels are constructed 11 feet wide and one conveyor is placed against each wall with a walkway in the center.
In the tunnels under the cement storages we had trouble with cement gradually building up onjhe floor, owing to dampness, in spite of the fact that care was exercised to keep the floors clean. To overcome this we laid over'the concrete,^, matched wooden floor, which has proved very satisfactory anti is easily kept clean.
432.
Eighth Safety Congress
FLOORS
We do not know o a. better material for floors in a cement plant than concrete. Reasonable care must be taken in the moving of heavy material on concrete to prevent pitting. One point in connection with concrete floors in a cement plant, that may be used to advantage in order to facili tate keeping the mill clean, Js to eliminate the right angle between the wall and the floor. This isjeasily done by making what might be called a concave baseboard around _the walls.
The following is a sumnfgrized specification for stairs, and guarding of platforms, which has been:taken from the Association's Bulletins (Nos. 2 and IS). We have adhered:to these specifications whenever possible.
"Greatest pitch of stairs allowable 50 degrees. Most desirable practice Is riser is to tread as S is 65T9- Steepest allowable is riser is to tread as 9% is to 9. Bandings should he provided so that rise in one flight is not more than 12 feet. Direction of travel should change at least 90 de grees at each landing. Minimum width of tread 9 inches inclusive of nosing. Maximum rise allowed 9*4 inches. Risers should be provided where the distance to the floor is over 5 feet, or where material may fall into moving machinery. Standard double pipe railings shall he provided on all open sides of stairs^Hand rails 36 inches above the center line of treads should be provided on all enclosed sides of stairways.''
Platforms should be guarded as follows: Toe boards shall be provided and shall be 6 inches or more in height and shall fit tightly to the floor. Railings shall be provided .^.Height of top rail above platform to be 42 inches or more. Distance from floor or top of toe board to center of lower rail, to be not more than IS inches. Posts to l>e not more than 12 feet apart. In general where we have passageways between belts, pulleys, etc., pulleys and belts are enclosed by screens and angle iron bars.
WALKWAYS
Under the heading of walkways might be mentioned the advantages to be derived from concrete walks around a cement plant. A few years ago we had no walks connecting our buildings and consequently the yard levels were always changing, especially near the doors, and it looked as if in a few years the fioorSnof many of our buildings would be below ttse ground level. In wet weather the yard was a morass and much stood lumber and material was destroyed by being used as temporary walkway*. It was decided to establish permanent yard levels and construct concrete gutters around all buildings: close to the wall, to catch the cave water, and beyond the gutters concrete walks. The original program was car ried out and extensively enlarged. This expenditure has been a good in vestment. We are able to keen the yard clean, which we never did before and we spend less money ift_doing it. Many other advantages might be mentioned, such as saving time of employees, in moving about the plant or trucking materials from department to department, where it was for merly necessary to use a hojrse and cart.
We consider the liability _of men being caught in conveyors one of our worst hazards. Screw conyjyors are covered so that there should be no
Cement Section
433
danger of men breaking through and we have taken an extra precaution,
by providing a walkway where men are likely to cross over.
Bucket conveyors, travelling at a low rate of speed of about 30 to 50
feet per minute, do not seem--hazardous, yet we had a fatal accident
caused by a man stepping on-one of the conveyors when crossing over.
The only way to guard against accidents of this kind is to provide liber
ally proper walkways across conveyors to obviate the tendency of a work
man taking a short cut? In the construction of walkways over conveyors
we have used light angle iron jframe with sheet iron floor and steps cov
ered with fabric belting to prevent slipping. In several cases where we
have two bucket conveyors running side by side we combine a gear cover
ing with a walkway.
--
Chairman Jacobses: The question of stairways and walkways in
cement plants, I think is probably one of the most important we have.
I suppose none of you gentlemen have been around to as many cement
plants as I have. I have seenjsome awful conditions in regard to walk
ways and platforms, stairways, ^and so forth. We have some slides here
which show the various conditions.
(The chairman showed slides.T
Mr. Josse then demonstrated an electric switch box with a quick
make and break attachment invented by one of the workmen at bis
plant.
Chairman Jacobsen: If there is nothing else to bring up we will
close. Our Cement Section I believe has been very snccessful. and. I
hope that we can meet again in far larger numbers next year. Bet's
have at least 200 at our next meeting. If you have nothing else to bring
up now. a motion to adjourn is In order.
Adjournment.
Chemical Section
October 2 and 3, 1919
E. H- FIESINGER, Chairman Safety Engineer, Solvay Process Company, Syracuse, N. Y.
H. C. SLADE, Vice Chairman Safety Engineer, Hooker Electro-Chemical Company. Niagara Falls. N. Y.
S. M. SCHOTT, Secretary Morgan & JYright. Detroit. Mich.
THURSDAY MORNlXG SESSION'
HE meeting was called to-order at 9:4r, A. M.. Chairman Fiesinger
X . presiding.
.
CifAiBjrAjr Fiesingkii:
On Jjie nominating committee I will appoint
Mr. S. H. Kershaw of the HefSles Powder Company, Mr. Ira V. Kepner
of the Pennsylvania Salt .Manufacturing Company, and Mr. H. F. Doepke
of the National Aniline and Chemical Company.
The first paper on the program is by Dr. Alice Hamilton, of the Cnited
States Bureau of Labor Statistics. Dr. Alice Hamilton: I am familiar with only one branch of the chem
ical industry and that is the Jye industry--the making or dyes and dye
intermediates----and I will confine myself entirely to that. It is quite impossible for me to talk about the protection of the work
men in the dye industry without going into the chemistry of it- I will
ask your indulgence if I makeglaring blunders. I shall do my very best
in handling that frightfully eqjhplicated subject.
During the war I had an opportunity to learn about the dye industry.
Then, after the' armistice. I Ijgok up this industry in earnest. It is so
complicated and difficult to understand, and I haven't as yet. a clear un derstanding of it--I am stiil groping around in a mass of chemical for
mulae.
--
It seems best to confine myself in this paper to what I saw in France,
Switzerland, England, and Germany, during this last summer.
4H5
436
Eighth Safety Congress
A STUDY OP FACTORY SANITATION IN FOREIGN DYE WORKS
Alice
Hamilton',
M.
D.,
United States Bureau of Washington, D. C.
Labor
Statistics,
While I was engaged la investigating the explosives Industry for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, from the spring of 1916 up to the day of the armistice, I had an opportunity to learn something of the dye industry, especially the malting oj intermediates, so closely connected with the making of explosives. Then after the armistice I took up the dye indus try in earnest, but I have found it so complicated, so infinitely more difficult that any other Industry I ever studied, that I often despair of ever getting a real understanding of it. Certainly I have not yet any thing like a real understanding, only a very superficial one, and I must
ask your indulgence if I venture to discuss the pi*otection of workers in the strange and complicated processes of dye manufacture. It is im possible to do so without going somewhat into the chemistry of these processes, but I realize to the full my hardihood in attempting to do it before an audience suctaas this.
In this paper it seemsibest to confine myself strictly to what I saw in
the dye works in France; Switzerland, England, and Germany, my visits being of course made only for the sake of discovering what methods were used for the protection of the workers against industrial poisoning. The experience of the-Germans is so much longer than ours that we should expect them to be able to teach us a good deal, and even the Eng lish and the Swiss have been in this industry many more years than we. I succeeded in gaining Admission to a plant in Basel, Switzerland; one in St. Denis near Paris; one near Frankfurt-am-Main, several In Man chester, and one each in Huddersfield and Liverpool.
DANGEROUS COMTOUNDS USED IN THE INDUSTRY
It may be well to take up first the experiences of those countries with actual cases of poisoningT from the substances made or used, for in some ways this was to me surprising, both with regard to the compounds which they have found to be dangerous and those which appear, in their ex perience, to be fairly harmless. Of course, the dangers from nitroben zene and aniline, are recognized everywhere, taken for granted, the former being considered there ashere the more dangerous of the two. The French have had some severe cases of industrial poisoning from mononitroben zene, and not a few fatalities. The factory I visited is of Very open construction, amply ventilated, but they believe that ventilation is not enough, for more important than fumes is skin contact.* There is still some controversy over this question in England. " For instance, in one plant the manager, who has had 2S years' experience in this industry, is sure that aniline and /nitrobenzene are absorbed through the skin, while the doctor, whose experience extends over II years, is sure that poisoning is always caused by fumes. The experts of the British Factory Inspection
Chemical Section
437
hold to the skin theory and so do the Germans, though they will take no risks with fumes. The elaborate precautions which the Germans have taken to eliminate poisoning by these two compounds will be described later. I saw them in one plant and they were described to me by a chem ist who was employed more than 20 years in a factory now inside the
French zone of occupation. --: I was interested to find out how far the occurrence of bladder tumors
in old aniline workers was known to men in the industry and so I asked every one about this, but the only men I met who had been long enough in the trade to know much about this very slowly developing form of chronic poisoning, were the Germans and the one British firm. Both told me that whatever the substance is that reaches the bladder and sets up an irritative process eventuating in cancer, it is derived from an amide not a nitro compound. Nitrobenzene workers do not have more than their share of bladder carcinoma, aniline workers do. It is of course rare. The oldest British plant has had only two or three known cases in 20 years, although their physician has heard of several more and believes that cases could be discovered in any one of the older plants.
Aniline salt was said not to-give trouble, though in two plants where this was said, it did not seem to me that poisoning would be impossible, and aniline salt can be used to produce in animals all tbe typical symp
toms and blood changes of aniline poisoning. In one English plant which
I did not visit, there had been trouble in the aniline salt department and this had led to local regulations of the process in the Manchester dis trict; all tanks must be covered, provided with fume pipes and exhaust ventilation. The general opinion is that what cases do arise in the aniline salt department are caused byjthe aniline itself. For instance, I was told of a severe case of hematuria, blood in the urine, but the man had spilled aniline on the floor and. undertook to sweep it up, walking into it as he did so. Before leaving' aniline, I want to mention the occurrence of Jaundice, which may follow poisoning by aniline, or one of its deriva tives.
DIJflXROBEXZEKE HAZARDS
Dinitrobenzene is dreaded in the British factories, both because of tbe dermatitis and because of systemic poisoning. They had a great deal of experience with it as an explosive before and during the war and say it is much worse than trinitrotoluene (TNT). The French have had dis tressing cases of chronic poisoning but no fatality from dinitrobenzene (DNB). In Germany the barrels of DNB and of nitrochlorbenzene were stored for shipping ihjj,n open-walled building, because they had found that during warm weather a perceptible amount of fumes might arise from them. One English physician told of a symptom he had no ticed in two DNB men, attacks of staggering gait, coming on at intervals for about a week. The men walked as if they were drunk. Women are said in England not to stand DNB as well as men.
Dinitrochlorbenzene is said to be more dermatitis-provoking than DNB, hut not so likely to setup grave systemic poisoning. In one plant they said that even the shippers who loaded the barrels of dinitrochlor benzene on the cars got dermatitis. The chlorbenzenes are not considered
43S
Etghth Safety Congress
as toxic as the lion-chlorinated bodies, although. I heard of one fatal case, a boy who spilled moriBHitroehlorbenzene on his clothes and died the same day. Other cases3were spoken of, not fatal, the men usually not showing any symptoms Jj?hile at work, going home and growing more - and more drowsy, becoming cyanosed and then collapsing. Of course, that history is characteristic of all this group of poisons.
With regard to other nitro and amido compounds opinions differed, suggesting to me that iit one plant a certain powder or fluid was more carelessly handled than were others and therefore was regarded as more dangerous because it gave rise to more poisoning. Thus, in one English factory 1 was told that paranitranilin was about the worst substance of all. In another they had had no trouble with it but were bitterly preju diced against the nitrochlorbenzenes. Metaphenylandiamine was a fruit ful source of dermatitis 1ST one plant, never gave any trouble in a second. Of course, dermatitis is the great problem. Not that it is as serious as systemic poisoning but if is so much more common and then it really does cause more disability. At least, it is my experience that men will endure fairly serious symptoms of general poisoning without quitting their job, but they will not endure an itching, burning eruption, and the latter is much slower to--clear up than the general poisoning, as a rule. All nitro and chlor compounds may give rise to dermatitis, according to foreign experience, and also the amido compounds though not so marked ly.
JDinitrophenol seems net to have given much trouble in England or Germany but in France it was the worst of all the munition poisons and during the war caused mgfe than forty deaths among munition workers. So far as I know the particular isomer which has this rapidly toxic effect on men is the one .used in dye manufacture, and although I know of no cases of iJoisoning ETAiuerican dye works, I speak of it in this con nection because it is a peSSuliar poison, different in its action from any known nitro or amido compound, and we should know what effects it may he expected to produce.
The isomer formed in the course of manufacturing picric by the French method is the 1-2-4 grouping with OH occupying the l^>osition. In man and in animals the effectsizare about the same, a rapid rise of tempera ture, profound sweating, fapid. panting respiration, great agitation and fear, temperature increasing, great thirst, constriction in chest. Often the symptoms preceding The attack are very slight and several times the men were overcome rjxlr their way home far from any help. When death .occurs it is usually only a short time after the onset of the attack. Absolutely nothing characteristic is found in the organs at autopsy. Ani mal experiments carried ojt with the other isomers of this compound do not bring on this train of symptoms. I may mention the fact that this was also one of our war pBi^ons. Three men who were engaged in han dling dry dinitroplienol forFrench picric acid were severely poisoned and all died after only a few hours.
According to ex perimentHreported by the French, the dangers from ni tro and chlor oompounds^re about as follows: A.t the head of the list
Chemical Section
4:t9
come this 1-2-4 dinitrophenol and dinstranisol. Next come trinitrophenol or picric acid, trinitranisol and dinitrotoluene--the 1-2-6 isomer, the others being less toxic--and in the third class come mono and dinitrochlorbenzene and paradichlornitroheuzeEe. The last place is taken by chlor
benzene.
UIMCTlIYI. SUU'lIATli
Dimethyl sulphate has for some time had a bad reputation in the
dye industry and this is borne rout by the evidence given in some of the German and English plants, but not in all. Those that still use it to
methylate aniline or to methylate nitrophenol to nitranisol for dianisi-
dine, say that it is quite safe, with a little care, while those th.at do not
use it say it is bad stuff and :they would not have it around. I never
know in such cases which, is cause and which effect. There are two Eng
lish plants in which the men handle dimethyl sulphate with less caution
than they do caustic soda.
rr
1 was told that inflamed eyes or burns on the skin were the worst
results to be expected, that only one man had been badly blistered, that
the' burns were not so bad as those from caustic soda, and that systemic symptoms were unknown. On jthe other hand, certain English factories
will not use it, the Swiss one does not and neither does one of the Ger
man factories, while in the other it is claimed that if handled with care
there need be no fear of accident. The famous case of fatal dimethyl
sulphate poisoning which seemifto have fastened the stigma on this com
pound occurred in the Mannheim factory. As I remember it. a chemist
spilled dimethyl sulphate on his person, sustained severe bums, and also
developed a pneumonia whichTwas rapidly fatal. No other such case
has appeared in the literature, go far as I have been able to discover, and
yet we know 'that dimethyl sulphate was one of the war gases and that
experiments on animals show Jt to be capable of causing death through
the production of pulmonary edema, or dropsy of the lungs. The occurrence of chrome ulcers on hands, lips, nostrils, eyelids, and
even on the feet, from getting shoes soaked in chromate solution, is
recognized as a danger and a ylry troublesome one in alizarin dye works
where' the anthracene is oxidized to anthraquinone by means of this
agent. "Very strict cleanlinessrof person and premises is necessary to
avoid such accidents. PhosgeBe has long been known to the Germans
and they have learned to treat_this very poisonous gas without risk, but
the British have had some accidents with it. none fatal, they say. There
were a good many in connection with the manufacture of gas bombs, as
one would expect.
Benzidin fumes are complained of in one English factory; in all
other places I was assured that benzidin itself is harmless, though its
manufacture may be one.-of the most dangerous of all processes. Pyro-
gallic acid is said by the Germans to be one of the worst poisons in the
dye industry, setting up symptoms almost exactly like those of arsenic.
Sulphuretted hydrogen seems^not to give rise to as much apprehension
over there as in tin's'=countet the French factory makes its sulphur dyes in an open-walled building and in one of the English factories the
440
Eighth Safety Congress.
making of sulphur dyes Was pronounced by far the most troublesome branch. This was, however, more because of the intermediates used than the sulphuretted hydrogen. In the plant near-Frankfurt the work Is done in an enclosed room but the draft inside the apparatus is so strong that there can be an opening: in the top of the kettle 8 by 10 inches and yet no gas escape. In several places I was told that the danger from this gas was obviated by burning the fumes after the reaction, and I would like to learn if tharis done in any of our plants.
AHSENIUBETTED HYDItOGEiV
I have saved till the last the poison about which I heard the most,
arseniuretted hydrogen, evolved in the course of several- processes
where acid and metal come together and one or the other is contaminated
with arsenic. In Germany this danger in the dye works has long been
known and some of the elaborate precautions taken in German plants
are based on the fear that such fumes may be formed and escape. In
England they have recently had a series of cases of arsenical poisoning
and have ordered precautions against such accidents. In this country we have not, so far as I know, recognized tbe_ danger, although I believe
that five cases of this have occurred in one plant in New Jersey and three
in another.
In English factories these, accidents have taken place in the course of
several processes. One fatal case was in a plumber who went into an
empty sulphuric acid tantlto repair it. That is, it was technically
empty, it had been washed "mit and there was only one bucketful of fluid
left at the bottom, but the acid contained arsenic and the man died two
days after with hemorrhagic nephritis. A very similar instance occurred in New Jersey recently, three men being overcome by fumes of hydrogen
arsenide in an Iron tank which had contained chamber acid but was sup
posedly empty and clean. Two died, the third recovered. Here the acid
carried arsenic.
--
The other sources of poisoning from AsH3 are in reduction processes. In reducing nitrobenzene to aniline these fumes may be formed and for
that reason it is dangerous^to send men into a reducer for repair work,
aside from the danger of the aniline or nitrobenzene. The arsenic may
be in the iron but is more tritely to be in the acid. One English manager
told me he had had four men invalided at one time by an accident of
just this kind. In reducing nitro to amidonaphthosulphonic acid the
same risk must be thought TQf, but it is especially in the making of ben
zidin that precautions against arseniuretted hydrogen are necessary.
The British Home Office will soon be publishing reports of a number of
cases of arsenical poisoning" that occurred in connection with alkaline
reduction processes followed by acidification in making benzidin.
As I understand it, benzidin is made in these English plants as fol
lows: nitrobenzene is first reduced by means of zinc dust and caustic
soda. The English expert from the Factory Inspection Department be
lieves that AsH3 can be evolved at this stage, the plant chemists are
sceptical. There is no doubt, however, as to he danger in the next
Chemical Section
441
stage, when hydrochloric acid is used to dissolve out the zinc dust and leave bydrazobenzene. The process must go on in the cold, for otherwise some of the bydrazobenzene might be converted to benzidin and go into solution and be lost, so chunks of ice are added at the same time as the acid, necessitating an opening'Txp of the acidifying kettle. This is where the serious accidents have arisen, for there may be a sudden evolution of AsH3, a "boiling up" as the men call it, when the acid and ice go in. The arsenic is usually in the zinc in these cases, and zinc is likely to contain a larger amount than the acid ever does. Since the zinc is finely powdered, the conditions^ are ideal for the production of AsH3- The
next step is also attended with some danger, the filtering out of the hydrazobenzene, for if AsH3 is present the filter water may give off fumes of it. In one English plant especially it was evident that poisoning from this source had taken place,"for my guide, the chemist, was very insist ent on the necessity for good: drains under the filter press so that the fluid would be carried off at once, and for thoroughly flushing the floor as soon as the filter press was opened. The use of compressed air to blow out the presses was, he said, of advantage as it served also to blow away all traces of arsenic. Finally, in the last stage, when the by drazobenzene is heated with hydrochloric acid to form benzidin, it is still possible to have fumes of arseniurretted hydrogen, but it is not as dangerous a point as is the acidifying stage.
Other departments in which accidental evolution of fumes of hydrogen arsenide should be looked for are the making of the homologue of ben zidin, tolidin, by the reduction, of orthonitrotoluene, and the making of dianisidine by reduction of orthonitranisol, both being alkaline reduction processes followed by acidification.
PKECAUTIOSS FOB REMOVING FUMES
The seriousness of this menace is shown by the precautions taken in
English and German factories to guard against- it. "While going over the
German plant f remarked on the universal practice of providing a fume
pipe with exhaust on all kettles and autoclaves, regardless of the harm
lessness of the compounds in them. My guide told me that experience had
taught them that accidental contamination of acids and metals with ar
senic. could not he guarded against and that the only way to be sure of
preventing arsenical poisoning was to treat all fumes, gases, steam, as
potentially dangerous and seeTto It that they were carried off. The rule
Is to turn on the exhaust before the receptacle is opened. The English
plants were in the course of installing fumes pipes at all points which
they had learned could possibly be dangerous. In one, they have built
a long slide or chute for thence to run down, so that though the kettle
must be opened to admit it, the man in charge may stand at the far end
of the chute and not get the whiffs of fume that may be given off when the
ice falls in. The acid also goes in through a long pipe which he can
control at the same point.
valve is placed over the manhole which
drops hack as soon as the iceL has passed through. This was the place
that had the notorious cases of poisoning and till they could get in the
442
Eighth, Safety Congress
necessary changes in ^equipment they were obliged to use chemically pure acid and zinc. Iilanother plant they had trouble in aeid^-yeduetion of nitro to amidonaphthosulphonic acid and since then they have used contact acid only in this process, but even so the iron may contain As and so they test the fumes for it from lime to time with mercuric chlo
ride paper. This crude way of chilling with chunks of ice dropped into the acidify
ing tub is not usual in^ this country as it seems to be in England. Til our plants chilling mayibe provided for by brine coils or it may not be needed, for there are other wa.vs of getting rid of the zinc dust. But in one New Jersey plant zin which the ice method was used five cases of poisoning occurred on one night shift and one of the men died. I came on the histories of two: of these men in a hospital record while I was studying munition poisons. One of them was at first supposed to he a case of typhoid fever, later diagnosed as aniline poisoning, the other was said to be caused by alpha-naphtliyiamine. Both men had been employed in a plant making befijidin base and sulphate, and naphthionic acid. I visited this plant and found that they were making benzidin by the usual process from nitrobenzene, and naphthionic acid from alphanaphthylamine and sulphuric acid. The Company had installed a fume pipe system with a fan but had never cnmpleted it. From the meagre account to he ob tained in the hospital--no account at all could be obtained from the com pany--It appeared that" the men had been overcome by fumes evolved accidentally while they^were working on the night shift. ' One of them had been there some months, the other had gone to work that night for
the first time.
A SEItllPCS CASH
Ijuckily it was possible to run down one of the men and I sent an in vestigator to interviewrhim. This is his story. He worked on benzidin in a process which involved watching the color of the compound formed and when it changed from red to -white the process was completed and acid was added. I believe that means that he was told to see when the reddish oxyazobenzenec was converted to the deep red azobenzene and then to the white hydrazobenzene. Then, he said, acid had to be added He bad had attacks of illness quite often and attributed them to the fumes which were so^Uad that few men would work there for any length of time. He, being foggman, was not obliged to stay in the fumes as the menllid, but they affected him nevertheless, giving him kidney trouble as
shown by dark colored urine and pains in the lumbar region. He suf fered also from a band-tike feeling around the body and from severe pains in the back of his necjk;, his appetite was poor and he often vomited, he was depressed, sometimes almost melancholic. On the night the acci dent happened, this man whom I will call "C",- and the two men whose histories appear in the hospital records, "D" and "E", and two more were at work. The chemist was not there and they had to guess at the amount of acid and when it was added the mixture suddenly boiled up and all five were "knocked out." C went home and lay on the floor feel ing sick hut no morethan he had at other times. When, however, he
Chemical Section
443
saw that his urine was apparently pure blood he realized that his condi
tion was more serious. As a matter of fact he was ill for three months
and his wife said that he looked like a yellow corpse. Apparently he
suffered from anemia and jaundice.
D was treated at home for about two weeks for supposed typhoid fever
showing that abdominal symptoms were prominent. The history I ob
tained begins on the fifteenth day after the accident when the man was
received at the hospital unconscious. There were ulcers on his tongue,
and throat, muscular tremors, weakness, diarrhea and vomiting of green
ish fiuid. The typhoid test was negative, there was albumen in the
urine but no-'blood, there was a very profound anemia, the red blood
corpuscles being reduced to 1,780,000. the hemoglobin to 40 per cent. Both
spleen and liver were enlarged. There was difficulty in urination and
pain. The man's condition grew worse, especially the retention of urine,
the nausea and delirium, andZhe died on the third day.
E went to the hospital forty-eight hours after the accident. He was
then deeply jaundiced, in grat pain, vomiting greenish fiuid, voiding
blood-red urine. The pain wag in the lower chest and in the bladder
region, especially on urination.:! These symptoms persisted for two days,
then slowly improved and hejwas discharged on the sixth day. "cured"
according to the -record, but according to C's story---the men are cousins
--he has never regained his health nor been able to do a real day's work
since. No blood examination was made in this case but hemoglobin was
found in the urine.
. --
Now the fact that the men were rapidly overcome by a sudden pouring
out of fumes in the course of some process in which various amido deriva
tives of benzene were used or formed, would lead one to assume that the
fumes were those of aniline or some similar body, but although this mignt
explain the early symptoms, it would not be possible to attribute the
later ones to poisoning by aniline or an allied substance. On the other
hand,, typical arseniuretted hydrogen poisoning brings about just this
train of symptoms, headache.^ prostration, nausea, profound destruction
of red corpuscles as shown bj^ hemoglobin in the. urine, vomiting, diar
rhoea and later jaundice andZextreme anemia. The English authorities
told me -that a case of supposed nitro or amido poisoning which does not
clear up - but progresses to .pronounced anemia will probably, though
not certainly, prove on examination to be one of arsenical poisoning. In
these American cases no search was made in the urine for arsenic. In
England such a procedure has become usual, indeed it is resorted to in
all dubious cases which arise among the process men. I saw the records
of one plant physician who had recently examined sixteen men for arseni
cal poisoning, including a quantitative estimation of arsenic in the urine.
Traces of arsenic were founds in almost all, but in only five was the
amount great enough to be significant. These five men were with one
exception employed in the benzidiu department. The fifth was said by the
physician to be working in tie diamidodiphenylamine department at a
reduction process which required sodium bichromate, hydrochloric acid,
zinc dust and iron filings. ^3The symptoms in these cases might have
444
Eighth Safety Congress
passed for aniline poisoning; dark urine, headache and abdominal pain, jaundiced skin or simply a sort of lividity, or in two cases, no subjective symptoms at all, only the dark urine and livid color.
I think you will agree with me that, in the light of this English ex perience, it behooves us here in America to revise our views of the dan gers that may be encountered in different departments of dye and dye intermediate manufacture and also our views as to what is adequate pro tection against industrial poisoning in this industry.
METHODS OF FKOTECTION
As for the methods of protection used in Germany and England--I did
not see anything really new in France and Switzerland--part of this has
already been spoken of hut there are still some details deserving of men
tion. For instance in one English plant they have had a bad time with DNB. Consequently they do as little work with it in warm weather as possible.
Every new man who is_put on DNB is watched carefully for the least
sign of dermatitis or blueness and when it appears he is taken off and put
to other work, but that other work must never bring him in contact
with other nitro or amido compounds. Their theory is that some men
may acquire gradually an immunity to DNB if they are exposed to it with
caution, though others Twill never he able to stand exposure and must be
taken off.
_
In the German plantjthere is no contact with DNB. It is melted and
blown from tank to kettle. In the case of benzol an English chemist told
me that they never let a pipe-fitter or repairer enter a benzol tank or still, even after it is thoroughly cleaned, till at least two days have passed, because they bjjlieve that the benzene actually soaks into the metal and must be allowed to evaporate first. Of course I need not
refer to the many cases of distressing poisoning in this country in
stills or tanks that were supposedly empty and free from any benzene fumes. Melting- caustieT soda and blowing it through pipes is not un known in this country, but I wish it were the usual procedure, as it is in
England and Germany.^, To generalize ahout_Zthe precautions used in those two countries, I
should say that in Germany every stage of the process has been looked
upon as potentially dangerous and safeguarded, in England every stage
at which any trouble has ever occurred is safeguarded. The German
plant was a sui-pi"ise to me even though I was fully prepared to find it
good. The standard ofT cleanliness is so high that I can only say that the passages between buildings are as scrupulously clean as are our
clean plants.
jr
One interesting little ;Oatail that I might pick out from many is the method of filling the reducer for nhenvlenedlainin and toluylendiamin in an English plant. The covered truck_containing DNB or DNT has an opening in the side that is level with the Up of the man-hole of the reducer and the lid of this opening drops down so as to form a bridge from truck to reducer, along which the man pushes the DNS. Over it is a fume pipe with fan.
Chemical Section
445
Inside the buildings it jsjfould be hard to guess what process was being carried on nor would the appearance of the workmen help much, for very few of thegn carry stains of color on their blue over alls- It is very remarkable to see the clean suits of men in the sulphur black department and in barrel packing. Perhaps one single instance win be enough to give you an idea of their attention to detail. In one room I commented on the condition of the floor and on the total absence of any odor. My guide, the chief chemist, explained that the men are not allowed to lay anything on the floor and showed me an iron shelf near the autoclave, where any piece of apparatus must be laid. It is for the chemist in charge to see that these shelves are kept clean and in his daily inspection of the room he sees to it that they are wiped off if any fluid or powder has fallen onrjthe surface. Nothing is ever permitted to fall or drip on the floor, there is a great commotion at once if such an accident takes place. You see; compensation for occupational poisoning is paid, not by the individual plant, but by the association of all German establishments doing this soft of work, the "Berufgenossenschaft." In case of sickness from poisoning a committee visits the plant in question
and the chemist responsible for that department has to appear before it and explain how it happened. Of course if it was caused by such a thing as a leak or spill, he has a decidedly uncomfortable time.
British pu\xts provide warm food
The standard of cleanliness in British plants is somewhat higher than in ours. I saw plants as eleanTas our cleanest and as fairly clean as our fairly clean ones, bat none that were as bad as our worst. "Where the British excel ns, however, is in the Intelligent placing of their exhaust ventilation, the attention to 'detail and the personal care of ..the men, especially of their food. I believe it is true in general of English in dustry that far more attention is paid to the feeding of the force than over here. They look on the dinner pail, with its cold, soggy sandwiches and cold soggy buns or pie, EES' distinctly had because sach food leads to indigestion and indigestion encourages poisoning. In all these dye works I saw kitchens equipped simply and inexpensively but with plenty of boiling water for the eternally necessary tea--I do wish our workers had the habit of stopping in tbe morning and afternoon for a hot drink with
sugar and milk--and with alarming oven for the food the men bring with tbem. Opening this ovgh you see numbers of bowls of meat and vegetable stew or meat pie, being heated for lunch. A. hot midday meal is considered a necessity. These Englishmen also believe that it is a matter of great importance to see that men and women do not start work in a poisonous process without a proper breakfast and as the only way to secure it they give each one a pint of milk as he comes to work. One manager has great faith in hot milk as a treatment for aniline poisoning and told me how he had brought it to a workman overcome by aniline. The doctor could not be got^zso tbe manager had the man stripped and put in a bath and then he poured down hot milk and porridge till the man could hold no more.
446
^Eighth Safety Congress
The German plant furnishes hot coffee the first thing in. the morning and soup at noon, charging the men one-tenth of the cost.
Washing facilities is, English plants are much like ours, except that you always find at least one bath-tub in addition to the showers. This is partly because some workmen dislike showers, but also in case of acci dent. A foreman told hie .that he had once tried to hold under a shower a man who was unconscious from the effects of aniline spilled on his clothes. He insisted after that on having a tub installed. In the German factory the bathing provisions are more numerous than in any other place; I saw no"less than 1,200 showers for less than 3,000 men. The provision of soap is general in Europe, but the English have not yet lost the roller towel habit. The Swiss lavatories were exquisitely clean and perfectly equipped. In the French factory, which also had a good equipment, they told mb of an amusing device they had i-esorted to dur ing the war to niake the dinitro-phenol and picric inen bathe. They were made to strip off their working clothes on one side of the room and between them amFTtheir street clothes was a wide gutter with running warm water. They simply had to get into it to reach their clothes.
One detail in connection with bathing facilities is worth mentioning. You know we have rather prided ourselves of late on giving women- em ployees shower baths with the nozzle placed low so that they may bathe without getting their _hair wet. The .English are even cleverer. They attach to the hot and. cold water faucets a two-branched rubber hose with an ordinary bath tub spray. Then the woman may direct the stream just as she wishes and a very short or a very tall woman is not
at a disadvantage as she is with a fixed spray. Working suits are furnished in the French factory and in the Swiss
and German and some of the English. They were surprised when I said that some of our largest companies had refused to pay more than fifty
per cent of the cost of overalls for their TNT and picric men during the war. Europeans all _ suppose that American industry is characterized by a lavish liberality in matters of tbat sort, whereas, with some strik ing exceptions, our plants as I have seen, them in the dye industry are not quite so liberal as are the European. The clothes provided, laun dered and repaired by the German company are of good blue jeans and are renewed after three months or six months according to the process. Then the old suit is given to the man, and since he knows it is to be his, he takes good care of_it. They are quite a remarkable lot, the men in that German dye works. When I went into the locker room '[ saw clothes hanging in open' compartments. My guide explained that Ihey dried and aired so much more completely if they were not shut up. "Hut does nobody steal them?" I asked. "Certainly not." he said, "our men do not rob each other."- Also In one of the Manchester factories the men's clothes are hung on the walls with no fear of their being stolen.
AIEIJICAE. CARE IS EMPHASIZED
Medical care is much more emphasized in England than in the other countries, though everywhere a physical examination, is made before em-
Chemical Section
447
ployment and an effort made to exclude alcoholics and those of poor re
sisting powers. But in Germany-there is no regular examination of proc
ess men, once they have been employed, so long as they make no com
plaint of illness or are not absent from work. In England, in the best
managed plants, not only do the physicians see every process man once
in a fortnight, hut they try to see him at work, they make regular trips
through all the process departments. They say it is absolutely essential
for the physician to know just what the man is exposed to and under
what conditions he is working lirhd how much heat and physical strain
there is in his work, and also that you can judge better of a man's ap
pearance if you come on him suddenly in his workroom than if he conies
to the office prepared to see you and either to make you think he is ill
or to' make you think there is nothing, the matter with him. They make
more of a case of poisoning than we do. One of the plant doctors and
I were accosted as we were making .our trip over the plant by a man
who had been home for four days with aniline poisoning. His lips were
pale but not blue and he felt pretty well, he said. The doctor looked at
his gums and finding them still bluish, told him to go off and visit his
father on 'the farm for ten days' and then report back for examination.
Chairman Fjesingeu: We will now take up the discussion of Dr. Ham
ilton's questions.
~
JDISCUSSION
Mr. C. P. Toluax (National .Lead Company) : It occurred to me that it
would be a simple matter to put the ice in the chamber safely if an "air
lock" were used. .The "charging" chamber would have two openings, one
to receive- the ice and the other to let the ice pass on into the main
chamber. These openings should be interlocked so that only one could
be opened at a time. A rotating drum could he used, the drum having
one opening and being mountedlln a cylindrical casing. The cylindrical
casing would have two holes; for example, one at the top to admit the
ice, another in the bottom so^that when the drum is rotated the ice
will fall out of it and into the chamber where it is needed.
Nothing' was said about providing an air inlet for the ventilating sys
tem. It seems to me in dealing' with the question of safety from gases
that in addition to maintaining it suction on the apparatus it is desirable
that an actual flow of air should be provided to keep down the propor
tion of the.dangerous gas mixed, with the air in the suction system. My
thought is this: In a closed suction system the air is not changing and
will take up gas to the point of saturation, whereas if there is a constant
inlet of air there will be a corresponding movement, thus limiting the
strength of the mixture.
"
With reference to the "absorption" of gas by the metal, the surface con
densation on the metal is an important item'to consider. This condition
.can he overcome by heating the metal (if that is permissible), and the
metal can be better heated by a steam jacket than by blowing live steam
into the tank. The steam jacket_is more efficient and is free from danger
of scdlding the worker--a danger that is present always when a steam
hose is used.
T
448
^Eighth Safety Congress
Mr. A. H. M*ssKg__TB. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.): I would'
like to ask Dr. Hamilton with reference to fatal cases of toxic poisoning:
Did you have access to the physical record of the man beforehand? Was
he subject to cyanosis right along, or was he a man that was practically
immune? What was his physical condition?
Dr. Hamilton: All the men are examined before employment by a
physician and rejections are made about on the same basis as we make
them here. A man Is rejected who has any evident lesion in the lungs, or
in the kidneys, or is-markedly anemic--bloodless--and they lay more
stress over there on the presence of gout; in England they woudn't take
a gouty man. They try not to take an alcoholic. They do not like to take
fat men, since they are more liable to get dermatitis, perhaps because
they perspire so freely^ Every man employed In one of these dye works
passes the physician's examination and the physician sees the process
men every two weeks--. If he had never seen the workman with blue lips
before and then an attack of cyanosis came on, it would he perfectly fair
to conclude that the work was responsible for it.
Mr. S. W. Evans (Goodyear Rubber Company) : What is your treat
ment for aniline poiscming?
Dr. Hamilton: I tOOiot go into the matter of treatments because I am
not a practicing physician. For aniline poisoning the physician in
charge of the plants An Manchester uses a mixture of stimulants.
Mu. D. F. Conklin "fOcean Accident and Indemnity Corporation) : I want to ask the Doctox what she thinks is the best preventive for aniline
poisoning in its manufacture. Would ventilation cure the ills?
Dr. Hamilton: Noll decidedly not. The ventilation is not nearly so
Important as cleanliness. There are a few cases, but I do not think there
are any very serious leases, of fume poisoning, so far as I know. The
absorption through the skin is the important factor in poisoning.
Chairman FiesingeHT The next paper is "Lead Poisoning and its Pre
vention." In the chemical industry we have heard about lead poisoning,
but we have never heard anything about Its prevention. This morning
we have one of the pioneers to discuss that paper for you--Mr. C. P-
Tolman.
r
READ POISONING AND ITS PREVENTION
C. P.
Tol.man,
Chairman,
Manufacturing
Committee,.
Lead Company, New York City
National -
The chairman has said, "you have heard a lot about lead poisoning but nothing about itsjprevention"; that -was exactly my point of view in preparing this paper. I felt it useless to spend time over the statistics and symptoms of lead poisoning. We recognize It among Industrial hazards, and our particular interest is in preventive measures.
Unusual exposure to_ the fumes and dust from lead compounds is quick ly followed by well defined symptoms and consequently the hazard was recognized as ea'ly as 1656.
The peculiar situation about lead poisoning is that unlike other hazards
Chemical Section
449
which develop with the development of mechanisms, and with the mechan izing of hand operations, the development of machinery has been the direct measure of decreasing lead poisoning.
Certain manifestations of lead poisoning have a special appeal to the sympathies and, as a result of the incidental publicity, there has been a vast improvement in working conditions, beginning years ago, as com pared with other dust hazards, such as stone cutting, cement manufac ture, and abrasive operations generally. These dust hazards are free from the idea of poison and we hear little about them, but the results in dustrially are probably more serious, measured by the number of suffer. ers. Exposure to these abrasive dusts results in extreme susceptibility to lung troubles. There is generally a considerable lapse of time between exposure and disease and on that account the cause is not properly recog nized. I mention this because the principles utilized in handling lead compounds apply equally to dust hazards in general.
xicrsT keep dust out of xose ,\xu xroxrrnc
Industrial experience and^ medical experiments have demonstrated that
in lead poisoning, lead compounds, as dust, or fumes, enter the human
system through the nose "and mouth. Experience does not support the
theory of absorption through the skin. Our problem is to keep lead
compounds away from the workman's nose and mouth--a dust problem
plus a problem of personal cleanliness.
The labor in lead factories is largely unskilled and for the most part
foreign born. Cleanliness is hard to teach. Special stress Is laid on the
necessity of washing the hands before eating and in all factories one
wash-stand with hot and cold water, soap, hand brush, and towels is
provided for each two employees. In most factories there is one shower-
bath to each five men employed. In the other factories the ratio is one to
four. Ample paid time is allowed at noon and at night for washing, and
experiments have been tried of. rewarding the men for each bath taken.
Two locker rooms are used, one for working clothes and the other for
street clothes.
=
Medical supervision is one of the most effective preventive measures.
'Under this system each man is examined within a few days of liis em
ployment and a record mHSe. Thereafter he is examined at regular in
tervals. Our regular physicians naturally become expert in the recog
nition of early symptoms, and prompt measures are taken. This system
also eliminates alcoholics and others especially susceptible to lead.
The success in dealing with the human factor depends entirely upon
the local factory organization. Everything that has been said about the
importance of the foreman in safety work applies several times over
in this connection. He JBJust not only instruct the men, but be must
continuously be an example to them, and we have different degrees of
success in the personal side of the problem in proportion to the natural
ability and training of ourJEoremen.
Among Safety men it isi agreed that of one hundred preventable acci
dents, not more than forty can be prevented by mechanical devices or
450
Eighth Safety Congress
improvements. This proportion does not apply to dust hazards. Most dust hazards can either be eliminated Or substantially reduced by ade quate special machiner>vjn which I mean to include dust systems.
The lead industry is fortunate in that the value o the dust collected often pays a substantial^ profit. The portable dust collector, described below, annually saves dust which in value amounts to over 30 per cent on the investment.
i'OItTAISl.l-: post t*oi.i.scroll PAYS A L'llOKIT
In the Dutch Process of manufacture of white lead, the metallic lead is converted to white lead in small earthenware jjots which, when' the
lead is finished, must be^eraptied into the box in which it is taken to the mill. Naturally emptying these pots was a dusty operation, and because of the large area of corroding j'ard where the work was done no simple solution was evident. iThe process requires from three to four months and is carried on in bins, there being some twenty-four alternate layers of tanbark and pots in~_sjreh bin of an approximate average depth of two feet to each pair of bark anrl pots so that there is a range of something like twenty-four feet between the bottom and the top layer. A solution was finally found by making a portable dust collector which is handled by an electric crane from tier to tier as needed.
Chemical Section
451
This portable dust collector weighs slightly over 400 pounds, is a selfcontained unit consisting of an electric motor driven suction fan and the necessary tubular cloth filter; the whole being enclosed in steel. A. flex ible canvas pipe, provided with internal wooden rings to prevent collaps ing, connects to a cover, which cover is placed on top of the carbonate box. The cover has suitajjle openings through which the carbonate of
KX ! I A I 'ST IK>01> AT I it "Ml*
lead is emptied from the jeartlienware pots. The action of the fan main tains a strong indraft of air through these openings, successfully keep ing the dust within the system and recovering it liy means of the cloth filter--the fan discliarging^lean air.
The white lead, when it conies from the corroding yards, is brought in boxes by electric cranes arBfi dumped into boppers, discharging into the
452
Eighth Safety Congress
separating machinery of tig mill. This dumping operation was formerly one of the serious dust hards. This hazard was eliminated by design ing a carbonate box with an automatic bottom dump. The bottom of the box is made up of two hinged doors connected by pivoted links to a rod, the top of the rod being formed into a ring to receive the crane hook. When the crane lowers this box into position on the mouth of the dump, the weight of tliejox is supported by the top of the dump. A further lowering of the crane hook allows the bottom to open downward completely discharging the^contents of the box into the dump. A dump
M 1ST MOD OP HRJKm.Vn WHITE IiEAT) FROM HRVIXC
was designed to cooperate, with this box. A swinging suction bowl t* brought into position over the box, after it is lowered into posit * and before dumping, and in addition there is a perforated plate entire!? around the margin of thirtop of the dump, covering an air duct bteh also surrounds the dump^ The hood takes off all dust comlnr out of the top of the box and Sjgch dust as escapes from the bottom is carried away tliroxigh the perforations leading into the marginal suction duct.
As you probably knowr^wliite lead in the mill is handled wet in a water floating system, so that in the milling operation there is no dust hazard. When the lead_ is finished, however, it is necessary to remove
Chemical Section
453
the water, and this is usually done by evaporating the water on drying pans. The lead was removed from the drying pans by shoveling or hoe ing, conveyed to a storage bln and then as needed taken from the bin, batches being weighed on scales. These batches were then transferred to "chasers" where the wkite lead was mixed with oil and again became free from the dust hazard. The problem of eliminating dust from these series of operations for a while appeared insuperable. The solution Anally came about through the cooperation of several individuals, and we now have an. equipment which practically eliminates the dust hazard.
The drying pans are completely enclosed in sheet steel and the enclo sure connected to a suction fan. On the operating side the enclosure is made double with a spacepof about twenty inches between the inner and the outer casings. Bothr inner and outer casings are made up almost entirely of doors of convenient size, and the doors are arranged to operate in pairs. That is torsay, an outer and an inner door both being opened affords access to a convenient section of the drying pans. Be tween the inner and the outer enclosures, at the bottom, is a screw con veyor, so that when the workman hoes the lead out of the pan it falls down between the inner and outer enclosures into the screw conveyor and is carried to the storage-hopper. Meantime the powerful suction on the enclosed pans is drawing air through the opening, protecting the workman from the incidental dust. The storage hopper itself is entirely enclosed `and is connected to a weigh hopper, also enclosed, making it possible to weigh out any desired quantity without handling the lead at all in the-open. A screw conveyor from the bottom of the weigh hopper carries the weighed charge to the chasers and delivers it within the en closure of the chaser. At that point linseed oil is added and the white lead in oil reduced to a paste in which form it is discharged from the chaser.
These examples are fairly typical of dust prevention apparatus and give some idea of the range of operation possible under dust control; the operation of filling a weigh hopper to an exact weight and then dis charging under dust tight conditions is particularly interesting.
When dust prevention is ~got complete, and -that is particularly the case during repair work, respirators must be worn. Respirators to be effective must fit the face, and must be kept in proper order. Bach man must be given a respirator for his individual use. Ordinarily, the man takes care of his own respirator, except for repairs. In one factory the respirators are turned in each night. They are thoroughly cleansed and put in order by one man, who is held responsible. In the morning each man claims his own respirator by his number check.
dust noons srroi-i.n m: cabefclly desicxf.h
Dust hoods should be more carefully designed than is generally the case. It would appear that they are usually left to the sheet metal worker. It is impossible tollay down standards, for different conditions require different treatments.A heavy coarse dust requires stronger suc tion than a light, fine dust. The angle of the hood, for efficiency, must
454
Eighth Safety Congress
be different for a strong draft and for a weaker one. It is often possible, where furnaces or kettles are concerned, to develop the necessary suc tion from radiated lteat, or by using the hot gases directly. The suction from such a source la of low intensity, but of relatively large volume and for efficient use requires that the liood be provided with an uptake pipe of generous size, both in diameter and height. Inasmuch as this method, when available, saves: the operating and maintenance cost of a fan, it is well worth while ttaoend time and money on the design, experimenting, if necessary, to get the best results.
The best result is mot always obtained with an overhead hood. It is sometimes better txErdraw the dust downwards, as in protecting the operation of heading^barrels. Conditions may require hoods at one side
T5AC SHAKING UTSVICE ThrougH iVor at ptuTI `T fc'.osotl duringc operation) the rows of bagrs may
he soon.
of an operating spaep. or a comblnaticm of two or more hoods. Hoods of suitable design and location will not only give vastly better results, but will effect a substantial saving in fan power.
Usually it is neither desirable nor feasible to discharge a dust system into the air. A collector of some kind must be used. Electrical percep tion of dust is limited in application to large units and is too familiar to the technical men interested to warrant discussion here.
Dust separators of. the cyclone type are effective for the heavier and the coarser dust, and will remove the bulk of such dust from the air or gas. For the renioyll of fine dust, although a cyclone may be used for roughing out, cloth "bag fillers are used for the last stage of the opera-
Chonical Section
45-5
lion. Tlie design o the filter* depends upon the character of the dust present. The air, or gas, must be fairly dry; if too moist, the filter will clog and the suction deerease_correspondingly.
As ordinarily built, a bag .filler comprises an air chamber into which
the fan discharges the dust-laden air. Kvenly spaced openings in the bottom of the chamber are ^provided with collars for attaching dust bags. These bags, which are: really tubes, extend downward and are fastened to similar collars orcThe top of the receiving hopper. The air from the fan divides among several bags, and filtering through the fabric, lea'ves the dust inside the tube; Most of this dust drops into the hopper below but there is some accumulation and it is necessary to shake the bags once or twice a day.
The arrangement of the bags is such as to leave an aisle between each
WET SiCPARATOR
double row. Formerly, it was the practice to shake the bags by hand; a man, wearing a respirator, entered the hag house for the purpose. For some years past, however, we liave used a device operated from the out side of the bag house, which does the work more effectively and without exposing the man.
The hag-shaking device is a wooden grill work, suspended horizon tally from the ceiling of the bag room. There is a slat of the grill be tween each row of bags. A rod extends from tbe frame of the grillage through the wall of the roomepd connects to a lever on the outside. When the lever is worked hack and. forth, the slats of the grillage shake the rows of bags with which they.are severally in contact.
There is another method in which the result is obtained by momentar
456
Eighth Safety Congress
ily reversing the fan action and collapsing the bags. To describe this method, in detail, would take more time than we have. Obviously the bag filter system cannot be used when the air, or gas. is moist, or when it carries chemicals ^destructive to cotton or woolen fabrics.
For many reasons :a^wet separator, if capable of removing practlcally one hundred per eentr of the dust, would he ideal. The possibility of making a wet separator, which would answer the exacting requirements, came about through researches in an allied line, and I am very glad to say that for the past two months we have been operating a filter of this type with complete success. It handles the capacity of a thirty inch mtiltivane fan and requires only four gallons of water per minute. The con struction is simple aird is less costly than a bag system. Wet or dry gas can be treated, and it is not affected by corrosive fumes, whether acid or alkali. If any of you are interested, it will be a pleasure to hear from you and to supply the details.
Thus far, we have been considering current practice in the manufac ture of lead products. Lead and its compounds are probably more widely used in industry than any other metal. The comparative cost of lead is such that there has been constant pressu're to find substitutes, in spite of which, the uses of lead are increasing rather than diminishing. It is therefore desirable that the sanitary conditions under which these prod
ucts are used, be made as perfect as possible. A large proportion'd! white lead and a steadily increasing proportion of
red lead, are finished with linseed oil as a paste. In this form it is, of course, dustless and therefore entirely free from hazard. The on* ex ception arises when painters sandpaper a painted surface. This is Si hazard which can be entirely avoided, as Dr. Alice Hamilton pointed out in a paper before the Master Painters' convention in Denver. The remedy, in brief, is to moisten the sandpaper in a light mineral oil.
This practice is not only safe but effects a substantial economy in time and does a better job; an illustration that safety pays.
Red lead, until a few years ago, was .necessarily used in dry farm by painters who mixed it on the job. The red lead of this character. If mixed in advance, would harden in the pail almost over night. Some two years of development in laboratory and factory produced commercially a red lead so free from the litharge which caused hardening that red lead and linseed oil paste TE now being widely used. It does a better job and there are certain advantages which makes this safe form of red lead from ten to fifteen per eenT cheaper to use.
Among the large usgrs of white lead in the dry form are. manufacturers of ready mixed paints. To avoid the need of handling this product dry, a steel package was designed of a size suited to the requirement* of the mixed paint industry. Two large concerns have been taking their whole white lead requirements in this paste form for some years past. There is a substantial economy to them and to us, apart from the satis
faction of deliveringifhe goods free from hazard. In the natvire of jthe case, dust control is a large factor with tut
whereas with a nser^Bf lead products it is a small part of his factory
Chemical Section
457
problem. We have bad occasion to go into the subject extensively and
have naturally accumulated experience. Mr. E. J. Cornish, President of
the National Lead Company7 authorizes me to say that the technical
staff of the Company will, at all times, be free to confer with the repre
sentatives of any users of lead products for the purpose of bettering
working conditions.
--
DISCUSSION
Dr. S. Dana Hcisisaro (Division of Industrial Hygiene) : We have had considerable trouble with our batteries. You speak of a container; is that of a sufficiently small size for the small battery manufacturer to
make use of? M. C. P. Tolmax: Yes, that container holds five hundred pounds of
dry -white lead. It is perfectly straight on the inside so that it may be easily and completely emptied. The cover is held in position by a central bolt. The package can be sealed, and so goods of any character can be, shipped in it, under' guarantee.
That package can be easily rolled, and a pair of tongs is supplied for use with an overhead trolly. The package is opened on the floor, over head trolley using the tongs takes it where wanted, and it is conveniently
emptied by tilting. Dr. Ar.iCE Haiiii.tox: I should like to say, in bearing out my testimony
of the great changes which-have taken place in the white lead industry,
Air. Tolman is an insider and I am an outsider. When I think of it as I knew it in 1000 and now, it doesn't seem like the same industry.
He spoke or dumps, but he has not spoken of dry pans and clearing those, as it used to be. I-have seen men shoveling from a dry pan, climbing into it. where they couldn't stand upright. I have seen them in the dust collecting room shaking and beating tbe cotton bags to make the dust fall down. That was less than ten years ago. In some places there has been an enormous change in this industry; I do not believe any
industry has changed so much. With reference to the changes in hospital records: When I went into
cities where white lead was manufactured, the white lead cases headed the lists. In Philadelphia ~they didn't call them lead cases--they were simply such and such. If you go into those cities now. you will find the white lead men have disappeared and you get cases like "soldering" and "can-sealers." There shouldn't be much poisoning from those occu pations because they are. not necessarily dangerous, but nobody has paid any attention to them and the danger is still there.
I want to approve strongly the attitude of the National Lead Company in emphasizing dust. Mr. Tolman has won my gratitude by not saying
anything about the men's finger-nails. I haye heard physicians and em ployers talking about the^orker's finger-nails. I cannot see how his finger-nails do him any harm, unless he sucks his fingers all day long. I don't think he does thaL
In Salt Lake City I was talking to a lead smelter, a very intelligent man, and he said, "You know, those men are very careless--I am telling
4-"jS
.jiEighth Safety Congress
them tlioy ought to scrub their nails."' I saw them dumping a pot: it was inverted, the smoking^red hot ore falling into a grate, and as the dust and fumes lifted a little, I could see the men shoveling and breaking up the bigger fragments--tlaose were the men who were to protect them selves by scrubbing their nails. The poisoning from fingers is still in the minds of physicians =3tnd manufacturers. Remember that a man eats only throe times a day. He doesn't put his fingers in his mouth and soak his fingers in his coffee or soup. It is the dust, as the National l.ead Company has found, which is the principal obstacle to be over come.
Mis. C. r. Tolma.n:--Z should be glad to hear from anybody. I really am iiuile serious in my desire to have the representatives of some of the in dustries that use lead products get together. For example, we furnish white lead to potterieSTin the dry form in many cases. The first opera tion at the pottery is_io mix it with water. We could more easily ship the lead as a wet paste which would he free from the dust hazard. There are. I believe, similar possibilities. Bead products are used in the rub ber industry. I have never been in a rubber factory, but I have an idea that improvement would follow interchange of experiences.
CitAiiaiAx FiksinoGIC The next paper .is the "Dangers in the Manu facture of Dyes," and I am sorry to state that Dr. D. C. Cone of the National Aniline and Chemical Company has been detained. He has, however, sent on an able substitute, Mr. F. W. Barker. Jr.
(Mr. F. W. Barker. Jr., read Dr. Cone's paper. 1
DAN'dMKS IN Til K DVKSTl'KI-* IXIH'STRY
Du. I.. C. Coxk, Xatioxat. Axii.ixe ami Ciikmk ai. ComI'axv,'Bucfalo. N. Y.
The amount of danger in any industry is in Inverse ratio to the knowl edge and experience ;ol the organization operating that industry. If a green crew, under the control of an inexperienced foreman, is em ployed in even so simple an operation as ice-cutting, there are bound to be accidents. Tbealyestuff industry of this country has been, in com parison with our older established industries, in the class of the above ice-cutting experiment^ As a further complication added to inexperience has come the insistent! demand for a large tonnage production of new products. These conditions have accentuated the dangers to such an extent that many serious accidents have resulted. Statistics gathered from our dyestuff and Tntermediates factories during the pasts five years would give a rather alarming picture of the risks of the business. There has been, however, onlhe part of the more stable companies engaged in the industry, no lack-of nnpreciation of the nature of the risks involved. As a result of this appreciation of the dangers, constant progress is now being made in reducing the number and severity of accidents.
\VAR-TJ.\n-: C'HK.M HA X. IHACI.OI'MKMT
Before we forget tile hectic experience of the past five years some chemical genius, with a power of description and a keen sense of humor.
Chemical Section
459
should write - the story of tha_- war-time chemical development of this country. Many events in this development have the elements of sub limely ridiculous humor in them- One instance I have in mind where two college boys, without industrial experience, rented an old, abandoned, windowless brewery, with broken wooden floors, and a couple of rusty boilers. In this building they installed a makeshift aniline plant, and in spite of every handicap, made aniline and sold it at a profit. It took American ingenuity and grit to make this plant go, and perhaps it also required American inexperience. An experienced aniline operator would have foreseen too many dangers to have ever started the project. Statis tics of accidents from that and similar plants could hardly be considered the normal risk of our business! The proprietors themselves were always blue about the lips, and many a night they were just able to struggle home, get into a tub of warm water, drink a glass of milk, take a dose of salts, and go to bed. Is it. not a wonder that, with the large number of such plants scattered all oygi- the country, built by inexperience, and operated in spite of all hygieujg laws, that the list of fatal accidents has not been greater? Gradually However, we have been learning, partly by experience and partly by study, more about the risks of our business until today the hazards of the well-regulated dyestuff factory are little greater than the hazards of ajtfy: mechanical plant containing a large and varied assortment of moving^Jrrachtnery.
The chemical risks of the industry are largely centered about the manu facture of intermediates. The dangers of aniline, nitro benzol, binitrobenzol, binitrotoluol, etc., have been so frequently discussed, and the methods used by companies lflce our own for minimizing the risks of these manufacturers so thoroughly described, that there is no need to go into this matter at this timej
Our company has never suffered a fatality from any of these poisons although we have had someurery sick men. Under the conscientious watchfulness of Dr. Kessler,"uf our Marcus Hook plant, the number of such cases has become relatively small. I am certain that if any safety man desires further detailed information in regard to our methods of handling these cases. Dr. Kessler in response to an inquiry would be more than willing to acquaint him with our experience.
The experience of our Buffalo works is the. most illuminating experi ence of auy of our plants, because in that factory is concentrated prac tically every risk of the dyestuff industry. While we do mot make ani line there we handle enormous quantities of the product under a very wide variety of conditions. WT make and use large quantities of binitro benzol, binitro chlorbenzol, and other poisonous products. In the first six months of 191S, as shown bv the table given on page `160, our serious chemical accidents were 21 iitjiumber against 59 of a mechanical nature, or 26.2 per cent. The first six months of 1919 there were 13 severe chemical accidents against 36 severe mechanical accidents, or 26.5 per cent. These figures, taken from a report by Mr. Doepke, our safety engineer, show that even under the rather strenuous conditions of high production pre-
'JJ. Tncl. ISne. Chera. VIII; 5T3371161; (lOlfi).
1 17.21 23.78
T o ta l M on-C hem ical................ 82,79 76.22 T o ta l C hem ical......................... 17.21 23.78 G rand T o ta l.................................100% 100%
J a n u a r y - J u ly 1919
COMPARATIVE ACCIDENT REPORT, 1918-1919-- FREQUENCY AND SEVERITY
460 1
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No. Minor Accidents
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38.16
^Eighth Safety Congress
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Total Non-Chemical....................80.66 18.91 Total Chem ical......................... 19.34 81.0G Grand T o ta l.................................100% 100%
1918__________
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Chemical Section-
461
TIME LOST, JANUARY-JU LY, 1919
No. Of ISTo. of No. of Time-Lost Days Minor
Total Total Hours Hours Safety
Accidents Tost Accidents Worked Lost Efficiency
Mechanical Department 18 203 90 749,343 1.G24 99.7S
Process Department ..... 30 739 12S 1,085,167 7,19S 99.34
Miscellaneous ...................
1
4 6 513,590 32 99.99
Total ....................................- 49 946 224 2,348,100 S.S54 99.62
vailing during these periods, and during the very unsatisfactory labor conditions of 1918, the mechanical accidents far surpassed the chemical accidents. A. closer analysis of the preceding accident chart would show that the majority of these accidents are of the preventable type. Acid burns, alkali burns, fume,poisoning and eye accidents can, by education and constant watchfulness, be reduced to a very low point. As trained safety men you are more familiar than I with the methods which are- in use for bringing about these results.
Omitting further discussion in regard to these ordinary causes of chemical accidents I wish to call attention to what I consider to be the greatest hazard of the dyestuff industry today, at least from the stand-
the explosion' tusk
Q
point of severity of results. This is the explosion risk. From this cause alone we suffered three fatalities in 1918. These fatalities occurred in one instance where a considerable quantity of explosive dye Ignited and killed three men. Recoffls of the dyestuff industry during the last two
or three years especiallyr have been full of reports of similar accidents at other plants. The disastrous Are at the plant of the Atlantic Dye stuff Company In KTyacESSN'- Y., was caused by an explosion. According to the September 1 issuer of the Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry (page 893), there was recently-another serious dyestuff ex plosion in Boston, Mass. ^Practically every dyestuff company in the coun try has had more or less experience along the same lines. This is a hazard which chemists JEhd safety men must inform themselves about and which they must guard against more carefully. The greatest risks of explosions about dyesSIff plants are tbree in number: Explosions ot dyes and intermediates, explosions of pressure kettles, and explosions
of vapors mixed with air. The type of explosion which has caused our greatest loss is the ex
plosion of dyes themselves. We have been prone to forget that dyes are organic compounds, soiEQtof them closely related to explosives. We have not accustomed ourselves to consider each new dye as a possible .ex plosive but have gone ahead, powdering and grinding our products in blissful ignorance until an accident has called our attention to the dan-
4fi2
fTitfh 1 h Stiff i >f ratujrr-ss
ger. A dve widely xtsed for khaki shades on wool during the war, was known as chrome yellow. This was made in very large quantities, dried, ground, packed, and shipped. It is doubtful if a single producer of this dye tested this material for its explosive properties before they began to
produce it on a commercial scale, yet as I could quickly demonstrate to you by igniting a small portion of the dye. its quick burning properties render it mure dangerous than many of our violent explosives. It is fur
ther doubtful if a single ,pr<ducer of tin's dye escaped the penalties of his failure to test the product. One large producer informed me that tlie total profits from his company's manufacture of this dye had been lost through disastrous fires and accidents. The same tiling is true of an other widely-us*d chrome" dye. which is frequently known as metachrome brown. This product hasjjeen the cause of at least three disastrous explosions in different companies to my own knowledge. With these ex periences in mind we shaVL he very remiss in our duties if we do not examine every new dye for its explosive properties. A general rule, well known to chemists who have dealt with explosives, indicates wliat classes of dyes are apt t<_develop explosive characteristics. This rule may be summed up very =j-oughly as follows: "lie extremely critical toward dyes which are to he handled in the form of dry powders unless they are well supplied with sulphonic acid groups."
Even after the dye is given a clean bill of health lsy the chemist be cause of its composition. It. would not he remiss to have the dye tested before drying and powdering. This is a service which the dye producers owe to their consumers as well as to their employees, for many dyes are mixed in mills and exposed to conditions which might. In a sensi tive product, produce explosions.
With this danger of dye ^explosion eliminated, the next explosion risk which the chemical industry faces, is that of pressure kettles. Chem istry at high pressure hasronly begun its development in this country. Processes which have normally been considered impossible are gradually being carried out under conditions of high pressure. The best illustra tion of this is the Haber synthesis of ammonia from nitrogen and hydro gen. This reaction -will not take place between the two gases under at mospheric pressure but when the two gases are brought together at very high pressure in the presence of a catalyst at elevated temperature, the two unite to a certain extent to form ammonia. With the growth of otir American chemical industry, reactions of this type will bo more and more largely introduced into our manufacturing plants. As they are
introduced, the explosion hazard will become greater and greater, and the safety men must cooperate closely with the technical engineers to see that every possible precaution is taken against disastrous results to our workmen and to our plantsjt has been rumored that the very important, intermediate, paranitraniline. has been made commercially by only one process in this country because another process, which offers many advan tages, has a great explosion risk connected with it owing to very high pressure. If the American dyestuff industry is to be permanently successful, it must not permit itself to berestrained because of high pressure explosion
Chemical Section
4G3
risks. The control of this risk is primarily of com-se a technical engineer ing problem, but after thg^ engineering lay-out is complete the safety man will find his opportunity to provide such appliances and such con
ditions as will give minimum destruction to life and property in case the engineering equipment ever fails.
The risks of explosion dug^to the ignition of mixtures-and combustible vapors with air are already thoroughly appreciated by the technical and safety men. 1 only wish tcl call attention to the fundamental principles which must be followed in jsafety precautions to avoid explosions of this kind. While every effort to keep flames away from inflammable mixtures is commendable, these precautions alone will never entirely prevent igni tion of explosive mixtures.^ Every effort must be concentrated on pre venting the formation of such mixtures. Many disastrous explosions have occurred where every precaution has been taken to avoid the presence of all sources of fire. It is Trover possible entirely to do away with the chance formation of eitlieiLjj-iclional or electrical sparks. These are apt to be formed at most unexpected times, and at these times, if an explo sive mixture of air and vajjor is present, an unexplained disaster results. One of the most disastrous explosions I have ever witnessed, in which a large and well equipped plant was completely destroyed, was due to a chance frictional spark. Tg this particular case, every effort had been taken to avoid the proximity of flames to the combustible material, but a few simple precautions to prevent the formation of explosive mixtures had
been overlooked.
__
As an illustration of the extreme difficulty of preventing ignition by
chance sparks I will cite a case of my own observation where a large
amount of toluene was stqggd in a glass enamelled steel tank. It never occurred to the operators^jJLiat a glass enamelled steel tank is an ideal electrical condenser. The sontents of the tank were not grounded in any way. A leak of toluene from the bottom valve soaked the floor under the tank; the workman in attempting to repair this leak, made connection be tween the contents of the Tank and the floor through a wire in bis hand; Llie toluene on the floor immediately became ignited. Quick-witted work men threw a, few shovels of snow, which happened to he convenient, over the burning toluene and succeeded in smothering the flame before it ig nited the tank. All of tba^conditions for a disaster were there present. An examination of the copfflitions surrounding this flare caused us imme
diately to ground the contents of each storage tank through a large sized
copper wire.
_=ei
For handling problems3| this kind the safety engineer must have a
very clear appreciation ofjQhe fundamental principles of both physics and
chemistry, and must further work in close touch with the technical men
of his own organization. By such close cooperation and the careful study
of each accideut that occugs it wilL be gradually possible to eliminate the explosion risks of our industry.
Citaikmax Fikkixcki:; _We are ready for the discussion of Dr. Cone's
paper,
--
464
Eighth Safety Congress
-- DISCUSSION
Mr. I_. A. DeBi.ois (Er I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.) : I should,
like to ask the speaker whether it is his idea .that in that accident he
mentioned, the charge of static electricity on the contents of the tank
came from the liquid in the tank or from outside?
Mr. Barker: We know; that an anhydrous liquid in Jet form is cap
able of producing static electricity--there have been fires from that
cause. We know from our personal experience and experiments that the
motion of any known ^conducting, dry material--wood-pulp, sawdust,
flour, nitrate of soda, sulphur--will generate static electricity.
AIk. D. F. Co.nku.v: I should like to ask him how the company takes
care of the reaction of the chemical--by personal control, or automatic
means, or safety valves, or how?
Mb. Barker: It is dong" mostly by personal means. On all of our ni
trifications we have duplicate thermometers--one recording thermometer
and one indicating thermometer--and these thermometers are watched by
the operators.
Mr. Conki.in:
Mr. Barker:
How many operators do you use?
That depends--perhaps three for
each
kettle.
I think
that is the safest way to . One moment's inattention would prove fatal.
Mr. DeBi.ois: It might be of interest to know that in the nitrating
houses, where you have the worst possibilities, due to rapid rise of tem
perature of reaction, the nitration is hand controlled by a man who never
leaves the stool and he has to be replaced by a helper. The shut-off cock
on the glycerin is automatic. In other words, as soon as the man's hand
is taken off the cock, the flow of glycerin stops.
Mr. K. W. Barker, .lit.: The gentleman from the Goodyear Company
asked about the treatment.of aniline cases. Our medical department has
had surprisingly good results with the treatment of aniline cases. The
plugging tests have shown surprisingly good results in the course of
five or six weeks after the man had been taken out of the process and
taken away from the fumes.
Mu. EnwAiin >r. Coffin (Associated Industries of Massachusetts). I
should like to ask for a bit of information regarding static electricity:
What has been the best method of reducing that from belts?
Mr. C. P. Toi.ni an: Tlie best method is to get rid of the belts.
Mr. Com.v: It was suggested to me that a chrome belt offered less
hazard.
.T
Mr. Toi.man: Don't use it. A cotton belt may be better. '
Dk. S. Dana Hria-.Aicn: In the printing press work, particularly, in
making color work, we Jiave had trouble with spoiling paper. In the
press of the "New York World" they have demagnetized, by a process of
chroming--a secret process of chemical, treatment--and they are printing
at maximum speed. You can see these colored articles, one on top of an
other. and they do not stfjear.
Mr. Coffin: We met the same problem and got around it by grounding
the shaft and treating the belt with a mixture of glycerin and water,
which may be applied once a month--it doesn't have any deteriorating
effect on the belt.
Chemical Section
460
I have noted, with interest, in the dry cleansing establishment there
is a serious hazard in the cleansing of silk gowns, particularly where
there is metallic trimming, and I found one concern was overcoming that
difficulty in grounding the contents by introducing a damp piece of linen.
ChAirmak Fiesixger: In connection with Dr. Cone's paper, Mr. Bar
ker stated, I think, these statistics will be of interest.
Mb. H. F. Doepke (National Aniline and Chemical Company) : I shall
read some figures from this chart and shall be pleased to answer any
questions.
___
(Mr. Doepke read chart. _See page 460.)
Mb. Li. A. DeBlois : I should like to ask whether the occupational dis
eases are included.
Mr. Doepke: It does no_ include dermatitis. We had thirty-seven
cases in 1918, as compared WTEh. twenty-two in 1919, and the average loss
to benzoin dermatitis is two days. That is due to few men who have
been negligent to the doctor^ orders.
Mr. DeBeois: That paper is extremely interesting because it shows
how low the rate can be brought in the chemical plant. I should like to
cite one instance in my own_mind: With a group of one hundred and
sixty men in aniline manufacture at our works, up till night before last
they had gone within two days of a year without a major accident. I
mean by a major accident, an accident that involves more than the day
or shift on which the man is working. That shows how low you can go.
Mr. Doepke: I have tried_to take out an accident policy and in stat
ing my profession I was refused a policy. 1 quoted this incident to the
management and .this is what they said:
"From our knowledge of the aniline by-product game as it is now
played, we are inclined to look with disfavor upon any liability, or acci
dent, or health risk in connexion therewith. We have made a deep study
of the chemical trades and wtr ai'e well up-to-date on all the latest methods
and products."
-_s
While the average American citizen may not boast of having In
dulged in deep studies of the chemical trades, we will share the views
of the insurance company, just quoted, to the effect that our industry
has an ill reputation, not only locally, hut wherever man meets man.
Focus your attention upon^tlie graphic chart at the bottom of the ex
perience sheet, and you will know why this reputation is as unfortunate
as it is unfounded.
To substantiate Mr. DeBlois' statement, in 1918 we had two severe
cases, resulting iu fifteen days' loss and two minor cases, which totals
0.S9 per cent in frequency and 0.7 per cent in severity.
As far as benzol dermatitis is concerned, our physician has made up a
solution of grain alcohol, bi-chloride of mercury and epsom salts, and
when applied to the workman, who was suffering with benzol dermati
tis;, and kept there, it guaranteed a cure in two days.
Mr. F. W. Barker, Jr.: I might say the greatest stride we made at our
plant was the installation _xjf an efficient medical department. We have
a physician on all the time during the day and he has as his assistant.
4C,C,
Righth Safety Congress
a technologist, who makes a business of taking blood counts and making
urinalysis tests, and besides that he has a first-aid on, both day and
night,
I want to emphasize the benefits derived from this technologist. We
are able to make an examination once a month of every man connected
with nitrol work and make a study of his blood and find out whether he
is going backwards or forwards.
Adjournment.
^
FRIDAY" MORNING SESSION
r--|--vine meeting was called to order at 0:40 A. M., Chairman Fiesinger
I presiding.
j
Chairman Fiesixokk: Kb doubt some of you people know the Chemi
cal Section sent a letterZlo each one of its members last year for sug
gested subjects for our program. This year we got so few replies, we
thought this would be a Xerv good time to pass slips around, and if you
have any suggestions anCwouId like to submit them for next year's pro
gram. they will be of great assistance to the program committee.
The first order of business tliis morning is the report of the Nominating
Committee. Mr. S. H. Kershaw, the Chairman, will report.
REPORTDF NOMINATING COMMITVKK
Mu. S. 11. Kershaw (Hercules Powder Company): Your- Nominating
Committee wishes to report the following nominations for the next term
of office: Mr. I. V. Kepner. Pennsylvania Sait. Mfg. Co., Chairman. Mr. S. H. Kershaw. Hercules Powder Co.. Vice Chairman.
Mr. Henry F*. Doepke, National Aniline & Chemical Co.. Secretary.
These men were elects.> Chairman Fiksin..ku: The first paper on the program this morning is
one which I know we arejill very much interested in. We have heard so much about gas masks--Fbelieve wo are all at sea--we do not know what can be had. so this morning we have a man who has put a great deal of study on this subject. He has been doing research work for the gas defense of the Bureau of Mines, during the war, and also for the Chemical Warfare Service of the War Department. He was not in the production end but in research work, and since the close of the war he lias taken up bis dulieimrgain in the Massachusetts Institute of Tech nology. We are fortunate in having him with us this morning; I have great pleasure in introducing Dr. AV. K. T.ewis.
CONTI?C>IXINGAELVC'L'OKB IN' GAS MASK DESIGN
Du. W. K. I.KWis, M_\ssal-iirsirrrs Institute ok Tkcunoi.oiiv, Camuuiiior
The introduction of the use of toxic gases during the war made necessary."the development of suitable masks for protection against then?-
Chemical 8ection
467
In. connection with, this development, a large amount of research work
was carried on and the research results were put Into practice in the
manufacture of millions of military masks. Furthermore, these masks
were continually in process ofi improvement, so that by the end of the
war extremely effective types had been evolved. From all of this work
a large amount of information is available, which should be of the
greatest value in solving the problems of protection against toxic gases
encountered in the industries.
During the war toxic gases were encountered only when admixed with
air. This article will therefore, he restricted to the discussion of
masks designed to absorb tojcic gases from air, i. e., masks functioning
essentially as air filters of phrifiers, leaving out of consideration oxy
gen helmets and similar defaces intended to furnish an artificial air
supply. It is, however, probable that the majority of problems arising
in industrial practice require^air purification alone, so that the military
experience of the war should. be immediately available for industrial
use.
^
KKCiTJIHESjEXTS FOR PROTECTION
A suitable mask for protection against toxic gases mast meet the
following requirements:
--
Cl)' The chemical protection must be adequate,
e., the toxic gas
must he removed fro the air so completely that any remain*
ii'ig traces are physiologically harmless.
(2) The mask must be throughout mechanically tight so that all In
haled air is forced to pass through the absorbing medium.
(3) 'The mask must be capable of easy, quick, and safe adjustment; *
if possible, adjustment should require little or no training of the
wearer.
(4) The mask should be comfortable in fit and operation.
(5) The mask should be as small in size and weight as is compatible
with other requirements. (6) Ruggedness in construction and perfection in mechanical details
aye of the utmost importance to insure satisfactory service.
(7) The life of the mask should be as long as possible.
From the military point
view, the size and weight of the mask
and the ruggedness of its construction are of extreme importance, and,
furthermore, the chemical protection of the mask must be universal,
i. e.r the mask must absorb any toxic gas which it is possible for the
enemy to utilize, including tlyt lachrymatory gases. From the industrial
point of view, size and weight are less important than in military
use, so that the industrial mask will probably introduce improvements at
the expense of Increase in size. The industrial mask does not have to
give universal protection and in this regard possesses a great advantage
over the military mask. The industrial mask can be designed to give
the maximum possible protection for the one gas against which it is to
be employed.
4GS
Eighth Safety Congress
CHEMICAL PROTECTION
Two types of chemical absorbents were developed during the war, namely. Impregnated cloth and solid, granular absorbents contained in a suitable canister. The cloth masks were simple in construction and relatively comfortable to wear, but they lacked the advantage of uni versality in protection. On this account they were ultimately discarded for military use. For industrial use against gases which, can be suit ably absorbed in this way, they will probably offer the cheapest and most satisfactory protection.
The most important solid absorbents developed were soda lime and absorbent charcoal. Mixtures of these were employed in the military masks, and together these two absorbents, when properly manufactured and used, offer protection against all toxic gases except carbon monox ide. In the military mask it was necessary to use a mixture which would furnish the best average protection against all gases that might he en countered. In commercial practice, the granular filling would be chosen for the particular gas in question. For most acid gases soda lime is essential, but it often functions best when mixed with varying amounts of charcoal. Properly -prepared charcoal absorbs gases very quickly, and acid gases are frequently taken up first by the charcoal and grad ually released, then being transferred to the soda lime by which they are permanently absorbed. *
Many of the more inert gases are not absorbed by soda lime and for such gases the canister_should be filled with charcoal alone. Charcoal offers perfect protection against such gases as gasolene, benzol, ani line, carbon bisulphide, and the like. Since these gases are encoun tered almost always in mixture with air, there no longer remains an excuse for industrial poisoning from these gases when the individual exposed to them is aware of their presence in advance. For such, gases, however, relatively large masks are desirable because the absorptive power of the charcoal for them is limited. The charcoal which, has accomplished these remarkable results was developed' by the Research Laboratories of the National Carbon Company and at Nela Park In this city, and is now being ^manufactured for industrial use.
HKCIIANICAT. TIGHTNESS
The mechanism of gEs leaks through the canister or other absorb ing element is too complicated for discussion here. Protection against this type of leak must depend upon the proper design of the mask. The point of major importance to the user is the question of the fit of the mask to the individual wearer.
During the war three types of fit' were developed. The first involved a seal around the neek and chest. This mask is necessarily restricted to one of impregnated clotjj. the mask consisting of a sack fitted with gog gles and preferably also with an exhalation tube, the sack being tucked down under the coat around the neck and shoulders. Such, a mask is cheap, simple in construction, relatively comfortable, and well worth consideration for use in tbose industries where such an absorbent
* Chemical Section
469
Is satisfactory. The second type of fit employed, a face piece fitted over the forehead, down, across the cheeks, and under the chin. Both the French and German masks were of this type, the French mask: being constructed of absorbent cloth, and the German, mask employing a canis ter. Toward the end of the war this country also developed a mask of
this type. The impregnated cloth mask of this type is even more satis factory than the sack type of mask wherever its use is allowable. The third fit developed involved the use of a mouthpiece in connection with a nose clip to insure breathing through the mouth only. In order to protect against lachrymatories, the military mask of necessity utilized this fit in connection with the second type, thus securing double pro tection against mechanical leaks. In many industries this second pro
tection might be unnecessary. Wherever a canister mask is necessary, one or both of the last two
types of fit are essential,
ADJUSTMENT OF MASK TO WEARER
For safety and "fool-proof-ness/' it is believed that the mouthpiece-
nose clip type of fit is the best. Even this mask requires a certain
amount of instruction of the wearer. The mouthpiece must be inserted
and the nose must be closed in order to make the mask safe. The fore
head-cheek fit requires some experience in adjustment but is safe when
properly used.
"T
COMFORT
The forehead-cheek fit is by far the most comfortable. Even in this type, to insure comfort in use requires great care in manufacture. The writer is convinced that! for emergency use by operatives who are only occasionally exposed tojanger, the mouthpiece-nose clip mask should be employed, for although exceedingly uncomfortable, the operative would 'not object to using it during an emergency. For long continued use at regular periods, this, mask should not be considered. The foreOb ead-cheek type of fit is so much more comfortable that an operative who is to wear a mask for any length of .time should be trained in the use of this type.
Ease of breathing is a great factor in comfort. To get low resistance, the canister should be as large as possible, and of 'Targe section, but in the design of the canister these points must be balanced against weight and a proper ratio of length to section in order to insure protection.
SIZE AND WEIGHT
The military mask was small in order to keep from over-burdening
the soldier. Even at that the military mask offered excessive protection
because in the open air_ of the battlefield gas concentrations were ex tremely low. In buildings gas concentrations are likely to be very much
higher and ,mucli largen. masks will become necessary. It would, seem
that in the industries the mask size can be increased without undue dis
advantage.
..
470
Rif/hfh Safety Gonf/resS
CONSTRUCTION
Ruggedness of construction should never be sacrificed to decrease in. weight or size, Mechanical perfection in construction is of the greatest importance and can be guaranteed only by rigid inspection during manu facture. I.o- cost of the mask should never be secured by lessening the protection. The testing of the mask under service conditions is of the utmost importance to guarantee its satisfactory performance in emer gency. This testing should be carried out by the industries themselves, because they alone are familiar with the actual conditions under which the mask must he employed
DURABILITY
A mask should have a life exceeding the period of any emergency for which it can possibly be .employed. This requires a relatively large mask. In this connection, "one must keep in mind the point already made, that under industrial conditions gas concentration will be much higher than in military service.
The proper design of a gas mask is an extremely complicated prob lem, requiring the attention of experts trained at this work. Such experts, however, must work in close cooperation with the organiza tions using the mask, since otherwise the mask will not be properly correlated to the requirements. It is, fortunately, possible to secure ex pert advice In mask construction from the Bureau of Mines, since this organization has had years of experience in mask development and still retains on its staff many of those men most active in the development of the military mask during the war. No industry should choose a mask for protection against toxic gases without securing first the co operation and advice of thecstaff of the Bureau of Mines.
DISCUSSION
11b. "Walter Greenwood (Carnegie Steel Company): We have to contend
with carbon monoxide, but in some branches we have large quantities of
dust, and in the allied industries, of the iron and steel industries, I see
large quantities of dust that must be analogous to the substance which
gave the nailers consumption.
In cleaning out a blast furnace, to get it ready for relighting, we have
large quantities of dust; also in our slag plants. We found, at least in
my experience, that all of_these filtering masks which are put on the
market are not suitable or satisfactory.
I would inquire if this French mask and other specimens that are ex
hibited here would be suitable for our industry to filter the dust? I do
not think it is necessary to (protect the eyes, but to take care to filter the
air they inhale.
iTL
Dr. W. K. Lewis: With Regard to the two questions: first, carbon
monoxide, the Navy developed that during the war, but it is my under
standing that the information with regard to that is "military informa
tion." I am sure the military department will release that and I am
Chemical Section
ill
sure carbon monoxide protection will be available very shortly. Second, with regard to dust protection against smoke; this was one of the im portant developments of the. war. You noted these pads they were to re move smoke, practically dust particles. The particles which this- mask faced were extremely fine^r Coarser particles have also been removed. This filter has the disadvantage of having a high resistance. The French mask will take care of almost any dust conditions. When the dust gets serious, it will be necessary^ to find finer filtering media.
Mlt. L. A. DuBr.ois: In the industries we are faced today with a great number of commercial firfns that have put on the market army gas masks, or modifications ofJhe army type of gas masks; otherwise, we have no real source of information as to what masks to use in our works, how long they may be used, or really any solution for the specific working problems,
Some of you have gases. with which you are not familiar. You may have a fire and lose two osLIhree men from inhalation of the fume. This brings on edema of the lungs--it is an acid fume poisoning proposition. There are no immediate ill effects of any serious nature, but a delayed attack of a serious nature*, causing the men finally to succumb. Per haps that problem put in=writing to the manufacturer of gas masks might lead to an erroneous? assumption of what took place.
It seems to me, and I think it is Dr. Lewis' opinion, we ought to have some agency of government, or perhaps a body of the National Safety Council, some agency in the country which could furnish more definite
advice on gas mask protection in the industries. Dr. W. K. Lewis: With. regard to this suggestion of Mr. DeBIois, I
feel very strongly that there should he some unprejudiced central or ganization to function irrjhe choice of gas masks for the indnstrles. The manufacturer of the mask, however good his intentions, is. of neces sity, a somewhat prejudiced party. There is no manufacturer of gas masks in this country today who has the whole story, who turns out all types of masks, who hasta staff adequate to meet the many problems that come up.
The testing of gas masks! is of the utmost importance. It is worse to give a man a defective mly|k than it is to give him no mask at all. be cause that defective mask inspires in him a feeling of confidence which will lead him to go into places where, without a mask, he would never
dream of going. The testing of such masks, however, should he carried out not by the
manufacturer, becatise, as~I say, be is a prejudiced party, nor by the user, because he is not afgas mask expert. He has entirely too many other problems to solve i n_take the time to master the technique of gas mask jjroduction and testing. This testing should be carried out by some unprejudiced organizationv"\vho could he implicitly relied upon.
Mr. Edward M. Coffi-s" (Associated Industries of Massachusetts): Pos sibly the Underwriters Laboratories in Chicago, that have recently gone into safety work, in addition to the standardization of fire apparatus,
would he interested.
II
r
474
Eighth Safety Congress
Mu. A. H. Massey <E. 1. duZPont de Nemours & Co.): Recently I visited
a small paint plant which dur Company took over. They had a home
made facepiece, similar to the Tissot faeei>iece. with possibly three
hundred feet of one-inch rubber hose, using a small hand pump for air. I
was talking to the repair men who used that apparatus and they were
very much pleased with it. -^r-
A!it. 11. P. DokimvI-:: I should like to ask Mr. .lames whether he en
countered the hazard of the .rubber hose becoming twisted, cutting out the air supply?
Mji. .1. D. .Jamks: We have never had a particle of trouble with our
hose connection. The check valve that is connected with the canister
there for filtering purposes, at the off end where we are receiving the
fresh air. maintains a steady flow.
Mit. Ira V. Kki'xkk: I would like to ask the size of the hose and kind
you use.
Mis. J. I). -Jamks: Three-ouarter inch rubber garden hose.
Mit. A. H. Massey: The hose I spoke of was one inch wire wrapped. You cannot twist that liose_3=
Mu. .1. D. James: 1 feared something of that sort would happen and
had a man there in charge of that hose, because we did not want to
smother the man. He saw that there is no twist in the hose.
Mit. A. I,,. Thompson t E. L (In 1'ont de Nemours & Co.): I should like
to ask if you have come in contact with two hundred and fifty foot hose,
hasn't the man a pretty huxd time with that weight? You will find
that in many cases the operator is going to object to that lift and that
helmet.
*
Mr. -I. D_ Jajiks: W'e liavaji belt around the mall's waist and the hose is fastened on this belt with tCrubber belt, and he has no weight whatever.
Mn. C. E. Rick < The Dow Chemical Company): Twenty years ago we
were interested in the bleach manufacture of lime. We designed a
mask or liood to put on, something on the order of a bonnet, with a wire
frame and inlets for air around the crown of head. Air was furnished
under pressure. I should be glad to furnish you with any information
you want on that.
Mn. N. S. Noiu.e (B. F. Goodrich Company): Relative to the hose to be
used, I would suggest they use a large wire inserted, instead of wire
wound, similar to a vacuum cleaner.
Mit. .'J. H. Baunuoi.t (E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.) : Just two weeks
ago 1 tried Mr. James' idea lout personally in. our naptlialine subliming
chambers and camphor subluiiing chambers, and while we only had a
half-inch, three-ply hose the fact remains it did not. work. We finally
compressed the line and supplied the employee with one pound air
pressure and that has been perfectly satisfactory.
Do you think, Mr. .lanies.'UDie half-inch hose would cut off any notice
ably adequate air supply, asrebmpared with your three-quarter hose?
Mb. J. D. James: Yes, there is a great difference in friction. We
haven't .suffered any inconvenience whatever from the air.
Dit. A. D. Ristkmx (The Travelers Insurance Company) : Mr. Chairman,
Chemical Section
4-15
Air. James seems to be the text for this discussion and I would like to
make the suggestion that the success or failure of his plan appears to
me to depend upon the question of leakage around the face mask. He
has evidently been very successful in preventing such leaks and when
you can protect that lealiageEyou have a fine mask: but some day may it
not happen that there wilTTje a leak around the mask and the man
suffer from a dose of moiraxide? The point I have in mind is, even
though it does call for somsradditional apparatus, isn't it a good thiug
to have the man draw his air supply into his lungs from what I might
call a plenum rather than aracuum? Any leakage will be from the inside
out and therefore the man Will not be harmed, whereas if the friction in
the intake pipe causes a slight vacuum, then if there fs any leakage, it Is
bound to introduce carbon hjpnoxide. I only make that suggestion to em
phasize the extreme importance, as it seems to me, of being sure that the
mask is tight to the face. __ 1)K. W. K. Lewis: There^are two points that have been brought up
upon which I think I cahiglve you some information. During the war
we did a large amount oflpxperimental work, as we literally had mil
lions of men exposed to gas^and a great many of those were gassed aril
we know the conditions under which they were gassed. We carried on
thousands of experiments. ^
In the first place, I wish fp reiterate my statement that for use against carbon monoxide under eajgLItions where it Is applicable, this extended
hose method appeals to me as the best thing available. Why? Because,
as I said before, when carbon monoxide is present, oxygen is likely to he
absent. On the other hand, if you are drawing your air outside you
are sure Of no monoxide and you are sure of good air. However, if a
man has to go up and ddwh ladders, or travel around too much with this hose tied to his waistElie cannot do it. There are going to be some
places where the carbon jopnoxide mask is going to. be necessary.
Let us take napthalene or camphor, both of which have been men
tioned; I wouldn't think allusing a hose if I was going to use the mask.
What I would use 'is a canister mask equipped with proper charcoal, but
the choice of that charcoaljs the whole sto.ry and I would test that char
coal before I went into the-atmosphere--I wouldn't accept charcoal from
anybody.
I
This absoi-bent charcoal, will absolutely, quantitatively, remove cam
phor, benzol, carbon hi-sulphide, any of these gases.
I wouldn't go into a tank car with a three-quarter inch wire hose Lied
to me, and I don't think you would, hut I would he willing to go into a tank car with a mask which I knew would absorb all the benzol in the
atmosphere.
Suppose that there is sn much benzol that there is only five per cent
of oxygen--a man cannot live on that. On the other hand, that oxygen
is air when he sticks that In the benzol and his oxygen goes up to twenly-
oue per cent. The point iSTeach problem must he analyzed for itself and
solved for itself.
With regard to hose resistance, you cannot have it too small, but a
476
Eighth Safety Congress
properly designed Tissot facepiece will never leak enough, with any
suction that a man can pull, to. gas that man in a CO atmosphere, with
the combustion of carbon With the oxygen in the air. Why, this Tissot
mask will never leak one per cent of the air when it is properly fitted.
If you have any doubts about that, employ the mouthpiece and nose-
piece mask--he is safe, but uncomfortable. In a chlorin atmosphere, or
a phosgene atmosphere, a Tissot mask always gives safety, if the mask
is properly adjusted.
__
The necessity for expert advice as to the type of mask to be used in each
individual case, after a careful study of the conditions under which it is
to be employed, is the prime necessity for us to recognize.
On the western front wezput gas masks into use, the leakage of one
part of fifty millionths of which would have killed the ' soldier. The
percentage of the gas leakage around the facepiece is negligible and yet
there was a gas one part of fifty millionths of which was toxic, so you see
that was much more dangerous. I don't wish you to misunderstand me;
I know the danger of carbon monoxide, but it is only when the concen
tration is high. I would nofyant to wear an absorbent mask with fifteen per cent carbon monoxide because I wouldn't have enough oxygen left.
.Mr. I. A. Palmer (Mine Safety Appliances Company): We are work
ing on the carbon monoxide^mask; it would he of help to us if we could
get an idea of the average percentages of monoxide that the various plants
contend with. Mr. McCaktii v: The average Is fifteen per cent; it will vary accord
ing to the conditions that surround the furnace plant.
Mb. P.\t:r. F1. Williams :<1S- 1. du Pont de Nemours & Co.): I should like to ask Dr. Lewis how you would take care of the proposition where
you have a phosgene cylinder and the bottom blows out, and you go in and
stop up the leak?
^
Dr. W. K. Lewis: There would be no trouble in going into a phosgene concentration, provided there is any air in the room, a good absorber, and
a large enough canister. In the face of such a risk as that, you ought to
have a canister ten times jtbe size of this. I will go into that room if
you will give me a large enough canister with the present type of mask.
The Chairman asked me how I would protect myself against ammonia.
Any acid solvent is effective against that; there are canisters offering
such protection. The skin~c&nnot stand the irritation of more than four
per cent of ammonia. Any man going into four per cent of ammonia is driven out by the irritation of skin--it is impossible to send a man into
that room.
With regard to dimmingr that is a large question. There were two
years of active research on that problem and a number of solutions of
the dimming difficulty were found. Unfortunately, they were rather com
plicated, from a military point of view. I don't think I ought to go into
those in detail. The solution employed by the army, up to the end of
the war, was the use of a especial soap mixture smeared on the inside of
the glass to form an absorbed layer of water, causing the condensed
water to run in a clean sheet. You know the mixture on a windshield
Chemical Section
477
on an automobile which causer the rain to run down in a clean sheet
and does not form in droplets^--that was employed with the gas masks
and it is satisfactory. From a military point of view, the protection ul
timately breaks dovn:,and in order to renew the protection the mask
must be removed and a fresh supply of soap supplied. From a military
point of view, where a man used it twenty-four hours, that was serious;
from an industrial point of View, you don't expect them to wear it over
an hour and the best emulsifying agencies on the market will give pro
tection for that length of time. Some of the mechanical appliances are very complicated.* You will notice in this Tissot mask the inhaled air
is hrbught up and directed over the eyepiece, so the eyepieces are always
swept with air and kept clean. In a cold storage house that will dim,
but not completely. In a cold-storage bouse you will freeze over the out
side rim, but we have never frozen over that bole in the center abont the
size of half a dime. Those are drastic conditions which you wouldn't
find everywhere. Dimming ig_ one of the most serious problems in gas
mask construction. Mb. H. H. Porter (Newport Chemical Works): Speaking of the dim
ming of the army gas mask: We have been using those masks with
just the standard army filling for the last four or five months. We have
been fortunate In that we have had no spills where we have had a heavy concentration. We have gas masks posted around in cabinets outside
the buildings. We have a .place to keep them and the men take care of
them themselves. If a man wants to get a mask, he breaks the glass
in the cabinet. We have a man who makes the rounds and if there has
been a mask used, he goes over it and smears the lenses with this non
dimming compound and puts it hack. We use the ordinary canister, and have had ammonia spills and: sulphuric acid, benzol, and dinitrol trouble, all of which were moderate, but a man could not have gone under without
proper protection and we have been very fortunate.
Mb. C. M. Fixch (Aetna Life Insurance Company): I want to sub stantiate what Dr. Lewis said. I had the opportunity to sleep with a
mask on the front for five hours. I can swear by it because it saves life.
As far as the dimming 'effect is concerned, the-eyepieces are made of cel
luloid: We used to make watch crystals out of them.
Mr. D. F. Hisath (Goodyear Rubber Co., Akron. Ohio): In the Good year Company, for some time we had trouble from hydrogen sulphide
fumes and when we made bur masks we experimented in the chemical department and to this day we are using the standard army mask and
we keep a duplicate canister for each mask. They are used two or three
hours each day in the morning and afternoon, and at the end of each
week the canisters are taken over and the duplicates are placed in and
the canisters reloaded. We have never had a sickness and they have
been very successful.
"
Chairmas Fiesixgjvr: The next paper is "Some Experience in Acci
dent Prevention in the Dye--Industry," by A. H. Massey.
47S
Eighth Safety Congress
SOME ACCIDENT EXPERIENCE IN THE DYE INDUSTRY
H.A. Mas sky, E. I. nu Pont oe Nk.mouks and Company, Wjlaiinoto.y, Dkk.
The dye industry is so extremely varied that the work of the safety man in one plant is very different in detail from that of the man in another or from the man in a general chemical plant. The dye industry and the general chemical industry overlap in so many points that to differentiate between them would be impossible. The fundamental problem; however, is the same--that of Cli'e prevention of accidents and the preservation of health. These subjects^ are so closely allied that they should be consid ered as one and the same. In many instances the health problem is a more serious one than that which we commonly term "accident preven tion."
The hazards are as varied as the industry; to those common to moving machinery and the handling of materials are added hazards pertaining to explosive mixtures und compounds; vapors and dusts which may be deleterious, or actively poisonous; and the hazards of open containers, fragile containers, andZespecially containers under pressure in which are hot, corrosive or poisonous materials.
l.et us consider first some of the more important matters relating to the prevention of accidents and the preservation of health through me chanical arrangementjmd equipment, by which is meant the elimination of unsafe conditions =dn manufacturing buildings and apparatus, by changes in their construction, or by the addition of special appliances, etc.
VKOi-Kit i>i-:si<ix or ki.oohs anii i-i.a i rot:ms
This is of special importance where hot, corrosive, or poisonous liquids
are handled as there is always the possibility of a spill. In buildings
with several stories, special attention should be paid to both the tight
ness and the drainage "HI the floors, otherwise a spill of this material on
a floor with openings, efr with holes or cracks in it is apt to run through
upon men below. If the floor it tight blit does not have drains provided
and the liquid is allowed to lie on it. there is always the possibility of
someone walking or evfli Calling into it. which might result seriously in
either case.
For example, dinitrobenzol was being handled in a wooden filter on the
second floor of a building and there were operations on tlie ground floor
which required a number of men to pass under the section occupied by
the filter.
zz .
The filter became leaky and the floor under it. being of rough 2-inch
plank, full of cracks,"there was considerable trouble from cyanosis
among the men in thejjlher operations due to dinitrobenzol water drop
ping on them, until a Light floor with the proper arrangements for drain
age was installed underfllie filter.
Another example: AAlissolving tank about 4 feet deep and 6 feet in
diameter into which solid caustic was dumped and filtered water added
and heated by means xjZ steam coils to obtain a very strong and pure
Chemical Section
479
solution, was located on tlieL second floor of a building about r. feet from the elevator shaft. To obtain the desired solution the tank was filled to within approximately 15 inches of the top. Prior to the accident, caus tic and water were in the task and the operator turned steam into the heating coils and went to another part of the building.
A mechanic had lowered the elevator to the first floor and was on top of the elevator cage repairing the counterweights on one of the gates when the caustic solution boiled over. The floor was tight but a gutter or drain had not been provided around the dissolving tank. Consequently, the strong boiling caustic solution drained into tlie elevator shaft upon the mechanic. He was penned there with serious consequences.
The importance of all control equipment, such as main line valves,
valve clusters, etc., which are not within reach^of the floor, being pro vided with operating platforms, cannot be emphasized too strongly, as the accidents resulting from their absence are numerous and usually serious. These platforms should be properly protected with hand-rails
and toe-boards, and special attention should be paid to the location' of ladders or stairs leading tcT them. The details of this matter will be covered in the next paragraph.
I`!!OI"KU AKKANtiliMK-XT Of Till-: Al'CAltATL'S, I-A DIJKKrf, SI'.UItWAYS. AND KMKRGEX-
CV KXITS JT lIA.N'CK.U'TfHIXti IU'11.1)1 Xc;S
Apparatus should be installed in the manufacturing building in such a way as to permit the mosj^efficient method of operation with the least congestion. We too frequently find the,-chemical manufacturing building badly congested with boxes,-barrels, ancr bags of the intermediates which go into the operations, or evgTi with the finished or semi-finished products. This is the result of the building having been originally designed with insufficient floor space or of changes which, have taken place in the opera tion. The crowding of'chenjical operations and apparatus into a build ing invariably results in unsafe and inefficient operating practices, also excessive handling of material by hand.
It is very necessary to study the natural and artificial lighting condi tions in order to procure the best light at the'operating stations and to eliminate dark corners andTpockets. Where the light is poor it is Im possible to make accurate fadings of thermometers, hydrometers, and pressure gauges. Inaccurate readings tend toward non-uniformity in the product. In some operations this may give abnormal reactions re sulting in foaming, excess!ve_ heat being generated, or gases being given off in excessive volume, any of which conditions might lead to very dan gerous results. Moreover, 'there being a large amount of material han dled in the building, good "light tends toward proper storage and good liouskeepins conditions.
Stairways and ladders should he located so as to afford the most con venient access to that part^of the apparatus or building for which they are intended. This is especially true as regards routine attendance and oiling. If we are to expetfE the operators and oilers not to take short cuts, we must provide themrwith as direct routes as possible.
Permanent ladders should not be installed over floor openings, open
480
]Eighth Safety Congress
tanks, vats, or containers in which hot, corrosive, or poisonous material is handled. They should not be used in the immediate proximity of machinery, the moving_parts of which, due to their nature or location, can not. be totally enclosed__Special attention should be given to the termina tion point of stairways and ladders to see that they do not abutt on blind railroad tracks jox lead into tanks, pits, drains, or sumps, which can be left open, or against moving machinery into which men may walk or fall. Reaction vessels or containers in which hot, corrosive, or poison ous materials are handled or the overflow pipes and vent lines from same which may be espected or are known to boil over or overflow are often located over or alongside permanent ladders or stairways. This makes a very dangerous condition.
In a building or room where there is a possibility of a condition de veloping which would be a menace to the lives of the occupants, special attention should be given to the provision of emergency exits. These exits should be installed so as to give the most efficient exit from the building at a point wlmre the menace will be least, but should, however, net only be accessible_to operating stations but be. as far as possible, in location somewhat removed from the immediate danger. Such exits should he placed so air to be subject to the least possible danger of ob struction either inside^or outside the building from normal or abnormal
operating conditions,
PHOI'KK PROTECTION OK I'KIK'KSS OK HKACflON VKSSKIS AO AIX ST EXCESSIVE OR
AISNOItMAI. PRESSURE
This subject is very"broad and can be covered only in a general way. By reaction or pressure vessels is meant vessels such as sulphonators, nitrators. thionators, autoclaves, hydrolizers. acidifying and neutralizing tubs, tanks, stills, reducers, evaporators and condensers, etc.. These ves sels either operate at atmospheric pressure or above or below atmospheric pressure. Materials may be used in them which are either slightly or extremely corrosive, aTSd which sublime or freeze at or above the normal atmospheric temperature. In this case the containers and lines connect
ed with same should be heated artificially. /traction Vessels if/iirh Operate at Atmospheric Pressure; Where the
vessel is open to the atmosphere or has a loose cover over it, there are no precautions to be "taken against excessive pressure.
Where the vessel lias a tight cover but is vented through a pipe line which does not liaveigt valve in it, it is necessary to have the vent line sufficiently large to take care of any gases that might.be given off.
Where materials are used in the operation which sublime or freeze above normal atmospheric temperature, precautions should be taken to eliminate the possibility of the vent pipe becoming frozen up or plugged.
Where the vessel has a tight cover and is vented through a pipe line but has a valve in the line the same precautions should be taken as in the case just cited. Alsg_ there is the possibility of the valve being left closed while the reaction is carried on. This would defeat the purpose of the vent, and to ovejpme it a pressure relief system or safety valves should he installed onAUe operation should be given special supervision.
Chemical Section
4S1
Where the vessel has a tight cover and is vented through a pipe line into a condenser or into a series of condensers and thence to the atmos
phere, the same precautions should be taken as in the cases previously
mentioned. Vessels Operating Above Atmospheric Pressure: Where the pressure
of the reaction is controlled by heating 01* cooling: it with some medium such as steam, water, or oil, circulated through coils or a jacket on the re
action vessels, if the medium would give a violent reaction in case it should- come in accidental^contact with the material in process, then coils inside of the reaction vessel or a jacket on the vessel should never be used. The temperature_ should be controlled by coils on the outside
of the vessel. ' Where the reaction vessel is heated by direct gas, coal, or oil fire, and
the material in process is inflammable or gives off inflammable vapors, careful inspections of the vessel should be made before charging to see
that there are no leaks which would allow the inflammable material or gases to get into the fire box. Fire box explosions are quite frequent around gas- and oil-fired stills. A leak will develop in the bottom of the still or process vessel and "vapor or gas will collect in the fire box. When the fire is lighted this accumulation ignites, sometimes with such vio
lence as to blow the vessel off its setting and partly or completely wreck
the furnace. A precaution against this is to have a steam jet installed in the furnace and blow the furnace out thoroughly with steam before
Ifghting a fire.
zSt
Where the reaction is carried on under pressure the bottom of the
vessel should not be exposed to heat sufficient to cause the metal to run, due to pressure inside, thus causing a breakdown of the walls and re sulting in what might be affirmed an explosion.
Where the pressure is controlled by the reaction itself, and governed by the rate at which the ingredients are added, and by cooling or heating with coils, the same precautions as previously outlined should he taken. In this case. If the controLis by the gradual addition of a liquid, which if introduced in quantity would greatly accelerate the reaction, double
valve controls should be used rather than a single valve.
Safety Valves or Pressure Relief Systems.- All pressure vessels should he equipped with relief systems. The rapidity of the reaction within the
vessel and the size of the vessel of course should govern the size of the 'system. For example, a steam boiler or water system under pressure
would not require the same size relief system as a chemical reaction of tire same capacity and under the same pressure. A one-inch safety valve installed on a 1000 gallon reaction vessel used as sulphonator where the
reaction is being carried around a 100 lb. pressure is ridiculous. Should
the reaction get beyond control in such a case it is questionable whether a 3-inch or 4-inch system would take 'care of the gases given off.
No hard and fast rules can he given for the size or type of relief valves
or systems that should he installed on reaction vessel's. Each case should
be given careful consideration and a system installed in accordance with
the dictates of engineering principles and common sense.
482
Eighth Safety Congress
After deciding the size of relief valve to he installed the next question is to determine the type to be used. It is very hard, in fact almost im
possible, to get a pop valve to stand up where acid or caustic is used.
There is always the question whether the valve should be lead, brass, or
copper-lined, or of cast irbfi. Tin discs bolted between flanges make a very satisfactory relief sys
tem in some cases. Then _again where the pressure is quite low and the life of a valve is short, seals are sometimes used with good results.
The location of the relief valve should also be given consideration. If
the material in process gives off vapors which sublime or freeze above
the atmospheric temperature there is always the possibility of the valve leaking and vapors passing into the vent line, freezing, and causing the
line to become plugged. =The line may also become plugged between the reaction vessel and the valve from the same cause.
PROPER DESIGN, ARRANGEMENT AND LOCATION OF STORAGE HOUSES AND VESSELS
The details pertaining to this subject are so numerous and varied that time will permit but a brief survey of the subject and in a very general way, which will be dond""by citing a few examples and precautionary
methods in connection with the storage of strong acid and caustic solu tions, cyanides, metallic-sodium, chlorates, picramates, and general ex
plosives.
_
Where strong acid and caustic solutions are stored in carboys or drums
the containers should be in good condition. They should not be piled and they should he isolated where possible. Where large tanks are used, whether on the ground level or elevated, they should be fenced off and proper warning signs posted.
Where cyanides are stored every precaution should be taken to keep acids away, for a spill of acid into sodium or potassium cyanide develops
a very ugly condition, hydrocyanic gas being liberated. In storing metallic sodium special care should be exercised to keep
water away. Both the containers and the building should he dry and water-tight; signs shouldZbe posted warning of the dangers to he expected
from water coming in contact with the sodium. Chlorates, picramates, and general explosives are all very much in
the same class. Isolation of the storage building in accordance with the standard codes, elimination of foreign matter, and careful handling of the materials themselves while in transportation are the most essential points to be considered. A few common sense precautionary methods and care
ful supervision are the best safety devices.
ACCIDENT PREVENTION BV EDUCATION AND SUPERVISION
Let us next consider some of the more important matters relating to
the prevention of accidents and preservation of health by education and
supervision.
t
I do not mean the dictionary term for supervision or superintending--
which is care and oversight for the purpose of directing--but direction
with a view to instructing or educating for the purpose of increasing at
one and the same time Quality, production, and efficiency.
Chemical Section
483
. Supervision of the Handling and Storage of Material: By handling; material is meant the carrying by hand, trucking, and rolling of material in boxes, barrels, crates, carboys, etc. By the storage of material is meant the proper piling segregation, and housing. It is from this class of work that a large number of accidents occur and they can be pre vented only by careful supervision.
Maintaining General Equipment and Safety Devices in Proper Oper ative Condition; Equipment and safety devices and appliances that are perfectly safe when in good repair may present very serious hazards when allowed to get in bad repair. A safety device that is not safe or not in operative condition is worse than no safety device. They can be kept in good repair only by supervision.
Pursuance of 'Safe Practices "While Repairs Are Being Made; Details of repair work are as numerous and varied as the industry itself and repair men are subjected to conditions which are in no way comparable to normal operating conditions. Frequently very hazardous conditions develop which could in no way have been foreseen and many very serious accidents occur while repairs "are being made. There are general pre cautions which if taken at all times would prevent a large number of
the too frequent accidents to repair men.
Men. working in tanks should always be provided with life lines and have one or more attendants on the outside of the tank.
Men working on pipe lines or in tanks or boilers where there are acid, hot water, or steam connections, should take the necessary precautions to prevent acid, caustic, hot water, or steam being blown through the line. This can be accomplished by tbe proper locking devices and by signs, or tags, or, if necessary by disconnecting or blanking oft the line.
Men working on machinery should take the- proper precautions against having the machinery started up unexpectedly. This also can he accom plished by the proper locking device and signs or tags.
There are also jobs where it is absolutely necessary that the repair man wear the approved type of gloves, goggles, and at times special cloth ing and masks or helmets.
The accident frequency of repair men is governed by the precautions taken which revert right back to proper supervision.
Enforcement of the Vse~sf Protective Equipment: The superintendent or safety man mas* provide^ every known safety device but their useful ness and efficiency is only ^proportional to their use. It is the tendency of the workman to ignore and in some instances practically refuse to use practical safety appliances. This can only be overcome by patient education and by "lining up" tbe foremen.
Supervision of Employment; In all chemical plants there is a certain amount of heavy material to be handled. There are operations where the floors are wet or there is ^excessive humidity at times and some of the operations involve toxic qr poisonous material.
The man who is naturally weak and has a tendency toward, hernia should never be employed where he is required to do heavy lifting or handle heavy material.
484
Eighth Safety Congress
The man who suffer!: from rheumatism should never he placed where
there is excessive humidity nor should the man with .kidney, heart, or
lung trouble be placed where he will be subjected to poisons. These
matters can be controlled only through supervision of employment which
in chemical industry is a very important factor.
Developing Practical Operating Rules and the Proper Enforcement of
name; There are correct and incorrect methods of performing every
operation, likewise a Safe and an unsafe method. Therefore, it is es
sential that the correct methods should be set forth in the form of op
erating rules. These soperating rules should include operating, safety,
fire protection, sanitation, and maintenance practices, and should be made
ironclad. Their value will be in proportion to their enforcement.
Educational WorTc: ^Though much could be said on this subject, it will
be touched upon very briefli'.
It is first necessary to have the man or men at the head of the organi
zation thoroughly familiar, in sympathy with, and actively back of the
safety work that is to" be done. They should then definitely establish
the motto that "the safe way is the only way" and through them should
come the instruction, rales, and propaganda, for the education of the men
down the line.
^
Assuming that a large percentage of the accidents in industry are
preventable, let us ask to what cau we attribute them. In most cases
they can be attributed to indifference, carelessness, oversight, ig
norance or neglect on the part of someone. The responsibility for the
accident in nearly every case can be placed upon the employer or the em
ployee. Those for which the employer is responsible and a large per
centage of those for which the employee is responsible could have been
prevented by better mechanical arrangement and equipment or by educa
tion and supervision, as previously outlined. Here it might be interest
ing to compare the relative importance of these two branches of the work.
A careful analysis of the two years' accident records of one of our large
chemical plants, where^very active educational accident prevention work
was carried on but which was rather temporary in construction and not
particularly well-guarded, showed that 12 per cent of the accidents could he charged to lack oL guards, defective equipment, etc.--or prevented
by mechanical arrangement and equipment. Twenty per cent was charge
able to lack < proper supervision and 53 per cent to negligence or lack
of skill on tile part of the injured for which the employer was really re
sponsible, making a total of 73 per cent which could he reached through
education and supervision. The remaining 15 per cent was chargeable to
risk of employment.
ot:n:Ciiairaiax P'iksin At nine o'clock this morning I received a tele
gram from Mr. Rippel, stating that due to the steel strike he would be
unable to be with us.
Adjournment.
Construction Section
October 2 and 3, 1919
L. D. WOEDTKE, Chairman Director of Safety, Fred T. Ley and Company, Springfield, Mass.
W. J. LYNCH, Vice-Chairman Assistant to Viee-Presidentr Thompson-Starrett Company, Chicago
EDWARDrW. BUSH, Secretary Civil Engineer, Aetna Casualty and Surety Company, Hartford, Conn.
THURSDAYS MORNING SESSION
HE meeting was called to order at 9:45 A. M-, Mr. L. D. Woedtke,
X presiding. Ch.urm.vs Woedtkk:
My report as chairman of the Construction
Section is as follows:
REPORT OF CHAIRMAN
The Construction Section, as you are aware, was organized one year ago at the 1918 St. Louis Congress, and like all other sections its first year of existence has been accompanied with many problems involving membership, service to members, bulletins, publicity, program/ etc.
In the coming year we shall be better equipped to continue and extend the work of our section through additional officers provided in our by laws to be submitted to you later, as well as standing committees which will be appointed to undertake definite portions of the section's work which has hitherto fallen entirely upon your present three officers, the chairman, vice-chairman, and secretary, and the staff of the National Safety Council.
However, considerable progress has been made during the past year which you will note from thedtollowing data:
MEMBERSHIP
Membership Oct. 1, J91S
'Present Membership Oct. X, 1919
Construction Companies_______==..18 Construction Companies................... 29.
Bridge Companies..........................--13 Bridge Companies................................. 14
_
Structural Iron and Steel____________20 Structural Iron and Steel.............. 24 Shipbuilding .Companies______A=_3S Shipbuilding Companies 57
89
. 485
124
4SG
JEighth Safety Congress
You will note from these figures that we have secured thirty-five addi tional company members during the past year and that our present membership includes at total of 124 company members. This showing for a new section after but one year of existence speaks highly for itself, but this membership should be at least tripled during the coming year and it behooves all of us to_ interest our competitors and friends engaged in the construction industry of various lines, toward taking membership in the National Safety Council and in our section. You of course, ap preciate that the greater our membership, the larger volume of income will be at our disposal for additional service to our members. Our goal should be to make our section so strong in members and financially that we may eventually benable to engage a permanent secretary for the per sonal service and benefit of our own section's members only.
BUr.LETIXS
Bulletin service is of course a large factor in accident prevention work and education of our employees, and while many- of the bulletins pub lished by the National Safety Council are applicable because of their gen eral nature for use of our members, we need continually to edit special Construction Section bulletins. The securing of material for these special bulletins has been left almost entirely to your three officers during the past year, with the assistance of the National Safety Council
staff. The Twenty-fourth .Construction Section bulletin was distributed Sep
tember 22. We havejjnlv one new bulletin left on band and no more in sight at present: therefore, if we are to continue editing special Con struction Section bulletins during the coming year, our members will have to send us some more material. Undoubtedly every one of you has some good bulletin material such as photographs or some specific experience in your work which could be illustrated and edited into bulletin form. If you will send us such material, we will do the work of putting it in shape;
Many of our special Construction Section bulletins during the past year were sent to memberSTof the National Safety Council who are not allied with our section, and these special requests indicate value and approval of our work in this-direction.
One of the most popular bulletins we' have, edited during the past year was Cn-11, "How Notffo Build Scaffolds." Nearly a thousand extra copies of this bulletin haveL been sold in addition to the regular distribution. Other very popular bulletins were Cn-2, showing the incorrect piling of bricks; No. 14 quoting "Rules tor Superintendents and Foremen"; and No. 15, "Don't Take Chances Needlessly." All of these bulletins sold over three hundred extra copies and there were seven others which sold over 150 copies outside of the: regular distribution. This record extends only to August 1. and since .that time there have been increased demands for many of our special bulletins.
Let me impress upon you once more the need of each and every mem
^ Construction Section
487
ber sending us as much material and data as possible from which to edit and distribute special bulletins for our section.
1PUBLICITY
We have striven continually during the past year to obtain as much good publicity as possible and several leading technical magazines of the construction world have given us space on various occasions, including "Engineering Mews Record," "Engineering and Contracting," and "Con
tracting." Our Secretary, Mr. Bush, will no doubt give you more specific information in this regard.
The National Safety Cotmcil staff now includes a director of publicity, air. Resnick, who is preparing some very good data for publication throughout the country in connection with the work of our section, and this will undoubtedly do \is much good in the securing of new members
and creating a keener interest in safety work in the construction field.
It is our intention to write and distribute an occasional news letter for our members during the coming year but to do this we will need material, experiences, data with regard to statistics and results obtained, from our members as well as the methods used, etc. Unless you for ward us such information, we cannot, of course, create a News Letter
from our imagination, as what we want to talk about in such letters is the experiences, methods, and results being obtained. Therefore, make it a point to send us promptly and as often as possible, such data as is
at your command.
HI
ADVANCE COPIES OF PAPERS
We had hoped to be able to distribute to our members in good season, advance copies of papers to bejcfcelivered at this year's Congress, but as we were able to secure only two papers in time for printing, we decided it would be better to let this matter go for this year; we will make every effort to provide for this need next year.
general
Your officers have undertaken, to answer many Inquiries and render special services to many of our members during tbe past year, with considerable success. There aTST however, two or three problems yet unsolved which are being worked^on and on which a special report will be made in a News Letter as soon as a definite result has been reached. For instance, the protecting of manila ropes against the action of muriatic acid has engaged the writer continually during the past year and after locating compositions or products proposed by different concerns, ar rangements have been made with the U. S. Bureau of Standards through The kindness of its director. DrHStratton, to make extensive tests in this connection.
The' Bureau has been furnished with required lengths of various sizes of both new and used rope as well as an ample supply'of the proposed composition and after tests have been made of both new and used rope, before and after being treated with the composition and before and after
4SS
Eighth Safety Congress
being subjected to the acid and its fumes, the bureau will submit to us a
complete report of its findings.
There lias been considerable discussion and difference of opinion among
our members as to the correct and most adequate method of recording
accident statistics and data, and your chairman intends to provide
twenty minutes to a half hour for a discussion of this matter at either
today's or tomorrow's, session when the subjects on our program have
been disposed of-
It is our intention to keep the members of our section together as
much as possible during this Congress and to that end the committee
will provide the necessary space en-bloc for all of our members who in
tend to take in the Annual Banquet as well as the Frolic at the Winton
Hotel. Through the courtesy of the Builders Exchange, our members will at
the conclusion of tomorrow's session adjourn in a body to the Cleve
land Builders' Exchange, where a luncheon will be served and a suitable
speaker for a brief ^address provided, followed with an inspection trip
of some large construction jobs in operation, at which time demonstra
tions or illustrations Tof points or- methods discussed today and tomorrow
can be carried out. ~
Following this inspection trip, our members in a body will be con
ducted on a sight seeing tour of Cleveland and vicinity.
(A motion was made, seconded, and carried, to accept the report as
read.)
_
Chairma.v Woicdtki-:: With your permission I am going to introduce
Mr. Edward A. Roberts, Secretary of the Builders' Exchange of Cleve
land, to yon and have him announce the program for tomorrow after
noon.
(Mr. Roberts made=announcement concerning reception and inspection
of building operations for Friday.)
Ciiaikmax WoebtkE: On behalf of the Construction Section, Mr.
Roberts. I would like to thank your Exchange for its courtesy and kind
ness and assure youjthat we appreciate it indeed.
(The secretary then made a brief informal report, which was accepted.
The Chairman appointed as Nominating Committee Mr. W. E. Kimber-
ling of Pittsburgh; _Mr. F. S. Robinson of Detroit; and Mr. Sidney J.
Williams of Chicago.)
;
The Chairman of the By-Laws Committee reported as follows:
REPORT OF BY-LAWS COMMITTEE
Name
Section 1. This =organization shall be known as the Construction Section of the National Safety Council.
Object
Section 2. The object of this section shall be to promote the science and practice of safety or other activities of the National Safety Council
Construction Section
4S9
among those engaged or interested^in, or affiliated with, the building and engineering construction field. --
The Section shall at all times act in conjunction with or subservient to the National Safety Council,
Membership
Section 3. Membership shall include all members of the National Safety Council who are interested in the activities and purposes of this Section, and who* shall signify to " the Secretary of the National Safety Council, or to the Secretary of this Section, their desire to affiliate.
Officers and Executive Committee
Section 4. The officers of this Section shall be a Chairman, two "ViceChairmen, the chairman of the Bulletin Committee and a Secretary who shall discharge the duties usualJto such officers. These officers shall serve until the end of the annual congress of the National Safety Coun
cil, or until their successors are elected and have accepted the office. The officers shall act as an executive^Committee in charge of the affairs of the Section, and the assent of three shall be necessary for action.
Meetings
Section 5. There shall be an annual meeting of the members of the Section held during the period of the Congress of the National Safety Council, notice of the time and ?plaee of the meeting shall be posted at the information desk of said _Congress. Other meetings of members may be held on due call and notice by the Executive Committee.
Election: of Officers
Section 6. Nominations of officers shall be made by a Nominating
Committee, of three appointed bjr^the' Chairman of the Section, which committee shall report at the rannual meeting its recommendations, which report shall be followed at said meeting by the election of offi cers for the ensuing year. .At this meeting other-nominations may he
made by any members. ' The election shall be by plurality of ballots cast.
Nominees should be selected, as jfar as practicable, to represent various
branches of the construction field with appropriate geographic distri
bution.
-
Committees
Section 7. The Chairman shall appoint the chairman and members .of a Bulletin Committee and such other committees as may be authorized- by the Executive Committee or requested by the National Safety Council. The Chairman of the Section shall be a member of all committees of the Section except the Nominating Committee.
Section 8. Section.
Amendments to By-Laws These by-laws may be amended at any meeting of this
490
--Eighth Safety Congress
(The By-laws as read were adopted.) Chairman Woedtkk: It gives me pleasure to introduce to you, Mr. F. L,. Hurlbutt, of E. T7 du Pont de Nemours and Company.
IS ACCIDENT-PREVENTION IN CONSTRUCTION A SOURCE OF PROFIT OR A HOBBY?
F. Li. Huki.uutt. E. I. uu Pont i>k Nemours and Company, Wilmington, Del.
The title of this paper would lead one to infer that serious doubts are
entertained by some~people as to the worth of accident prevention in
the construction fields Certainly every safety engineer is aware of the
almost limitless possibilities for accident prevention in this field. If
any such persons do exist. I feel positive that they are numbered among
rhose who have never made an honest attempt to try it out in their own
work or those who -have never seriously looked into the subject. It is
to the latter that I trust this paper may open up a new field of thought
and act as a stimulus- toward the starting of accident prevention work
in their own companies.
The writer proposes to treat this subject from the data and experi
ence of the construction forces of the Du Pont Company which he rep
resents, due primarily to the fact that the war has made such exacting
inroads on the time-of all in this organization that little opportunity
has presented itself
get in touch with the activities of others in the
same field. I trust therefore that you will pardon the continued refer
ence to the Du Pont Companies' endeavors.
In the Du Pont Company, safety on construction work is divided into
two distinet branches; namely, home office and field -work, each of which
is in such close contact with the other as to benefit by the other's experi
ence and ideas.
WORK OF HOME OFFICE BRANCH
The work of the home office branch covers cooperation with the design division of the Engineering Department in the initial stages of all con templated construction work and later with the drafting-room forces when actual drawings are being prepared. Close contact with the design division is absolutely necessary in order to get preliminary data on manufacturing protases involved in which there may be industrial poisoning hazards, the necessity for ventilating systems, the possibility of explosive hazards necessitating proper barricading and separation of buildings and quickTescapes for operatives: in short, all such important points as require ^special investigation and decision before judicious recommendations can be made to tbe drafting-room forces. By confer ence with members, o the design division all these points are threshed out and decisions reached, so that no delay is experienced when the work has gotten on the [drafting boards. Too great stress can not be laid on the importance of carefully reviewing all projects for safety in the de
Construction Sectioti
491
sign or formulative stage. This is particularly true when construction work is to be done for such highly specialized industries as the chemi cal, steel, and explosive branches. At this stage the incorporation of the necessary safety and healths features can be included at about onethird the cost of doing them than as additional work after the job is completed. Furthermore they can never be done as satisfactorily or made as effective when done afterwards due to the layout of apparatus, equipment, stairs, and elevatorszwithin the buildings. One member of the safety office is detailed to the drafting room to check drawings for safety and to advise the draftsmen on the application of the safety standards where complicated situations arise or where unusual conditions make deviation from the standards necessary.
The review of the contemplated work and the check in the drafting room are in the ' main to cover structural plans and layouts of equip ment for safety and not the ^mere noting of locations for safety de vices which is primarily a field job. To insure the inclusion of this work in the finished job a formal note is placed on every drawing stating that all equipment is to be guarded in accordance with the standards, thereby giving the Jteld engineer authority to carry out this work and at the same time freeing the drawings from a mass of notes and sketches of machine guards.
The actual installation of safeguards and safety devices by the field engineering forces in the case ot large undertakings is supervised by the safety engineer assigned to that particular construction job and in the case of small jobs by trips by members of the home safety office.
FIELD' SAFETY WORK
This brings us to a consideration of the second phase or actual field safety work. On all projects requiring a field force of 500 men and upward it has been found not only desirable but essential to include on the engineering staff a safety department, the personnel of which must be varied as conditions dictate, from a single man to as many as eight men devoting their full time3p safety, supplemented, if necessary, by an injury clerk and accident investigators with adequate clerical and stenographic help to maintainjfull and accurate records of all injuries. Such a department as this last may seem unnecessarily large but I want
to assure you that on our two largest construction jobs where such depart ments were maintained, the members were about the busiest individuals on the ground. Not only must"physieal inspections be made of the work under erection, the unloading jind piling of vast quantities of materials, inspections made of railways, cranes, tool rooms, and what not, but educational safety for the field forces must be carried out. accidents investigated in order that preventative measures may be applied and full data surrounding the accident secured. Thorough accident investigation lias proven of enormous value and is one of the most important duties of all our safety departments. As in all professions, an accurate determina tion of causation will generally bring to light the proper remedy.
Up to this point I have dwelt at considerable length on our manner of
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vEighth Safety Congress
working safety into a job from its inception in the home office until it has reached-the field, and I have briefly outlined to you the kind of an organization by which = we carry out safety work in the field. I now want to show you how the carrying on of safety work through complete field organizations has justified itself and what enormous dividends it has returned in actual cases.
SAFCTY QRO.X X 1ZATIOX FOR T.AI1KK CONSTRUCTION FRO.JKCT
In the early part of 191S the Company undertook its largest construc tion project: namely, the complete design and erection of a smokeless powder plant for the United States Government. Some idea of the mag nitude of the undertaking may be gained from the fact that an average working force of 25,000 men was maintained. Like all war projects this was a rush job and had to be carried out in the face of the very serious labor shortage and consequent high labor turnover that existed at that time.
At the outset the question arose as to how safety and injury work should be handled. Two courses presented themselves. First, to carry liability insurance with an outside company and waive any further re sponsibility in the matter, or second, to carry our own insurance and organize a complete safety department to carry on accident prevention work. The former scheme might have been adopted in view of the difficulty of getting gogfl safety men on short notice at that time, but the excellent results attained on our other big jobs completed prior to this country going to war justified our pursuing the latter course. As a result a safety department consisting of a safety engineer, an assistant safety engineer, seven inspectors, a personal injury clerk and assistant, two accident investigators, and five stenographers was organized. As in the case of all successful safety work the resident engineer gave the department his unqualified support and "put safety on the map" from the start by stating his stand at the weekly staff meetings and seeing to it that his division engineers were carrying out their share of the responsibility of accident prevention. This he was able to do through .the daily accident reports forwarded him by the safety department. The policy of carryingjut safety work through the organization rather than allowing the safety department to do it all was the basic principle followed. Meetings of Jthe division engineers and their assistants were always attended by a member of the safety department who showed the results accomplished and brought up points to he rectified. Again, fore men's meetings were held in the various divisions at which the division engineers put the proposition of safe working conditions for the men and accident prevention squarely up to the foremen. And right here let me digress for a moment to emphasize the importance of the fore man in any accident prevention work no matter whether it is an operat ing or construction job. Only when your foremen are whole-souledly be hind the safety movement which you are pushing will you effect per manent accident reduction. These men are the most important factors in your campaign and the bulk of your efforts should be directed to-
Construction Section
493
wards winning them to your ideas. You look to them for the desired
speed of the work and for its quality; why then should you not look
to them for the safety of the workmen, entrusted to them? But to re
turn to our subject. Without going into too great detail on the methods
followed by the safety department suffice it to say that the department,
in addition to the educational work carried on through engineers' and
foremen's meetings made daily physical inspections of the work, posted
thousands of bulletins and superintended the installation of over 3,500
safeguards for mechanical equipment.
The injury department through its investigators investigated every
accident and submitted complete reports on them. The result.was that
the number of court cases resulting from injury was very, very small.
This is a phase of safety work on construction in non-compensation
states which, if carried out effectively, pays a handsome return. If all
accidents are reported and immediately investigated and the injured
brought to the hospital for treatment, the likelihood of the cases being
taken to court is greatly minimized. It only takes about one or two
court cases .where a verdict is rendered in favor of the plaintiff, to pay
the entire cost of a safety department on a fair-sized job.
Some of you will say that it must have cost a good deal of money to
maintain such a large organization. It did, but remember, too, that this
was a- hig job. Now let me show you the results accomplished.
On March 23, shortly after the start of construction activity, the safety
engineer arrived on the job and began building up his organization which
had by the latter part of April assumed working proportions. By this
time the department had started an effective, organized safety campaign
with the following results.^ During March and April, the period of
organization for the department, the "lost-time rate" expressed In days
had steadily increased until it stood at. 2.27 days lost per man per year.
By May 31,- one month after safety activities had been prosecuted in
earnest, this figure was reduced to 1.2S, the next month saw it lowered
to .744, the following month! it stood -still, but the next month saw a
further reduction to .6S4, thin came a drop to .351. In the next thirty-
days we find the only upward trend in our curve, when the figure went
up from .351 to .441, reallyT an excellent figure in itself. But again,
with the last month of activity, we find the downward tendency resumed
with the result that the lowest figure of all was attained; namely, .216.
Reflect for a moment what this means. In the seven months of the
safety department's activities the lost-time rate had been reduced from
2.27 to .216, a 90 per cent reduction which is truly a remarkable record,
when you consider that it was made in the face of a very high labor
turnover find with a working force almost entirely new to the Company.
The total frequency rate calculated on the annual basis after the fed
eral practice-was 5S.9.
fatality frequency rate calculated on the
same basis was 1.0.
-
In order to show what this really means to those who are unfamiliar
with accident statistics, I ah me use another illustration. "When this
gigantic project was first conceived a rate was quoted the Company for
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Eighth Safety Congress
carryins; liability insurance on all the construction employees. Using
this rate the cost of insurance against injuries, both fatal and non-fatal
to the Company would have been $452,752.00 as against the actual cost
of 566.1 fit.00: which includes hospital costs, doctor's salaries etc. a sav
ing of $3S.65i .00. Deduct from this the cost of maintaining the safety
department. $50,000. antTwe have a net saving of $336,651. On the con
struction of a large shell-loading plant where similar safety efforts were
carried out by the Company though not on quite as large a scale equally
impressive figures are available. Here the success of the safety work
resulted in the actual cost of injuries being but $5,733.00 which includes
hospital costs and doctors' salaries, as against a figure of $103,545, had
we chosen to carry liability insurance with an outside firm. This gives
a saving of $97,S12 from which the cost of maintaining the safety de
partment. $10,500, must be deducted giving a net saving of $87,312.
Here the total frequency rate was 47.8 and the fatality frequency rate was
zero. Please understand that the figures quoted are meant in no way to
deprecate the practice of carrying liability insurance. Most assuredly
such a policy is a meritorious one on small and good-size contracts, but
when an undertaking assumes such gigantic proportions as did the con
struction of the Government powder plant -just mentioned, one Is faced
with a proposition which could never be as satisfactorily met by any
outside agency as by aTjepartment which is a part of and co-ordinating
with the contractor's own organization.
To digress a moment from monetary savings, let me relate an interest
ing accident prevention ~story that occurred in connection with the pow
der plant construction ajid one which carried good evidence of whether
real safety work pays on construction. In May, 3916, during a tem
porary lapse in construction activities in his particular line, one of our best construction engineers was made safety engineer on one of our
largest plants, where a3E average operating force of 12,000 men and a
construction force of 700 men was then being maintained. For two
years he acted in this capacity and became a real convert to the safety
cause. When construction work was started on the Government powder
plant, this individual was made a Division Engineer in charge of the
"Miscellaneous Division" which comprised a force of from 2,500-2,800
men. This was exactly the opening he wanted--an opportunity to prac
tice as an engineer oicrconstruction what he for two years had been
preaching to other construction engineers. "Were his preachings vin
dicated? His record will answer that question. From March 16, 1918, to
Sept. 1. 191S. his working force of 2,5O0-2,SOO men had but one major
injury.
To many of you suclr examples .as I have cited may seem to be of
such an unusual character and the work carried on under such abnormal
conditions that it is not fair to use the results obtained therefrom in
arriving at a decision^jvhether safety work pays on construction. To
allay any such doubts let me tell you of the accident prevention work
and safety campaign with the excellent results attained which has been
carried on during our instruction of a large chemical plant these past
eight months.
==-
r
Construction Section
^yD
FOREMEN RESPONSIBLE FOB SAFETY WORK
This construction was under the direction of a resident engineer with ten assistant engineers ojl= his staff. The average number ot full time workers employed, using the Federal basis of calculation, for the first eight months of the year was 692. Directly under the resident engineer was a field safety engineer^ with an assistant and one man acting as an accident investigator, clerk and stenographer. In outlining the safety campaign it was decided jto try two schemes, both of which were new to us on construction work. These schemes differed only in application, the basic thought behind both being to hold the foremen and general foremen responsible for carrying on the safety work with the safety de partment functioning in-a stimulating and advisory capacity to the engineering organization and foremen.
The construction was divided into two divisions, which, for convenience in explanation, we shall designate as "A" and "B".
In Division "A" there were scheduled foremen's safety meetings twice a month for the various crafts, each meeting being presided over by the general foreman of that particular craft and attended by the safety engineer solely in an advisory capacity. This division had a safety com mittee made up of its seven general foremen, one of whom was appointed permanent chairman and another secretary by the division engineer. The personnel of the committee was not rotated. Every* other Saturday after noon from one until three o'clock they made a safety Inspection of the construction work in their division and submitted a written report of their findings to the division engineer with a copy to the safety engineer.
In Division "B"' there were scheduled weekly safety meetings of the foremen and general foremen of all crafts in this division presided over by one of their own number and haying a secretary appointed by the division engineer. This division had three safety committees of three men each--each, man serving six weeks, with one man being dropped
every two weeks and a new member appointed by the committee chair man who was elected bv ballot. These committees made inspections every two weeks of the construction work in this division and submitted written reports of their findings to the division engineer.
THE SAFETY HOUR
After the two schemes had been tried out for five ^months it was seen that the first or meetings of crafts was not as successful as the second in which the foremen and general foremen of all crafts met together. This was attributed tor the fact that each meeting was too small, there being only six to ten foremen at a meeting and also because the competi tive spirit shown at the meetings of the various crafts was entirely lack ing. As a result a reorganization covering the entire construction was effected along the Iines of the second scheme wherein the foremen and general foremen of all crafts held a safety meeting at a regular hour 'on the same day of each week. This particular time every week came to be known on the job as the "safety hour."
496
Eighth Safety Congress
The procedure followed at these meetings Is of interest. 1. Roll call--(attendance averages 90 per-cent; 10 per cent absent due
solely to rush work),. 2. Reading of minutes of last meeting--(copies go to Resident Engi
neer and Home Safety Office). 3. Safety Committee .Chairman reads inspection report which is fol
lowed by open discussion. 4. Chairman asks for any suggestions. 5. Safety Engineer gives brief talk on current accident news; and the
length of- time -which the various crafts have gone -without accident. 6. Frequently an injured man is brought in to the meeting to tell in
his own words how he was injured. 7. Every third meeting a speaker from the outside is secured to give
a short talk on some particularly interesting phase of safety work.
The safety engineer always made it a point to give assistance to the Chairman outside of meetings so that he could keep them going smoothly and in the proper channels. The safety engineer's stenographer recorded the minutes and acted as Secretary under the new scheme. At all these meetings the safety engineer kept himself in the background as much as possible, hut he was ready, should discussions, lag or subjects he found wanting, to start something new and keep the meeting alive. In all the meetings held he had occasion hut once to take the initiative. The great virtue of these foremen's safety meetings was to give safety work a serious place in the workmen's eyes.
Although the safety committees submitted written reports of their findings at the next meeting and copies went to the resident engineer it was their endeavor to take up on the spot with the foreman affected-- not with the men--all points needing correction. In the majority of cases this was possible, because on construction work a foreman is generally to be found near his men. Of prime importance was the follow-up of the committees' reports subsequent to the meeting at which they were pre sented and prior to the next meeting at which the status of the recommen dations was always given. "Nothing will kill a safety committee's interest more quickly than to see no action taken on its recommendations. The safety engineer made thQt follow-up and went directly to the division engineers, when necessary, to .see that the recommendations were carried out. When a recommendation was turned in which it was impracticable to carry out, the safety engineer had the division engineer come to the next meeting and state frankly why it could not be done. Frequently this resulted in some excellent discussions.
You need have no feaFYjf construction safety committees swamping you with a lot of impossible suggestions bearing on structural changes. On the contrary you will find that their recommendations bear chiefly on safe working conditions! as applied to ladders, scaffolds, shoring, walk ways, tools, and equipment. In this respect, we have found our con struction safety committees far more practical than those used on opera tions. But let me caution you in dealing with your committees to be absolutely frank and always acknowledge their suggestions with honest
Construction Section
497
reasons, if you find it necessary to turn any of them down. We have
also found that the men appreciate a designating mark for their service
on the committee, so we give them a safety committee emblem.
Again on this job the effectiveness of the safety work was shown in the
difference between the actual costs including compensation, plant hospi
tal maintenance, doctor's salaries, and the cost of maintaining the safety
department, amounting to $8,695 for seven months as against the premi
um of $16,768 which we woffl'd have had to pay on employees' liability
insurance carried outside--a net saving of $8,073 for the period. An av
erage annual frequency ratej of 100.1 and an average annual severity
rate of .50 calculated on the Federal basis was maintained for the first
eight months of the work. I regret that the September figures are not
yet available.
.
In concluding this paper X--want to add just one more fact vindicating
the worth of safety work on construction. During the yiear 1918 our
injury records for the entire construction branch of the Company were
lower than those of any oneXIf the four operating branches where safety
work, was prosecuted just as diligently as on construction.
Gentlemen, the accident prevention field in construction is practically
a virgin one, and if you will but take the time to investigate what has
been accomplished by those ^companies who have undertaken activity in
this field, you will be fully convinced of its worth.
DISCUSSION
Citairmax Woedtke: Geffilemen, I do not believe there is any doubt
now in the minds of any of those present, if there was any in the begin
ning, that accident prevention is not a hobby but is a source of profit and
something well worth while. Mr. Hurlbutt has covered that field in a
splendid manner.
~
Mb. F. A. Davidsox (Westinghouse, Church, Kerr, and Company) : Mr.
Hurlhutt spoke of ladders and scaffolding and the different tools you work
with. Do you follow the old methods or do your engineers plan other
ladders and other scaffolding^ different from what you used formerly?
Mr. HtiBr.DUTT: We haver improved on our early construction work.
We came to the conclusion Qjefore the war, before the United States got
in it, that the only way to handle the ladder situation successfully was
to prohibit the manufacture and use of home-made ladders on the job, and
to purchase ladders from the outside. But that doesn't solve the diffi
culty. One of our constructon engineers bought through a local concern
a number of outside company ladders all of which came up to our own
specifications so far as rungs, stringers, etc. went, but when the ladders
were delivered it'was found that practically all the stock in the stringers
was cross grain stock. As ra result, of six ladders bought as a test, four
broke in three weeks on the job.
In short, if you are going to buy outside ladders and not make your
own,'buy the best. We'canr prove to you from our own figures that to
buy the best ladders is cheaper to say nothing of the safety involved.
498
~Eighth Safety Congress
Mr. a. E. Davirsox CChesebro-Whitman Co.): Do you use what Is called
ihe cleat ladder, or slat ladder?
Ma. Ht7Ri.ni.-TT: We haven't bought any cleat ladders from outside manu
facturers.
Mr. J. L. Nayi.ok (Manitoba Bureau of Labor, Winnipeg): Frequently
in our construction work, for the main ladders on a bunding they will
construct big double ladders. The upright is commonly made of two
by six, or two by eight, or even heavier, and the cross slats are usually
made of two by four material. Do you ever use that?
Mr. Huri-bctt: Perhaps I should have qualified my statement when I
said we purchased outside ladders. On some jobs we have done just what
you said. On the ladder going up the scaffolding we have used two by
six. and in some cases used three stringers. In some cases we have
notched the rungs into the stringers, and in some cases put a strip be
tween the rungs on the stringer.
Mr. A. E. DavidsoC" I would like to ask Mr. Hurlbutt if. in his work,
they have tried workmen's committees.
Mr. HCRi.niwr: Asl told yon in the case of this chemical plant, which
I gave figures on, wgdidn't use workmen's committees but we used fore
men committees, the idea being in our safety work to try to work through
the organization and not at the men. exactly the same way you work
through the organization for your desired quality, and yotir speed. In
other words make safety a part of your undertaking, not a separate dis
tinct phase.
=
Cir.xiRM.vx WokutkeT The next speaker has a topic which is most in
teresting to all of us: especially to those of us who have been trying to
get safety on the map in the construction field. Yon hear it said some
times that it isn't mnch of a trick for a big contractor to put safety on the map in his organization, it is a good thing for him to do from a
dollars and cents viewpoint, or to reduce rates. The medium sized or
small contractor will_often say. "That stuff is too deep for me."
What we want to get over and get over thoroughly, and it is going
to be some task and it will need every one of us to get. it over. Is to
convince- the little fellow, or the medium sized contractor, that there is
a place for him in that field. Mr. Rutherford, who will talk on that
subject, is a local builder in Cleveland, a gentleman who has come in
contact with ail kindi and types of contractors and wbo Is well qualified
to cover this subjects
IMPORTANCE TO.THE CONTRACTOR OF PREVKXTING MINOR ACCIDENTS
George A. Rutherford, Presidext, ' The George A. Rnaiw* Ojcfast, Cr.EVEi.AXD, Onto
Safety authoritiesrtell us that SO per cent of acddeat* are caused by carelessness. To prevent carelessness it is necessary to pnamte caution and vigilance. This:being admittedly the case it should fee the purpose
Construction. Section
499
of any discussion of the subject to suggest ways and means by which carelessness may be reduced and caution and vigilance increased.
As you understand, this paper is to deal with the minor class Of acci dents rather than with the larger and as many persons may think the more important class. This fact should not cause any one to presume, however, that the study of smaller Injuries is of minor importance. Just as in the realm of disease many ills at first regarded as unworthy of even passing notice, if neglected may lead to very serious developments, so in the handling of accident cases the experienced adjuster of claims recognizes that no injury tewever slight can be overlooked either from the standpoint of the injured person or of the one responsible under the law for safeguarding employees. In a recent report of the Ohio Indus trial Commission the statement is made that cases of fractured skull re sulting in permanent total disabilities are not infrequently diagnosed as scalp wounds. The same report says that fully half of the recorded cases of fractured vertebrae were treated as "sprains" or "bruises" for weeks or months before the X-Ray revealed the true nature of the injuries. To be more comprehensive, the report declares "Few cases of either permanent total disability or permanent impairment of members were recognized as such within eighteen months after the date of the accident."
The importance of paying attention to the smaller accidents is further emphasized in the broadening scope of most state compensation laws In manifesting greater liberality toward the injured person. Formerly compensation was rarely paid, for instance, for the impairment of one eye because it is seldom possible to prove direct lessening of earning abil ity by the impaired vision of one eye. However at the last session of the Ohio legislature the law whs amended to grant compensation under this condition. Still further argument for using every precaution to avoid even seemingly trivial accidents is found in the extension of the merit-rating system by the Industrial Commission of Ohio so as to provide for a re turn in the form of a credit premium of ten dollars of every one hundred dollars a subscriber may save the state fund below the ratio of the basic compensation allowance and credit premium factor prescribed for his operations. This has the effect of establishing a preferred plus rating for every industrial risk that is able to produce a preferred plus experi ence. This new plan becomes operative against expirations occurring on and after January 1, 1920, and will apply retroactively for the preceding six months insurance period. Thus a more direct financial incentive
than heretofore is brought into play as an inducement for employers to cooperate with the. fund.
As for the classification of accidents of all kinds it is significant to observe from a recent Ohio report that of a total of 359 cases, 220 were of fractures, indicating the comparative frequency of this kind of accidents. Among the other large factors in the claims considered :by the State Commission were the. loss of eyes or the loss of fingers or toes. "While no statistics are at present, available to show -tfhich particular industry is chargeable with these unfortunate mishaps it is certain that the building industry is responsible for a considerable share.
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Eighth Safety Congress
PREVENTIONS- MEASURES OX BUILDING WORKS
It Is difficult to produce anything that is new in accident prevention.
About the best than can he done is to reiterate well-known methods and
perhaps by repetition keep them constantly before the public with result
ing- emphasis. In brief I would recommend the following as prevention
measures on building work:
First: A closer contaSt by contractors with their men with a view
to personal education in Safety rules. Impress upon superintendents and
foremen their responsibility for the safety of those who labor for them,
the necessity of warningTthem of danger and also to impress upon them the necessity for scrupulous care in handling appliances and tools.
Second: A periodical inspection by the contractor or his superintendent
of daily used appliances--such as ladders, ropes, tackle, hoists, mixers,
and other machinery. _i -
Third: The insistence!upon keeping all jobs free from debris, which is
one of the greatest causes of small accidents.
Fourth: Making it compulsory that all openings in floors be immediate
ly provided with railings; that all staging, especially where bricklayers
and masons are workingT should be provided with toe-boards or screens
to prevent falling of brick and other material.
Fifth: The display of "Safety First'' signs on every building, printed
in foreign languages as well as English. These signs in addition to being
a constant reminder to workmen, would also serve a like purpose to the
employer.
Sixth: The distribution, at frequent intervals, of circulars or small
cards to be inserted in workmen's pay envelopes. Various brief exhorta tions may thus be taken^without offense. To use every effort, not only to
avoid accidents themselves, but to assist others in doing so. This latter
may be done by the prompt reporting of any defect in or about a build
ing that maj-lead to anraceident. How often do men continue to be in
danger after they fear something may happen until it actually does hap
pen and then declare "l_was afraid of that all the time" or "I told you
so."
_
There is no doubt need of an awakening of interest in this very im
portant matter. May it not be that employers are being lulled into a
sense of security by the fact that come what may the state or the liability
companies will take cart of their troubles. Those who take this position
should remember that financial compensation for an accident is only poor
recompense at best and that the element of human sympathy and interest
in the welfare of employees are factors that should not be overlooked.
From a purely selfish standpoint this is the better policy as injuries
may not only weaken the employer's ability to achieve his greatest success
but a business reason iXTapparent in the reduction of premiums if his
experience is found worthy of such recognition.
GROUP ORGANIZATIONS FOR SAFETY
It probably is not possible for those in the building trades to deal with the subject as well as employers having all their employees under one
Construction Section
501
roof with, first-aid and ^Welfare department well established, and it ob viously is not possible tor the average contractor to employ a safety en gineer, but in all cities of any size there are associations of employers in the building trades and it would be practicable and possible for these groups of employers to provide a safety department in charge of an expert safety engineer who would he a member of the National Safety Council, and whose duty it would be to gather and disseminate informa tion on safety matters among members of the association, to provide for periodical inspection of 3B>s including machinery and equipment, to make reports and recommendations directly to the members, to provide posters, safety signs, etc., in fact to do for the group of contractors what the safety engineer of a large contracting company does for bis corporation.
I am told by one safety engineer, who is present at this meeting and who represents a large contracting firm, that in three years his company has by these methods, improved their rating in three states with the liability companies to such an extent as to result in a saving of 33 per cent in premiums paid last year. If the safety engineer for one company can accomplish this, why is it not possible for a group of contractors to obtain similar benefitsJn a financial way, and at the same time prevent much human suffering.
DISCUSSION Mb. P. A. Davidson; Jdr. Rutherford tackled one of the real problems in the latter part of his paper, and I have' been thinking it over and I almost think he has solved it. The small contractor can not employ a safety engineer, but a group of them in a town can have one. Mb. FIurt-eutt : I would like to ask Mr. Rutherford whether the cost of carrying on safety work has kept you from going into safety work to any extent, or whetherjt is because the majority of the builders are ig norant of its possibilities. Mr. Rutherford; I don't feel that the matter of safety work has been brought to the attention of contractors in this locality at all. I have been in touch with most of the builders' organizations and I have never heard of the Safety Council myself, only occasionally through the papers, and didn't know there rwas such a thing as a Construction Section, but I think it would be of Tgreat interest and importance to the contractors. Chairman ~W~oedtkE : One thing I can say that would help you out in this matter. I am not a safety engineer at all--that term is too much abused; I prefer to calLmyself Director of Safety. We don't have any safety engineers but we do make the insurance companies who cover us, inspect the work. All the insurance companies have high class safety organizations- They; study this game all the time and it is to their monetary advantage tojhelp you reduce accidents. I have inspectors from the insurance companies inspect our jobs once a month, and on large/Jobs, twice a month. I take his recommendations and send a copy right back to the superintendent, giving him forty-eight hours to carry out those recommendations or advise me specifically where they are impractical. Ninety-nine times out of - a hundred he carries them out, very rarely does he say that it can't or should not be done. You
502
Eighth Safety Congress
gentlemen want to remember that you don't need hire a man for that pur
pose, every one of you have some bright young fellow in your office, or
your field, who can take this safety work on too. Don't get discouraged
and think you have to hirA safety men. Out of the four thousand firm
members of the National Safety Council, I don't suppose over five per
cent have safety engineers.--
Mr. S. E. Richahdsox (Department of Labor and Industry): My work
is Investigating accidents throughout the western part of Pennsylvania.
Have yon a code or standard in the State of Ohio for digging deep
ditches, and things of that nature? We have had a lot of accidents from
that very cause in Pennsylvania.
:Mr. Rutherford I think it is up to the contractor. Of course, we
have the factory inspector and that is about the only inspection that
has come to my attention.^They come to the shop and see that the ma
chinery is provided with all the necessary guards; I have never seen
them inspecting out in the^field on mixers or hoists.
Mr. Richahdsox: I had a very bad case at Neville Island. Pittsburgh.
Two young colored fellows were sent down eighteen feet into a ditch
that was being dug for a sewer. They were sent down with curbing,
one two by ten every six-feet. Those boys were buried alive in there
and were in that hole fivelhours before they could get them out. Palling
material is another thing that we have had a lot of trouble with. We
have a state standard passed by the Industrial Board but we haven't
got it working yet the way: it should be.
Chairman Wokhtkk: I am now going to .introduce to you Mr. C. M.
Talbert.
:
PROTECTING THETUBL1C AGAINST ACCIDENTS ON
NEW BUILDINGS
C. M. Tai-dert. Director, Department of Streets and Sewers,
St. Louis, Mo. '
I have found with several years of experience that contractors are a fairminded group of men, and that they are willing to cooperate if given a fair chance. The contractor after all is a man who has about as much humanitarianism as any of us and is perfectly willing to do anything if he can be shown it is thej proper thing to do and not unreasonable. I have found, too. that the ^difficulties we have are with the small con tractor. the large contractor gives the least trouble we have in carrying out suggestions for the protection of the public.
In getting up this paper I had first in mind how many accidents had happened. I have two men who are almost constantly on the down town streets. It is a peculiar situation in St. Louis; our police force is not a city force, but a state organization. Consequently the handling of traffic and the protection of the^public in handling materials, and protection of every type is not done by the Department of Police but by the depart ment that has charge of the highways. I asked these two men in charge of this district to first ascertain how many accidents had happened In
Construction Section
503
"the last two years. The first report that came in said there had been
no accidents. I thought surely within the past several years there must
have been somewhere 31 record of the accidents which occurred on
building construction. --So. I ashed them to consult the coroner's office,
and different places, and make a list of all .the accidents which were
fatal. Very much to my surprise and still more to my gratification I
found there had been no accidents, during those several years. There
have been a number of_ accidents in outlying districts, places we didn't
.look for them, places where we had not been giving care and supervision
we thought necessary. We found then that the down town district had no
accidents of any type but there had been quite a few suits against the
city and against contractors outside this district. Why they occur in
one place and don't in another I will try to show you.
In the wrecking of buildings, construction of buildings and excavations
adjacent to public highways, excavations including conduits, sewer mains,
sidewalk construction.~etc.. I found that the accidents that might happen
to the public were of the following general nature: Falling of material
overhead: dropping of material being hoisted: stepping Into unprotected
.openings: stepping anypails, glass, etc.: and for the pedestrian, collision
of pedestrians when passageway is narrow: collision with supporting
columns:--those, so faf as I was able to tabulate, comprise almost en
tirely those things to which the public is liable. Now we have governing
those things but one Ordinance I have been able to find, and that is
the ordinance that requires canopies protecting the sidewalks to be
erected for buildings Jhore than four stories high and I don't believe
I have been able to use that ordinance in the past five years.
In other words our protection to the public is not a matter of law but
common sense application of those things that both the contractor and
those responsible deem proper and advisable.
I am going to have these slides run through as rapidly as possible.
These are taken froiwonr photographs which were meant to illustrate
the suits brought against the city. Most of them will not need an ex
planation.
--
Sr.lDES lI.r.TJSTRATIXC SUITS BROUGHT AGAIXST UfE CITV
This particular oneziis hardly representative of the conditions. The rough looking canopy in front is meant to show, the protection that was placed there to keep water from off the walk, not so much as a matter of safety but as a matter of convenience so the dirty water would not fall on the people.
Another common cause of trouble is placing the building materials in the street and leaving them unguarded. The small rack at the right band is meant to hold a lantern. No accident occurred at that point and it is merely giveg as an example of building material on the street.
Bear in mind that these first are not considered satisfactory.. it is our endeavor to keep all advertising off the side. If a man puts tip a proper type of protection ai^ the type of protection we think is best, we allow him to put his name on it.
Chaikmax Woedtke : What are those bulletins?
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Eighth Safety Congress
Mr. Tausert: Those were theatrical bulletins, and had to be removed
or further permits would be refused. If the contractor has been difficult
to control, the next time 5he doesn't get any permit. CixAiRArAjsr. Woedtke: Would you refuse any safety bulletins, if that
is the most advantageous point?
Mr. Tai-bebt: We would go just a little bit further and make it obliga
tory, bearing in mind it wasn't an advertisement. We don't want the
town to become littered with billboards to make it look like a circus, and
we ask the contractor to cooperate with us and we meet him very frankly,
and we feel to our mutual advantage.
That one readily shows its own story. The bricks were piled too high
and not straight, some boys climbed up on the pile and were injured, and
they had a damage suit against the city and the contractor. If that had
been a down town distinctive would have had an inspector to see that
the brick were piled in rbWs.
This next one is an accident where the person tripped over a board pro
jecting from the building- - More careful supervision of the placing of
the building material would have been the proper thing, to keep the pas
sageway open. That board Icaused a combined damage suit against the
city and contractor.
"
This is another almost identical with the first, in which the old brick
were piled insecurely, some-boys climbed on them, they collapsed, and
I believe it resulted in a broken leg.
In that one, the office building was satisfactory, but the sign question
again came up and we had the entire office building removed and took
away the contractor's privilege of any use of the highway. This was done
in case it should be broughtMnto court.
There is one which pretty^well tells its own story; building materials
scattered along the sidewalk, boards insecurely placed. I don't recall
whether or not that resulted^in a damage suit hut I believe it did. These
photographs resulted in practically all cases, in throwing the blame on
the contractor.
That is the down town ^district in which the conditions seemed to
Justify the stopping of all sidewalk traffic. The construction demanded a
tower on the sidewalk. "WeTiever ask the contractor to meet Impossible
conditions but we ask him to place towers and pile material inside the
building, if it can be done without extraordinary expense. If it can't be done we will close the walk, and we see he takes the precautions that
we think he should.
--
There is an example of construction work in the down town district in
which it was absolutely necessary to place the office building structure on
the sidewalk space. We elevated it to make the pedestrian passageway.
There is a matter which you are all familiar with; I consider that
unsafely guarded because there is but one red lantern on the outmost projection. The next time he came in for a building permit no further
permit would be given until we were satisfied he would take reasonable
care of his material on the highway.
There is an example of wbat I mentioned a while ago when I said
Construction Section
505
the proper cooperation "with the contractor would permit us to allow him
to place his name on the boards. That canopy was put up in the best
shape and he availed himself of quite a good deal of storage space by
putting in complete plans to the city, showing Joists, girders, columns.
We examine the plans and then issue a permit to load it up to so much
per square foot. I consider that to our mutual benefit and with absolute
protection to the public. Here is another example of an enclosure. There is nothing particular
ly interesting about that, it is an excavation which we required to be
protected by a high boas! fence. An open gate in a place like that is an
invitation to the public to stop, look, and listen. If they would do that
as much on railroad trSSlcs as they do on buildings under construction
there wouldn't be so many accidents.
That picture is an excavation in an outlying district. I have seen
several examples here in Cleveland where excavations went to the curb
line--we require them to provide a pedestrian way in the street.
This is a down town district. The interesting point is that at the top
they were raising that building one story and we allowed the contractor
to put a protection at the top floor. There is a building which was wrecked recently in which we found it
necessary to close the sidewalk during the wrecking of the upper stories.
It is merely typical o jome of the down town conditions. When we had
to wreck an old building in a retail district we found it necessary to
close tbe sidewalk during tbe time it was coming down to the second
story until all the material was out of the building line.
There is a pedestrian way over a very deep excavation that was over
a combined sewer and railroad track and is merely protecting the public
on that type of construction work;
Now those, as I say, are merely meant as examples of the every day
condition that we meetTand, to my mind, emphasize that the public can
be taken care of whatever the circumstances may be. If you have the
proper cooperation of the contractor and the public, and these things can
be done without unreasonable cost to the contractor, I think it is a. good
investment for him because it relieves him of a great deal of responsi
bility. If we give these things fair thought and consideration and can present a fair plan, itTs much easier to defend a case in court on the
part of both the city and the contractor. I was only able to ascertain
one action in the down town district. One lady tripped where the nails
had been allowed to work up and the case was settled for ten dollars, I
believe.
-
Ckairmas Woedtke: Bulletin No. S of the Construction Section that
was sent out sometime during the past year illustrates some of those
things that Mr. Talbert has discussed.
Is there anything' you want to ask?
. DISCUSSION
Mr. J. L. Nayt.ok CManitoba Bureau of Labor, Winnipeg) ; I would like to ask Mr. Talbert what means he takes for protection of the public
006
Eighth Safety Congress
against falling of the booms~qn boom derricks. Do you fence off the street
to a distance equal to the^radius of the boom when in a horizontal po
sition?
^
Mil. Tai.ukrt: AVe do onei of two things. If there is any element of
danger of falling material or falling booms, we ask them to do their
hoisting within a specified time and during that time we put officers at
the street intersections and_stop traffic. That is the only way to do it.
We give them an hour in the forenoon and an hour in the afternoon.
Mk. .V.ivi/ik: Suppose it is a question of laying heavy stone where
one hour would not be sufficient to do very much.
.Mr. Taijikkt: We have figured that the dead weight of the stone
would be enough to break the fall of any load taken tip, and we have prac
tically dally inspection of the hoisting rigging itself. But if there is
any unusual thing, iron columns, or anything like that, then we stop
traffic during that time. ln^ other words we would much rather cause
inconvenience to the public (luring any limited time than to take a chance
on some one being injured^. We even stop street cars; it would be a calamity If one of those beams should fall on a street car.
Mk. A. E. D.wntsos: Is there any law governing sidewalk bridges?
Mr. Taijiert: When buildings are over four stories in height they
must put a canopy over the sidewalk. Mr. Daviikso.v: I'ntil a few years ago in the city of New York, they
worked as you did in St. Louis, then Mr. Rudolph Miller came in and sent
out specifications and plans ^df bridges that are put up now In every place
they are needed and the public is protected. The contractor has a fine
place for storage and in ray opinion it pays the conti-actor and it cer
tainly Is much safer for thecpublic.
Mn. Tai.iskiit: I think yoii must take into consideration the use the public have of the walks. -1 know of a case in which a man erected an
eight story building at a corjjer where on one side there was considerable
pedestrian traffic, and on the^ other side there wasn't much. In that case
we closed the street, which was comparatively narrow. In other words,
there is no reason why the public who used that street should have a
canopy on the bus}' street and leave It off on the other, so we closed the
busy street and let them use the side street on the theory that it would
cost four or five hundred dollars to erect the canopy. In those matters
It Is cooperation and common sense rather than carrying out the ordi
nance. The ordinance to rfly mind should be held as a club, however, ir necessary to make them do it. T have told them repeatedly that what
ever their difficulty is we will help them out.
Chairman Wokutkk: Mr. S. C. Hill, of the Engineering News Record,
has been a very kind and good friend of this baby section. He came out
to St. Louis last year and sat through our two sessions and has given up
valuable time in coming here, and T will ask him to say something to
us.--Mr. Hill.
~
NEED FOR PTJRt,TCITY WORK
Mr. C. S. Him.: Mr Chaiunan. I will take a very few minutes because you have business much more important. I have watched the growth
Construction Section
507
of this Section very carefully. The great thing that you need today is publicity In the sense of informing contractors of the country that there
is this section in this association. The technical papers can do some thing in aiding you to get that publicity, but it strikes me that there
should be some arrangement made by which the section can circularize.
The contractors of the country can be sent this matter in the way of let
ters or short circulars telling what the purpose of the organization is.
It has been mentioned several times here this morning by men who have
spoken, especially the contractor from Cleveland, that he didn't know
there was such a thing.
find in traveling around the country that
there are hundreds of contractors that don't know there is such a thing
and there Is something I think that the section should do to spread that
information and knowledge. Just what it Is I am not prepared to say. The technical papers can=do a certain amount of it, but the technical paper is not Interested sojnuch in that particular thing as it Is in telling the new things. And fitter they have told the new ones they haven't
very much space for repeating the things and it is repetition that is
necessary.
I hope that sometime during the year the directors of the section will
consider that problem and see if they can't get some scheme for advertis
ing the association to the contractor. Chairman Woedtice: Mow, getting down to the round-table. Just for
get that you have any dignity, or any formal objection to getting into
a red hot argument, and let us find where we are on this matter. If you have a problem that you want to get over, or something that seems to be
bothering you. Just speak it out.
Mr. John B. Morcax (William B, Pollock Company) : In regard to fixed ladders, I understand from some of the remarks here it is compulsory In the State of Ohio to have an enclosure around vertical and portable lad ders. How about stack ladders and overhead ladders?
Mr. Huri.hutt: We don't enclose stack ladders; I understand, how ever, it Is compulsory in the State of Ohio to do so. At the present time we enclose the majority of ladders of thirty feet in height. We enclose all of our ladders on hoists, the same on coal bunkers.
Mr. Morc.ax: We ship all over the country and our highest State
standard will not pass in Pennsylvania or Massachusetts and we are up
against a proposition there.
Chairman Woewtke: We take the stiffest requirements we can find
and we have our boilers meet that. Mr. N'ayi.or: in Manitoba we have a very brief code governing the
safety of employees and the general public. Excavations of over five
feet in depth mnst be shored np hot the shoring must meet the judgment
of the inspector. Sidewalks mnst be protected by a fence if the building is 'within seven feet of jhe sidewalk line, board fence six feet high. If the building is within three feet of the sidewalk our regulations call for a covered canopy. We have periodical inspection by our Bureau of all build
ings of any consequence.
508
Eighth Safety Congress
STANDARD CODE FOR CONSTRUCTION WORK
Mr. Bush: I have endeavored during: the last few months to collect
the codes of all the states, and I find that only a few of them have very
much along the line of construction work--Pennsylvania, Massachusetts,
Wisconsin, California, anOome of the other states. It seems to me there
is a very great need for the State Commissions to get together on a
joint committee, possibly acting with the Bureau of Standards of the
National Government, before this state and that state and the other state
get up codes which will vary so, and have one standard code gotten up for
construction work, just the same as they have a standard code for the
electrical construction for this .country. The best mind and best talent
prepared that code and as" soon as it was gotten out was accepted as a
standard.
^
Mr. Naylor: I have a recent experience on bulletins. I was inspect
ing a building job in Winnipeg and I took one of the bulletins of the
National Safety Council in regard to derricks, it gave some statistics of
accidents. I went on therjob and saw the subforeman and he had it
tacked up. As I was leaving the premises I met the superintendent and
called his attention to the bulletin and he immediately became very
sarcastic and said, "That sort of thing is all bosh, that makes men afraid
and when a man is afraid lie is unsafe." Of course, I don't agree with his
point of view.
_
I know from our personal experience we have had a good many acci
dents of men injured through, falling beams. I think hoisting engineers
should be licensed. In tHSTcase I speak of a man came along and repre
sented himself as an experienced hoisting engineer. He was given a
very brief tryout by the foreman and seemed to get along all right but It
developed afterwards he didn't have the necessary experience; he lost his
head and fumbled the levers, letting the beam fall, killing two men.
Mr. Davidson: We heard the statements upstairs this morning that
the propaganda among meJT had almost reaphed its climax and it wasn't
necessary any more. That might he true among other sections hut it
isn't true in our section; =our bulletins are brand new and a good idea.
Chairman Woedtke: Which in your mind is the lesser of two evils,
to incur the displeasure oJL the boss on the job because he doesn't like
the idea of a bulletin, orTBbesn't like the idea of any one showing him
anything, or, to pass hindiy and post your bulletins and try to educate
your labor? The foremanTjperhaps doesn't need any education about that
beam, but he is only one uSit, he isn't the body politic. I think you can
resolve it down to that, which is the lesser of two evils, to offend a fore
man or to let the workmen go by uneducated. Bulletins have been, de
cided in every industry asibeing one of the most simple and best vehicles
of educating the employe: in accident prevention, in fact bulletins are
nothing new, all houses nag- posters of some kind to advertise theatrical
performances, and the United States Government used them all through
the war.
J__
Mr. Naylor: I think there was just a shadow of reason in the posi
tion he took. For instanceiTif a man is walking on a steel beam and you
Construction Section
500
shoot to him "Look out"--it orill make him. conscious he is in danger. X
think yoo wilt probably add to the danger but in most cases* it is- a mere
shadow of reason because under ordinary. cireomtaBes to explain to a man where danger ties* is a different thing altogether from getting him excited and making him afraid. I think you hit the motive of that man when yon suggested he didn't want any one routing around there Intro ducing anything he didn't originally think of. fte wanted to be the king
bee, and didn't like to be told anything, Mr. Dresser: I think possibly the superintendent was peeved. Per
sonally, if I had to deal with such a man I would get rid of him.
FRIDAY. MORNING SESSION
HE meeting was called to order at 0:4o A. M,, Mr. I-- D. Wbedtke pre
X siding. Chairman Woe&tke:
-- The first speaker this morning is a gentleman
who is well qualified to discuss the subject of his paper. "Safety in Steel
Erection.'' Colonel Gibbs has been, known for many years to be a leader
in his own field. Steel erection is one of the vital factors in construc
tion; it presents many problems and there is altogether too little atten
tion given to steel erection "these times. Mr. Gibbs has gone to consid
erable trouble to get his paper together, especially in view of the fact that
he -was serving Uncle Sam el short time ago. It is with decided pleasure
that l introduce to you Colapel E. A. Gibbs.
SAFETY-JOST STEEL ERECTION
Cot.. E. A. Gibbs, The McClintic-MAkshaili, Company, Pittsbuegh, Pa.
Steel erection, presents in. general, the same problems regarding safety encountered in other field construction -work.
Like other outside construction work, it is done under more different conditions than shop work, for the reason that the conditions are varied, and continually changing, w2)ile in the shop many conditions affecting accidents are fixed. The weather plays a much more important part in the field than in the shop. The force of workmen i3 much less stable In the field than in the shop. With the field force constantly chang ing, it is much more difficult to educate the men to safety and to avoid getting men who are unsafe on the work.
There are. however, certain differences between steel erection and gen eral construction: the loads are generally much heavier and handled under more varying conditions at a greater distance from the ground. There is an element of risk in every lift. While the derrick may have been tested throughout and proven safe, an accident may he caused by a bridgeman making one careless hitch on a load of beams.
The appliances for erecting steelwork have been developed and in creased great y during the past twenty year3 and erection is relatively
510
Eighth Safety Congress
much more safe. Nevertheless, many new difficulties have arisen. The average weight of pieces to be handled has greatly increased while cer tain limiting- features have remained unchanged, such as tract clear ances and gage. A. girder may increase in weight but the derrick car
that handles it must run on and be supported by the same track as previously. This increased weight has had one benefit. Heavy mem bers cannot be juggled Tftnd handled in any manner that the foreman desires. The equipment can be designed to handle these in only a few ways and the foreman must be governed accordingly.- Therefore, the work is likely done as the design of the equipment contemplates and with corresponding safety.
Accidents are divided into two classes: real and preventable. Real
accidents are those which occur through no neglect on the part of the
workmen or the employer which could reasonably be expected to be
foreseen and prevented.^ Preventable accidents are those which could
have been avoided, had Either the men or those in authority over them
exercised the proper amount of vigilance. It is conceded that well over
half of all accidents are preventable and the proportion is probably
higher.
^
We are, of course, concerned with both classes of accidents but par
ticularly with those that can. be prevented. There is no question about
the desirability of preventing accidents. The problem is how to accom
plish it.
FEEVENTAHLE ACCIDENTS E
Preventable accidents :may be divided into three classes: 1. Accidents due to workmen themselves by reason of being physically
Incapacitated: ignorant, inexperienced, intemperate, careless or reckless, acting the fool, or actual disobedience.
2. Accidents due to foremen:
Improper selection of men placed in charge of work or doing the work.
Inadequate instruction to workmen. Putting men or allowing them to go into dangerous places unneces
sarily. Lack of vigilance and orderliness on the work. Failure to investigate questions of safety made by workmen. 3. Accidents due to superiors: by reason of improper selection of foremen, safeguards, equipment for doing the work and instruc tions regarding its/use.
It is believed that the greatest difficulty is with the men themselves.
Construction companies long ago recognized the necessity of having proper equipment, and that phase of the situation is In relatively good
shape.
^
The foreman, while still skeptical as to the value of certain expedients
for safety, can be educaged more easily as they form a small class, and
as their tenure of employment depends on the results they produce it
isn't hard to impress them with the effect of accidents on their work.
Construction Section
511
It isn't So easy to get them to enforce safety methods. The conditions on a Job are changing rapidly and the foreman is crowded to make time. He cannot do everything and naturally devotes his time to things that speed the work and affect the direct cost. Only constant pressure
on the question of safety, and using every accident to point out the neglect of foremen or men will bring results.
The workmen are by nature and training a daring class of men and instinctively feel that their courage and skill is questioned when they are asked to comply with many of the expedients for safety. However, they can and must be educated to take proper precautions to protect themselves and their fellow-workmen. Bulletins, notices, and placards of various kinds containing written and illustrated cautions and effects of neglect are very good. Our company. In 1910, issued a book to its foremen containing instructions _3jpd cautions for the prevention of acci dents. "We also started at that time to post a bulletin with certain, of the most common faults of workmen and how to avoid them. A small copy of this bulletin Is handed to each bridgeman whom we employ. It contains, several short paragraphs, as follows:
HOW TO AVOID COMMAS FAULTS OF WORKMEN
Don't Be RecKless. More accidents occur through recklessness than
any other cause. Don't walk on rods. Don't ride a load. Don't ride on a
locomotive crane.
'S
Don't Be Carelesp. Look where you step, and be sure that on what
you step is safe and secure. Dffl.'t step on ends of loose plank. Don't
start to slide down a line unless you are sure the ends are fastened.
Be Orderly. Do whatever you do in an orderly, careful manner. Bile
material so that It cannot roll, fall, tumble, or he blown over. Don't
let tools or equipment such as holts, nuts, drift pins, blocks, dolly barB,
etc., lie around so that they can he knocked off the work or so that any
one can fall over them.
7"
Unfit Condition. Don't go to^jwork if you have been drinking or do
not feel well. If you are lame or have any delect in hearing or eye
sight you should not work at this business, as by so doing you endanger
your own and fellow workmen's;lives. If you are Inexperienced in, or
unsuited for the work to be doneT don't undertake It.
Be Vigilant! Watch What VovTdre Doing. Don't stand or work under
a load. Don't go In the bight of a line nor stand in front of a snatch block. Don't work on or about a crane runway when, the crane is In
use unless there is a stop between you and the crane.
Don't Use Unfit Tools. Be sure the tools and equipment you UBe are
in good working order. If they are not, don't use them.
DON'T WORK WITH. MEN WHO DON'T OBSERVE THESE RULES.
The first requirement for safety In erection is to have the proper equipment. Foremen and workmen cannot be expected to take the necessary precaution if they are not provided with proper equipment
512
Eighth Safety Congress
in first-class condition. And it is not enough, to provide first-class equip ment. It must be keptr in good condition by constant attention on the job and by overhauling at the completion of the job if necessary.
rRisrcirr-Ks obsebved begasdi^g equipment
Some of the principle observed by our company regarding equipment
are:
^
3. Use no wooden travellers or derricks, except very light derricks and jinnywinks.
2. All castings in erection equipment carrying any strain to be made of steel. "We make all of our sheaves for cable blocks, except small blocks for %-inch cable, of steel. All castings when bending strains are-encountered are made of vanadium steel. Vanadium insures a more uniform casting and tends to eliminate blow holes.
3. Forgings of importance such as the headblock of a derrick car are made of nickel steel.
4. Use the very best manila lines. 5. Use cable slings, instead of chains. Very important. 6. Automatic brake in addition to mechanical brake on all electric
hoists.
t
In the erection of ordinary work the equipment provided, if it is of the best quality, is amply strong for the purpose. It simply requires proper handling and reasonable care.
For the heavier classes of work, heavy and frequently special equip
ment must be used. This equipment requires good designing and the best materials. Good designing implies a thorough knowledge of how the equipment is to be used, and the provision for all reasonable uses to which it may be put. It is the duty of the foreman, after being properly instructed, to see that the equipment is put to no uses for which it was not intended unless necessary, and then only after proper
investigation by an engineer.
Erection equipment should be so designed as to make all stresses as
determinate as possible. Even then the many positions in which a load
can and will be handle! .will produce more varied strains and conditions
than occur in bridges or other permanently fixed structures- Ee sure
that all stresses and combinations of stresses are fully cared for. Then,
not only make the main members strong enough hut pay especial atten
tion to details. Most failures in erection equipment are primarily due
to poor details. Booms, with light lacing or lacing improperly detailed
are common. Poor detailing often produces very great bending stresses
that are ignored.
"
Erection equipment should be most carefully inspected during its manufacture and test reports required for steel castings, all alloy metals, and steel cables. The assembling and erection of a traveler or heavy derrick should he carefully done to insure that no stresses are intro
duced by improper alignment. This is extremely important. Booms andtraveller hoists should, be tested with gradually increasing loads before
Construction Section
513
using them to fuil capacity. While in use they should be inspected fre
quently to see that, no weaknesses have developed through wear or other
means, and that the equipment is working as designed.
Instructions should be issued as to just how equipment on heavy
work is to be used and nothinglleft to chance. A movement of a very
short distance in the setting of a traveler or in the radius of a heavy
boom may be perfectly safe as far as the equipment itself is concerned,
but may endanger the falsework or the permanent structure.
In the erection of falsework, great care and an accurate knowledge of
conditions is necessary. Timber should he carefully inspected and none but of good quality used. In case mudsills are used, examine the soil
carefully and provide sufficient mudsills to support the load with ample
safety.
--
The matter of bracing the falsework bents themselves, their connec
tion by bracing and struts, and the fastening of the end bents to the
piers or abutments so as to prevent any longitudinal movement of false
work, are all points where too much, care cannot be exercised.
cautions to be observed IN' steel erection
Following are some cautions That if followed will prevent many of the accidents In steel erection-"
1. Select the proper man for the particular task in hand. 2. Do not order, men to 'work-in unnecessarily dangerous places, and
he on the alert to see that they do not run unnecessary risks of their own volition. 3. Do not allow the men to work on corrugated iron roofs or steel when there is a coating of ice thereon. 4. Walking on rods, riding loads or locomotive cranes, sliding down lines without inspecting the fastening, standing in the bight of a line or in front of a gate block, are all unnecessary risks and should not be permitted. .==. 5. Do not permit men to work about crane runways without placing an effective stop between the men and the traveling crane, and see that the electric wires are properly insulated. 6. Require the rivet boss to Inspect carefully all riveting scaffolds. Improperly hung scaffolds^ have caused many serious accidents. Only the best material should he employed. Clear spruce Is the best. 7. Pipe used as needle beams; should not he spliced.. 3. All scaffold plank should have a stop bolt about 6 inches from each end to prevent it front slipping off the needle beam and if the scaffold is inclined it should have cleats nailed on the plank. All scaffold material should be tested for twice the load it is expected to carry. Even this care will not suffice unless the men are care ful. This was demonstrated in a case where a riveting gang used their scaffold as a brace Tor an air buekup. The scaffold--amply strong for its purpose--broke under this sudden additional load and the men fell into the river.
514 Eighth Safety Congress
9. On high bridfit Wk, *ca8oM> sttosld be provided with a railing.
This Is a requirement by law la come states. 10. Filing of material fstwt be carefully watched, particularly with
heavy work. Sk.Wb<. <dxmKS be amply heavy and level, and the piles not top heavy. Poor p&tag of material Is responsible for a large number of jKjctdegtc. 11. When it Is -accessary for men to work above other men, put up a danger sign calling attention to the fact that men are working
overhead. 12. Keeping small tools la condition will avoid many accidents. 13. Wearing of goggle* while chipping is a necessary precaution but
one the men dislike to follow. 14. In the use of cable slings. Inspect them frequently and keep them
properly oiled, and In handling heavy loads pad the sharp corners to prevent cutting the cable.
DISCUSSION
Mr. J. E. Griffith <I>a Pom. Company): Do you use annealed chains? Can you properly anneal a chain on the job?
Con Gibbs: We do not use them, but my opinion is that it doesn't make
a good job.
^r-
Mr. ;Griffith Are the cards you hand out-to your men printed In different languages?
Col. Ginns: Xo. because practically all bridge men are Americans.
Rarely if ever do you have a foreigner on bridge work who can't read
or write English. ---
Mb. Griffith: What is your experience with men falling from high
altitudes, on steel erection?
Col. Gums: A man rarely if ever falls from a'high altitude because If
he is at all shaky up there he wouldn't go up, or if he starts to go up the
foreman can almost always tell whether he is used to high altitudes,
whether he goes up a column or on top. Of course, a man might be
taken with a dizzy spell, but that has never occurred with us. We have
had a few men killed by recklessness at high altitudes.
Mr. Naylor: About engineers, for hoisting, do you have them? Much
depends on the engineer.
Cor.. Ginns: We find it is absolutely necessary. Mr. Richariison: We have a large blue and white enameled sign on both sides--WARNING--STAY OFF THE CRANE--and they are In
structed to watch them very carefully. We have had two accidents In the
past few years. It is just like-riding a freight train--you have got to
keep them off. These accidents that happened were mostly in big plants. I would recommend that when moving the crane down the yard they
remove the step and the handle at the rear end, and put a step and handle at the end where the men get up to the locomotive.
Cor,. Gibbs: That would probably be all right for a shop crane, but
our cranes go over^a railroad and have to stand Interstate Commerce rules, and are detailed down to an inch.
Construction Section
515
Mb. Corbusier (California) : I would like to ask about the qualifications when a man comes to you for a highway job, what qualifications do you require, and have you any method of procedure? I mean working aloft.
Cor.. Gibbs: The first thing is to find out how much experience he has
had. As soon as a man starts ufra column you can tell whether he is a bridge man or not--that is up to the foreman. He can generally tell, and a man who is afraid to go up in the air will not generally try to. There is no real test that I can7think of. There is no way of telling whether a man is going to be dizzy when he gets up there. I don|t think it is possible to give a satisfactory physical examination for a thing of that sort.
Mr. Corbusier: There is no physical examination that has been shown as satisfactory.
Mr. W. G. McDebmott (Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation) : Have you any specific statistics in regard to examination and testing of cables?
Col. Gibbs: It Is examined whenever it Is brought into the tool house --they look it over very carefully; and it is examined frequently on the job. We don't keep a record on the job, we do In the tool house.
Chaibmax Woedtice: One question Mr. Gibbs raised struck me very forcibly, and that is his company has got to the point where they don't use chains, they have adopted cable slings. That is a mighty important departure as I view it. I would like to ask the question, does he con sider the use of chains safe for light work, or prefer the use of cable swings exclusively?
Cor.. Gibbs: I think I would "keep on the job five-eighths and threequarter chains. There are someuases where a load isn't a factor, where tbe chain Is more convenient to =use than a cable, especially where you have a light load which sometime^ a cable isn't convenient to handle. If it were not for that, I would abandon them altogether. Any place where the use of the strength of the sling is a factor I would use a cable.
Chairman Woedtice: The next speaker. Gentlemen, is to discuss for you a subject which, while it mayinot seem one to interest the ordinary contractor, certainly has so muclL in common with the contracting prac tice and procedure that undoubtedly there are many things which the speaker may say which will affect your business.
During the war hundreds of ship building corporations throughout the land engaged in building ships for Uncle Sam. In our country, of course, the ship building industry prior to the war had faded into almost nothing. When we got into the war and ships had to be built with crews of green men, that entailed a tremendous problem from the safety view point. Mr. Bonsib, the speaker, ^handled that end of the game with re markable success throughout the war period until after the armistice when they shut down a great many shipyards.
516
-Eighth Safety Congress
RESULTS OF SAFETY- WORK IN SHIPBUILDING AND I-IOW THEY WERE OBTAINED
Rov S. Bo.n'sh:, Dihkctoh. Inpcstkiai. Bureau Tanners' Cocncii, of the
U. S. A., F*oK>iEitLY With Emeiicexcy Fi.eet Corporatiox,
Southern Pacific District
The building of ships is a contract job, therefore contractors are in terested in it. It has-been sometime since I was in the ship building game; of course, during the war I was quite active.
I can't give you niwch information about the organization because I haven't had time to prepare a paper. What I shall say will be simply the results of my own. experience on the Pacific Coast. As you probably know, some of the best records in both the reduction of accidents and also the building of ships were made out there. For convenience in handling the gigantic ^problem that the Shipping Board was under, the United States was divided into eleven districts. In each district a safety engineer was appointed. This man had supervision of all accident pre vention activities in both shipbuilding plants and machinery plants in the Southern PacificTriistrict. We hadn't only steel construction but also wood and concrete.
Before this work was started, bookkeepers, ribbon clerks, and men from all lines of activities absolutely foreign to construction work flocked to the shipyards from patriotic motives, and probably other motives. They didn't know any more about building a ship than I did about medicine- Where a man is ignorant he is going to get hurt. I am told that on the Pacific Coast before tlxe Safety work started that there were from one to two men killed every day in the whole district; that throughout the country there was enough lost time from accidents to build twenty 3,i>00-tonjhips. After the safety work started I am pleased to say that fully eighty-five per cent of the injuries causing lost time were eliminated and the fatalities almost disappeared.
This work was accomplished through personal visits to the manage ments. On the Pacific Coast at the time we first started our work only two of the plants hacL safety engineers. That is, I wouldn't say safety engineers because ontuof them wasn't an engineer but a practical man who was looking after safety work. The other was an insurance man who was a very cleverrman and did excellent, work. Our big idea was to sell accident prevention to the managements. They came back at us and said, "We haven't got time to fool with that sort of junk. We are building ships." Butlit didn't take long to show them it was to their Interest to keep the men on the job. They finally became interested and I am pleased to say that most of the companies in the Southern Pacific District at the close of, the work had men delegated to accident prevention work exclusively. __^
The Emergency EJfiet Corporation gave general instructions to the safety engineers which I haven't the time to go into, but the big detail of just how the work_\vas accomplished depended upon the man who was
Construction Section
517
iii charge of the work. Each man was allowed to follow the method which he was naturally best fitted to carry out.
In my own case, my method was, after getting the management In terested. to talk to the men daring the noon hour. I found that very effective. The big trouble in accident prevention work In talking to men is first going on to great spurts of oratory and pounding the air. and after the safety man is through pounding the air nothing has been ac complished. You want, in talking to men. to show them where they lose by getting hurt. We are so constituted that If we lose by doing a cer tain thing we are not apt to do it. I would tell them that while here was compensation, there was no compensation that wonld compensate for the loss of wages, to say nothing OF the pain and suffering and worry they caused their folks, and during the war it was their patriotic duty to be on the job and stay on the job.-- That seemed to get them more or less.'
ILLUSTRATED REPORTS BY PnOTOCBAniS
Then following our visit we=made written reports along with recom mendations showing what we had done and calling the attention of the management to the hazards and telling them how' they could be remedied.. In my case I illustrated this ireport by photographs. It took me two. w'eeks to get pictures of the shipyards. I had to see everybody from the. Secretary of the Navy to theTnight watchman, and carried about ten letters of introduction and every time I started taking pictures there was a regular letter reading contest. But I found the pictures showed, more than yo\i could .write in two or three thousand words, and the beauty of this was that I wouli catch the man doing something, report^ him and they would call him in and he would say, "Why no, the iran is mistaken, it wasn't me." Then I would feel like a darn fool. But when I had the photographs r would say, "Is that your picture?" He would say, "Well, I guess I did_do that."
I found that the way to maintain interest after getting the interest aroused was to Issue w'hat I called a Safety Paper. It was issued every time I got a chance to write one; at which time I called attention, to the various things that would be of help. This was illustrated by photo graphs or blue prints. I finally succeeded in getting some of the yards to. print plant papers. I am a strong believer in employees' publications.. All those wlio attended the luncheon yesterday were shown absolutely, why it paid to have employees' publications because it not only builds, that, spirit of "our plant"--when: you get a bunch of men talking about "our plant," you have got it--itjalso gives you a chance to put over cer-. tain things you want to put over. In those plant papers I ran a series
FABLES IN SLANG
of so called Fables in Slang. The way I murdered' the English language was a sin but the men knew what I was talking about and they read* them, because after the issue o.E the publication when I would go to the yards they would speak to me^about it. One was called, "Dousing the Glims of a Wise Guy" in which I attempted to show the folly of not
518
.jEighth, Safety Congress
wearing: goggles for choppers and caulkers and holders on underneath the
hulls. One of my methods was to walk up to a man and ask him if he
knew what it was to be blind; of course, he would say, "No," and X
would tell him, "Jush hold your eyes shut for a minute." I would
wait about ten seconds and say, "Now, isn't that a helluva sensation?
How would you like to be that way all your life? If you don't wear
your goggles, some day you are going to get something In your eye and
you are going to be i ^he sidewalk tin cup holding class. Now wouldn't
you look pretty on the sidewalk with a tin cup?" You notice I didn't
tell him to wear goggles. If I had said, "you wear goggles"--be would
have said. "Like hell I will." But if you show the reason for wearing
goggles then they will wear them in spite of the tecoBresrieiwe. They
are inconvenient, but you should be careful, an you taeft wfee have the
goggle problem, to see that the goggles are dtked to f&e
eyes, that
they aren't any more uncomfortable than is swwarr Yen caca make
them comfortable if you make them ttf the naiV
and
also get the type that fits the work. In
ytawce they ate all the same
kind, not any more adapted to the work
the fbexsti I am wearing.
Also be very careful to see that the ptahif. nf the
b* etaett? paral
lel because unless they are. you haw? u ' inci re&bc'&wb. resulting in
headaches. I am going to take the Itherty of ^wWhnsriwa that, Mr. Cor
busier of California tell his method
geiTjMm fke~a b* wear goggles--
it is a peach.
~
Another article was "The Boil That 'Wat tfroag." m wh*eb I at
tempted to show the danger of alSowfaog 1 iwwi. bolts
wots and things
like that to lie around_ on the stagings; "The Land of N**ver Thought"-- showing how accidents are caused by pe opV s* gsgilaat to think; "A
New Year's Reverie"-^-the reverie of a man who hadn't been careful; "The Awakening of Big Bill." in which I attempted to obow that when a
man got hurt it hurt the foreman. The poor old foreman is Jumped on
by everybody--the manager, the safety engineer, the Insurance man. and
everybody in the plant. That is the wrong method; I have found the
best way to get at the foreman is this--"Now look. Bill, you are re-
, sponsible for a certain amount of production, you have got to get this
hull In the water, haven't you?" "Yes." "Well, when you have a man
hurt you are deprived of his help, aren't you? Now. Bill, isn't it bet
ter to watch that man, keep him on the Job, than it is to let him get
hurt and try to get a_ green hand? Lord knows we have enough green
hands already." He saw the point. By talking to the foreman and show
ing it is to his selfish^ interest to safeguard his men, he is going to look
at It In a different light instead of thinking it is just an extra burden
on him.
--
BIG HAZARDS IN SHIPBUILDING
The big hazards in ship building are falling, rolling, and dying objects, and improper staging. It is one of the hardest fights to get people to see the importance of proper staging in ship building, especially during the rush of war. I have been on a lot of ships where I have found one plank with a bunch of men working on it and every time a man wanted to get
(Construction Section
519
down he had to crawl aronnd the people on the plank. It was a waste of
time. We recommended a staging of three planks and fonnd that to work:
very well. Then it was hard to get the men. especially the bolters up, to
quit leaving bolts and nuts on^the staging; fnstead of picking them out of the bag one at a time they would dump the whole thing on the
staging and then would keep running back and forth. They couldn't see
it was not only dangerous but inefficient. Most safety practices are
efficient measures. We were Anally able to get them to see that to be a
dangerous practice and we provided boxes and did away with the bag.
Sprung wrenches cause a tot of enmWe
We got the management
to see the importance of exming the
Another common
trouble, especially in Ule wwd yard's.
o& QallS and
spikes. About the only way tw
tl? sail pFftbtwBs- was to get the
men together and show Pfrefta tSfce lfwS. t%e a** thojift. wfist it would do
if anybody should step on W-. jdPhwe* wofes * ve*F~y
sagy and foolish
thing but It Js effective. Tteww-
?3tn4 w knew
an instance
where a man stepped eft a newt wo*? te* te Si-
a inwtiitd, 3fowr don't
say, "Why don't you bee&f ffee afeil
ypiesp sf'fwkfftMJ to the
result of the thing and ywa
Wwd P
d^Se < I'lWapeay
southern
California devoted
a w*
,!h*
sttBJiert. The
whole force was turned l**se*> *> Heed doww aS-T iteSc
a result the
punctured nail woOSSds
atew ifswr*^jdw pw trtf. ft was a
good practice and a few d
foBewd ft. That m
made a regular weekly peas?** rw* W w fcwew *erhK at the
nails and also at the pwfMw portance of not only e*er
^ rfifto rw *e* thews to see the im wwh If you show
the workmen where aMy
Qw soy
Re fe gatng to be in
terested in it. It you rry *w *=&ww ft** ?r go Btw dwty. that he is hf*
brother's keeper, he hasn't ttase S* UehsB. Another big hazard was the gadders. Thar was one of the hardest
fights, to get the companies to build proper ladders and also to see that
they were used properly. -- Uncovered switches was a big hazard. It was almost impossible to get
the management to see lhat;jhe uncovered switch on construction jobs
is an evil. They exctise themselves by saying it Is only temporary. It is
a well known fact that sixty volts will kill a man unless he is in good condition. It is not only an accident hazard, it is a fire hazard. It
wouldn't take much to provide a lined asbestos box and there Is no excuse for leaving the uncovered switch on construction jobs.
Another common practice that you will find on ship building jobs is
riding on loads, especially those being raised by cranes. The only way
I see to stop that is just to lay the man off the second time he does
It, if he isn't laid off by tbs Higher Power, because there have beed
a lot of people killed and injured by the foolish practice of riding on
loads. It can be stopped, it has been stopped. I can't think of any yard on the Pacific Coast where, "after three months of our work, I saw any
people riding on our cranes, jand I have a large number of photographs
taken previous to- that, of men riding on the loads.
520
Eighth Safety Congress
Chairman Woiin-rkE: There are a number of ship building men here, I know, and we put Mr. Bonsib on our program for your benefit. We can very well devote ten or fifteen minutes to discussion for the benefit of the ship building men or men interested in those problems. It is quite plain to me that ninety-eight per cent of the hazards discussed by Mr. Bonsib are common to all contractors.
DISCUSSION
Mw Corbusier: Mr. Bonsib spoke about the ignorance in the yards; that is what we have to contend with principally. Men come into the hospital. You say, "What is your name?" "4123." "Where do you live?" "Mr. May." (That is his foreman.) "Married?" "Bolter up." (Laughter.) One of our future board of directors. (Laughter.)
The little stunt that Mr. Bonsib spoke about was in the matter of weaving goggles. I said to Mr. May one day, the foreman of the rivet ers, "Why don't you_make that man wear his goggles?" "You can't, he hasn't got sense enough to wear them, all he can do is drive rivets. I don't want to fire him because he is one of the best riveters I have." I said, "I bei I can jsiake him wear his goggles." "I'll bet you can't." "I bet you ten dollars by tomorrow noon that man will be wearing his goggles." He took me up. I had a little brown glass eye and I walked up to this man who wasn't wearing his goggles and I looked down at him and he looked up at me and finally he quit his work and said, "What sir?" I said, "You understand glass eye?" (He nodded his head.) "Fine. But, you got blue eye, this is brown. Haven't any blue eys, can't get them--account of war--I want to see what size you wear"--and I measured his eye. (Laughter.) I said, "One blue eye, six and seven-eighths. Well, I will try and get it for you." He said, "I don't want a glass eye." "Well, you will get it be cause every man driving rivets like that in one month, two months, never more than twd months, he comes to the hospital with steel in his eye. For one rpieee of steel in the eye, glass eye--brown eye, goodby." (Laughter.) That afternoon after lunch that man drew a pair of goggles. I took Mr. May out and said, "Give me my ten dollars." He said, "My God, how did you do it?" I got the ten. (Laughter.)
That was one of the stunts I did In making a good riveter wear his goggles. Afterwards^ I went around and told him there were certain places he didn't have to wear them, that It -wasn't so dangerous where he was working, but underneath and on the side he must wear them. I got that man to weal them all the time; consequently all the foreigners around there wore them.
The nail stunt: I found a nail sticking up. I put up a piece of red flannel, put up a sigJF--STEP ON THIS NAIL AND THEN GO TO THE HOSPITAL. There were no more nails around.
SAFETY GUARDS
Mr. Bo-vstb: There was one thing I forgot to mention in my talk and that is, the question of committees on construction jobs. It is almost
Construction Section
521
impossible to have a safety committee, due to the- shifting of your per
sonnel. -Mr. G. W. Hill, of the Moore Ship Building Company, originated
the plan of organizing what he called Safety Guards. It Is one of the best
methods that I know of in handling safety work on ship building or any
other construction job and I am sure if you will write to Mr. Hill he will
be glad to give you the details. He would pick out the more intelligent
men, watch them, see which one showed a tendency to be careful, and
then he would have the superintendent ask that man to come to the
safety office and. he would proceed to give him a great speech, about
what a great honor was to be bestowed on him, they wanted to make
him a safety guard. He would"say, "Now I don't want you to take this
job, I want you to think it over, but I want to give you this button and
these rules and if you think you are able to handle this work, let me
know."
--
Mr. Walsh here had charge^! the Southern Gulf District and he will
tell you also, that the safety guard is the solution of your getting the workmen interested in the job. I haven't told Mr. Hill, I'm far enough
away now that he can't hurt me, but I'm sure he woxild he glad to give
you any information he can.--C. W. Hill, Safety Engineer, Moore Ship
Building Company, Oakland, California.
Mr. Thomas A. Waisii (Merchants Ship Building Company) : I was
fortunate enough to have charge of the Gulf District, and most of our success was put over by the foreman and the men in the yard. We made
our surveys, as Mr. Bongib said, and after our surveys we held meetings
every two weeks in the various^ yards. After that we took it more on a'
production basis; we went to the managers and showed them where they
were losing money on accidents^and showed where the Government was
losing tonnage each month. We set the yards on a competitive status, and a copy of that report was sent to the manager of each yard. That
report was brought up before the foremen's meetings and read to them.
After getting the yards on a competitive basis we got the various hulls and shops on a competitive abasia, and we were successful in getting
around the problem. All the time we were resting, on the foremen and the
men in the yards. It wasn't due to any individual, it was cooperation. If
every one of the foremen wasn't on the job we fell down; if the manager
wasn't on the job we went down.
We had one case where the general manager said it couldn't he done.' All I asked him was, if he would let me take hold of the thing I would
go to it. We..called a meeting of the foremen and showed just where
their help was needed. The result was, inside of four months their acci
dent frequency rate came down thirty-five per cent. About six to ten
per cent of the accidents were results of shop trouble, mechanical de
tail; the balance of them were outside, poor stages, ladders, piling of
material, etc.
'
Chairman Woedtke: The next speaker is one whom you should be keenly interested in, not only because of his own personality hut be
cause of the fact that he is representing the largest association of con
struction firms in this country, the Associated General Contractors ot
522
Eighth Safety Congress
America. We have succeeded in getting Mr. F. C. Dresser of the Austin Company of Cleveland to deliver -a paper this morning on "Cooperating on Safety," which is well worth your time and consideration and Is valuable in that whertlhe 'speaks he is representing an association, of thousands of contractors throughout the country.
COOPERATING ON SAFETY
F. J. C. Dbesseb, The Austin Company, Cleveland, Ohio
(Representing Associated General Contractors of America)
It is only in recent years that any discussions whatsoever have been had in reference to the hazards of building construction, and aside from sta
tistics issued by the several insurance companies, no organized effort has been made by the contractors generally to exchange ideas toward the
elimination of accidents. However, the present day finds that several of
our larger contracting organizations' include a so-called Bureau of Safety, and their results have shown a remarkable reduction in the number of accidents, as well as an immense saving of lost time and money.
In order to develop a proper' safety campaign for the particular job in
hand, an analysis is rocessary, for the work itself is suggestive of the
major portion, or rather kind of possible accidents you will be obliged to
combat. I do not mean to say that you can immediately eliminate all
accidents, but certainly a study of former accidents on a similar piece of
work will help greatly in a reduction of accidents on future work. To
just such work, namely, analysis and issuance of instructions, is a safety
bureau dedicated.
-
Of course, there are and always will be special pieces of work that
must be accomplished, which are different from any former, but I still
maintain that the same fundamentals apply and that an analysis still
can be made and preventive measures applied.
To follow this discussion briefly, and to support the former statement
that the work in hand will suggest possible accidents, it is evident that
the sewer or grading: contractor, for instance, can, by a series of test boles, determine the character of soil he is obliged to excavate, and plan
his working methods accordingly.- Such pi'ocedure will tell him quickly
what he must provide in the way of equipment and protective measures,
and has the further advantage of not catching him unawares as far as un-
forseen ground conditions are concerned.
The present day o_multiple-story buildings, when radical changes in
their construction methods are being employed, finds us facing the source
of the greatest number of accidents, as is attested by the high insurance
rates. Usually the public comes in for consideration, as far as safety methods are concerned, and in fact no other class of structure requires
more consistent planning or forethought as regards accident prevention,
unless it be in tunnel or subway work as installed in our larger cities.
For this work it is plain that proper and substantial equipment must be
provided, that possesses a good, safe factor; the sidewalks and streets
must be covered; riding loads and in hoists must be forbidden; stairways
Construction Section
523
and ladders must be liberally provided; mechanical safeguards installed; rapidly moving load lines and signal cords boxed or otherwise protected; safety belts and scaffolds provided; and even a man's clothing must re ceive attention, for many a man has lost, a hand by reason of his wear ing a gauntlet glove, and others have lost arms and life because of a loose sleeve or glove which dangled into revolving drums, or shafting, or which were caught by a broken strand in a cable.
Heavy foundation work requires the same care in accident prevention study, both in bridge and in building work.
Pile driving is another hazardous piece of work, where moving timbers and lines are responsible for many avoidable accidents.
Wrecking and underpinning are other sources of accidents, and more numerous undoubtedly than should be because they do not receive the attention of an engineer as regards a plan, or in other words, the aver age wrecking contractor does not have a staff or an engineer in his service to make calculations before doing work. As a result, defective material is often used and insufficient underpinning installed, causing accidents, of course.
Heavy rock excavation requires care in handling dynamite, and pre caution against flying rock and-destruction of property.
Industrial building work Is the source of possibly the greatest variety of accidents, but usually not as disastrous to life and limb as the previ
ously mentioned classes of work. An analytical study in the direction of safety, no matter what the class
of work, will certainly produce results if undertaken with the same spirit that a construction engineer plans his layout and schedule.
euelouxs
In a large measure the application of safety methods depends on the
employee. The more intelligent, the less liable is he' to accident. In this
respect, the ironworker or steel erector is possibly the most versatile in that he thinks of the possibilities of things happening in connection with
the work in hand, and is not so easily caught unaware. The briekmason
and carpenter are usually on more substantial, footing and inasmuch as
their work is usually more regular, do not have occasion to give "possi
ble happenings" much thought^ No other mechanic requires good judg
ment more than the hoisting engineer, especially be he engaged on mul
tiple-story building work or heavy bridge construction. The common
laborer, however, requires more watching than the trade mechanics, and
in this respect much depends Ion the intelligence of the foreman who di
rects his movementts. All workmen, however, can-he schooled in safety
methods as has been demonstrated by leading contracting companies that
have safety bureaus. For instance, Fred T. Ley and Company began
this work in 1915, and their ^reduction in accident rate per 1,000 em
ployees for 1916 was 25 per cent, and in 1917 was 65 per cent, which la
indeed encouraging.
'
CHARACTER OF ACCIDENTS
Our records, from a recent piece of construction, which involved steel erection, heavy concrete, brick work, and grading, also trackwork, show.
524
Eighth Safety Congress
from a total of 242 accidents, that: 73 employees sustained bruised fingers from handling material, 37 employees sustained punctured feet from nails, 11 employees sustained cuts on head from falling material, 7 employees sustained sprained ankles, slipping and misstepping, 7 employees sus tained cuts on hands, and the balance were minor injuries. This work comprised the erection of a large engine terminal, and this record con forms In the average to the class of accidents which we must safeguard against In the course of our regular Industrial building construction.
1 find in comparison with figures as derived by other concerns, that the accidents in the main are similar in character, but the percentages vary, due undoubtedly to the character of the work in hand.
The greatest number:of accidents, we find, come during the handling of material, and are confined to hand injuries; second in number come injuries to feet from protruding nails; third, employees falling, by reason of misstepping or stumbling over strewn material, causing sprained or broken ankles, broken arms or legs; fourth, falling material, causing cuts about the body and broken limbs. These are the four main causes as we find them, and it is natural, therefore, that preventive measures be pro vided in the order named.
I believe It goes without question that a job properly planned, and scheduled whereby one phase of the work closely follows the other, where material is received andhandled in the same order and where orderliness prevails throughout, is rewarded by the least number of accidents.
Receiving and storing"ot material is a study in itself, for naturally tbe best position must be selected for hoists, and also for storage. One should be near the other to avoid rehandling and, increased costs, and minimum handling also reduces the possibility of accidents, as is plain. But often they are fax apart, causing long runways to be built and arranged, in and out, around or through a building, as the case may be, creating a state
of disorder and interfering with the other, divisions of the work. The ideal, of course, is one where, for instance, structural steel can be placed from car to position, eliminating rehandling in field; and on large opera tions where space is available, this can often be done with steel as well as other material, if hoists and material tracks or roads are given some attention as to layout and position before, work is started in the field. The main object is to eliminate distance, for work is really distance versus resistance, as the definition goes, and the further application of all possible mechanical means to handle material from cars or wagon to position is another factor which results in a great reduction of accidents.
Our second consideration being given to nails, we find that orderliness In handling of lumber containing protruding nails, eliminates foot punc tures by tbe score. Plank or forms of this character should be stacked with nails down and nof be allowed to be strewn all over the job. In or der to re-us? the plank or board, the carpenter must drive the nails back, and their removal as soon as the plank or brace is taken down is un doubtedly the best practice. As regards concrete form lumber that has been stripped, if it has no further use in. the building as fabricated, it should be stacked and mills removed by the cleaning gang, if there is one, as soon as possible to make it available for other use, for certainly the
Construction Section
525
re-use of lumber these days isleconomy, and a carpenter usually -will take
a new piece rather than stop to remove nails. In a multiple-story con
crete building, forms are usually stripped and immediately placed in posi
tion for the next floor, and the same applies to braces, so that the imme
diate removal or driving back of nails is necessary and foot punctures are
made less possible than on the ordinary timber or house job. Elimina
tion of strewn lumber will reduce nail accidents and its reclamation
should be taken in hand at once in order to make it fit for re-use, which
in itself will cause a saving in_the final lumber bill.
To avoid employees falling, railings should be erected on staging and
scaffolds; runways of sufficient width provided; and material generally
should not be strewn promiscuously about the job. Openings should be
fcovered or railed and goodJktable ladders built. Climbing up or down
hoist towers should be forbidden, and all moving lines boxed so as to
avoid trapping. Working aisles should be kept clear of waste and surplus
material. To avoid falling material, storage of the same should be confined to
the interior aisles, and scaffolds px-ovided with a sideboard to prevent
brick especially from going ojer the edge.
In discharging debris, closed-in chutes should be installed, wheeling
runways to be of sufficient Width and overloading of wheel-barrows for
bidden, especially when bricks are being moved.
Naturally the safety movement must begin with the management itself,
and if contractors generally will review the results obtained by those
contractors who maintain Safety Bureaus, they will readily see that it is
a paying branch of the organization. The gratifying results obtained by
Fred T. Ley and Company, Of which Mr. L. D. Woedtke is Director of
Safety, have already been mentioned- Inasmuch as the work covers a
period of only three years, they ai*e indicative of the immense amount of good work that can be done in accident prevention in general contract
ing, as propaganda of this kind is really in its infancy in this field.
The next step for an organization to undertake is the addition of a
Safety Bureau, under whose direction the work is carried on. The first
consideration must be given, to the field organization itself, meaning the engineers, superintendents and In fact the entire rank; and file, for coop
eration must exist; and foremen generally must see that the safety rules
are observed.
_r^r
As a further matter of cooperation, the construction department should
turn over to the safety man a complete schedule of the job in hand, show
ing the progress expected, ^|his being the first step. Second, a set of
safety rules should be issued applying to the work or particular job in
hand, which are set up after,due analysis of the conditions which are to
be met. The third is, of course, the enforcement and application of these
safety rules.
--
First of all, any job employing 125 men or more, dependent, of course,
on character of the work and location, should have a first aid attendant
and small field hospital. We find it pays decidedly by eliminating lost
time.
=T
Second, the job organization should appreciate thoroughly the mean-
526
t"Eighth Safety Congress
ing of this safety work and they will in the end discover that lower unit costs will result from the observance of the safety rules.
EDUCATE THE WORKMEN
To educate the workmen themselves can be done in different ways, and first of all, I believe, he should be taught to observe safety rules provided as a precaution againstr the first or possibly the second classifications, which are most liable "to happen. His education in this respect should be gradual or progressive as the work goes on, and his foreman, of course, should see thdt the rules are observed.
Descriptive photographs are an immense help in avoiding accidents and educational work, and should be in keeping with the class of work in band.
Periodical bulletins help greatly, as do also signs which should be of such size and meaning-ras can be understood by all. A sign that can be read only a few feet distant is not of much use; it should be readable at a considerable distance--the farther the better.
Another idea is to have progressive signs, or those which move for ward with the work, cautioning what in particular may result from the
work in hand at that time. These signs should be right on the job and not posted on the office3oor, which may be a mile away from the job.
These are, of courser just the means by which the idea can be con veyed, and various methods can be adopted as results may suggest; the same to be chosen by the Safety Director himself. In addition, safety meetings should be held on the job by the foremen and a plan of action or procedure decided upon before particular pieces of work are under taken, also work covered should be reviewed, ideas exchanged, and the work encouraged in every way. In this way, the best methods can be secured.
-- EQUIPMENT
Needless to say, the equipment for the particular job in band should
receive the same careful attention, first to be assured that it possesses
the necessary safety factors to handle the work generally, and that it is
in good repair at all times, and receives the necessary periodical inspec
tion while on the worSTas well.
On all our work, for=instance, we carry boiler insurance; the boilers
receive periodical inspection by the insurance company and. of course, must conform to the state laws.
Around the plant generally, guards should be built which will eliminate
the possibility of employees coming in contact with the moving parts and
lines, and the same--consideration must be given to hoists and
hoist lines. To operate; plants efficiently requires good mechanics, and a
contractor, who maintains a staff of experienced operators in connection
with his organization has done much toward the application of safe meth
ods, for the accident, as a rule, happens to the green man, no matter
whether he be mechanic, laborer, or machine operator, and It Is necessary
to observe such men very carefully, until such time as some experience
has been gained.
I
Construction Section
527
Safety rules further will establish under what conditions a machine is
to he operated and how, and JWill also establish signal codes to be ob
served, for very often the operator cannot see the other end of the line
or'the top of the hoist, as the case may be. At any rate, common sense application tells us that above all else you
must have experienced machine^ operators, and none other should be per
mitted to be employed, yet many times you will find some man out of the
gang running a machine, the principles of which are entirely foreign to
his understanding.
--
The whole work, however, as regards both employees and equipment Is
to be reviewed and inspected by the Safety Engineer, who will suggest pre
cautions and safety rules that are to go hand in hand with the working
methods decided upon for the handling of the Job. This la further beneH-
cial inasmuch as a man from general headquarters sees many things that
a man on the job does not deem important.
Generally speaking, this subject is one that is becoming more impor
tant each year, and the increasing obligation to cooperate with safety is
plain, considering the fact that in 1917, in our United States. 300,000 men
were disabled and 3,000,000 minor accidents occurred in our industrial
army. It means work and a general adoption of the policy of accident preven
tion wherever man is employed in industrial work.
To this end. It is gratifying that the contractors generally are becom
ing more interested, for certainly it is a work that Is worthy of the fullest
recognition, and we hope to record with the National Safety Council next
year a Temarkable improvement in our work.
DISCUSSION
Mit. Humjiitt: One of our safety engineers brought in some rather
interesting figures that bear out a point in Mr. Dresser's paper. We
are doing a construction job" in the State of Michigan -where we are
using in the neighborhood of four thousand men. The contract called
for a thousand houses in fqjTr months, with a bonus for time saved,
necessarily increasing the accident hazard. As a result of having a
complete first aid hospital on the job, immediately following an injury
the man was taken to the hospital, and as a result we have had only
two serious accidents from nail punctures--which shows the worth of
medical attention to do away wiih the possibility of infection.
Chaibmax Woeutke: If there is no further discussion of Mr. Dres ser's paper, before getting into the round table discussion I would like
to have you listen to the report of the Nominating Committee if they
are ready.
--
REPORT OP ^NOMINATING COMMITTEE
Mr. Kimhkrli.vg (Pittsburgh Construction Company): The Nominat ing Committee recommends tor officers of the Construction Section of the National Safety Council the ^following:
Chairman, L-. D. Woedtke--Pred T. Ley Company. Springfield, Massa chusetts.
528
Eighth Safety Congress
Vice Chairman, W. F. Austin--W. E. 'Wood Company, Detroit, Michi
gan.
-
Vice Chairman, F. D. IBurlbutt--E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Com
pany, Delaware. Secretary, Edward W. Bush--Aetna Casualty Company, Hartford, Con
necticut.
'^
Chairman of Bulletin Committee, .1. H. Schults, Jas. Stewart Company,
Inc., New York City. (The report was adopted and the Secretary was instructed to cast a
unanimous ballot for those nominated.
The Chairman then appointed standing committees on Membership
and on Standardization and Statistics for the coming year.)
Ciuikmax Wokwtke: With that business out of the way we will pro
ceed to the round-table discussion.
ROXIND-TABLE DISCUSSION
Mk. Coffey: You spoke about slings and chains and cables. What is the practice here in regard to lumber? Some of our men saymanila rope is better than the cable.Trom a safety standpoint I mean.
Mr. Dresser: We use the cable sling, except that on light loads--such as thirty or forty pieces of two by six, twenty feet long--we use rope.
Mr. Coffey: That is ywhat they say, that the rope is more pliable and grips the lumber better and you won't have any falling out.
Mr. Dresser: It doesn't, that is trite. Cit.MRxrAX' Woedtice: Hope will bite better. Some people, if they don't want to damage the timber, use a canvas shield or a piece of soft wood. Those are common practices. Mr. Dresser: On big Jobs we have made a cradle with a chain binder. 51k. Griffith: In regard to cleat ladders, I would like to tell a little story. I saw a foreman: directing some work and a man was putting up a home made ladder.^! didn't say anything to the foreman but just looked at the ladder and he immediately told the man to go to the tool room and get a round rung ladder. The home-made ladder is all right, it may be just as safe as any other ladder, but the next fellow who comes
along and uses it may get hurt. The Du Pont Company insists that home-made ladders shall not be made on the job, and if they are made by small, yet we try to do away with them entirely. some contracting firms they will probably be made of any kind of lumber not inspected properly. Although the percentage of accidents is very
Chairman Wokutke: A. year ago the problem of testing manila rope was raised at our round-table. It is a pretty thorny one, and it hasn't
been solved yet- Manila Topes have been subjected to considerable dam age through the action oOTiurialic acid and its fumes. During the past year 1 have taken that matter up with a number of different people, in cluding a number of college presidents who I thought might use the
material in a thesis and have something definite worked out. There are two tangible^ methods, one of them being to treat the rope
by brushing, painting. orTsoaking with a chemical compound which will
Construction Section
529
resist muriatic acid and its fumes. The other seems to be the well 'known
mixture of wax and castor: oil which is difficult to apply. We got to
the point where we have furnished the United' States Bureau of Stand
ards with the required quantities in lengths of various sized ropes, both
in new rope and used rope, and they are working on the test to the end
that we may have a scientific and definite report of what a proposed
chemical compound will do. That report will he ready soon and will be
sent tP the members of our Section in a news letter.
If you have any other method in mind other than treating the rope
by soaking it or brushing with a compound, or by the use of a com
bination of castor oil and wax, let us know now what it is, because the
Bureau will go through any tests you desire and which we will submit
to them.
--
Mr. Williams of the National Safety Council has come in. and I would
like to call on him. He was instrumental In getting this section formed
p. year ago and then wished it on me to keep it going.
Mb. Williams: It certainly did my heart good to see the crowd you
.had here yesterday. There was only one thing the matter--we made the mistake of not having the Construction Section build a hotel especially
for the convention. We got the largest hotel here, and there are hut few
cities in the United States that have more hotel room. We will try next
year to have better accommodations if we can possibly get them.
We have been giving ypu every two weeks a Construction Section
Bulletin dealing particularly with construction hazards. It has been
somewhat of an effort to get material for those bulletins and I beg of you to send us what material you can in order to keep this service going.
You are going to have a Chairman of the Bulletin Committee this year,
but it isn't fair to have him do it all himself. Our general series of bulletins that go to all our members contain a
good many things applicable to construction work, so don't think for a
minute the special construction bulletins are the only ones you are
supposed to use. For example, we used in the general series the pic ture Mr. Woedtke sent in, on the danger of using tools with mushroom
heads--something that is found not only in construction but other lines.
One of the most valuable features of National Safety Council mem
bership is the fact that we have in Chicago the most complete collection
of information on accident prevention problems in the world. Every
year we get about three ^thousand letters asking for information on this
or that particular problem, just like this one of protecting ropes and
ladders. When we answer those questions we dig up every thing we
can and even go out and jisk people we think might he able to help us.
In many cases if you havtsome particular problem that confronts you in
your work, if you will write us just exactly what the situation is we will
find that -somebody else /has had that same problem some other time,
some other place, and has succeeded in solving it, and we will pass it
on to you.
`
.
Mb. Parish: The men who are looking for safety devices don't know
where to get them or what to get and they welcome that information
even in the 'form of an advertisement.
530
Eighth Safety Congress
Mr. Wji.i.ia v.s: If you write to us asking- what kind of a guard to use in
a particular situation on a circular saw, for instance, we, of course, can't
recommend you a particular guard that so and so is manufacturing. We
have to be impartial on that, but, we will send you, if you should ask for
such information, advertising circulars of all the people that are making
that kind of a guard and then if we thought we ought to recommend
some guard that was home-made that wasn't on the market, we would
give you information about that. In other words we will send full in
formation about commercial guards to any one who asks for it. We
have a large supply oJ^advertising literature in our library.
Mk. Davihsox: A little point has been worrying me in connection
with the compiling of "statistics--what shall we do with subcontractors
and their men? In compiling our records do we regard the subcon
tractor as of our own organization for the time being? I have tried to
devise a scheme for putting jobs on a competitive basis, and I send out
to all the jobs each month and to all the superintendents, whether they
have jobs at that particular time or not, the record for the preceding
month with the jobs rated, the best job standing at the head of the list
and so on down. If a^superintendent has had an accident on that job
which occurred in the subcontractor's gang, he comes back at me
pretty hard.
_
Chairman Wokutkk: I have found It is impractical in every way to
include in your own data, especially ir you are going to use it for com
petitive or comparison^purposes, anything except accidents which oc
curred to your own men. The subcontractor has no more relation to
your superintendent onrJ:he job than if he were a thousand miles away;
he has his own problems, directs his own work, and If his men are. in
jured that has nothing to do with youj- job superintendent.
Mr. J. .1. Cofi-'ky: We have some statistics for 1916, 1917, and 1918.
The Compensation Lawrwent into effect January 1, 1916. Through the
cooperation of the DeJSgrtment of Labor and Industry and the various plants with safety engineers, the accidents have been, reduced from
252,000 lost time accidents in 1916. to 223,000 lost time accidents in 1917.
It was reduced in lOlS^to 1S0.000 lost time accidents. Now our records,
which Mr. Walker. Chief of our Bureau has with him, show that there are
about 89.000 reported accidents for the first nine months of this year.
All this reduction doesn't come about through the safeguards which we
are putting on the various machines because they will only cut down
your accidents twenty-five per cent. If it does that. But this reduction
was brought about, three-fourths of it, by the work of your men, safety
engineers. Any of yoir can cut it down sixty or seventy-five per cent by your safety campaign.
Pennsylvania some two or three years ago, got out a ladder code and
if any of you men want a copy of the Pennsylvania ladder code write
to John H. Walker, CMef of the Bureau of Inspection, Department of
Labor and Industry, Harrisburg, Pa.
Chairman Woi:utki:~. We are hoping that by the time 1920 comes
around we can have everybody on the same statistical basis, because if
Construct ion Section
531
one fellow uses one method, and another some other method, they are
not comparable. The National Safety Council and the United States Government have
been trying to standardize methods, which you might modify to suit your
own industry, and would still be in line so it would be comparable to
everybody. If anybody has Anything in the room here in the way of
actual statistics or a formula for recording them I wish you would an nounce it so the stenographer can take the name.
jIr. Harp: I would be perfectly willing to get you any statistics for
the next year you want. Mr. F. Marshall Harp The Employers Mutual Insurance Company of New York
502 D. S. Alorgan Building Buffalo, New York Mr. E. W. CAr.r.R.N: Our report will be ready for publication soon.
Air. E. W. Callen Building Inspector
Wisconsin Industrial Commission
Madison, Wisconsin
~
Mr. Robixsox: We would-be glad to send any information we could-
Air. F. S. Robinson
..
General Builders' Association
Detroit, Michigan.
-=7
Ciiairjuax Woedtke: When we come together next year I think we shall have a-big attendance. I think you will admit the discussions and papers we have had yesterday and today have been excellent. As soon as possible the proceedings iff the National Safty Council will be printed
and bound and distributed. If it happens in your firm you are engaged with, that a big boss gets the mail that comes from the National Safety Council, tell him when that book comes in you want it because in it will be the reproduction of the papers and the discussions given here,
and it may help you. I urge you to try and get this safety idea over in the construction
field. Send us in your experience and photographs that look good to you; we will work them info a news letter and we will try to keep you together in spirit as you have been here in body. Don't think your officers can continue this Section and make a whirlwind out of it without your help, because your officers have a job to take care of the same as
you have. I am glad we had such a good showing here today and yesterday and
it certainly is indicative _5f increased interest among contractors. I want to thank every one of you for your time and courtesy, especially the
speakers and those who topic part in the discussions. (A vote of thanks was then given to the Chairman for his services
after which the meeting adjourned.)
Electric Railway Section
October 2 and 3, 1919
H. B. ADAMS, Chairman Safety Supervisor, Aurora, Elgin and Chicago Railroad Company,
Aurora, 111.
JOHN H. COX, Secretary The Cleveland Railway Company, Cleveland, Ohio
THURSDAY MORNING SESSION
HE meeting was called to order at 9:45 A. M., Chairman H. B.
T Adams presiding. -Chairman Adams read his report.
REPORT OF CHAIRMAN
Officers:' At the 1918 meeting of this Section, Mr. H. B. Potter of Bos
ton, Mass., was elected Secretary. It was impossible for Mr. Potter to
accept the position, and your chairman appointed Mr. John H. Cox of
Cleveland, Ohio, to fill the vacancy--Mr. Cox is here and Tight on the
job.
_
Soon after the Annual meeting the following appointments were made:
Chairman Membership Committee, D. E. Parsons, East St. Louis &
Suburban Railway Company, East St. Louis, 111.
Chairman Program Committee, It. N_ Hemming, Fort Wayne & Northern
Indiana Traction Co., Fort Wayne, Ind.
Chairman Bulletin Committee, H. W. Clapp, Columbus Railway, Power
& Light Company, Columbus, Ohio.
Mr. Clapp had been the very efficient chairman of the Bulletin Com
mittee for more than two- years but. owing to his acceptance of the vice
presidency of another traction company, the duties and responsibilities
of his new position prevented him from continuing as Chairman of the
Committee and his resignation was accepted. Mr. John H. Mallon, The
Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railway Company, Chicago, accepted
the appointment as Chairman of the Bulletin Committee to fill the va
cancy.
--
Bulletins: During the year you have received each week a bulletin
particularly designed' to call attention to Electric' Railway Hazards, to-
' " ' '' " '
"
533 ..
' . '.
534
Eighth Safety Congress
gether with the weekly letters from the National Safety Council Head
quarters, and various general bulletins covering many phases of safety
work.
Neios Letters: Beginning December, 1918, monthly News-Letters were
sent to all members of the section.
These letters were intended to encourage you in the noble work of acci
dent prevention and many of the items and suggestions were furnished by
energetic safety workers within our organization. Most of these letters
contained an enclosure of jome form of safety literature which was in
use by certain companies.^
We wish heartily to thank the several members who have assisted in
these letters by their contributions.
Rule RooJcs: In July we requested the members to send in a copy of
their Rule Books, with the idea of appointing a committee of expert op
erating men to examine the different Rules and draft a set of Standard
Rules. A copy of such draft to be sent to every member for criticism
and suggestions, the committee later to revise the draft and prepare a
set of Standard Rules to present to the Section at the Annual Congress
for adoption. Members were slow or indifferent In sending in their books, only eleven having been received up to this time. The response was so
limited and the time so short that the work could not be completed in
time for this session and no committee was appointed.
Membcrshii): At the ISIS Annual Congress the Electric Railway Sec
tion was composed of 129 Electric Railway companies, operating 13,564,474
miles of main line track.
During the past year 22 Themberships have been cancelled and 12 new
members have been added. This shows a net decrease of 10 in the
number of members while the decrease in mileage has been 427.
We now have 119 member companies operating 13,137.23 miles of main
line track.
^
In the face of the extraordinary financial and operating conditions
affecting Electric Railways Throughout the country it is a matter of great
satisfaction that this Section has suffered so slight a decrease in its
membership.
~~r
Safety Campaigns: During the year several of our member companies
have put over special campaigns for prevention of accidents and in each
and every one of them the results have been highly gratifying.
National Headquarters : During the year we have received several
requests from members for"help in special safety problems on their par
ticular properties and the entire staff of the National Safety Council
Headquarters have freely assisted in helping to solve these problems.
I wish to express my thanks to the entire office force and especially
to Mr. C. \V. Price. General Manager, 'and Mr. F. M. Rosseland, Safety
Engineer, for their great interest in the welfare of the section and the
valuable help given to your Chairman.
Publicity: It is gratifying indeed to note the generosity of
the trade papers in giving space to accident-prevention work,
especially the activities of the Electric Railway Section in the publication
of news which is of great importance to members. I am thinking par-
Electric Railway Sectio-n
535
ticularly of "The Electric Railway Journal," "Electric Traction," and
"Safety Engineering." Reporting new developments, progress and re
sults of organized safety work: in the columns of these progressive and In-
-Huential periodicals is of definite value to them and to the safety move
ment.
^
In. Conclusion: 1 also wish to extend my thanks to the officers and
chairmen of committees for their courtesies to me and for the work they
have done for the Section in their respective positions.
jLet us now look forward with the firm determination to make the
coming year, a banner year in the prevention of accidents and the con
structive reorganization of our beloved nation by the presistent and sys
tematic conservation of life and limb among our immediate associates.
Our thanks are due to Mrm. N. Hemming, Chairman of the Program
Committee, who has had almost sole charge of the preparation of this
excellent program. The Committees have no special reports to make as
the points that they have bex working on have been covered by the re
port of your Chairman.
Next in order is the appointment of a Nominating Committee. I will
appoint Mr. W.' JET. Weh, Mr. John H. Mallon and Mr. R. E. McDougall.
This Nominating Commlttee is to present names for the offices of Chair
man, Vice-Chairman, and Secretary tomorrow morning at 9:30. The
first paper on our program, "The Human Factor in Safe Operation and
Maintenance of Rolling Stock," is a subject in which we all ought to be
deeply interested. Mr. F. R. Phillips, Superintendent of Equipment,
Pittsburgh Railways Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., will now deliver that
paper.
THE HUMAN FACTOH IN TIIE SAFE OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF ROLLING STOCK
F. R. Phillu'S, Superintexdent or Eqcipmest, Pittsburgh Railways Comi'axv, Pittsburgh, Pa.
The Human Factor in whatsoever relationship it may be considered, is the most important question now before the minds of the people of all nations.
Dissatisfaction with the present order of things is rampant. It mani fests itself in many ways, hut rarely survives cold, clear light of reason ing. Nevertheless the minds of all the people are yearning for a "some thing", which seems to be lacking in our social and political structure, a remedy for which, economists and other students of the problem have so far failed to provide.
It is not our purpose at This time to engage in an academic discussion of this most perplexing situation. It may well be left to minds better equipped and developed than that of the writer. It is mentioned here and at this time merely for the purpose of directing your attention to the fact that when considering the question of the human factor in its relationship tq the safe operation and maintenance of rolling stock, wo
536 Eighth Safety Congress
have to reckon with a new force of which we have little positive knowl
edge.
-^=
A Superintendent of the Motive Power Department of ah electric rail
way, if he would attain the full measure of success, must be, in addition
to his other duties, a thorough student of human nature. It is not enough
that his plant and equipment be provided writh the most effective safety
devices, nor is it enough that his system of inspection and supervision be
the last word in the art. He must know men--must know their weak and
strong points and be able in some measure to define their various moods.
Jtte your safety equipment and organization ever so efficient,, or your cam
paign of education in accident prevention, ever so complete, one dissatis
fied employee (and in these days there are many such) or one, who be
cause of outside environment, worry and ill health, or because of home
and family conditions, which for the time being throws him out of joint with the existing conditions, may in an unguarded moment, through act
of commission or omissioii7be the means of a holocaust or shambles.
While I strongly advocate the use of the most effective safety devices and urge a comprehensive, thorough, and continued educational cam
paign through the mediumLOf shop talks, committee activities, scare-heads
and bulletin boards, I amzconvinced that the ultimate may be reached
only through a personal appeal to individual employees.
THE PERSONAL APPEAL
A personal appeal, however, to be effective, must be clothed with sin cerity and earnestness ofpurpose. We must neither preach, patronize nor command. Moreover, if a personal appeal to an individual is to be productive of the greatest good, we must first establish the right to make such an appeal. The mere fact of your being the superior officer does not give you that l-lght. How, then, shall we establish that right?
At this time of the golden harvest when the sower is reaping his re ward, may we not with profit look to our farmer friend and his method. When he desires to secure the greatest result from his effort, does he take the seed haphazardly and plant it with no thought than since he is the owner of the seed andjsoil, therefore, by right of ownership and su periority to seed and soil, success must come. Hardly. He adopts more practicable and sane methods.
He first chooses the field which gives the greatest promise and is best adapted to the particular crop under consideration. He plows and plows deep, and in a certain way, and at a certain time. He discs, harrows, and drags the soil, until itjLs mellow and sweet. In other words, he care fully prepares the seed bed! Furthermore, the seed is chosen after much thought and experiment before planting. Then he cultivates again and again, and in the fullnessrnf time, liis efforts are rewarded, we are told, an hundred fold. The plant endures through hail and wind and storm. Sometimes bis efforts fail, but rarely.
If we are to be successful In our relationships with men, we must eschew subterfuge and insincerity, and without other purpose than mutual good meet them on their own plane. Cultivate their acquaintance until we know them and know them by their first name. Know their families.
Electric liailway Section
537
their associates, and home surroundings--their hopes, joys and sorrows.
In other words, there must first be prepared the seed bed of mutual under
standing. Judgment and due regard for the other's welfare and view
point must be exercised in planting the seed of desire, and the growing
plant must be nurtured and cultivated until it blossoms forth into the ma
turity of accomplishment. Then my friends, may the winds and storms
of demagogism, bolshevism, nd all the other isms of social unrest come,
a relationship founded uponr such mutual confidence and respect will
weather the storm.
-
Perhaps the importance which a personal appeal to the individual
occupies in safety work may best be emphasized by reference to the
results of observations made by the writer during the pre-war period.
A personal examination Info" the underlying causes of a large number
of accidents of major and "minor degree covering a period of several
months, showed that over 93 per cent were the result of man failure and
less than 7 per cent to equipment failure. In practically all of the acci
dents charged to equipment, there were evidences of lack of proper care
on the part of some individual. I can recall but two or three cases
directly chargeable to defective material. One, a broken brake rod--one,
a frozen air brake, and--one, a defective axle, which developed in the gear
fit. The accidents under observation included collisions, derailments, con
troller burnouts, and others of a similar nature.
EFFICIENT OF SAFETY EQUIPMENT
With respect to accidents to employees in the shops and car houses, you
will pardon me if I mention the fact that the Bureau of Factory Inspec
tion of the Department of Labor and Industry of the State in which our
property is located, has made my company the object of special com
mendation because of tlie=completeness and efficiency of our safety
equipment. Moreover, we make the most of the literature and bulletins
issued by the National Safely Council. You will find them conspicuously
posted in prominent places throughout the shops, car houses, sub-stations,
and at all places where our men congregate. At our weekly staff meet
ings and monthly round-table conferences, safety discussions are a per
manent item on the program. Without this equipment and these activi
ties, we would feel delinquent in our duty. Nevertheless, we hold to the
statement that the personal appeal is productive of more efficacious re
sults- than all of the others. If I were required to relinquish all but
one of the prime requisites of safety promulgation, I should cling to the
personal appeal to the individual. Let me illustrate:
,
The great majority of plant accidents are, incipient local infections
due to slight cuts and bruises, and minor accidents resulting from neglect
to use goggles to protect the eyes when grinding or chipping, or when
cutting rivets ov bolts. Accidents, which are extremely simple in their
nature and easily avoidable, and I may say here that all of our plants
are equipped with first-auL kits, in charge of one or more men trained
in first-aid methods. At jour principal shop a first-aid department Is
maintained in charge of capable, experienced graduate nurse, and, at
our main office, which is centrally located with respect to the whole sys-
540
Eighth Safety Congress
cisms must be of a constructive nature and should never be allowed to be come ill natured or show jealousy or be in the nature of a "knock." These criticisms or suggestions should be made to the official to whom the em ployee reports and should then be referred until it reaches the general superintendent or general manager, to be taken up by him with the head of the department about which the criticism was made. They should never be made directly by the employee of one department to an employee
of another. This latter method always engenders ill feeling; All employees should beifinpressed with the thought that all suggestions
should be of a constructive nature and that they are all made and must be made for the general good of the company and that personalities must never enter into any of them. ' Probably the most effective method of promoting a feeling of friendliness and co-operation between departments is that of having periodical meetings of men--not only heads of depart ments but the rank and file as well. This gives a chance for discussion of individual problems and helpful suggestions and is always-productive of good results. On a large property these meetings have to be in sections but the results are the same. The Safety First Organisation, of course, has such meetings, but all organizations should have them, whether they are called Safety First or something else.
The personality of the ^general officers and heads of departments has much to do with the question of a harmonious working of the organization. If these men cannot maker the employees feel that they belong to a happy family, each one working toward a common end, there will be constant friction. An official does not have to lose his self respect, or power to have effective discipline, tp have the good will and respect of his em ployees. Any company is ^fortunate that has officials who can command the respect and good will of every employee under them. '
I have spoken, in a general way, of the principles necessary for a smooth-working organization and have probably not kept close to the text
of my subject. However, the details of the work of coordination between transportation and equipment departments will work out themselves if the main thought is worked out successfully, and that thought is en compassed in just one word--harmony.
Cii.viKMAx Adams: Tim subject is now open for discussion.
DISCUSSION
jVlK. V. .1. W.m.tz (General Claim Agent, Toledo Railways and Light Company, Toledo. Ohio):! I should like to inquire of Mr. Jeffries, or of any other member of JDie Section, whether they have had any diffi culties in securing the attendance of the employees from the different barns and shops at safety meetings. In Toledo, .we have had a great deal of difficulty in getting attendance from our four sectional bams. In fact, it dwindled down so that we discontinued our meetings last year, but we Intend to resume this Fall and continue through the Winter, and 1 would like to know the :best method of securing attendance.
Mr. Jekkkiks: Our men'are scattered over a large portion of the state and it is harder to get them together because some have to travel quite
Electric Hallway Scctto-n
541
a distance to get to the place of meeting. We don't hare any set dates for
the meetings. We*get them together whenever we think the proper time
has arrived and we do not get them together in. large numbers because
that is impracticable. The most good, I think, comes from having a
general, heart-to-heart talk instead of a set program at these meetings.
Mb. R. N. Hemmixg (Supt. of Transportation, Ft. Wayne and Northern
Indiana Traction Co., Ft. Wayne, Ind.) : If the organization gets too big,
when you attempt to solve minor details you lose out. It has been our
experience that by smaller groups we have accomplished more, in less
time, and with more pep. However, in dealing with the trainmen, it
has been my policy to hold two meetings, one to catch the early men
and the other to catch the late men. We cover everything with
short- talks and give the men some statistics as to the number of our
accidents, the money loss, and the character of the accidents. We follow
this up with a talk on precaution.
We have sifted the organization down from seventy-two to fifteen. The
old organization of seventy-two was so large, that we were going around
in a circle. By bringing it ddwn to smaller groups we have accomplished
greater results. That is manifested somewhat in the reduction of the
cost "of accidents. Last yearJthis cost was 3.4 per cent of the gross re
ceipts and this, year, from January to June, inclusive, it was 1.6 per cent
of the gross receipts. We feel that is a creditable showing. Another
plan that we use--it is in practice on many other properties--is that of
charging tip the accident to the man responsible for It, whether he he
a conductor, or motorman, or other employee. He is also given a report
showing how much money he has cost the Company through accidents,
and It certainly brings about better results.
When this man feels that he is not getting enough money, we reverse
the proposition. We show him how much, as an individual, he is costing
the Company. He becomes a: more careful man because he then realizes
that he is robbing the Treasury and thus his own pocketbook.
Mb. Jeffries: We have found a very effective method of keeping our
men in line on the Safety proposition by having appointed, some years ago,
a first-class man who was well liked by all the trainmen--he is an old
timer himself--as a traveling trainman. He travels over some part of
the road every day and criticizes unsafe practices in such a way that
the men don't take any offense. That, I think, does perhaps more good
than occasional meetings. I am quite sure it saves us a good deal of
money.
-------
Mb. Hemming: I would like to hear from others here on experiences
with traveling trainmen or safety engineers. I haven't attempted that
myself, but have given it some thought as to its practicality.
.Mr. G. G. HErxxtuTT (Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee Railroad,
Chicago, 111.): My road since 1916 has been under the supervision of the
Bureau of Safety, which sends a man, experienced in safety work, to all
our meetings. We have strop meetings, electrical meetings, and train
men's meetings and we get all the men. We have day sessions and night
sessions for the trainmen: One of the greatest difficulties iu getting the
men in is the fact that we bring them in on their own time mostly. We
542
Eighth Safety Congress
are able to do that by putting it up to the head of each department to bring his men in and he, in turn, puts it up to the foreman. Having got ten a particular meeting going, we let the men introduce their own topics as far as they wish. The meetings never lack life.
By bringing the meetings down to individual groups we can keep our lingers on the men who are interested in the welfare of the road. We did have for some time, and doubtless will have again, general meetings. We would rent a big dining room at a good hotel and our president would attend the meetings. We would bring all the men in who could come and have a good dinner, smokes, entertainment and Safety talks. That creat ed a great deal of good will. The speed of our cars has been increased very materially, and speed is a big factor in accidents. Yet we have reduced accidents, I can safely say, between fifty and seventy-five per cent. That shows what can be done. We have been without a serious collision since 1917.
Under the receivership we passed through many communities having heavy automobile traffic and no gates. All our crossings were grade crossings and we used to have many auto accidents. This year we have not had a single serious unto accident, partly due to the installation of gates and partly to the carefulness that the safety campaign has brought
about among the men. I am strong for gates, first as a means of avoiding accidents and, secondly and largely, a means of cultivating good will among the towns through which the road passes.
HOW TO ATTRACT ROAD MEN TO SAFETY MEETINGS
Mr. HomebJ.Hodson (Safety and Fire Inspector, East St. Louis Ry. Co., East St. Louis, III.) : A gentleman here asked a question that has never been answered and I am very much interested in it: How to attract em ployees to the safety meeting, especially, the road men. I find it much easier to get the shopmen together than the platform men. You can get a vaudeville act or two--I am trying it now--at the noon hour. By this means it is easy enough to get the workmen together and then bring in about ten minutes of safety^ work. I am also organizing a glee club in the office force and once a month to sing for the men in the shops. That gives us a chance to get them together and to get in just a few minutes' work on safety.
Another thing that proved successful was a general entertainment by the office force of the Alton District for the shop and platform employees and their families. This :brought the two organizations together. Mr. Sawyer, our President, dropped in. It was such a wonderful meeting the workmen are calling-for others like it. Within the last six months I have shaken hands with every man on the job. I go out and call him by name.
I would like to ask Mr." Jeffries what his idea of a safety committee is. How do you pick your committees? Do you have a committee In each shop, on each division^ or a general committee?
Mr. Jeffries: We have-no regular safety organization. We simply get together informally whenever we can.
Electric Railway Section
543
Mr. Uodsox : We have a'regular safety organization. Our men elect
their own secretary and appoint their own officials from each of their
smaller safety organizations. We get out bulletins to our trainmen
through the Department of Transportation when we want them to come
in to safety meetings, and we get out notices through the master me
chanics to our shopmen.
M.Laura
Roadifkk
CPhiladelphia Rapid Transit Go., Philadelphia, Pa.) :
We have recently tried motion pictures to arouse the interest of the men
at our barns and It proved jnost successful. I produced a small amateur motion picture reel on safety. The response was so great that we have now installed a permanent motion picture equipment and at various
times invite the men from: other barns to these entertainments. I sug
gested that they produce -their own motion pictures on Safety and a
remarkable number of responses have come in. Mr. C. L. Tur.ver (H. L. Doherty & Co., 60 Wall St., New York City) :
I would like to ask any of the members present if tbey have had any
experience with paying men for the time which they spend at the safety meetings. We pay our men during their time in the instruction school
and it seems to me that this safety game is largely one of instruction to
the men for their benefit arid for our benefit.
Mr. Samuel ff. Reid (Bureau of Safety, Chicago, III.) : We have had no extensive experience in paying men for the time spent at safety
meetings, hut our experience has not yet led us to believe that any hard
and fast rule can be madA along that line. I think that is to he deter mined largely by local conditions. In several places we found it almost
impossible to get the men together on their own time and in such places
the meetings were held on the company's time and the company's ex
pense
a thoroughly organized safety department
I want to say a word further about this organization that one of the
members just spoke of. I think the Chicago, North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad has the most thoroughly organized safety department that I
know anything about. There are four general departments: The Trans
portation, the Mechanical, the Maintenance of Way, and the Electrical. On that property there are approximately six hundred employees and
those are all organized inHthe Safety Leagues according to their depart
ments.
_
In the Transportation _ Department there are five separate Leagues,
each League having its own officers who are elected for one year. All
meetings of the Transportation Department are held on the men's time and they are not paid for it.
The Mechanical Department meetings are held usually at the noon hour.
Some are held in the evening, hut those are held partly on the company's
time, and partly on the time of the men. The Electrical Department is divided into tw'o Leagues. They meet
once a month in the evening and the men are not" paid for the time
they `spend at the safety meetings. This has been tried out for more
than three years and wefhave had very little trouble in keeping up the
544 Eighth Safety Congress
interest among tliejrpen. I think the attendance at such, meetings del>ends largely upon the man in immediate charge of the department.
In order to make the men feel that they had some real part in it, they were invited to make suggestions. It was realised from the beginning that the workmen knew more about the conditions and causes of acci dents than anybody else. Sometimes their suggestions were passed upon in a formal way and occasionally a recommendation submitted by a mem ber would be voted down. If it was adopted by the Safety League, it
then went to the Central Safety Committee, which consists of the nine teen Department heads. The details of the work of that Committee are delegated to an Executive Committee of four members. The man who makes a recommendation is informed as to why it was turned down and, therefore, doesn't feel badly about it. We have found that method very successful.
We have received 1,786 recommendations from the men and it is safe to say that 1,100 of these have been carried out. Occasionally we have a moving picture but it is not made the main thing. The thing that is emphasized mostJs safety. The moving pictures, cigars, and things of that sort are considered a side issue. Occasionally, we have a meeting of the men and their families. That hhs proven to be a good thing.
The Central Safety" Committee has a dinner occasionally at which the officers of the Safety- Leagues are brought in contact with the higher officials of the Company and are made to appreciate the dignity and the
importance of the safety work. Mr. Pmr.r.irs: Jlri Chairman, I think Mi*. Hodson struck the keynote
of the whole situation when he said that in the last six months he was shaking hands with-every man on the job. I think that is the founda tion of all success in any movement which involves the men or the employees of the departments of the company. He also made some re mark about the success of some of the meetings for which the employees were largely responsible. In other words, they were the moving factor in the meeting. No superintendent or manager, nor a group of super intendents or managers, can force workmen to come to the meetings. You might force them with a police department but it would do you no good when you got them there, so why have the meeting. You must get the support and^lhe interest of the men first. t
We had an experience of that kind shortlj'- before the war. We thought it would be a good .thing to have a picnic in the mechanical department of the railway. After long pleading with, officials of the company. I se cured enough moneys to pay all the expenses of the picnic and it was the poorest picnic that I ever attended. The next year the boys had a picnic and it was their picnic; they paid all of the expenses. There were 4,000 people there.
I might offer some encouragement to the young lady from Philadelphia with respect to the=display of moving pictures. Our company has five reels of accidents. As a matter of fact, all of the accidents were fakes but they illustrated-all the kinds and characters of accidents that we have ever experienced in all their various phases. You would be sur prised at the interest that was created among the workmen although the
Klee trie Kail way Section
j'i*)
pictures were not taken for that purpose. We took them to educate the
public and we had better results in educating our own employees than
we did the public.
^
CHANGE THE PROGRAM
Chaikma.v Auams: 1 believe^ that in order to keep up interest among the employees we should continually change the program. We can't
follow a set plan from year to year or even from month to month now.
By having little meetings HkeTthis, -where we find out what the other
fellow is doing, we are enablesLto go back to our plants with new ideas
and new inspiration. That is 5jEe of the greatest benefits of the National
Safety Council's annual congress. I attended a meeting of the Chicago,
Milwaukee, North Shore Railroad and their president was there and
made a heart-to-heart talk to those boys. I don't think he exceeded five
minutes but he gave them to funderstand that be, the directors and the
stockholders of that company were with the men for the prevention of
accident^ and .the saving of their lives and their limbs, as well as the
friends of the claim department of the company.
I believe that one of the first requisites of successful safety work is that our presidents and directors must have the safety thought In their
own minds. It is uii to some ~pf us underlings to get to those men and
teach them the principles ancT full meaning of safety. The. National Safety Headquarters in Chicago has a large number of stereopticon
slides, movie films and even phonograph records, on accident prevention.
What they have in the National Headquarters are yours and mine and
I believe that if you people who need films or slides, will get in touch
with the general office they will be glad to act as an exchange for you.
You can get the other fellow's films and he may want your films. The
National Safety Council is rendering such service daily. I want to call
your attention right here to'the part that we, as railway, men, should
take in the Public Safety Section. We traction people are the ones who
naturally benefit most financially from the prevention of street and home accidents. I understand that=yabout seventy or eighty per cent of the
accidents throughout the country are home and street accidents.
Thus far, America has not; done very much towards educating the
public along the prevention of-home and street accidents but this Con
gress is going to put Public Safety on the map. We will now hear Mr.
C. P. Proctor.
~
WHY DOES MOT EVERY ELECTRIC RAILWAY HAVE A SAFETY ORGANIZATION ?
C. B. Proctor, Claim Agext, Memphis Street Railway, Memphis, Tens.
It seems strange that it should be thought necessary at this time to discuss the above subject, because it Is remarkable that any electric railway should now be without a safety organization. The more thought we give to the value of such an organization, the greater difficulty in un derstanding why one is not maintained by every electric railway.
To my mind there can be but one fundamental reason for such failure
545
^Eighth, Safety Congress
and that arises from a failure to understand Its purposes. In view of this fact, it is wise to inquire what a safety organization is and, of equal importance, what it is got.
THE 1UEAC. SAFETY ORGANIZATION'
The ideal safety organization is composed of a Select body of men rep
resenting every department of the railway; men of Intelligence; men
whose ambition it is to render to the patrons of their railway, safe and
courteous service; men who do their utmost by example and influence
to develop in themselves and associates a high state of efficiency; men
who practice the Goldeh Rule, and endeavor to persuade their fellow work
men to do likewise; men who teach safety by precept and example, first,
last and all the timet^men who are loyal to their country, their fellow
employees and their Company; men who so act beeause it is rigbt and are
actuated by the desire to bring happiness instead of sorrow, to prevent,
instead of cause, pain and suffering; at the same time realizing that such
conduct redounds to the pecuniary benefit of themselves and their com
pany.
--
The safety organization is most emphatically not a collection of spies.
It tries to down no one, but to elevate ail. It wants to get no man's job,
but aims to help himjkeep it and improve both the man, and the job. It
purposes to interfere with no one's rightful prerogatives, but hopes to bet
ter the service by pertinent suggestion. It intends in no way to interfere
with the administration of discipline; nor is it to be used as a disciplin
ary measure. It tries to accomplish nothing through compulsion, but
endeavors to get results from education and appeal to the higher principles
that are implanted in. all. In it there is no room for personal malice, no
place for the backbiter or the disorganizer. .Its purpose is not to disor
ganize or breed strife^ but to unite and promote harmony. The success
ful safety organization must have the hearty support of both the man
agement and the organized employees. The foregoing briefly outlines the ground plan of a hundred per cent
efficient safety organization. It is admitted that we rarely reach the
hundred per cent mark, but it has been proven beyond cavil that with
the assistance of a live safety organization, accidents with their attend
ant loss in human life, in pain and suffering and in cold dollars and cents, can be reduced fully fifty per cent.
MISCONCEPTION OF_ USES AND PURPOSES OF THE SAFETY ORGANIZATION
When we consider what the electric railways are facing today it seems incredible thafi the management or organized employees of any electric railway should fail to avail themselves of such a valuable ad junct. Such failure_ can only come from a complete misconception of the uses and purposes of the safety organization on the part of either the management, the employees, or both. It is, I believe, fear of its misuse that prevents the universal adoption of the safety organization.
If a personal reference may be pardoned, I had the pleasure of serving as chairman of a safety organization from January. 1913, to December, 1918, at which time-circumstances beyond our control made it necessary
Electric Raihvay Section
547
to suspend, for a time, its operation. We are now working out the de tails of a reorganization and expect to have them completed in the near future.
From experience we have learned what can be accomplished with the aid of the safety organization.^ It is not a panacea- As before stated, it in no way interferes with the administration of discipline, nor does it operate to any man's hurt, buCit does provide a medium for the getting together of officials and employees on a friendly basis. It does promote harmony and co-operation and it certainly aids materially in reducing to the minimum risks of operation and cost of maintenance. .
I would respectfully suggest to those, if there are any such, who are opposed to the safety organization, that they study the question carefully and inform themselves fully as to its proper function. If this is done opposition will be supplanted, by enthusiastic support.
Chaibmax Adams: The subject is now open for discussion.
DISCUSSION
Ala. Hkmmixu:" I don't thinkZJt would be amiss at this time, for me, as Chairman of this Program Committee, to knit together the purpose Of these three subjects as presented this morning. They might be summed up in this manner: The first subject, "The Human Factor in Safe Oper
ation and Maintenance of Rolling Stock." Having recently held the position of superintendent of motive power,
having a large property operating, both city and interurban, and being active in the safety work, I saw the likelihood of failures in the Mechan
ical Department. Likewise, through that safety organization did I see the co-operation between the.. Transportation and the Mechanical De partments. From that we pass on to, "Why Does Hot Every Electric
Railway Have a Safety Organization ?"
I communicated with electric railway companies affiliated with the National Safety Council and endeavored to interest them in this safety movement in order'that we might make this section one of the biggest
sections in tbe National Safety Council. I received replies from various
companies to the effect that they could not get the Mechanical Depart ment and the Transportation Department together. There was a friction that engendered ehmity between the two departments in these companies
and they finally concluded to disband their safety organization. To me It appeared that there was something wrong up at the top.
As Mr. Hodson and Mr. Phillips said, get right down under the heart of the individual and say, "How are you today, Tom, Dick, and Harry."
Stick your hand out and ask about their families and then switch the subject over and say, "Well, what are you doing for safety today?" Have a little heart-to-heart talk with a man along that line and he will open
bis heart and tell you some of the difficulties--the difficulties you want
to find.
-
Men, in analyzing the thing from time to time, I have found one
obstacle and that was the factthat we were trying to cure all of the Ills by mechanical devices. jVIecbanical devices are no better than the
548
Eighth Safety Congress
human factors behind Them. It is the human, factor we have to deal with and if that fails, -your mechanical devices fail. We might take as an object lesson the block signal down the lino, conducted ever so scien tifically, operating on one hundred proper tests ever so successfully, yet something happens and it gets out of order. The man who was in charge of that equipment failed to inspect properly or to repair it and the device throws the wrong signal. Thus we have the failure of the human factor. Mechanical devices will, in many cases, prevent acci dents, hut as I said before, they are not a cui-ative.
The fiz-st thing you have to do before you can accomplish results is to sweep the trash from, in front of your own door.
We tell the men that if anything on their cars or along the railway is defective mechanically, or otherwise unsafe, we want them to report it. We started on that b^-sis and it proved very successful. When the first accident happened, the man. when questioned as to how the acci dent occurred, replied, "Why, the brakes failed." I said, "Did you turn
in a defect eaz*d?" __ "No. I told the fellow out at the shop it was bad," he said.
"Whom did you tell?" "Well, I told some'fellow out there." Now right there, men, is where the two departments began to clash. The trainman said he reported the defect and the shopman said he didn't. We have onejjpan's word against the other. A defect report should have been made. The motorman's excuse of brake failure didn't go; it will not go in court nor before the Railroad Commission. It was worn out years ago. We now require theffilling out of defect cards in triplicate.* One comes to my office, one to the Superintendent of Motive Power, and the other remains on the car until it is shopped and no matter how many times you change trainnien^n that car, the defect cards are made but. If we expect to master the subject at hand, it behooves every one of us to get busy with our neighboring properties and our friends who are in the railroad business to hgcome members of this association so that we can
. do things on a bigger scale and master this traffic situation; otherwise, I don't see how we are going to clo it.
COinzELLED to violate titb law to ziaintaix satisfactobv schedule
In conclusion I want to say that we have in this Congress another section known as theTFublic Safety Section. These two sections have so much in commonjtt the prevention of accidents that we should have a joint session. Thrajjgh the medium of the two organizations we should be able to bring about legislation that will materially help both, the Public Safety and tljo Electric. Railway Sections. There Is one thing I want to call yotir^attention to in that respect, and that is this: All over the country we~have ordinances saying that you shall not operate your car over eightmiiles an hour and yet if you were to reduce your maximum speed to eight miles an hour, you would have the greatest howl that ever camejrom your citizens. In order to maintain a schedule satisfactory to the ^public, we are compelled to violate the law every
E lectric Iiaihvay Sect ion
540
second and to operate probably In the neighborhood of twenty to thirty
miles an hour maximum. If We are compelled to give the public fast
service, then we should be permitted to operate a schedule without
violating the law.
JMjb. Jonx H. Maixo.v (Safety Engineer, Chicago, 111.) ; It seems to me
that cooperation in safety work on an electric railway should come
from the top; that Is, the example should be set by the heads of de
partments. Some years ago I--worked under a general manager who
had been with a steam railroad and his idea of railroading was to keep
the various departments fighting all the time so that they couldn't get
together to frame up something. He was working, we now realize,
against himself. The real big success of our organization Is due to the
character of our officials. Soffilr three or four years ago our President,
Mr. Budd, called in the heads_of the departments and Instructed them
that in disciplining the men qfwvhom they were In charge, the greatest
patience was to be shown. "Don't suspend a man on slight provocation;
don't impose a hardship upon his family," is our rule. We have gotten
wonderful results. I met our president last Monday when he came back from his vacation. He wffs in a hurry hut when he saw me he let
the elevator go, came back and said, "Hello, Jack, how are you feeling?"
That is the spirit that is all jfchrough our organization. You can't set
yourself on a pinnacle because you are a step above the other fellow.
That day has gone. When the boys began to return from the war, the
president of our company said to me, "I want to see any of those boys
who come back. I want to say hello and to shake hands with them."
He would say to them, "How do you feel? Do you need any money?
If you do. Jack will fix you tip." If they needed any money I would give them advance pay until they
had an opportunity to get settled again.
I think the most effective way or getting real safety results is for the
man who observes a violation^ of safety rules to tell the man at the time that he has doiie wrong. Strange to say, few of us have the nerve
to do it. Instead, we go to the office and write a letter to some one
else to tell him about it. CiuiRitAjr Adams: Now, Gefitlemen, you know that we have been told
by the" medical men that we ought always to leave" the table just a
little bit hungry. Now we have a lot of good things left to eat in this
Electric Railway Section and we could continue at this meeting with a
great deal of benefit to all of us. "but the time has come that we must
stop. We will now take a recess until 9:30 tomorrow morning.
Adjournment?--31:45 A. M.
FRTDAY ^MORNING SESSION
HE meeting was called to order at 9:40 A. M.. Chairman H. B_
T Adams, presiding. CnAUtMAX Adams: Mr. MeCfimgall will present the report of the Nom
inating Committee.
*
552
:Kighth Safety Congress
proper standards to be:: recommended? or which will lead to the appoint ment of some existing-organization for the same purpose. One such or ganization, and the one which is probably the most logical of those which could be considered at the present time for this work, is the American Electric Railway Association, or possibly a committee appointed by and working under the auspices of this association. I believe that the most advisable means woul<L be the forming of a committee with, if possible, the recognition and support of the Federal Government for the express purpose of nationalizing and standardizing accident prevention. It may develop that this committee would work in connection with the U. S. Bureau of Standards, as was the case in the preparation of the National Electric Safety Code.
The methods of establishing the proper standards of accident preven tion, and of nationalizing these standards when accepted, is the problem which is probably the jnost difficult of those, connected with this entire question. You might say this matter is disposed of with the appointment of the commission or organization to carry on this work--but was it? Are we to appoint a body to carry on this work and then sit back with the feeling that the mattery is now out of our hands? I think not. The fact that this is the most important step toward our ultimate goal should spur us on to an active interest and part in the outlining or suggesting of plans for the guidance of this newly formed commission, or for the car rying out of a new work of a present existing organization.
A THOROUGH INVESTIGATION THE FIRST DCTT
The first duty of this commission would be to conduct a thorough in vestigation of the best-and most practical ideas and methods which are now in practice, and which have been proven to be of value in reducing accidents. Let this investigation include an exhaustive survey of modern accident prevention methods with a view to gleaning from the whole the best and most efficient- means which are now' employed. The action taken from this point on will be governed largely by the results of this Investigation. It willjjndoubtedly develop that the need for education which is not now fully appreciated will be emphasized. I can truthfully say, without fear of coBtradiction. that the city and interurban lines in Indiana and Kentucky with which I am connected were, so far as I know, the first electric railways to carry on safety work in the thoroughly or ganized manner that has in the last ten years been so productive of good results and extended to_so many public utility companies. This plan lays emphasis upon the educational feature of safety work, and includes in proper groups every employee of the company.
My opinion is that the branch of the work which is most needed by the majority of companies Is that which has to do with proper organization, instruction, and education of employees, as the specifications for equip ment, station installation, etc., is at present standardized to a great ex tent. The support or cooperation of the companies to be affected by such a plan will in a large-measure determine its success. The most capable commission obtainable anay draft the most efficient, practical, and modern
Electric JBailicay Section
55:1
methods of accident prevention, yet unless these methods are endorsed and
applied by the companies for whose benefit they are Intended the value
and results of the entire undertaking will be negligible. The necessary
steps should be taken by this commission to insure the proper coijperation
of the utilities concerned.
"II
Let us suppose that the need for nationalizing and standardizing acci
dent prevention has been fully appreciated; that the proper organization
has been appointed, or a competent commission established for the pur
pose of conducting the necessary investigation and setting of standards;
that this body has completed its work in an efficient and satisfactory
manner; that the support of theJjcompanies concerned has been assured:
What is now to be expected as a result of this progress, and just what
are the benefits which may be looked for? Any advance statement as to
the results to be attained by the electric railway business as a whole
must necessarily be speculative in character. Those who have had experi
ence with accident-prevention work on individual properties know that
the results are very definite and encouraging. One of the traction com
panies with which I am connect, and which operates city and Interur-
REDUCTION IX XUMBER AND COST OF ACCIDENTS
ban lines, reduced their accidenA75 per cent, and their accident costs 80
per cent since the safety work was first organized. Another Interurban electric railway in Illinois, conducting their safety work upon the same
plan, and under the direction of the same Bureau, reduced their accident
costs $57,000, or 62 per cent in one year. The reduction In number and
cost of accidents occurring in connection with the operation of the street railways of the country under a standardized plan <ff accident prevention would he a certainty* The amount of this reduction cannot be estimated
with any degree of accuracy.
There is one class of electric railway company which would derive a
special benefit from this plan. This class includes those smaller lines that
feel (and many of them are justified in the feeling) that they cannot af
ford to employ a safety engineer.__These companies would have the oppor tunity of adopting accepted methods which have been tried out and found
to be practical and effective, and^would have uniform outline of the safety
plans which could be followed arid carried out by their present organiza
tion.
_
Mr. Harry Reid: I had intended to follow this paper by giving you a
brief outline of just how safety ^work is carried on on our property but inasmuch as Mr. -Scott, Mr. Malldh, and Mr. Samuel H. Reid, and others
connected with the Bureau of ^Safety, of Chicago, and men who are
working under that Bureau gave^Such a detailed description of how the work was carried on, yesterday, T hardly think it necessary to take your
time.
--
We have a safety manager on our properties for Kentucky and Indi
ana, Mr. James Harmon, who is present at this meeting. All the em
ployees are organized in separate groups and each group has its presi
dent, vice-president, secretary, and treasurer.
i>54
Eighth Safety Congress
Ciiaikma.v Adams: The subject is now open for discussion.
DISCUSSION .
Mat. HKV.in.Nii: The paper is very comprehensive, yet I believe there
is room for discussjon that will bring out many points on this thing
and lay emphasis on the necessity of nationalizing and standardizing.
That can he done.ijj my mind, in a very effective manner through the
various electric railway associations scattered throughout the United
States. There is the NTew_ England Railway, the Illinois Railway, the Central .
Electric Railway, and many other kindred organizations that, in so far as
I know, do not have^any safety organizations.
I don't know, as I said yesterday, of any organization that should give
more acute attention to safety work than the electric railway properties. I would like to hear some discussion on this from the other corners
of the globe. 1 believe every one of these papers ought to be entered r
into very thoroughly.
f*\
Mb. B. I). Haskivs (Claim Agent, Chattanooga Railway & Light Co
Chattanooga. Tena) : I think that we -have missed, in this discussion,
one point that is very vital, that is. the educational phase of conducting the safety work. We all agree that it is a good thing and that every
company ought to engage in it, but no one has gone into the details, and
it Is the details that I think we want. A gentleman, yesterday, Mr:
Reid I believe it was. touched lightly on the details of his organization,
and the chairman of our program committee intimated that his property
also had a fixed program, but no one has given us any light on what they think the best procedure after the safety organization has been
established. I want to tell you of my way of operating and then T would "like to
hear others here give their methods. We begin with the highest officials of our company, tlie general manager, the assistant general manager, the
superintendent, the assistant superintendent, the inspectors, and then we
have the committgBmen from all of the different branches of the prop erty. I. as a Claim Agent, am permanent Chairman. We change our
committeemen every six months. We find that in the course of six months
we have inspired them with the work sufficiently to turn them loose and
take up some one else. We call for suggestions, for instance, and when a man makes a sug
gestion it is numbered. The name of the man making the suggesstion is
carried in the minutes and when the suggestion is disposed of, it is
shown in the minutes so that its author can keep track of what has be
come of his ideas,. We have reduced our accidents. Tlie cost in the
Claim Department last year was $108,000 and this year $50,600.
Mk. Scott: It is difficult to give the details of the safety education of
the trainmen soyas to cover all conditions, but I will pick out a medium-
sized road and explain as l>est I can wliat is done tliere to answer your
question.
~
Instead of haying intermediate committees, as you seem to have, we
Electric Railway Section
oo;>
have a large central committeeaon safety, composed of the various operat ing heads and the chairmanship is delegated to the highest official avail able so as to give that commit a standing. In the case I have in mind, the assistant to the president is chairman, of the safety committee. That committee meets after the meetings of trainmen so that it can pass upon anything that came up in the trainmen's meeting.
The men are organized in groups with reference to the hours of em ployment and with' reference to their duties. The shopmen are or ganized separately from the trainmen. The officers for the employees' groups are changed every year, but the members of the Central Com mittee continue their office without interruption unless there is a change in the organization. At the --employees' meetings, suggestions are re ceived verbally. For instance, a man gets up and says, "I think it would be a good idea if we would standardize the location of the whistle signal", or something of that sort, and then the question is thoroughly discussed. If a majority of trainmen present believe that this is a good thing, that recommendation is transmitted^ to this Central Committee to be acted upon. If a majority is opposed to that recommendation, it goes no further than that particular meeting and that discussion. Here is an important thought. In every instance, the group is advised of any unfavorable action on any of their recommendations by the Committee and the reason is given for it. If the group makes a recommendation that requires the expenditure of a lot of money, and the committee decides that they can't afford to put it into operatioiirat this time, they frankly say so. The recommendations that come from these groups of trainmen to the Central Committee are very carefully tabulated by a secretary and given a serial number. All recommendations that are not complied with are kept alive on a sheet and at each meeting of this Central Committee all of the back recommendations that haven't been acted on definitely are considered.
As to the education of trainmen, that is done through the group meet ings. It is considered rather Important that the superintendent of trans portation and the trainmaster attend the group meetings. Their influence helps to maintain the interest of the employees and they are there to answer questions. We make _ it a point to have at these meetings, if possible, a talk upon some particular phase of the operation. We have some outside safety man comelin occasionally to make a few remarks.
Does that answer the question? Mr. Haskins: That is very good. I appreciate it very much. We have, perhaps, an advantage over a larger property in that we
have between 500 and 600 employees. We don't have a Central Commit tee because I insist on the general manager and all the other officials being right there in the meeting to thrash these things out. We have two committee meetings a mSfith, lasting one hour only. We have a meeting once a month for all the employees and at that meeting there is a general discussion on anything that any one wants to talk about.. Our effort is to educate the men and have them educate us.
Chairman Adams: I see bjLbur slips of attendance that we ha.ve here a Mr. Wilson, of the Northern Ohio Traction & Light Company, of
i>oC> Eighth Safety Congress
Massillon, Ohio, with the title of motorman and conductor instructor. I would like to hove Air. AVilson give us a few ideas along this line.
Mr. Hugh Wilsgcv (Northern Ohio Traction & Light Co., Massillon, Ohio) : The position that I now hold is a new one entirely to me and I
came here to learn. Perhaps later on X may have more to say.
:Chairman Ada ms We will be glad to hear from you, Mr. Wilson, and we wish you success in your work along that line.
Mr. Hariiy Reid: May I suggest appointment of a Committee to take up with the several electrical railway associations this matter of stand ardizing accident prevention as suggested by Mr. Hemming and then If the committee from this section of the Council is successful in getting
the electric railway associations interested in this work of standard izing, that they might go to the American Electric Railway Association and get a committee appointed there. Then perhaps in the course of a couple of years we,will get this national movement on foot. I would like
to make such a motion. litn. Scott: I want to second that motion.
AMERICAN ELECTRIC RAILWAY ASSOCIATION
AChairman
damjj
I know that the headquarters of the National
Safety- Council in Chicago are making every effort to bring the American
Electric Railway Association into connection with the Electric Railway
Section of the National Safety Council and the American Electric Railway
Association has asked for recognition by this section. Of course that
association should get in touch with this section and I believe this kind
of a suggestion coming from us will help to bring about an affiliation for
the good of accident prevention between the National Safety Council and
the Electric Railway Association and if you will put the gist of your
motion to me in a few words, I will be glad to entertain it.
Mr. Reid: The .motion is that this section of the National Safety
Council appoint a Committee to confer with the several district electric
railway associations affiliated with the American Railway Association
with the view of rgetting their interest into a nationalization and stand
ardization of accident prevention as applied to the electric railway
.industry.
-
Mr. McDouOAtr.u As I understand Mr. Reid's motion It is that the
committee he appointed' from the various district or state associations.
Am I right, Mr. Reid?
Mr. Reid: I think, Mr. McHougall, that if the Chair saw fit that it
might be well to select on this Committee men from the several associa
tions. For instance, from the Central Electric Railway Association. I
would suggest Mr. Hemming. There may be a man in the New England
Association who isjiffiliated with this body and these district associations are all more or less: affiliated with the American Association. If the local
association, for instance, the Central Electric Railway Association would
take enough intergst in this thing to get a standard and then this Com
mittee would go tQ the American Electric Railway Association with the
backing of all thesj? local associations, I believe tbat we would get started
in the right direction.
Elect?-ic.-Railway Sect ion.
557
Mb. Mt'DonoAn: If I may Be permitted, before that motion is put, I
would make tlie suggestion thaCthe committee be appointed at this time.
Mb. Reid: I don't think it eajl be done. I don't think, we can go to the
American Electric Railway Association and get enough interest there to
have them pass it back down the line.
Mb. McDoucau,: I might say" this, Mr. Reid, that the Electric Railway
Association will meet next week at Atlantic City and this is one of the
things that- is to 'come up. I Jjjink 1 can promise you that a committee
will he appointed sometime during the next week and it would be a good
thing if this association coukRappoint a committee to meet with that
committee sometime during tligcoming year and then he ready to report
at the next year's congress.
Mii. Scott: I have represented Mr. Budd on accident prevention com
mittees on several occasions aniLI believe that Mr. Reid's idea in bringing
this to their attention would be a very strong force to get what we want.
Mr. Hemmixg: I have had _quite a bit of experience in association
work and particularly with those mentioned, the Central Electric and
the American. I have had considerable to do with engineering some of
these problems through and I agree absolutely with Mr. Reid that the
place for this to start is herk then through the avenues of the other
associations and then up to the American. It is like trying to build a
roof on the house before you build the foundation, and I know that you
are going to get quicker results by taking it from here on up than you
will by attempting to take it through the American Association on down.
Isfow I don't say this to criticize either Association but I know that
It will work quicker the otherZway because the American Association is
so large in its scope that it takes anywhere from two to three years to
get a problem through.
__
CHAiR5f.\x Ada its: Gentlemen, you all understand the motion and the
object of it. I will put that motion.
The motion as stated by MrXReid was seconded and carried.
Cuairxas Adams: The appointment of that committee, I believe, ought
to rest with the incoming chairman and he can have between now and
11:45 to decide upon the members for that committee.
Next we have our dear friend, Mr. MeDougall, of Rochester, N. Y.
He has something to tell usTftbout "Electric Railway Hazards--Causes,
Effects and Remedies."
K LECTRIC RAI LAVAY _TTAZARDS -- CAUSES, EFFECTS ANU KEYBDIES
R. E. McDoucau., Ci-\nr Ac ext, New York State Railwats, Rochester, X. Y.
There is no business wherlr there are so many possibilities for acci dents- as that of running an electric railway, nor any business where there may he so many differj|nt classes of injuries, -both to employees and the public. Criss-crossing cities, towns, and country as traction
558
Eighth Safety Congress
lines do, with the possibility of injury not only to employees and pas sengers but to pedestrians and the general pnblic a3 well. It Is not sur prising that traction men are Interested in accident prevention--and not only interested to the extent of spending their money and time In this work, but are firm believers in the good that can be accomplished by education along safety lines.
Under the head of "Hazards'"'on electric railways we have three main classes of accidents, viz.:
1. Accidents to employees 2. Accidents to passengers 3. Accidents to pedestrians and others using streets and highways
ACCIDEKIS TO EMPLOYEES------CAUSES, EFFECTS, AXD EtlMEMES
Electric railway employees may be injured in many ways, such as: wagons; falls in our bouses and repair shops; being run over by equip ment; blood poisoning; being struck by falling objects; collisions be tween cars and vehicles; eye injuries from flying particles: falls from cars, falls into excavations, etc.
Investigation of accidents similar to above show a part of them are caused by defective equipment or conditions over which, the employee has no control, but the most of them are chargeable either to careless ness on the part of the injured employee, his co-employee, or foreman, or the failure to malcejind enforce safety rules.
An employee's accident record quickly demonstrates who tr the cash less and chauce-taking-man and this record will be of value in betpiss to make employees mope careful. An employee known to be reddens or willing to take chalices in regard to his own safety or that o a co worker, is dangerous ion. any property. In the selection *f some thought should be given to this phase of a man's character.
Very often failure by the injured employee or his foreman to give proper care and attention to slight injuries results seriously and b fol lowed by infection and,,blood poisoning, and may be the caom of So*ng a limb and often a life. The old saw, "A stitch in time save* nine"* certainly holds good ijj^tliis. connection. A small first-aid kit with dis infectants and bandages should be procured and kept where easily accessible, and the foreman and men should be impressed with the necessity for giving mirror injuries attention.
Sometimes it is the small things that lead to the most serious acci dents. One of the most distressing cases of this kind that has come under my observation recently, was due to a car on the road with a faulty trolley retrieveswjiich could have been repaired In five minutes time. A line tower track was standing near where the car in question had to pass; two men were on the tower and the wind swung the trolley rope so that it caught^e top of the tower, throwing the men to the pave ment, badly injuring both and probably permanently injuring one; as a result, two men werewlaid up for months, one perhaps for life, with a cost to the company of several thousand dollars. I might recite a number of instances djjhis kind, but if you will give some attention to
Electric Railway Section
55!)
a study of the conditions which lead np to most of this kind of acci
dents, you will Unci it is the little things and careless acts that pave the
way to' bad accidents-
"
ACCIDENTS TO PASSENGERS------CAUSE, EFFECTS, AND REMEDIES
Traction managers and accident adjusters have found that the public
believes it is the easiest thing possible to receive a serious injury on a
street car; negligence lawyers are also active In propagating this idea.
As a matter of fact, when you consider the number of passengers car
ried yearly by traction companies, with the possibility for accidents, the percentage killed or seriously injured is not nearly so high as in in
dustrial plants.
j
There are of course, a great many ways by which passengers can be
and are injured. Investigation shows the three most prominent causes
to be: (a) Improper operation at car by employees
(b) Run down condition of equipment, track, etc.
(c) Carelessness on the part of injured person
(a) Improper operation of car on part of employee often causes:
Collisions
.=
Derailments
Premature starting, thereby throwing passengers in cars, or
while boarding and alighting
Collisions with other vehicles at street intersections Striking passenger who have alighted from cars going in oppo
site directions, etc. Wte are all familiar withZthls type of operation and its results. The human element is the big factor in causing and preventing accidents. Motormen and conductors are as willing as the rest of us to do their
share and the big thing is to secure their cooperation. Here, in. par
ticular, the record of trainmen is of value. If it is found that a trainman Is making an undesirable reeord for himself the nse of an Itemized record in pointing out the number of accidents he has been, responsible
for and what they are costing the company In dollars and cents, will be
of great assistance In educating that particular employee. Personal
education of each employee along accident prevention lines will prove a
big investment for the traction company that is willing to spend the
money to do it. It can afford high class men to do this work properly, and find at the
end of a number of years that Its accidents have decreased in number
and have cdst less. This will be tbe only comparison of any value that
can be made, for the reason that if an accident has not happened you
cannot satisfy anyone that you have prevented It. (b) A high standard of maintenance with reference to equipment,
track, loading platforms and other portions of the property that the
'public comes in contact with has much to do with preventing accidents.
You do not have to be told that when your tracks are not in good shape you are going to have more derailments and collisions with cars; that
5(50
Eighth Safely Congress
when, equipment does nSt work properly you are going to throw more
people daily in and off The cars. Money spent on upkeep means less
accidents and reduced expenditures. Holes and depressions in the pavement or at points where cars stop
to take on and off passengers are a very common cause of accidents,
often serious. Cooperation between the municipality and the company
will prevent many accidents of this nature and at a comparatively small
cost. A close watch of^the conditions will save both much more money
than the cost of proper upkeep. Sometimes it pays toanake conditions fool-proof. As an illustration:
On the property I am connected with, for some years, prior to 1913
every summer we had irom five to ten cases of broken arms due to passengers, when windows were up, resting their arms on the window
sill and projecting between the iron bars, which were about four inches
apart on some of our equipment. The breaks were caused by coming
in contact with other cars in curves, trees, sides of bridges, or other vebicles. It was costing us anywhere from two. to live thousand dollars
a year fighting these cases in court or adjusting the injured party's claims. In 1913 and lflH at an expense of about four thousand dollars
we added enough bars and screens to the.sides of the cars so that it was impossible for a dsissenger to get his or her arm outside the car,
and we have had but one accident of the kind since.
For years all the warnings of railway operators and the many exam
ples of injuries due to getting on and off moving cars had no effect on
the public; it was not Until folding steps and doors came into common
use that any reduction-c'ould be made of the class of accidents known as "Boarding and Alighting." The closing door and folding step are not necessary to the transportation of passengers, but today you cannot find a manager or operator who would say they are not worth much
more than they cost in the money saved his company so far as accidents
are concerned.
IT -
(c) I believe I am safe in the assertion that one-half of the accidents
occurring to passengers^ion street cars are caused by the passengers'
own carelessness or contributory negligence. They will get on or off a
moving car if permitted, and invariably when doing so face the wrong way. "Without looking they will step from a car directly in front of a moving auto or other vehicle. They will do a thousand and one things
that are risky. Many women's shoes and skirts cause nasty falls re
sulting in broken bonesTpr sprains that lay them up for weeks. Tight
skirts and high heels cause more women to be thrown than the opera
tion of the car. Passengers will jump off a ear, cross directly behind it, and onto the track in front of a car going in the opposite direction without looking or paying the least attention to what they are doing.
ACCinEsrs to veukstkiaxs and others--cause, effect, axd rkmudies
The accidents that the. public (not including patrons) are involved in come within the following classifications:
(a) Pedestrians struck by cars
Electric JZailway Section
561
(bl Pedestrians falling into excavations, over defective track, material
left in street, hit by falling poles and wires
(c) Occupants of vehicles in collision with cars
(a) Many of the individuals^ struck by cars are children playing
in streets and their injury is due to thoughtlessness more than anything
else. They will chase a ball onto car tracks without a thought of a
car; they will catch a ride on the rear of a wagon or truck and drop
off in front of an approaching=jjar; they will ride a sled or a bicycle
down an incline across tracks, never giving a thought to the possibility
of injury. Their elders also gefchit for the same reason. They do not
think, and rely on others to look out for their safety. Intoxication is
quite a factor in this type of accident, particularly on interurban
lines.
'
While the motormen at times are responsible for injuries to pedes
trians, the majority of them are, chargeable to the injured party. They
could be avoided generally by the use of a little judgment or common
sense. Some individuals will hurry to cross ahead of a car and then stop and watch it go by; they will step from the curb between two automobiles or pass behind ong^car directly into the side or in front
of one going in the opposite direction. (b) Most accidents under tbig head are caused by employees leaving
materials and excavations improperly guarded and lighted. Fortunately
at the present time most muhicipalities have ordinances requiring
proper guarding and lighting, jand in the event of neglect- or over
sight on the part of employees their attention is soon called to it by
the police.
,
--
(c) The increase in the number of motor vehicles in the past few
years has resulted in an enormous increase in accidents between them and electric railway cars', and-1 long list of killed and injured. The
most serious occur at grade crossings familiar to the auto drivers and
with every opportunity to see aQd know of the approaching car or train
traveling at high speed. Early! this summer in. a three weeks period,
fifteen people were killed in three accidents of this type, within a radius of fifty miles of Rochester. jQne car was being driven, by a girl of
seventeen who was learning tQ operate the machine, one was being
driven - by a boy of fourteen, and the third was driven by a man who could see an express train approaching him at right angles and delib
erately tried to beat the train to the crossing. Notwithstanding the fact
that you read of this' kind of fatality in every paper you pick up, it
seems to and will continue agelong as high powered automobiles are permitted to be operated by irresponsible or reckless drivers. Signs,
warnings or signals will not prevent these accidents occurring; the care ful, prudent driver will not take such a chance.
In order to reduce the number of street accidents the main thing nec
essary is education--education^ that will teach everyone (be he em
ployee, passenger, pedestrian or auto driver) what it is that leads to
accidents and how they can he avoided; particularly education of the
young child and the school boy and girl regarding the value of life
5(j2
__Eighth Safety Congress
and limb, the wastefulness of unnecessary haste and neglect; education of the men and women by the passing and strict enforcement of reason able ordinances; and education of the drunken driver and persistent
chance-taker by a straight jail sentence. Chairman Auams: The paper is now open for discussion.
DISCUSSION
Mb. Hkmaiixc: 1 just want to say that Mr. McDougall is from Roches ter where they carried on the most extensive safety campaign for six months. I believe Ikfr, McDougall can give us some very valuable infor mation.
Mk. McDocoai.i.: I?don't know that I can give you very many details except to tell yon in a general way what was done in Rochester.
Rochester is a city of about 300,000 people. We are running a street car system with a hour-100 cars during rush hours. The National Safety Council first organized in Rochester a small T-ocal Safety Council. 1 believe it was in 10t-T. That Safety Council was affiliated with a Safety Committee of our former Chamber of Commerce. It was made up of representatives of big industrial plants, public utilities, and some pro fessional men. The Council specialized on industrial accident prevention until March, 191S. At that time, through the efforts of Mr. Cameron and Mr. Price, we launched a public safety campaign. A great deal of publicity was given - through the newspapers. Much work was done in the schools. The policemen made a special effort on the enforcement of ordinances, particularly among automobile drivers. Dangerous corners as far as possible were cleaned up. There were some five or six sub committees under thelTGeiieral Accident Prevention Committee.
The result was that our report at the end of the year <T may not be absolutely right on tliisl showed fatal accidents in Rochester had decreased sixteen per cent and_ up to July. 3 919, as compared up to July. 191*. showed a further decrease of eighteen per cent over 191S. These teirt> were taken from the coroners' records.
As far as our street railway is concerned, our accidents in I>lT were S42 and in I91S, 6S5TT Fatal accidents have decreased, on our street rail way. about eigliteen per cent.
Chairman Adams: Has any one else anything to say on this subjectT Mk. Mau.on: I don't think that real results can be obtained by a rail way company in reducing accidents to passengers and pedestrians until you get the cooperation of the community through which you operate. T want to state some of my experiences along that line.
rnflrKtiATioN of community nekokh
In Cook County, in the City of Chicago several years ago, there inaugurated a safety organization known as the County and City Safety Organization. It wafTfathered by Coroner Peter Hoffman for a consider able time, in fact. iTp until the present. It was known somewhat as a political organization? However, beneficial results were obtained. On a
Electric Railway Section
r,r>:?
great many accidents, such as we in the railroad industry are familiar
with, the coroner would select members of this organization to act as
jurors, and I presume I have acted as a juror for fifty or more inquests.
Recommendations were made bv the jurors, and strange to say they were
never acted upon; that was as far as they ever got and I think the
reason why they never got any further was due to the fact that there
wasn't enough' pressure behind the organization. In other words, it was
not1 big enough.
--
I was at the inquest in a case where a motorman of the surface lines
of Chicago ran into an ice Q-eam wagon. One of the men on the wagon
who was riding on the rear end was knocked off and killed. On that
jury there was a Bolshevist^ as far as street car operation is concerned,
and he wanted to hang tbe_ motorman. He was one of many who felt
that the corporation had lots of money and all the jurors should do was
hold the company entirely responsible so that the widow would have
this means of getting money out of the company in a law suit.
Another case that came toC my attention was tbat of a slight, frail lady
who was driving an electric car along Forty-Seventh street. When T saw
the woman at the Inquest I_felt she ought to be in a hospital. This car
got away from her. she ran over a six inch curb, struck a baby carriage
that was standing outside of a grocery store with a baby in it. and killed
the baby.
.
^
We made the recommendation at that time that no person should be
permitted to drive a car without first taking an examination the same as
any chauffeur. Nothing was; heard of the recommendation.
I understand that there is a movement on foot in Chicago to get the
support of the Association of Commerce behind this organization of
which we are members. Now a body of men of that kind backing up an institution like ours can accomplish a great deal. I think that is the
only logical solution, to get the biggest men. or the biggest organization
in the municipality to cooperate with you.
Citairmax Aiiams: It is_ time to close the discussion on this paper.
Next we have the subject "Safety Before and After the War."
We all know what we went through during the war, and in these days
of reconstruction the electric railways have "an important duty to per
form. We will now listen To a paper by Mr. Schneider, of Cleveland.
SAFETY HEKOBE AND AFTER THE WAR
E.
F.
Schneider,
Cor.TJMUtxs
Generae Maxager, Ceeveeasd, Railway Compaxy, Clevelaxd,
Southwestern
Onto
&
It was with the greatestTeluctance that I finally consented to write a paper upon the above, and^I have found the subject has become a more intricate one for me to discuss than I expected or anticipated, on account of conditions having changed so materially; it being impossible to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion.
After the armistice was .signed it was very natural indeed to look for-
ijfi-J-
Eighth Safety Congress
ward to a rapid return to more nearly normal conditions in the labor
world. "NVe certainly anticipated a lowering of prices on food stuffs and
on necessities, and afterlthe smoke had cleared away, after the strife and
struggle were over, after our boys began to come home, and by reason
of our wonderful achievements, a general feeling of complacency anil
satisfaction was with gOTd reason confidently hoped for and looked for
ward to--but alas, none of these tilings came to pass. Labor is scarce,
much more arrogant in its demands, and a great deal harder to handle. Contracts with labor unions bave been broken with impunity, invariably,
I believe, against the advice and orders of their national officers. Prices
of food stuffs and necessities have not been lessened, but have really
advanced. The generaLJfeeling of unrest has been greatly intensified.
There seems to be annalmost universal sentiment, regardless of conse
quences, which either openly avows or covertly insinuates a "I am going
to get mine while the getting is good'1 policy.
I find it impossible, therefore, to make the analysis which, upon the acceptance of the invitation to speak upon the subject. I expected to
make. I will, however,xonfine myself to the conditions as I have found
them and believe them to exist. I have gathered statistics upon this question from all over the United
States and Canada in my efforts to present this subject correctly, having
written two hundred and ninety letters to that number of railway com
panies, and received onfOmndred and fifteen responses. My replies cover 17,503. miles of city and interurban electric railroads.
Statistics are usually such dry lies that I hesitate to use them. You
can prove anything you want to with statistics. You know the schoolboy
compared lie as an adjective, i. e., lie, damn lie, statistics.
I will, therefore, curtail the use of them as much as possible and bave
you assume that I am telling you the truth, even though my figures are
comparatively few.
-
There is perhaps more'to toe said regarding safety before the Avar, and
safety during the war, than there is to be said of safety after the war.
As a general propositioTTtlie question of safety. ?o far as the application
of tlie fundamental principles as usually understood is concerned, reached
its highest state of perfection before we entered the war.
TO MAKE Tin.VOS FOOr.-l'ISOOF
The use of well-knowTi safety devices and appliances, the installation of block signal systems.-the display of cautionary signs, the use of mov ing pictures--all thesejarnd other methods had a tendency to carry the propaganda of SAPEX2TFIRST, or the prevention of accidents, to the most successful conclusion known up to that time. The great idea has been to make things asz"fool-proof' as possible; my understanding being that these methods, itiis estimated, have reduced the accident account sotne eight per cent inrTpur Industrial world. That, of course, makes it worth while. I naturally do not wish to deprecate the use of any device which will eliminate accidents. I do, however, wish to take this opportu nity to protest against the abstract proposition which we seem to be
Electric Railway Section
565
striving Cor, i. e., to make tilings fool-proof. This is a common expression.
I do not think we should have fools working Cor us in responsible posi
tions, handling intricate machinery which requires safety appliances, even
if apparently made fool-proof. We should not try to make automatons
out of intelligent employees. We should not hire wooden men or cigar
signs for skilled workers. _~We need men who are honest, industrious,
painstaking, and careful. The best safety device known is a careful man.
Before we entered the war we did not have that strained and intense
feeling which was so marked and prevalent everywhere after war was
declared.
^
The employee who had ja son who was of draft age. or one who had
enlisted, was of necessity on the anxious seat all the time. The irregu
larity of the mails and oft-times the negligence of the soldier boy in not
writing to his parents, and the waiting for reliable news, all had a ten
dency to distract the sensitive and over-wrought' nerves of a father, who
as a natural consequence.'Would not be in as good condition to carry on
his work as he would be in normal times.
SITORTACTK OF MEX DXJR1XG THE WAR
The shortage of men orvaccount of those entering the service of the
Government, either as soldiers or marines, and on account of those em
ployed in industries which were held essential to the winning of the war,
made a vast difference in the working personnel of street and interurban
railways. It also made albig difference as to the attitude of the men
toward the company employing them. They realized they could get a
job any time and were not slow in letting you know it. It became neces
sary in order to keep the lines filled, toi break all former precedents and
rules. The turnover was large. An applicant was not questioned closely, his recommendations were not scrutinized, the age limit was not recog
nized. Young men of eighteen years of age were hired as conductors.
Older men, as high as fifty years of age, were installed as motormen.
Coupling this disadvantage of disregarding the age limit with the inex
perience of the younger man and the inability of the_ older man readily to
adapt himself to the work, paused a condition which gave those who were
responsible very grave concern. It was simply Impossible to get efficiency
out of either class of these men. They were willing enough, perhaps
owing to the lure of higher wages than they had been able to get, but
they were not dependable-^--the one was too young to learn, the other was
loo old to learn.
^
Those who applied and Were of a proper age, were as a rule undesirable
men--floaters and men who drank, perhaps periodically--at any rate
there was a constant turnover, men leaving on the slightest provocation.
There was no attempt to enforce anything like the ordinary and regular
discipline. It was largely a matter of standing it as long as one could
and then firing a few, all of which, of course, tended toward the demoral
ization of your forces in all branches and departments. This would seem
as though the officials in charge were letting the men run the road, and
I confess it came mighty near being true. As an illustration of the atti
tude of men regarding discipline: One of our superintendents in. disci-
r>r>r>
Eighth Safely Congress
plining a trainman for an offense said to him, "You will have to serve ten days." He came right back saying, "Oh you go to hell", and turned in.
KM 1*1.0YJIKXT Oh WOMKX AS CONlll'CTORS
There was a moderate, amount of relief from this state of affairs, how ever, in a few cities, brought about by the employment of women as conductors on city lines. There was considerable comment and a great deal of discussion regarding the morality and efficiency of women who would hire out as conductors on a street car line. We who have had for years to deal with the morality of men engaged in similar service, know that morally there would be no reason why a woman would not be as much of a lady in the capacity of a street car conductor, as a man would be a gentleman under scactiy the same circumstances. Personally, I confess that after watching the operation of street cars by women as conductors, and also frour reports gathered by those who employed them,
I am convinced that they conducted themselves as ladies at all times, and took care of their part of the business carefully, intelligently, politely, and with fewer accidents than men. Whether after years of service women conductors would! have maintained their efficiency or not. I do not pretend to say, but they certainly made a.good record as far as they were able to go. One lEreet railway president asserted that the men themselves were largely to blame for women going onto the cars as con ductors, inasmuch as by insisting upon stools and other so-called com forts, they had made a latTies' job of it.
After the war the widespread and pernicious doctrines of the old world,
such as 1. W. \V., bolshevism, socialism, anarchism, and other fanatical isms which are used in order to delude the unsophisticated laboring man into the belief that the millenium is near at hand, put that almost un controllable and irresponsible unrest in our midst, the flame bursting forth from the smothered-fire here in Cleveland on May Day, showing really the underlying feeling and sentiment which was only waiting for an opportune time to maTte itself felt, but which, thanks to the better element of our citizens, tVas so suddenly squeiched and put down. This is but one example of what happened in many places.
The results of my investigation would tend to show that there was a slight improvement after the war. The combined mileage of 17.!>65 miles gave a total of accidents in 1916 as 153.S7S. in 1917 as 167.S06. in 191S as 144.554, in 6 months of 1919 as 64.10S or at the rate of 12S.216 for the whole year, which would show a decrease from the figures of 1916 for the first half of 1919. Whether the whole year of 1919 would show this im provement is of course very problematical. You will also note a slight improvement in 191S ovefT.917. The difference in either case is certainly not due to any improvement in the personnel of the employees.
In order tp give a clearer insight into the general conditions. I have selected a few individual eases.
One road writes: "I feel that the increase in accidents, particularly during the war period, was brought about largely by *>nr being compelled to hire young boys and old men. In fact, since the war has closed, we are getting
Electric Railway Section
5(5
things straightened out and, the accident situation is improving wonder
fully." Another road writes:
"
"I attribute the decrease of accidents to passengers to the work of our
school, where attendance is compulsory on the part of our employees, to
gether with the operating changes indicated above. I might add that I also feel that we will make a better showing when some solution is
reached which will end the Jabor unrest, and the company can get the co operation of its trainmen, af a body."
Another:
---
"We noticed no marked difference in the number of accidents occurring
during the period when some of our more experienced men. were in the
army and had to be replaced by less experienced men."
Another: "You will note that if the ratio for the remaining five months of 1919
holds the same as during the first seven months of 1919, the year 1919
will show the greatest number of accidents during any of the three years, due we believe to the large number of young men who have returned after service in the army .and who are reckless and indifferent to such small risk as being injured bv electrical cars."
Another:
__
"I enclose herewith another sheet marked `B\ showing for the year
1919, the labor turnover. From that you will note that 243 men left our
employ and 304 new men ^were taken into service. This in itself added
greatly to our burden and prevented us from obtaining as pleasing a result as I am sure we would have obtained had we been able to wage
our campaign under normal conditions."
Another:
ACCIDKXTS RKDVCKU IN SPITE OF TUltXOVER
"During the period of the war. we were of necessity obliged to hire
large numbers of inexperienced men and lowered our age limit of con
ductors from 21 to 18 years, and raised our age limit of motormen from
45 to 50 years. In spite of, this factor-(inexperienced men) you will note
that the accidents for 19X8 were materially reduced compared with the
previous year. ' While this may seem unusual, yet I believe, the practice
of this company in having the Claim Department instruct new men before
entering upon their duties, as well as the care used by the Transporta
tion Department in breaking in new men. impressing them -with the
necessity of unusual care, were primarily the reasons that the number
of accidents were reducM, together with the work done by our Safety
Boards in pur various Divisions."
Another:
--
"During the year 1918 .on account of war conditions we were obliged
to hire a number of yougger men, some of them not of full age, losing a
number of our experienced men on account of the wage attraction of the
munition plants located in our community. This materially increased the
number of our accidents... and especially I think in the collisions wiih
vehicles. This 5rear we have been able to dispense with the class of
employees referred to, afl0 have been able to get a more reliable class of
oG8 Eighth Safety Congress
men and a material improvement would seem to be indicated by the number of accidents for the first six months of 1919."
Another:
*`You ask whether there were any unusual conditions. We have been adversely affected by shortage of labor, with its consequent impairment of efficiency, on account of the great industrial activity which has been most acute in this vicinity, due to the European War. For the last two years we were further demoralized through this Country's entry.
We first employed women as conduetorettes, in April, 191S. and have had as many as 235 out^of the total platform force of 4.000, but I do not think this materially affected the situation.
Public Accidents
Employees Injured
1916 ..................................50.6Eper million passengers carried
1,671
1917 ..................................52.42 per million passengers carried
3,675
191.S ................................--57.27~per million passengers carried
1.495
1919 (6 mo.)..................49.l"per million passengers carried
674
) N EXPKKIKXCKD KM IT.OVEKS MU UK I.IAISI.E TO AOCIUENT
Another:
=~
"In connection with the third paragraph of your letter in which you
ask if any unusual conditions obtained in 1918; The records show that
the increased accident frequency in 191S was due to the extensive war
activities on Long Island in that year which caused an unprecedented
congestion both on the railroad and on the public highways. Another
important factor In the accident experience was the employment of inex
perienced men and women, in which connection it may be stated that
16 per cent of ail employees killed and injured on the --------------- Rail
road in 19IS had been inZthe service less than one month, while 37 per
cent of the killed anil 39 per cent of the injured had been in the service
less than six mouths.'' - --
Another:
-^=-
"There seems to be some unknown force or influence working among
the working class of men for the last three or four years that has been
bad. They are careless .and indifferent, and seem to have no interest in
their work. Every one 31 the accidents on this report was absolutely
caused by the negHgence33)d carelessness of employees. None caused by
failure of the working of."any parts of the equipment."
Another:
--
"I do not think the war has had a particle of effect ai on the men. The strict discipline in the Army does not apply to civil life. In civil life,
men are free agents, ancL they are governed In tfccir actions by their
natures. If they are proms by nature to lx? careful and faithful in the
performance of tlieir duties, we may have little trouble wish them, but ir
on the other hand they are prone to be negligent and selfish, having no
patience with other people, we will always be In trouble with them.
Having all this in my ifflnd, I am fully aware of the fact that we can
never relax for one moment our efforts to improve our men by careful
training and constant admonition.
Though we have increased wages, the prices the men have to pay for
Electric Railway Section
560
the necessities of life, leave them in about the same condition financially
as before the war on a lower scale of wages.
We cannot, therefore, claim that we have done more than meet the
changed conditions, nor can we ever make any substantial improvement
until they realize that their efforts to hold in place incompetent men is
the real cause of this disability on the part of the Public Utilities to pay
a higher scale of wages. ---- .
About all I can see that you can learn from the above is that down
here in the Southland we are just as rotten as in any other part of the
U. S. and that year after year our accidents run about the same in num
ber and cost."
Another:
-i.
"The total accidents per 100,000 revenue passengers, excluding transfer
and pass passengers, for the years in question are as follows:
1916 1917 1918 1919
...........:........................................................... 7.5 ....................................................................... 9.6 ....................................................................... 9.2 -..................................................................... S.S'
The number of accidents per 100 employees, taking number of em ployees as on last day of period, is as follows:
1916
...................................................................20
* 1917 ........________________:.....................................26
1918 ........~__________________________________28
1919 _____.................................................................12'.
The unusual conditions which affected our figures given above, were,
first--a strike of employe in September, 1917, which necessitated the
training of almost an entirely new platform and shop force which mate
rially affected the number of accidents during the latter part of 1918:
second--the shortage of good labor which existed during 1918 and neces
sitated the employment of inferior labor and had no doubt a marked effect
in increasing the number of accidents."
Another:
Passengers Employees Passengers
Injured' Injured
Carried
1916 ...................
542S
2443
335.752,271
1917 .................:..............................................................5978
2951
338,265,376
1918 ________________
3579
2334
297,764,544
1919 (6 mo.).........................................
1645
SS5
163,034.951
Another:
--=
ACCIDENTS
Passengers and Employees
1916 .........Ife.______________________________190
1917 .........................................................................15S
1918 ___154
1919 (6 mdij...............................
109
'1919 figures given on yearly basis obtained by multiplying accidents for the
first six months by two.
\ir
570
Eighth Safety Congress
Another:
_
`Personally 1 prefer middle aged men, rather than young men, as our
experience is that they Are as a rule more careful than younger men.
If you had asked with reference to passenger suits, I could make quite
a lengthy report, as we now have about twenty imaginary passenger
personal injury suits pending in the ---------------- County Courts."
One-man cars are largely a result of conditions brought on by the war.
"Wherever used they have materially decreased the number of accidents.
A great many roads were compelled to cut down their mileage in order
to reduce operating expenses during and after the war. This would of
course cut down the hazard in proportion.
ISCKKASKII Nt'MTSKR or .Vl'T(IMi;[I.K5 J>'CRK.\SE XU5EISEU Or ACCIDENTS
The great increase in the number of automobiles has, however, cor
respondingly' increased the number and severity of automobile accidents.
There are many ways to be progressive but one is sufficient if along
proper lines. What are the proper lines to prevent accidents? "We do
not have advantage of sufficient, regulatory laws, but even if. we had
they would mitigate only in a small degree. "We have the benefit of
safety boards, safety appliances, warning signs, etc., which is a great
help as far as it goes, but they do not prevent the majority of railroad
accidents. The day is past when men can be driven by the old bull-dog
method. We have never gotten the benefit from rigid discipline as ordi
narily enforced, one reason being, the new man employed is just as liable
to err as the one discharged, and the men remaining do not profit by the
example set.
I
The principle of SAFETY WEEK extended through the whole year is
perhaps the only solution. To bring forcefully to the mind of every em
ployee the moral obligation resting upon him to preserve human life
and human limb, inculcate that by continuous education, relying upon the
fact that all men haveTthat within them which will naturally keep from
harming those entrusted, to their care and those who come within their
zone of danger.
^
By our individual effoxt and by our combined efforts let us make today
; safer day than yesterday, and tomorrow a safer day than today.
There is but one temple in the whole universe and that is the body of
man. The duty we owe ourselves is to preserve this most sacred temple
of the universe. The duty we owe our fellow man is to help him pre
serve this most sacred Jemple.
DISCUSSION
('u.vutvan Adams: We certainly appreciate the efforts Mr. Schneider
has put forth, -lust think of the number of letters that he has written
and recei\-ed. the tabulation of these statistics, and or boiling it down
into such an article asChe has given us here today. I think he is en
titled to our thanks. i5if J reroe-ruber. Mr. Schneider said he was successful in getting 115
replies from
letters, he wrote asking for statistics. He was a great
Electric Railway Section
5/1
deal more successful in writing to strangers and people not affiliated with
this organization than yoTir chairman was in writing to his personal
friends who are' members of this association for a few little statistics on
one point.
You will remember, I asked each company to let me know simply the
total number of accidents from August 31, 1917, to 191S and 1919. I got
one lone reply. Now just think, out of 129 people in this organization,
only one of them sent in Their report and I will not tell you who that
was because it really didn't come up to what I thought because he really
had an increase in accidents in that year. As for our own Company, we
have 170 miles of track and we came within one of decreasing the rate
one per mile.
__
Miss Roadikkb: Mr. Chairman, I don't want to impose on your time,
particularly since Mr. Schneider's paper was so splendid, but I feel almost
duty bound to give my opinion.
We began creeping in with the safety organization among the school
children. After one season of work of that kind we went to the Super
intendent of Public Schools and asked him if in six months time we
could show a material decrease in accidents to children of school age,
whether he would permit Lus to come into the schools and through the
medium of story telling get the story across. Of course, any man that
has a heart with regard to humanity could not help but grant us that
permission. During the first year we decreased accidents fourteen per
cent.
"
TTjyiOR SAFETY COUXCII.
After a while organizations were started, such as the Junior Safety
Council. In Philadelphia We won recognition from the members of the Chamber of Commerce area they gave us permission to met in their
assembly rooms once a month to discuss ways and means by which we
might make Philadelphia ITTxealthier and safer city.
The Junior Safety Council, made up of school children, demanded
cooperation from the Chamber of Commerce. The appeal from the chil
dren was so strong that after several attempts they gave us cooperation.
A committee composed of school children put up safety signs for us. Of
course, after the Department of Public Safety gave the children their sup
port, the mayor of the city and the Police Department had to follow it.
After four years' work, we showed a deduction of thirty-seven and one-
half per cent in fatalities to children of school age and a general decrease
to pedestrians, for through the children the safety lessons are taken into
the homes.
_
If 'you don't have the support of the community through which you
operate do not let that make you hesitate in starting a safety campaign,
and I know that the first year you will find that your Claim Department
alone will save enough to repay you.
CscAimifAx Adams: I thank you very much. Miss Roadifer.
You see Miss Roadifer has just given us another. Inspiration to get
behind this educational movement among the young people and the chil
dren in the schools. These people will have to take our places in not
572
Eighth Safety Congress
very many years. You know they begin to work in responsible positions
earlier now than they vised to when we were boys, and we must start
them along the right road.
Miss Koawfer: It was this safety movement, this humanitarian move
ment that helped to make Philadelphia realize that after all the president
of the company was sincere when he expressed his endeavor to improve
the service and I am sxfFW that was one of the things that helped put it
over in Philadelphia. ^
Mr. Hkmmi.w: Pardon me for taking the floor again. I am not going
to trouble you to read all of this but I am going to leave it on the
table that you may see
It is quite interesting. The title is `"Classified
Accident Report and Traffic Survey of the Transportation Department."
This is a six months' report, up to June inclusive.
You may find these statistics interesting for the reason that they are
divided up In this manner, though it is not new.
CLASSIFIED ACCIDENT REPORT
We record the time of day the accident occurred, the age of" the motorman or the conductor concerned in the accident, period of employment,-- company service, sex injured, line or division on which accident occurred, day of week, type of car, zone in which the accident occurred, weather and track conditions.
This division is made for psychological reasons. First of all, it is important for your men to know, likewise the public, at what time of day the=greatest number of accidents occur. I have addressed a large number of school children on various occa sions and I asked them, ifi their opinion, at what time of day the greatest number of accidents occur. It was surprising to know how much, interest they took in what I had to say. I received all kinds of answers except the right one. Their answers were mainly "noon". I asked them why they thought that noon was the most dangerous period. They said, "because there are moreZpeople on the streets, more traffic and conges tion." X showed them that they were wrong. The greatest number of acci dents "occurred, according to United States statistics, between, ten and eleven o'clock in the morning, and three and four o'clock in the afternoon,
and seven and ten o'clock in the evening. We find that statistics on our
own property bears thatrout. The age of the motorman and conductor is another Important factor.
Wte find that accidents rim higher for the young man. The older man seems to have settled down, to a more conservative and common sense way of doing tilings. We find an almost equal ratio of accidents in regard to sex. The day of the week Is another interesting thing. We find that Saturday is the most hazardous day: though that is a little bit contrary to United States statistics. Our report shows these accidents: Monday, 78; Tuesday, 92; Wednesday. 7",: Thursday. 96: Friday, 85; Saturday,' 127, and Sunday,-61.
The type of car is something we are all interested in. Our investiga
Electric Railway Section
bT'-i
tion bears out what Mr. Schneider said, that the one-man car has fewer
accidents than the other type of car. It is strange to say that even in
the case of the pay-as-you-enter, muzzle-loader, and near-side type they
have more accidents than the one-man car and yet there are two men on
the other cars. It is a splendid argument to use in yonr community
where they are opposed to the one-man car.
We have divided all our cities out into zones. I asked the children
where they thought the greatest number of accidents occur. "Why right down there by the court house," was almost a universal
response.
I said, "No, that is where you have the least. The greatest number of
your accidents occur in Zone "C' ".
I wanted to bring before them the thought that when they were near
the outskirts of the city they should he most careful, because there is
where the automobile and even our own trainmen take the opportunity
for gaining headway as the traffic is less congested. There were 130 acci
dents in Zone VC", the next tffi that was Zone "E", but right down in the
heart of the city in each one of these places there were only 75. Weather conditions show that the greatest number of accidents occur
during fair weather and the greatest number on dry tracks rather than
on slippery tracks.. There were 560 on dry tracks and ISO on slippery
tracks.
'
I want to leave this thought with you, we have to go back to that old
Biblical saying, "A little childl shall lead them."
Chaibmajj- Adams: Has any one else anything to say on this paper?
If not, I want to thank you for the interest you have taken in safety work during the past year; for your courtesies throughout the year, and for the honor you conferred upon me by electing me as your chairman a
year ago. I thought at the time it was a mistake and I feel yet that it
was not a success, but in any event I have given my heartfelt interest
to the work of the Association and this special section.
The safety movement, as represented by the National Safety Council,
has been close to my heart for six years. I have been a member of the
Council for six years and have attended every one of its annual confer
ences and I expect to continue- as long as I can.
It now gives me great pleasure to announce that Mr. Hemming, a man
whom you all know, was the-prime mover in the preparation of our pro
gram this year. This year's electric railway program has been far ahead
of anything we have ever had before, and tbe same is true all through
the Congress. _
--
The movement for safety is constantly gaining interest. It is like the
snowball, the farther it rolls7 the greater it grows.
This Electric Railway Section is growing, growing in spite of the fact
that we lost 427 miles out of a mileage of 13,000. The last year has been
one of. the most strenuous years the electric railways ever had to contend
with. The days of reconstruction have started and the electric railway
business is one of the important businesses of this nation. You gentlemen
are the ones who have to reconstruct that whole structure of operation
j 14
Eighth Safety Congress
and the safety work will have to be started all over again in a way, with the knowledge and the experience that we have already as a basis.
I am proud to know that we have such a man as Mr. It. N. Hemming, Superintendent of Traffsportation. Ft. Wayne & Northern Indiana Trac tion Company. Ft. Wayne. Indiana, to take the place as Chairman of this section. Mr. Hemming "will you now accept the Chair?
(Mr. Hemming took the Chair.) Mil. W.m.tz: I move you that this section, at this time, give a rising vote of thanks to Mr. Adams for his services during the past year. (A rising vote of thanks was given Mr. Adams.) CirAiRjux Hemmixg: I thank you. Gentlemen, for this honor you have conferred upon me and if 1 can do half as well as the out-going Chair man I think I shall feel very happy. We have a lot of work ahead of us this year, especially with the nationalizing and standardizing proposition and I am sorry I am not able to give you the names of the committeemen of the various associations who will have to try to get this proposition through. I will have to announce that Committee later. I want all you men to take back home^with you this one thought: If yeur company is not spending enough money. in your opinion, for the prevention of acci dents: if your company^ feels that it is not worth while to get into the National Safety Council, or if you have a neighboring property that has the same attitude, take this thought with you: It is a matter of adver tising in the prevention of accidents and it is a matter of advertising to get business. If yon will spend a lot of money to get special traffic to put money into the treasury, why not spend some money to keep it in there after you get it there? That is the stuff that counts.
Employees' Benefit Association Session
October 3 and 4, 1919.
F. H. ELAM, Chairman American Steel Foundries Company, Chicago, 111.
. FRIDAT MORNING SESSION
HE meeting was called to order at 10:10 A. M. by Mr. F. HC. Elam,
XChairman. Chairman Elam: It is now past the hour for the meeting to convene, and we shall begin in the hopes that the gentlemen who are on the pro gram and who have not indicated their presence will arrive later. We will ask the first of our speakers, Mr. Joseph N. Redfern. to discuss the best form of management of employees' benefit organizations and associa tions.
BEST FORM, OF MANAGEMENT
N.Joseph
Redfern, Superintendent, Relief, Surgical anij Employment
Departments, Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad. Chicago
The best form of management, as I think we all feel, is that which will Insure to the employee the benefits which he or his family expects to derive. We can have that assurance only by the guarantee of an em ployer whose financial position is such that it will make the employee feel that the benefits will unquestionably be paid: and in making that statement in the few words I have to say, possibly I shall touch on some of the subjects to be discussed Jater. although I don't intend to.
Taking the case of the railroad with which I am connected, and, of course, with which I am most familiar, the form of management is this:
The employees elect one-half of the members of what we call the Ad visory Board, which is an executive committee. The railroad company selects the other half, generally officers of the company, and an officer of the company acts as chairman. That gives the company seven represent atives on the committee and six to the employees. Once in a while some one questions the advisability of the company having a majority, but, as a matter of fact, it is very Tare that the full representation of the com pany is present at any meeting of this committee while it is extremely exceptional, on the other hand, that any of the employees' representatives should be absent; so that, practically, the employees have a majority. But it is necessary that the. company have a majority vote to prevent any
575
r> i g
KUjhth Safely Congress
amendment, being made^ without the consent of the company, because oC
the guarantee of the company to pay benefits.
When we established our relief department, in JSSO, we followed the
plan of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The company agreed to pay any
deficit created in any three year period. At the end of the first three
year period we had a deficit of something like $26,000, which the company
charged off to itself and started the first of January, 3S92, with a clean
sheet. Again at the end of the next three years there was another defi
ciency of some $1S.00Q7 which the company again wiped out. Since that
time there has been nq cash deficiency.
We went on and accumulated a considerable cash balance, so large that
it was thought we should do something with it. The question ot increas
ing the benefits was taken up. I put the matter before the Advisory Com
mittee as to whether they would agree to do away with the three year
period and simply have a guarantee to pay benefits. The position of the
employees' representatTves was that they didn't care one way or the other,
all they wanted to know was that if they died their beneficiaries would
get the money, and as long as the benefits were paid, they didn't care
whether there was nxry deficiency or not. The value of a guarantee is
most important.
t---
We all know that the insurance companies are governed by the laws of
the state, so the people that pay premiums or make contributions will be protected. In order Jp secure and to hold a considerable number of em
ployees the most important thing is to have a guarantee that the benefits
will be paid. DuringTthe epidemic of influenza last year--I don't know
what your experiences were--we ran behind some $200,000. Ordinarily
that would be enough, to frighten the average benefit association or fra
ternal insurance organization, but our employees didn't care anything
about it. There was the Burlington Railroad back of them, a big corpo
ration. and they knew the matter of money would be taken care of and that fill `tlie beneflts^rould be paid. Tliere wa.s a guarantee "bade of it, and that is the crux^f the matter. That guarantee on tlie belialf ot the
employee, with the balance of power in tlie hands of the employer for his
financial protection, is what makes all the difference.
VKW CASUS ATMMSAI.KU
A word as to howTSur plan worked out. We have had 3S5.000 cases of disability since we jsJtarted thirty years ago. Under our rules, an em ployee who is not satisfied has the right to appeal to the superintendent of the Relief Department and from him to the Advisory Committee, whose answer is final. A question came up recently as to how many appeals we have had. "We wentr over the records and found that there have been seventy-two appeals in the thirty years that we have been doing business.
In other words, the cases of dissatisfied members have been so rare that only one manrout of fifty-three hundred has found it necessary or advisable to appeal jfrom the decision of the superintendent. In saying that. I don't mean Riat every one was satisfied; but the superintendent was able to -convince them that they received all their contract called for.
Xow that brings me to this point: To whom should the superintendent report? Under ouT^ruleS the superintendent reports to the president ot
E)n`plo}jevs> Benefit Association
'o i i
the railroad company, except Tji such matters as are under the control of
the Advisory Committee. J .
The thing is, in making yojTF selection, to get some one who will stand
between the corporation on the one hand and the employees on the other.
There ought not to be any Heal differences- of opinion, because what
inures to the benefit of the employee's welfare must necessarily inure to
the corporation itself.
...
My time is almost up. I ^want to impress these two thoughts upon
your minds. The first is that "the management shall rest jointly between
the corporation and. the employees: and. secondly, that the officers be as
nearly independent as possible so they can act in a fair and impartial
manner in any question that comes up.
-DISCUSSION
Mr. Thomas D. Law (Safety Engineer, Oneida Community. L.td., Oneida.
N. Y.) : I would'like to ask Mr. Redfern a question. What are the bene
fits paid to the members of Tils association, and what are the dues re
ceived from the members?
Mr. :Redfers In the first place, the corporation pays all the expenses
of management and carries CUE the work, so that the employees are re
lieved of all expenses .and details. If there is not enough money to pay
the benefits the company advances what is necessary. The total contribu
tions from employees run fronr 75 cents a month to $2.25 a month, which
covers disability benefits of 50 cents to $2.50. and death benefits of $300
to $6,000. The death insurance rate is $12 per $1,000 per annum. A man
in the lowest class contributes TS cents a month, or $9 a year. Arbitrari
ly we apply 45 cents of that f5r disability and 30 cents for death benefit
of $300.
--
After three years of service, and after one year's membership, an em
ployee who leaves the service for any reason whatsoever is entitled to continue bis death benefit- insurance but not tbe disability. We have in the neighborhood of $1,500,OOICTnsurance which we carry for former em
ployees, and which is continued at the old rate. These men realize the
value of this insurance. ~
Mr. C. T. Dkarbokx (Dennison Manufacturing Company, Framingham. Mass.) : Will you kindly repeat what the benefits are?
Mr. Redferx: The contribution is 75 cents a month for the lowest
class. There are five classes; each class carries with it a death benefit
of $300 and members of each class have the privilege of carrying extra
death benefits. .The first class" has $300 death benefit, and the fifth class
has $1,500 death benefit. The total additional benefits must not exceed
three times the death benefit of their class.
A man in the first class can. take three additional death benefits. They,
cost him 30 cents each. This allows him to carry an additional total
death benefit of $900. Now, that goes on up proportionately, so that the
man in the fifth class could take fifteen additional death benefits, making
a total of twenty death benefits. His rate would be $8.25 a month, hut
of that $2.25 would be for disability protection, and $6 per' month, or $72
per year would be for the death benefits.
f>78
Eighth Safety Congress
The railroad relief work is a different kind of work from that in-.-other
industrial lines. We have In some respects very heavy casualties, anti
our employees are scattered over many thousands of miles of railroad.
The problems in industrial plants differ also. Mr. Cii.U'Max (International Harvester Company. Chicago) : I would
like to ask a question as-to the death benefit feature of your association.
Do you find that when your employees leave the service of your com
pany they continue theiivmembership for death benefit only?
Mr. Reukkrx: In some localities we find that more men are disposed
to keep up their death benefit after leaving the service, than in others;
the only way we can account for it is that in some of the old communi
ties where conditions are more settled, the question of insurance is a
little more pronounced. As a rule, the young people don't care much
about it; it is only those of mature years, and, as a rule, those of ma
ture years don't leave the service. The territory through which the Bur
lington runs is getting to be an older territory, and we don't have the
great change that we used to have twenty-five or thirty years ago.
There isn't, on the part of the rank and file, an inclination to give as
much attention to the matter as there is on the part of the officers. I
don't know whether it is due o the superior intelligence of the officers,
but I think they realize more clearly the cheapness of it. We have today
scattered around among^the different railroads of the United States a
great many of our former^officers and men who hold our insurance. The fact that they keep up their insurance Is the best proof of its stability
and value and cheapness^
Dr. S. Watson- Pox (American Engineering Company, Philadelphia) : I would like to ask you, Mr. Red fern, about the physical examination. Do you make a physical examination of all applicants for insurance
and disability relief, and are there any cases where the man is'not accept
ed at all?
^
Mr. Reijkekn: Doctor, our medical examiners act in a two-fold capac
ity. For many years it has been a rule of the Burlington road, that no
one should he employed, except unskilled labor, who could not pass a
satisfactory physical examination. That same examination covered ad
mission to the relief benefit. Occasionally we accept a man for employ
ment that we do not accept for insurance.. But generally speaking that
examination is the samras a life insurance company requires, or, rather,
serves the same purpose. We do make exceptions. For Instance, a man Is accepted for employ
ment if he has a rupture which is protected by a truss and does not inter
fere In the performance of his duties. We have had people come into
the service with such things, say; as an ankylosed finger, if it did not
interfere with the performance of their duties. In those cases we would
make out a release exempting them from paying the benefit dues.
Dr. Fox; Who pays for that physical examination?
Mr. Redferx: That is part of the expense that is borne by the railroad
company. The employees are not taxed a cent for the examination or
anything of that kind. It is part of the contribution of the railroad
toward carrying the benefit relief work, equivalent to the same contribu
EmployeesBenefit Association
579
tion that the employees make. Take accident insurance, for instance. You will find that from fifty lb sixty per cent goes as expenses of man agement. If the railroad did not contribute all the work, it would double the cost of the insurance. By going outside and buying the same insur ance the men. would have to pay double, and if they didn't want to do that, the benefit would have to be cut in two.
Mr. T. H. Jones (Walworth Manufacturing Company, Kewanee, III.) : Do you pay in full or make allotments to the beneficiaries until the
amount of the benefit is paidjout? Mr. Redfebn: We pay in full. I think it is the best policy. It has
been my experience that most women know how to handle money better than men.
Mb. F. F. Ogden (Hooker Electro Chemical Company, Niagara Falls. N. Y.) : My experience has been that the state, the insurance commis
sioners, or other authorities, Require people doing an insurance business
to put aside a cash balance or reserve. How long must an individual be in your employ before he is able to join?
Mr. Redfebn : The contract" is made between the corporation and the employees. He applies for membership, and on behalf of the railroad I
accept it and issue him a certificate of membership. It makes a con tract enforceable at law, but It Is not an insurance contract, and is subject to no State laws governing insurance. No state has attempted to class
us under the insurance laws. Two or three times the question has come up. I have in mind a case that came up not many years ago. State of Ohio vs. Pennsylvania Railroad Company. It was decided by the Su preme Court of Ohio that it was within the province of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company to make contracts with its employees In the course of its business.
We do not go outside of bar business, and so we make- no reports to any insurance commissioner, to any state body, or to' any one. Several other courts have taken practically the same position that Ohio has taken.
At the time the man Is employed the question of the benefit associa tion is taken up with him. Scattered, as we are; over nearly ten thousand miles of railroad, we have- a provision whereby a man makes a? prelimi nary application.- That protects him against ^.ccident from the time he signs it until he has had an opportunity to be examined by the doctor; so, from the time he signs that paper he is. protected against accident, and from the time he is examined he is protected against both sickness
and accident. It used to be the plan. to keep a man in the service a month or more
before we acted upon his application. But some of the employees who were more or less green would get hurt during the interval.
Mr. Ogden: I believe the speaker misunderstood my reason for asking
that question. I do not care whether it is within the province of the corporations to insure their ^empleyees without state supervision. My reason for asking that is this. The insurance companies must conform to the laws of the state within which they operate. Just because you
are able to pay your men the benefits and reliefs at the present time
Is no indication that your company is going to be in as good a financial
580
Eighth, Safety Congress
condition five years from now. How do you know your company isn't
going to go bankrupt, and your employees who have been contributing
for fifteen or twenty years get nothing, because you are not able to pay.
Now, for these reasons, if you are going to make an. enforceable con
tract you will have to do as any of the insurance companies do. You
will have to put up security, so that in the event of your company be
coming financially embarrassed those employees will not suffer.
Mu. Rkiu-kkn : We have $22,000,000 or $23,000,000 of insurance on our
employees: maybe it isTiearer $25,000,000 now and it would seem absurd
for a corporation with a surplus of nearly $100,000,000 to be obliged to
put tip security. The position of the courts is that should a large corpora
tion like the Burlingtoji go into the hands of the receivers, the relief
and benefit funds woulcL be the first funds to be protected and would be
set aside to cover such, liabilities.
Mr. Joxes: Mr. Redfern. within what time do the benefits begin? `
Mr. Rrdfkrx: The sickness benefit starts after six days, and in case of accident the benefit begins immediately.
Mr. E. F. V-\.iX'u*r (Commonwealth Steel Company, Granite City, 111.) :
I would like to ask in regard to accidents- in your plant; would a man
get anything from the benefit association, covering .j.n accident in your
plant?
--
Mr. RenrKBS: In states which have the workmen's compensation act you
are always required torpay the compensation prescribed. Generally speak
ing, in railroad work, our cases of accidents fall under the federal act
rather than under statelacts. The line is not quite clear between the in
terstate and intrastate; but where a man, working for a steam railroad,
is injured, through an Instrumentality of interstate commerce his case
falls under the federal _jict. In the shops themselves we have both kinds
of cases; but, answering your question directly: In Illinois there is a
state compensation actr the man gets the compensation and >he gets the
relief benefit, if he is a.Inember of the relief benefit association.
Mr. B. L. Om.K (Flint Vehicle Factories Mutual Benefit Association!:
I would like to ask hoityou conduct your investigation in regard to ac
cidents. and also whether or not there is any medical aid given.
Mr. Rei>ricun : Every employing officer is provided with a form to re
port the deaths of members of the relief fund either by sickness or in
jury. One copy of thatjorm goes to our medical examiner and another
goes to the central office. The medical examiner calls upon the disabled
person, makes a report to .our office, and at the end of the month makes up
a claim for benefit. That is certified by the employing officer. When the
disability terminates, lie issues a form certifying to Ills physical con
dition and that he is a to work.
Our men are not allowed to resume work without the certificate of a
doctor, and in that way Tour medical examiners see the men but do not at
tend them, although as a matter of fact our medical examiners do give a
great deal of advice torment ployees: hut if the case is at all serious, the
patient is supposed to have his own family physician.
In the case of an accident, the Relief Department contract provides
for the payment of surgical attention, and that includes not only the
Employees' Benefit Association.
5S1
surgical treatment but also hospital care during the time necessary. In June, 1903, a man fell off a car And his back was broken. He has had to have an attendant, and this has cost the relief fund $30,000. He drew for one year $1.50 a day. He has drawn since then the benefits of 75 cents a day and $125 a month for his care, and he gets a great deal out of life. Occasionally I get a letter from him. When things are going wrong and troubles popping up, all we need Is a letter from this fellow, who never gets out of bed, and it cheers us lip considerably. He is the most cheer ful man I have ever known.
Mit. Jones : I corroborate that-statement of Mr. Redfern. I met that young, man about ten years ago and had a nice visit with him. He has
a very sunny disposition.
=r-
Dn. Fox: Mr. Redfern stated that the medical examiners rendered
medical attention in the cases of accidents, that is, shop accidents, but
not on the road.
.^
Mr, Redfern : The railroad haFa staff of surgeons to attend accident
cases. Some of our medical examiners do a little of the work when they
can. We have four or five hundred, surgeons.
Mr. T. H. Platt (Endicott-Johnson Sick Relief Association, Johnson
City, N. Y.) : I would like to ask Mr. Redfern whether the rate has
been sufficient to meet the requirements of the present time.
Mr. Redfern: Ho, sir: We don't insure any one over forty-five years
old. We had a higher rate for those over forty-five, and that didn't pay.
The rate is not sufficient from an actuarial standpoint.
In the war risk insurance, I saw a list the other day on which I think
the lowest rate of war risk insurance scheduled was for a boy of sixteen.
Chairman Elam: I am sure that this discussion has been very profit
able as indicated by the interest that has been taken. We have been
fortunate in having Mr. Redfern" speak to this section and to lead the
discussion because there is no one who can speak with greater authority
than. he.
-->
Interest in the employees' benefit associations seems to be growing from
year to year and we find that there are many associations that we do not
know about, that is, that the National Safety Council does not know about.
If we can get the names of all of them located in the country and can
collect the experiences and the methods on which they do business, it
will be certainly very helpful in the propagation of the association's
beneficial work.
- --
ARE EjrPI.OYF.RS' CSNTRTBTJTIONS ADVISABLE?
As Dr. Geier is not present, it might be profitable for us to discuss in
formally the fundamental things in connection with Dr. Geier's address
on "Are Employers' Contributions Advisable?" Mr. Redfern could possibly
lead the discussion, and possibly^ be followed by Mr. Chapman. I think
we can get a great deal out of thejsubject. Will you give us your opinion,
Mr. Redfern?
Mr. Redfern: Mr. Chairman, "as I have indicated before, I believe the
employers and employees, as we generally term them, ought to go along
hand In hand.
^
Speaking about the class of men with whom I have come in contact.
582
Eighth Safety Congress
I know of no word more objectionable to the average man than the term "welfare". If a maTcomes in and asks what we are doing'in the welfare line, we tell him we are not doing anything of the kind. It is to the in terest of every company to have its employees contented for the purpose of having them do better work. Money that the employer spends along that line comes back to him many times over, and the money that the employer gives doesn't amount to so much as the spirit and the manner with which it is given. Our experience has been that the best way is for the employer to carry on. the expenses of the plan and not have the employee feel that the officers are spending money at his expense.
:Chairman Elam Mr. Chapman, have you anything to tell us on this subject?
Mb. Chapman: The whole idea is along those lines. The International Harvester Company'made it a part of the rules and regulations that they would make a contribution if seventy-five per cent of the shop employees belonged to the benefit association, and that annually the company would donate 550,000 to the fund, the understanding heing that $50,000 is for expenses only. The benefit association of the Harvester Company has re ceived from the comjany each year for ten- years $50,000, which represents a half million in the benefit fund.
In a personal way^T have had members come into my office and discuss it, and invariably they have touched upon the company's contribution as one of the good things. I think all employers who organize a benefit association for their employees should make a donation to the fund to be used in paying the expenses of that association. Our regulations say that the contributions of the members shall not be used for paying ex penses but shall be paid solely for the benefits.
I agree with Mr. Redfern that the tendency of employees is to get wrong impressions if advances are made to the employees along the line of trying to give them something that they have not earned, and I have seen cases where that has led tff a point where the employees try to see if they can't get a little bit more put of the employer.
M .b Chandler: It the employer can confine his contributions to the administration expense, that is a good plan.
Our organization had ..been running twenty-five years on the basis that
the officers must absolutely keep their hands off. There should be no Pa- * ternalism--absolutely none. But it developed in these twenty-five years that they needed advice from men who had a little more experience. At the end of the twenty-fifth year it was decided that the organization should have the benefit of the experience of such men as had more ex perience in the financial and business world, so the by-laws were revised.
Prior to that timeThe members had been electing shop men--sometimes foremen--to serve ai secretary of the association. The dues were col lected through the payroll, but the secretary was about the only man who was expected fol secure members, and the men busy in the factory had too little opportunity to carry on that part of the work, the result
being that the membership represented a very small percentage of the total number of employees.
It seemed clear that the secretary of the association should be some one
Employees* Benefit Assodation
563
whose duties permitted enough freedom that they might circulate among
the employees, particularly the mew ones, and who, when occasion de
manded, should he able to visit the homes of those who were drawing
benefits.
Isz.
There was in the office a young man especially Qualified to serve as
secretary.. However, he was a salaried man and if the company should
suggest that he be made secretary some doubting Thomas might start a
rumor to. the effect that the company was trying to dominate the associa
tion.
--
"When the revision, of the laws was up we told this man, "Now, Luke,
you are the logical man for this Job, but the men must choose you. You
take an interest in the organization and help them in the work." He
stood out' prominently and when the time came to choose a man to head
the work they said they wished they could have Luke. We all took the
reverse attitude, but he stood out so prominently that he was the choice,
if we had said that we wanted Luke put in there as secretary, the men
might have taken a different attitude toward him. Now they think he
is the greatest thing that ever walked.
We pay the expenses. The employees have no idea how much it costs
us; we don't want them to know, and we don't want them to calculate
how much it costs the Dodge Manufacturing Company.
Chairman Ela m : May I ask how you collect your contributions?
Mr. Chaxblee; That is all done through the pay roll. As an illus
tration, we bought a factory in New York a couple of years ago. , It had
been the practice of. their association, to have the financial secretary col
lect dues from each man. The result was that a lot of them were behind
in their dues from time to time and there was a scrap on all the time. When we took the plant over we suggested that if they were willing, we
would be satisfied to do the deducting of the dues and of course it suits
them all right.
;
Mr. M. R. MURSKALt (National Lamp Works, Nela Park, Cleveland);
May I ask how many employees there are in your organization?
Mr. Chandler: Membership in the organization is voluntary and in cludes about 80 per cent of our employees.
Mr. MARSBALt: We have 'about 3,500 employees out of which 1,000 are
members of the benefit associations. I wonder if that number is large
enough to justify the hiring ot-g. secretary to handle the work. I wonder
if there would be enough work for a secretary to devote all his time to
the interest of the members.
.duties of relief association secretary
Mr. Chandler; In our case, we use our 'Relief Association, as we call it, for a number of activities. If there is something on like the sale of Liberty Bonds or something along that line, the Relief Association han dles it. For instance, we have's Thrift Club. We conceived the idea four or five years ago that the men ought to have some organized incentive for saving money, so we organised the Thrift Club. We .said, "Here is a thing the Relief Association can handle." During the war a lot of such work was done through the Relief Association secretary. On the other hand, the secretary has to do the work of getting new employees to join.
586
_ Eighth Safety Congress
$36,000 in cash, and the company donation the equivalent of $86,000, for twenty-nine thousand members. We operate sixteen plants in the United
States and Canada, :Chairman Ei.am I don't think, there is any question that the contri
butions through services that have been given by the employer are of the greatest aid, and if that aid were withdrawn, many of the associations would have to go out of business, raise their dues, or decrease their benefits.
Mr. Joijx L. Masters ( Pres.. Relief Association, Warren City Tank & Boiler Co., Warren, Ohio) : We have an association that we formed two years ago this months We have about 400 members at the present time. We have a fund now of $18,000. We pay our secretary $120 a year. We have within a very short time secured all of our employees as members
of the association. -- Mr. Chapman: How much do you pay into the benefit, may I ask? Mr. Masters: A dollar a month for thirteen successive months. Death
benefits, $400 for a married man and $225 for a single man. Mb. V. R. Currie (.Houston. Texas) : I would like to know, if, in cases
where the employees' themselves conduct the association, it is due to a lack of confidence that they sometimes fail. That has been our own experi ence. The employees themselves started such an association, but they did not succeed. There seemed to be a lack of confidence in the associa tion. and we later took charge of it. reorganized it, and put it on a 50-50 basis. As manager of the association, I frequently find that there is a lack of trust on the part of some of the members and some of the em ployees that are not interested. X wanted to know whether there has been any similar feeling experienced by you and what you have done to stop it. It is something that should be taken into consideration at this time. Or course, we understand human nature has many foibles, and a great many persons are suspicious of anything, but these associations must be popu lar. They must be like Caeser's wife, above suspicion, and I find it is one of the hardest things to inject into our association a spirit of confi dence that will keep~down the outcroppings of suspicion. A statement like this is frequently made: "I wonder what the company is doing with that money and whefe it goes. Where do we get off in this thing?"
Mr. .Tones: Not only are those people suspicious of the company's offi cers, but they are also suspicious of the officers of the association; even those who are liked by the men themselves are subjected to suspicion. Our company, when I first came with it, was an independent concern. Some of the membersrof the organization made the statement that the offi cers appropriated the funds from the treasury, at that time, notwith standing the fact that we made regular reports. The truth of the matter was that we investedThem in common stock, where they are still standing.
COMPANY CONTK1J1CTKS ENTIRE AMOUNT Of BENEFIT AXU INSURANCE
Chairman Eu.ir: Might I ask if there is any one present representing a concern which contributes the whole amount of the benefit and insur ance, and in which the employees do not contribute any money?
Mr. Chandler: X understand that Sears-Roebuck have been the only corporation doing that.
Employees' Benefit Association
587
Mb. Chapmas: The American Telephone and Telegraph Company does It. I think they have set aside $3,000,000 for the purpose.
Chairman Elam: There seems to be a drift towards this method of handling the matter. There are a good many things drifting in that di rection nowadays, and I suppose the employees' benefit associations -will have to go through the same process. There seems to be a getting away from that old established rule that anything that is worth something to you should cost you something; and it is one of the many things that I expect most of us are studylnglat the present time.
Reference was made to Sears-Roebuck & Company. I don't believe that I shall be violating a confidence in speaking of their experience. They have had an association, run by the company, with which the employees who belonged to it were supposed to be satisfied and which they were
supposed to be joining voluntarily and wishing to keep up. Later on. they found that the members_were not satisfied and the association was discontinued.
SATURDAT MORNING SESSION
HE meeting wa3 called to order at 10:00 a. m. by the Chairman,
X Mr. F. H. Elam.
~
Chairmax Elam: We are going to deviate frpm the regular program
this morning, because one of the gentlemen we expected is absent, and we
are desirous of having the help of Mr. F. S. Crum of the Prudential In
surance Company, in formulating the report of the Committee on Statis
tics. Mr. Crum has an engagement at 11:00 o'clock, and we have decided
to ask him to discuss the subject of statistics at this time.
I will read the report of the Committee on Statistics. This is simply
a. tentative report, and was compiled by yotiir Committee witii the thought
that it would be a foundation upon which to build up and reconstruct
a new statistical chart.
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON STATISTICS
Employees' benefit associations seem to be growing in interest all over the country, and those who are at the head of, or conducting, such asso ciations are asking for information regarding the different plans. Now, we find that the association idea could be greatly advanced by a more uniform method of collecting statistics, and by giving these inquirers the
information they want, we could help the association cause .in many wavs. We are seeking to decide on some form of record that will be use ful and that can -be kept by ordinary associations. It is suggested that ruch a record should include the following data:
STATISTICAL. BATA RKI-VTIVE TO EMPLOYEES' BENEFIT ASSOCIATIONS
1: Records to be kept on basis of ages of members 2. Age of members to be indicated as of nearest birthday 3. Record of sex' 4. Record of nationality
5SS
Eif/hth Safety Congress
5. Record of outside insurance other than E. B. A. carried by member G. Record of insurance other than E. B. A. carried by deceased members,
as shown by information on claim papers 7. Records of sickness disability and accident disability to be kept sepa
rate
--
S. Record of number of days sickness disability one to seven days, per
year
--
..
9. Record of number of days sickness disability beyond seven days, per
year
__
10. Record of number of days accident disability one to seven days, per
year
--
11. Record of number of days accident disability beyond seven days, per
year
--
12. Record number of days sickness per member, per year
13. Record numberTSf days accident per member, per year
11. Percentage of disabled members receiving benefits to total member
ship, per year ___ 15. Record of sickness and accident experience by ages, per year 16. Record of sickness and accident experience by nationality, per year 17. Number of cases and days duration of each disease causing disability
IS. Number of deaths caused by each disease
Ciuiem.u- Er..\M :__Now 1 am going to ask MV. Crum to lead the discus
sion in regard to wjhat this report and this tabulation should consist of,
and -why. Mr. Crum is Assistant Statistician of the Prudential Life In surance Company,"and knows more about tbe subject than most of us.
Mr. P. S. Cui'M.Uhe Prudential Insurance Company of America, New
ark, N. J-): This, as I look at it. is one of the really big things in this
conference. They=say safety education leads: prevention of accidents is
second, and you are not -worse than third.
As we look at it. we are interested in sickness experience and accident
experience not merely from the standpoint of insurance, but also from the
standpoint of public health. We have been attempting for a quarter of
a century to get this information from every possible source, from both
the living and the dead. We have even gone so far as to go into ceme
teries. and get vital statistics in such sections of the country as have no
registration.
~~
Nine-tentlis of (he work of our department is for public purposes,
ami if I do say it. Che information is used more by outside organizations
and individuals than by our own company, though our company does make
considerable use oOhem. that is. these statistics and figures.
Now, as I look vit it, this particular experience of employees* benefit
associations givealSources of valuable information, which, when compiled,
will give us the best, most accurate, and most complete sickness experi
ence anywhere itdliis country. We should study all sorts of classifica
tions. but the important thing is to have your blank form for reporting
individual accidents as "complete as possible. After that is done you then
have your mine of 'Information, which can be used either by yourself or
outside sources, which possibly have better machinery for tabulating the
Emploffcrs' Henefit Association
580
facts than you have. For it is the mechanical method that puts this in formation into shape to be -Used.
You have there a mine of-information which will also be a good guide if your fundamental blank is correct and perfect.
Now, as I take it. this outline which -Mr. Elam has just read is a blankform and tabulations from Such form, but I want to insist again to have the blank complete so that 3'ou will have it right. On your original put the classifications, and they will have no limit if your blank is what it ought to be. Now to theiblank form you should carry the essentials. You won't need any blank for the age. You should have the "sex" first, because it is the logical fifSJ" classification: but the sex should always be
recorded with age. and the age on your blank form should be the exact age. You can group your-age classification any way you want to after that. The member's age should be given as the year nearest his birth day; that is, if he is twenty^one years and four months, his age would be given as twenty-one years. The record of nationality would include the race or color as well as nationality. It is important to have the race. That is the fundamental classification of personal injury and sickness.
I think the items covering insurance are sufficient to begin with. The records of sickness disability and accident disability should, of course, be kept separate. Now, on your original blank form you would have the exact number of disabilities^ If you have that on your original blank you can tabulate with greater detail. If at all possible, for your own purposes, and to get a really large=Experience, either for industry or state, it is trebly important to know what percentage of the total disability cases is under one day. two days, and so on. Then your classifications beyond that should be considerably more.
There should be a classification in your tabulation of sickness disability running into the second week, third, and so on up to the fourth, and then one month, three months__seven and nine months to a year to eighteen months. You should be able to divide your blank for disability in much more detail, and if yon have the exact information on every blank forni, that can easily be done. The same holds true for accident items under No. 10. That would take carre of items No. 11, No. 12, and No. 13.
The ratio of disabled members receiving benefits would be stated not as a percentage (i. e., per 10017 but rather in figures per 3,000.
Under No. 16 you should again have race or color as well as nationality. No. 17 is taken care of by the criticism above. The number of deaths by each disease should not~be left out. Your regular blank form should indicate the number of deaths. It would be very interesting, also, to have the number of days given^froni the time the illness starts', or at least from the time of the discovery of the illness, to the time of death. .et me .explain why that is important. The Interstate Commerce Commission uses a method, and I think Tt is a very poor one. In railroad accidents, if the insured person lives thirteen hours and dies, it is still tabulated as
death from disease. For^fllustration: A man is run over by a train and loses both legs, and lives longer than twelve hours and dies.
That is an illustration'of the importance' of keeping information in that way. You know the date-gf injury; and, also in "the reports of sick-
590
Eighth Safety Congress
ness it would be a simple matter to put on each report the period between
the date on which the illness began and the date of death.
These are all important points. Another thing I want to mention that is
extremely important is that the members of these organizations should
get together and standardize their original blank report card, or sheet, or
whatever it is they use. - It is extremely important to use the same items.
It Is extremely important for these reasons: Very frequently, and more
now than ever before, those seeking this information will want to com
bine. Secondly, the signal subject before the country today is the subject
of health insurance. ItTwould be extremely valuable to know just what
exactly the facts are, and you people will have the finest experience in the
country to offer if you can get together and make your blank reporting
form uniform and otherwise standardize it.
If you will do that, you will not only make-your own information to
be used for your own purposes, but it will be much more valuable, be
cause you can then compare it; but, as I said before, you will have to
make the body of your blanks uniform.
Chairman Elam: Air. Crum, there will no doubt be some questions that
some of those present would like to ask you.
I understand that one of the things that is' being taken up is the classi
fication of each individual disease. Not infrequently we have one disease
that will run into another. Do you classify them as compound disease,
or disability?
^
CLASSIFICATION' OF DISEASE
Mr. Crit-m: By all means use the dual classificaton. That is now being used by my office, and is being practiced to a considerable extent. You
should have your primary cause, and you should have your secondary
cause. Take the recent influenza epidemic. If we had had that dual clas
sification then, it would have been of tremendous value. It is known as
the Budapest classification, worked out by Dr. Karris of Budapest, and
valuable classifications can be had from the Census Bureau at Washing
ton. They issue a pocket index that will give you such information, and
I am sure that the Census Bureau would be glad to supply you all with a copy of that classification.
Mr. Ciiapmax: That is especially true of cases of bronchitis and also
tuberculosis.
=.=
Chairman- Elam: Are there any questions regarding this statement that Air. Crum has brought to our attention?
Arn. Chandler: I think the question of this dual classification is a very interesting one. and I would like to look into it.
AIr. Crum: You mean the Budapest classification? If you will give me your name and address I will be very glad to send you a copy of it.
Chairacan Elam: Is that what is.known as the International list of
diseases?
=-
AIr. Crum: Yes, it is-a part of it.
Dr. Fox: Will they Tarnish a complete classification? I would also
like to ask regarding the cause of disease. Take a concrete example: Suppose a man be injured, and he loses a lot of blood and afterwards de
velops pneumonia due to that injury and dies from pneumonia. If you
Employees' Benefit Association
591
write out a death certificate with accident as the cause, it will not be
accepted; you are expected to report pneumonia as the cause. If a man
dies from pneumonia caused by the injury, I should think it would he
proper to give pneumonia as the cause. Mh. C*um: I think I can answer that question. The theory is that the
man probably would not have died from pneumonia if it had not been for
is decreased resistance to disease due to the accident, and in some of
those cases you can't possibly say whether the man would have died from
pneumonia if the accident had not taken place; but in the great majority of such cases, the man would not have died if he did not have his resist
ance and vitality reduced. Chairman Ei.am : Yes, the primary cause is the injury.
Mr. Crum : That is generally the present ruling.
Mr. Chapman: Along that line, take the case of a man who dies from
septicemia after his hand has been injured. The classification of it is
listed as septicemia, a disease; contributory catise, injury to hand. That
is the method used:
;=
Mr. Chapman: Have you a card that could be used in a tabulating ma
chine suitable for the purpose?"
Mr. Crum: Our card would not be of any use to you, except as regards deaths. As regards disability from disease, of course, we don't sell sick
ness insurance. The Travelers would have such a card, or any of the
large disability insurance companies. Mr. Chapman: Do you "know whether any of the leading fraternal
orders use them?
"~
Mr. Crum: I don't think they do. Probably the Brotherhood of Locomo
tive Engineers and Firemen is the only organization of that kind using it.
Mr. Chapman: What I meant was a chart that we could use as a guide.
Mr. Crum: Well, you might get that from the Travelers or the Aetna. Chairman Eiam : Has any one else anything to offer on the question how the reporting of statistics might be improved? I want to say that
while this tabulation idea looks formidable, I do not believe that it will have the terrors under actual working conditions that it might seem to
have in theory. For instance, when we specify here a record of the num ber of days of sickness under seven, and those over seven, that is simply an arbitrary division that Has been adopted because of the associations
that have a waiting period of seven days.
If you can get a report of men who lay off for a day and then recover. It may be worth while keeping such records, and more so for periods rang ing from two to six days. "If enough associations keep such records, the
data will have value.
Ms. Jonks: Unless a man is off during the whole waiting period, there are many of us who never know he isn't at work.
Chairman Er_\m : We ^understand this is one of the difficulties that
associations have to contends with, as well as the employment departments
in these plants. The only ^suggestion I can offer is that if such informa
tion of the man's absence does come to band, it will be worth while to
use it. In our association, for instance, every sickness that has been
reported, irrespective of the fact that it doesn't run into the waiting period, is recorded. If you Have a man who is sick three days this month.
i>D'2.
Eighth Safety Congress
and three months later he is sick four or five days and then comes up later with a sick spell, maybe, of ten days, you have a history that would, indicate that his health is tailing and he is not going to be nearly the man next year that he has been in the years that have gone by. It can be readily seen that there are many ways that stich records can be used by your associations. Keeping a record of sicknesses and deaths and the reporting of them is a problem which all employers have to contend with, and it is especially a problem with an employer whose workmen live in widely scattered localities. I know of a factory with employees living over ajfadius of fifty miles, and you can readily see that such a concern is greatly handicapped in attempting to find out why its employees are not at work.
THE SICK COMMITTEE
Mb. Mastuis: Xhis nfatter that you are speaking of is particularly in
teresting to me. We have attempted to keep track of disabled or sick em
ployees. We have cards which we give our employees, and which are returned in case of sickness or disability to the secretary of our associa
tion. who is supposed tcFnotify the employment department, but we found we couldn't depend upon that. So. as soon as a mau reports, or is re
ported to the secretary, a card is at once issued by the secretary to a
member or two or thr members of the Sick Committee. There are
three of them, and they appoint twelve others as an auxiliary sick com
mittee to serve in the different geographical sections of the town, or sur rounding country: that Ts, the factory district is divided into four sec
tions. There is a member of the committee in each section, and the in jured must get in touch with that man.
We have been doing this for nearly a year, and we have found that' it
works better than any other system we have ever tried. Mb. Chaxiu.hk: One thought that comes to me is that while it is some
times possible to hear from a good number of the employees as to why
they are off. the information as to what is the matter with them is rather unreliable. We have been sending our nurses to round up these men and
find out wliy they are off. It is very difficult to get any reliable data on their cases. At the same time, for all those cases we do get data on.
we have a blank and fill it out with the information, provided we know it is correct. There areni great many cases that are not reported. For instance, we would huveirelatively few reported cases of absences, of one.
two. or three days.
--
I make a motion. Mr. Chairman, that the Committee on Statistics be
continued, either with the-present members, or with a different committee which the incoming chairman may select.
Mk. Chapman; 1 would like to offer an amendment to that motion. That the committee that is to be appointed or continued use its best effort* to obtain from health insurance organizations, or leading fraternal order*, or health insurance companies who operate the combined health a4
accident policies, samples of the record cards that are used in rompffjnx;
the statistics on which they base their computations and reports, and that
the committee then get together and draft a suitable form for brwfrt
associations.
==
Employees' Benefit Association
593
Mb. Crum: I want to sayT'Mr. Chairman, I happen to be the chairman
of a sub-committee of accident statistics (public accidents), and we are
doing exactly-that same thing. We are doing it in every city where we
can get it over, and that is exactly what you want to do. We have got a stiff job and we are going to take care of it.
While I am about it. I will say t-hat the waiting period ought to go on
every blank.
^
Mk. Odi.e: Will we have to wait until the convention next year, before' we get the report of this committee? It seems to me that if it is of so
much importance, that after the Statistical Committee has acted, it might be possible for the national^ office to print such forms and send them to the different members. Whether that is a possibility or not, I don't
know,'but it seems to me that the Statistical Committee should so Inquire;
Mr. CitAxnr.KK: Mr. Chairman, if this body here this morning would be
willing to give that committee power to act, it could make up such a
form and have it issued tactile members through the Bulletin of the
National Safety Council.
Cu.hu.max Euii: The amended motion has been moved and seconded:
are you ready for the question? We will then take a vote on the amended
motion and resolution combined, as you have heard it. (The above amended motion and resolution were unanimously ac
cepted.)
"
Chairman Elaai: I think that closes the subject. The next subject
that comes up is that of Benefits to Ex-Employees, the discussion to be led
by Mr. W. T-. Chandler.
I
BEXKF1TS TO EX-EMPLOYEES
W. I,,. Ou--Nui.uk. Assistant Secretary and Treasurer.
Doimje MAXiruTruixn Company. Misiiawaica. Ini).
In a research including six hundred associations we only found two cases where the associations became insolvent to the extent that they had to disband or quit doing business, and it was very interesting to know why that happened, m one-case it was very clear that it was the fault of the corporation. It had lost all interest in the association, and it grad ually petered down due to the fact that no one was trying to get members.
The other case was where one-tliird of the members were not em ployed In the corporation: they were ex-employees, but that one-third of the membership received two-thirds of all the benefits paid, and that ex plains why it became insolvent. A number of corporations have large benefit associations which permit ex-employees to maintain dea'th benefits, tn fact, most of those which do retain ex-employees as members are per:mining the carrying of death benefits only: but here is the thing that
seems to me to be alarming^ Statistics of benefit associations show that 6.7 per 1,000 is the average
death rate of about 250.0CBI7 members, which is a pretty fair basis for figuring your benefits, while I understand the death rate of the country is about double that. That shows that the death rates in the memberships of the benefit associations is only half of the normal death rate Of the country.
594
Eighth Safety Congress
Benefit associations, - therefore, profit from the fact that their members cease to be employees prior to the time of their death, because ceasing; to be employees means ceasing to be members of the benefit associations.
Therefore, those death losses are not assumed by the associations.
It would be very desirable to continue those death benefits; that is humanitarian. I am not arguing that I believe in abandoning these benefits, because I don't. But it is a fact, nevertheless, that those asso ciations that permit the carrying of the death benefits after the employee leaves their service are approaching insolvency.
We must look that fact squarely in the face, and first find out whether
or not those employees should be allowed to retain their benefits. Then if they are. how can they be carried without endangering the solvency of
the association? I think the members of any association, if the matter
was put to them properly, could be brought to see that the cost of carry
ing those benefits muff be made up in the dues paid by those ex em
ployees.
_
It has been stated many times that employees' benefit associations need
very little reserve because of the fact that the employees cease to be employees prior to the time of their death in such a large number of cases. But if we are going to change our rules to include those members, who become ex-employees?- Then we will approach very closely, if not
entirely, to the death rates of the country, and we get into the same line of business that life insurance companies are in, and we must have the same reserves, we must have ample reserves.
In other words, if you must be great enough to carry the losses which are going to come later on, you must provide for them. We are now. in some wavs, like the- fraternal orders. They have been working along those lines in former years, and many of them are working along these lines now; but they have found that their rates must be ample enough to take care of the losses caused by the deaths of the old members, and
large enough to give them a reserve for this purpose.
In leading this discussion. I realize that my function is merely to start the ball rolling, and I tope that before we leave the subject, we may be able to arrive at some flefinite conclusion, so we may know how best to
prevent the insolvency of associations that want to carry on the humani
tarian work of taking dare of the employee who has been with the con
cern for years. We wish to grant those employees really what they ought
to get.
_--
Mu. H. A. TiiumpsiS' (Union Switch & Signal Company. Swissvale. Pa.) : The Westinghouse Air Brake Company had been running our plant
for some years before we bought it. They were running the benefit asso
ciation for two years previous to the time that we took it over. They increased the benefit, ^didn't increase the dues, and they went under. Before we took hold of it. they raised the dues, aud I think there was something like ?4S4.QQLjn the treasury. The company thought the old
men who had been paying for some years should be permitted to carry
their benefits.
--
Cixajrmax Bum: Then you feel that the contributions made by these
old members are goingOEb pay for the increased death benefit liabilities?
Employees* Benefit Association
55)5
Mb. Thompson: By making' them pay a little more, when tlie em
ployees wish to carry it out, on the year's balance. These ex-employees
were permitted to carry their benefits after they left, but the rate was raised a little. I think they were allowed to carry only one class of
benefits.1
Chairman Bum: That is for sickness alone, isn't it? You have no
death benefit.
"
Mr. Thompson: We have a death benefit of $150 for outside members,
and a much larger benefit for the members.
Chairman Elam: Then the old employee, or the superannuated man,
would .come in under it as being carried for a death benefit or a dis
ability. M!r. Chapman, what have you to say?
Mr. Chapman: The proposition of retaining the members leaving the
service of the company and permitting them to carry a membership
thereafter for the death benefit only, held by them during the time they
were active members of the association, is one point which has given the
trustees of our association considerable concern.
Originally, when the committee drafted our regulations, which were
put in force in September, J1908, regardless of his age or physical con
dition, a man was entitled to a membership without physical examination.
We took them in at the rate of one thousand a day for the first nine
days, and the highest age- was seventy-eight. "WJe took them in with all
kinds of ailments that hadJnot caused disability up to that time.
Very shortly thereafter we had men disabled from different causes, and
we began paying right off the bat. The committee took this view, with
reference to allowing members who left the service to continue their
membership for death benefit only: that, in joining the association, a
good many of the men who were between the ages of twenty-one andi
thirty-five were then probably carrying insurance in various other or ganizations that paid sick and death benefits; that, in joining our associa
tion, which we knew by actual comparison paid more in benefits for the
contributions--(I use the word "contributions" because we don't allude
to premiums or policies or anything of that nature that is used by In
surance companies)--they might give np some membership that they were
then carrying; that they might continue thus for a period of several
years, at the end of which period their membership would automatically
terminate; and, that, thereafter, they may continue their membership for
the death benefit only, if they want to carry it, but not to exceed the death
benefit held by them. Now, that ranges from $400 up to $2,000. That
cost them, when we started out, at the rate of 10 cents per $100 per month; in other words, $12rper $1,000 per annum.
At the end of two years I showed the Board of Trustees whither they
were drifting, 'and that nearly every member of the association drawing
benefits for 52 weeks was afflicted with an incurable disease. We were rap
idly going into the hole, sojye raised the rate. We couldn't do more than
to double it, because of the old-aged man, the man who was sitting around
the house or out in the yard, not able to do anything in the line of work
to increase his income; it 3vouId be a great hardship to him If we in
creased it more than double.
That rate applies irrespective of age or physical condition, so we are
59G
1= Eighth Safety Congress
now carrying a death-benefit-only membership of 800 members with a
liability of over $1,(OT,000.
Now, the other class of employees, members who are shrewd, take
death-benefit-only classification. They are the employees who, for one
cause or another, leave the service of the company to go with some other
concern, for other causes, continue the death benefit. The percentage of
members of this classification who allow their benefits to lapse is con
siderable.
--
We adhere very strictly to the regulations with reference to termina
tion of membership op failure to pay contributions within the time limit.
That is our safeguard in that matter, and at the last meeting of the Board
of Trustees of the association, there was an amendment made to'the
effect that if the contributions -were not paid on the date due, member
ship lapsed and could not be reinstated. To limit further that class of
memberships, we have changed the rule, so that a five-year membership
is essential instead of three.
When we changed it from one year to three years, we immediately re
duced the number of applications. It was cut fifty per cent and now with
the five-year period we are going to decrease it another fifty per cent. It
is only the old-timcrboys who are going -to be eligible to that class of
membership. Our statistics show a great reduction in the liability and
as time goes on it is.going to be diminished still more.
There is one other subject that Mr. Chandler did not dwell upon, and
that Is the payment -Of disability benefits to employees who had left the
service of the company, and who reported disability after they left the
service. In our experience we have had a large number of cases where
the members claim they were disabled thirty to sixty days after member
ship had lapsed, dueJtO- their having left the service either as the result of
sickness or accident. The claim has been made that the man was sick
at the time he quit ^service. We have had no end of trouble in getting
away with those cases. In fact, we have had several suits against the
association, and in one"case we carried it to the Supreme Court of Illinois
and won the decision. That decision is now cited by a great many frater
nal orders which are subject to the same kind of claims. It was a test
case, and at my earnest solicitation our legal department carried the case
up. It cost us somerpcnoney, but that lias saved us a good bit since in
enabling us to maintain our cause against imposition and attempted fraud.
:CitAiiiMAs Ei.am "\Ve will proceed to the next subject. "Selling the
New Employee."
SB LINING" THE NEW EMPLOYEE*
F. MtrrrAr,,E. Chapman. Scperlvte.vdext. Employees'
Benefit Association,
TNTKitNSYioNAr. Harvester Company, Chicago.1
1 want to state, in The first place, that membership in the benefit asso ciation of our company is not compulsory. It is optional with the new employee. He is informed that the employees of the company maintain a benefit association, of which about eighty per cent of the employees of
Employees* Benefit Association
tlie company are members. Our plan is not what is called a class plan. A great many of the benefit associations throughout the country, and es pecially the smaller ones, are operated on the class plan, that is, after payment-of a specified amount of dues, the member is put in a particular class; if he pays a little more, he is put in another class and so on and so forth. The class plan permits of a change of classification as wage or "salary increases^ That is constantly happening, and necessitates changing the classification of the men. If a man's earnings are reduced, he Is reduced to. a lower class unless there is a provision which permits him to retain the- last classification.
The Harvester Company plan is called the per cent plan. The member employed in the factories pays on the basis of his earnings of two thou sand dollars per annum and under. He pays into the association on the basis of wages or salary earned and benefit is figured in the same way. If the man is earning 51,505 a year, he pays on 51,500. If he dies, his benefi ciaries draw 51,500. If Tie becomes disabled and his disability runs for . a period of 52. weeks, he draws $750. He pays for that at the rate of one and a half per cent of his earnings. They do not, under any circumstances, draw benefits on accouHt of accidents which arise out of and in the course of employment, which would bring them under any state work man's compensation law'. "We handle only accidents outside the shop, and those which do not arise out of and in the course of employment. There are many such accidents^ that do not come under the industrial compen sation laws.
We considered, at one time, a change that was suggested by members, through the elected Board of Trustees--that we switch over from the per cent plan to the class plan. When that matter had been up for discussion, we were convinced that the only equitable basis was the per cent plan and for that reason our regulations have never been changed .
Exrr.Aix fut.i.y the aiwawtaoks or mcmbkeshif
Now, to get back to employment and members. Before a new employee is sent to work, he is told what the benefits of the association are, what it costs him, how the money is paid into the association (i. e., it is taken out of his pay by the pay roil department)the amount to be indicated on the pay envelope. He is also fully informed of the amount of the bene fits, the nature of them, the special benefit for the loss of hands and feet, and the death benefits due to sickness or accident. He is asked to join the association. It he is a foreigner, he generally replies, "I don't want it. I belong to the National Polish Alliance." or "I belong to the Modern Woodmen" or--some other organization. We have a list of socalled health organizations. They have no capital, they have no sur pluses they are fly-by-night, so to speak. Then, if be belongs to anything that we do not consider a responsible organization, we ask him how much he gets and what guarantees he has if he becomes disabled, and how much his beneficiaries wotild get. Generally he can't tell you anything about it. Some solicitor called around and gave him a fine story and he signed the application. We tell him, "Here is the Harvester Company, with its mil lions hack of its .benefit association. There is. a signed agreement by
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Eighth Safety Congress
which you are protected-- "We have the money with which to pay the
benefits and there has never been a time when there wasn't ample fund3
for all purposes." If at any time any state insurance commission wishes
to investigate us we have something to show that we are not going
busted.
-
We explain the plan to-the man in detail, if there is time. Sometimes
the employment department is rushed and can't go into details and he is
sent out to his department to be put to work. After he has been there two
or three weeks, if he stays that long in these days of rapid turnover, his
foreman or his time-keeper, or some employee of the company, goes to
him and says, "Well, John, what do you think of joining the benefit asso
ciation? You remember we talked to you about It and at that time you
didn't want to sign up." Sometimes he will say, "I am still of .the same
opinion. I have all I want to carry." That interview is ended, and later
on he is solicited again. Tt is just the old story of finally getting him in
by keeping after him. Now, in a great many instances we are unable to
close with him, and we simply let him go to work. We can't force it on
him. He can't say he had to join or get out. It has been claimed by labor
leaders, as an argument against employers maintaining associations, that
employees were forced to join. This can't b'e said of the Harvester Com
pany.
--
HOW TO GET TORE.MAX TO HELP
There is a spirit of rivalry between departments. The superintendent
calls a foreman and he sayT"Mr. Jones, you have a thousand men in your
foundry and the time cards show that only 60 per cent of them are mem bers. Here is a list of those who are not members. See what you can do."
In that way a canvass is made in each department, and through that
medium the next month the list shows the department has increased its membership. The foremen are kept advised of the progress of the dif ferent departments. If oneTEoreman sees another department getting ahead
of him, he says, "1 am not going to let anybody get ahead of me." In
this way they keep up their membership right along through a spirit of
rivalry.
J-
Also, a good time to get them in is when they get a raise. When a man
gets a raise, an application is handed to him, and he is invited to join.
Physical examination in required for membership in the benefit associa
tion. If the employee has-been in the service for some time before he
indicates a desire to join, he is subject to a re-examination.
Is there anything else, Mr7 Elam, that you would like to have me touch
upon?
-----
Chairman Elam: I don't think of anything at the present time.
Mr. Alrreciit: It seems to me that if the foreigners who belong to the Polish Alliance and such organizations could be gotten to join the benefit
associations, it would be a-great step toward their Americanization, and
that there is great power Behind the benefit associations. The foreigners
should be gotten away from, those foreign organizations if they are going
to be Americanized.
^
Mr. Charmak: I am very glad you mentioned that. The Harvester
Company is doing an Americanization work among its foreign employees.
Employees' Benefit Association
599
As you probably know, tbe Harvester Company has an Industrial Rela tions Department where there is workman's representation in the manage ment, in the conduct of the shop matters and on other things in general. Bach plant has a works council. Where there Is a preponderance of for eign nationality we have started a campaign through the works council and through intelligent foreigners to show these people what it means to
belong to a good organization. We built up a surplus that enabled us to go through the influenza epi
demic. We have had a net loss of $63,000, approximately, but we didn't have to sell a Liberty Bond or any other security to pay oif our obliga
tions. Me. Joses: One of the obstacles we find In getting members among
foreign workmen is the fact that if a member of their organization dies
the rest of the membersWolnntarily donate a dollar, which is the death benefit that they pay. And, of course, where there are several hundred members, they receive a larger benfit than we are able to pay from the dues we can collect from our members. I have had that thrown into my face several times as an. inducement for these members. They retain their membership in tbe foreign organizations.
Mb. Currie: I would like to ask, Mr. Chairman, if they have a time limit or a specified time after which an employee can Join tbe association. I believe it is the experience of all present, as it is with our company, that the turnover is so rapid Jthat the men are continually coming and going.
Mr. Chapman : The only trouble we have is the volume of work that is
required to act on the applications. The turnover of labor makes a big lot of work. There is a short waiting period for membership to become effective. For instance,"Tk man passes the physical examination for mem bership. The plant sends the application in. It generally reaches my office not later than three: days after it is sent, and it is acted on generally the day it is received. IWe make all of our memberships become effective on the first day of the succeeding pay period. There is no way of telling how long the new employee is going to stay. He may be gone before we can'act on his application. We have a system whereby we are Immediate ly notified of the employee leaving the service who has made an applica tion and no action is taken on that. I aim to get that application acted on and the certificate in the hands of the man on the first day of the fol lowing pay period. Defies that answer your question?
Chairman Elam: iff. Chapman, do you ever have a criticism of the
association's rules in regard to this necessary waiting period? Mr. Chapman: Oh, yes, and our answer is that we reserve the right to
examine the application and ascertain If the man was ever a former mem ber of the association, ~
Chairman I^cam:- T.have had quite a number of cases of that kind in our association, and they come along with the plea that In ordinary life, the insurance company makes your policy effective the date of the appli cation and the employes benefit associations should do the same thing. But there is little to that. I am in favor of this waiting period. It gives us a chance to do our advance work in an orderly manner and sometimes gives us a check where, somebody has slipped.
Mr. Chapman: The value of a waiting period lies in the fact that, as
MMI
Eighth Safety Congress
you have slated, a check of" the man's previous record can be made. We find there is a large percentage of tlie employees who leave the service and
ome lark within two or three'months. They have gone somewhere else, and come hack and want either their old job back or one just as good. We have bad cases where tcew employees have made application for meml*?rsbip. taken sick, and died before the day on which their membership
was designated to become'effective, and there has always been the howl
that we are holding out on them, from widows especially. The man goes
home and tells bis wife lie-joined the Harvester Company's benefit associa
tion. and if he dies she will get so much, equivalent to one year's average
wages.
--
We will say the employee made his application on Monday, and he wasn't feeling well but hesdidn't disclose that to the medical examiner.
We don't stick a thermometer down his throat and take his temperature unless there is something about the man's appearance which indicates
everything is not right, then his temperature is taken and he is given a thorough going-over. In ifTOil, we had our first case of that kind and It
resulted in a lawsuit. It was contended that this man became disabled
and his death subsequently-followed. We toLd the dependents that he was not a member and that he hadn't paid any dues. They took the case to court and lost, of course. But to forestall that in- the future, we amended
our application. We haversr book of rules and a copy of it is given to every member when he joInsrThe association. If he can't read English and
can read To]ish, we give hint a copy .translated. If he speaks Polish. Greek. Italian. Lithuanian, nsr German, we give him a copy that he can
read. We print it in nine-foreign languages that are used in our shops
now.
---
There is no argument abdHt it. If he can't understand it we say "Here is an English copy: get sonfSbody who can understand it and have him in terpret it to you."
Mk. Thompson: I agree with Mr. Chapman that to get a man into the relief association the first day on which he is in the employ of the com
pany is a good step. In otff company we feel that the benefits derived
from this association will be a benefit for him. When a man comes in and wants to argue, (but there jjT only one out of about 620 who does that) we first explain the system, and if he doesn't join, we mark his card "non compos mentis" and send him out.
ELECTION OF OFFICERS
The Nominating Connnittepr consisting of Mr. Chandler. Mr. Eaton, and Mr. Chapman, reported the recommendation that Mr. Joseph X. ftedfern be elected as Chairman of the Employees' Benefit Association group, and that he appoint such committees as he may deem necessary to assist him in conducting the work of this group during the coming year.
This report was adopted atnl Mr. Redfern unanimously elected.
Employees' Publications Round-Table Discussion
October 2, 1919
Assistant
Editor,
E- A. WANNER, Chairman
'`.Jeffrey Service," Jeffrey Manufacturing
Columbus, Ohio
Company,
|--'HE meeting was called to order at 1:15 o'clock, Mr. E. A. Wanner, I '-'Assistant Editor, "Jeffrey Service", Jeffrey Manufacturing Company, Columbus, Ohio, presiding. Cjtairmatc Waxxeb: X am sure that this large turnout is gratifying to all of you people who are interested in employees' publications because it shows how important^ these are becoming. I am sure we are going to have so many people who will want to speak today that there will be some disappointment because bur time is so short. After each speaker wer will allow, say, three or four minutes for dis cussion. Please bear in minfl that we have no time to wait, so if you have anything to say, get up immediately and say it. Let this be, if I may call it such, a "pop-corn" meeting. When a speaker sits down, jump up and say what you have to say, because there will be a lot of suggestions presented and a lot of questions asked. "What Benefits Should a Corporation Expect to Derive from an Em ployees' Publication?" ---I liave asked Mr. H. H. Matthieson, Safety Engineer of the Crown Willamette Paper Company, Portland. Oregon, to speak a few minutes on this topic, and while be is speaking, if you find any questions you would like to ask in regard to this subject, please be preparing them so that^we can put a lot of pep into the meeting.
WITAT BENEFITS SHOULD A CORPORATION EXPECT TO DERIVE FROM AN EMPLOYEES' PUBLICATION?
H. H. MEattiiiesxxs:, safety Director, Crows Wn.r_Amkttte
Pater Compasy, Portlaso, Oreoox .
There are many types~of house organs and house newspapers published to-day, and while we are talking about house organs, I want to differ-
^ 601
(>02
Eighth Safety Congress
entiate the various types and deal entirely with the house organ, for the
employees. By way of introduction, I might say that some house organs deal with
methods of advertising and selling goods to the public. A second type is published for the stockholders, to keep them in touch with what is
going on. Another is the employees' publication, published for and by and with the employees--for the individual man, for his own beneflt, for
his home, his family, and his children. As I said a moment ago, there are house organs and house organs;
they are of many shapes and forms and varieties. Some show great care and attention and expense in compilation; others do not. Sometimes I think it would be better if some of them were not printed because they
are a waste of good printer's ink, time, and money. However, we are all
striving to reach the individual workman through these papers. What beneflt can we derive from it? Of what benefit is it to the com
pany? Is the employees' publication merely a fad or is it worth while? Before going on to that discussion, permit me to digress a moment
again. One thing to take into account is the amount of money one
wishes to spend upon the house organ. That, determines its character, but no matter what the expense is, give it good printing. Good printing is the cheapest printing there is. Nothing is more distasteful than a paper gotten up in poor form and poorly printed.
Now then, what are the benefits to be derived from these publications? First, one can present In the right way the policies of the company, and
the information that oneL wishes to pass out to the employees. I know
that those of you who heard the speeches yesterday afternoon thought they were very impressive. I enjoyed every word of them, but last night when I went to my room, I read the printed copies of these addresses.
That gave me a chance to study them.
Around the plant employees hear talk of safety work, service and
welfare work--rumors that float about. No one has the inside informa tion about it. The plant paper can put that information* across with authority, and do it authentically.
Second, the plant organ promotes harmony and a clearer understand ing. One can promote rjrarmpny, set forth the policy of the company, and enlighten the employees about problems of management more satis
factorily through this paper than through spoken information, rumors,
or what not.
--
Third, it gets close tortjhe home. I always size up a publication that
I am trying to work oirby counting the number of copies I can find
thrown away after the edition is distributed. I think that Is a good method to ascertain whether the publication is worth anything or not. If you hand your copies out at the gate and then when you ajre through, find half of them on the ground, thrown aside, you have failed in your efforts. But if those publications go home where they should go, where the man can take timeTto read them over and the children can read them over, you are getting in touch with that most vital part of society--
the home. And that develops plant family spirit. I like the idea of a
Employees' Publications
603
plant's talking about the A, B, C family. I like the idea of talking about
our plant family and trying to consider our organization as one big
family with the president or manager at the head, and the rest as mem
bers of that family. Your^plant organ can develop that spirit more than
any other thing.
--
I like to put in at least one article touching upon the minor technical side of the work carried bn in the plant. You will be surprised to learn
how little the families and, in fact, some of the workmen themselves,
know about the great organization to which they belong and what it is
trying to produce.
'---------
In the paper industry r had that brought home to me very clearly not
long ago. I was in our San Francisco office and we were running a series
of publications telling how: paper is. made, from the tree to the finished
product. One of the stenographers said to me, "I never realized before
just how paper was made. I have never been near the mills." There^C '
were a great many other people in our mills who did not know what the
departments other than their own were doing.
The paper is an advantage In an educational way, and I might say
the most important thing it will accomplish for the company is to
develop a "pull together", spirit. I like "pull together" better than "Co-
Operation". I think the latter term is overworked. I remember when I
was a boy I was in a logging camp. Two oxen were hitched to a log.
One of the oxen lay down and wouldn't work. The other was straining
himself in a futile effort trying to pull the log. Finally the driver got the
first ox up, and then the other one, which had been doing the work, lay
down. Wellr it took a great deal of talking and, as is customary in log ging camps, a great deal of strong language to get those two oxen to pull together. The same is true in our industry today. We need more of this
"pull together" spirit, and_ this "pull together" spirit can be developed
through the plant organ, if it is presented in the right way, better than
by any other method.
Chairman WJanner:
~ Now, let's have some direct questions or sug
gestions, but make them snappy.
Mb. Schneider (Goodrich. Rubber Company) : I would like to ask what
the best method of distributing these papers is, because this question
has just recently been brought up. We feel that every employee should
read these publications and they must, therefore, be properly distributed.
Chairman- Wanner: I might speak for a firm of several thousand
men. Possibly" 3,000 of our employees receive the publication. We have *
two gates that the men use in leaving the plant, and we have our mes
senger boys there--three at each gate--to pass out copies to the men as
they leave the plant.
-
We did try at one timeito have them piled up on a box so that the men
could help themselves, bu^ there is one bad feature connected with this
plan: sometimes the men get the papers before the hour for quitting and,
consquently, they are tempted to read them during working hours.
Brown will have his paper and the men in his department will gather
about him to see what the reports are; this tends to break up the dis
6<M
Eighth Safety Congress
cipline in the department We found that in distributing the papers
when the men were leaving the plant, we were following the better plan.
That, of course, will take care only of an organization of a few thousand
men. Where 10,000 men are employed, the question might be somewhat
difficult. Mr. Asiik I General Electric Company, Pittsfield):
ployees. We have been publishing a works bulletin
We have 6.500 for six years.
em We
distribute the paper by first being absolutely sure every month that it
comes out on the first of the month. It is distributed in the different
factories as the men go home, and of more than 400,000 distributed, we have found only twenty-two that have been thrown away.
Chairman Wanner: That is a very good record.
Mr. Rkksk (Firestone ^.Company);
We have approximately 40.000
papers to give out weekly. We have tried two methods. First, we sent
slips to the various departments asking how many papers were wanted. Affer we got this information we sent the required number and obtained a written receipt in return. That plan didn't work. It might have worked if we had not thought of a better one. We found the papers
blowing about the department, so we got a magazine rack similar to those found in a Y. M. C. A. or railroad station, consisting possibly of twenty-five sections. Then the men and women in going out on Friday afternoon take their papers from this rack. I think very few take them
when going into the plants We find that the papers bandied in xbl* way
do reach the homes.
=ez_
Mr. Mkaciiam (Goulds Manufacturing Company):
We print boet
1,200 papers every week and distribute them by giving them to the fore man and making them responsible for the distribution among the men in their departments.
There is one phase of-this benefit that employers may gain that I
want to speak of, and that relates to safety work. I have been very much surprised to see, iny the great number of employees* WrMimioat that come to my desk every month, that comparatively Utile iycn t* devoted to discussion of safety work.
When we started our paper last April, I was told that 1 might have a column in each issue for an article on safety. A column wmrWts t 8SS words. Believe me. I know it makes the safety engineer scratch gravel to fill a column every week! It not only gives your men good,
reliable information on accident prevention in the various departments,
but it is a mighty good thing to develop your safety engineer. Chairman Wanner: Mr: Ashe said he issued the plant organ oca the
first of the month. I think the better, plan is to issue it on the i* Saturday of each month. When the paper' is given out on Saturday, the men., have Saturday afternoon, and Sunday in which to read It over. We have a great many men who work nights, and when we gave It out
in the evening, they woUld read the paper instead of watching the machines.
Mr. Morey (Commonwealth Steel Company) : ter & Gamble Co. sells its_paper.
I have heard that Proc
Employees' Publications
GO")
Mb'. Wingfield (Procter & Gamble Co.)'- We publish a monthly maga
zine consisting of forty-eighty to sixty-four pages, which we sell to the
employees at a nominal price: five cents a copy for the regular issue,
and ten cents for the big issues, such as the Christmas number. These
are sold at the pay line by the office boys and by girls from the different
departments.
:r-
We do this not to make JEhe publication self-sustaining or to make
money, but merely to keep our magazine out of the hand-bill class. It costs a great deal .more than five cents a copy to print this paper. We
charge this nominal price only to make sure that the men will take the papers home and not pave the streets with them. The charge is made because of,its effect in getting the men to appreciate the magazine.
Mr. Perry (Eastman Kodak Company): How many employees has
your firm.
-=
Mr. Wingfield: Three thousand employees. The publication is for
the home plant at Cincinnati, The Ivory town has about eight hundred,
of which two hundred are English-speaking.
Mr. Morey: What percentage of the workmen buys the paper?
Mr. Wingfield: Fifty perl cent buy it at the home plant. The per
centage in the other plants .Is smaller. Chairman Wanni-r: The next topic, "What Can Employees1 Publica
tions Do to Promote Industrial Good Will?" .will he discussed by Mr.
Myron J. Jones; of The Sherwin-Williams Company.
WHAT CAN EMPLOYEES' PUBLICATIONS DO TO PRO MOTE INDUSTRIAL GOOD WILL?
Myron J. Jones, Director of Personnel, Sherwin-Williams Company, Cleveland, Ohio
' My only right to speak on this subject is that the Sherwin-Williams Company, which I have the pleasure of representing here today, has had a house organ for twenty-eight years, and it has, therefore, had a little experience in the value of it,
I am bound to say that the company has made its own progress' by buying the good will of the=public through advertising, as we all know who know what the "Cover the Earth" proposition means, and we figure that if it is worth while to spend $500,000 a year in getting the good will of the public fo'r our goodsdt is worth something to get the good will of the people in the making of gur goods and in the selling of them. In the progress of the company's effort along these lines, I am very glad to say today that from the standpoint of experience we think the "Chameleon", which happens to be the njme of our publication, has been absolutely worth while. The present^managing editor of "Printer's Ink" was the editor of the "Chameleon" up to last November.
I say that the house organ is no better than the people who make it and the stuff that goes intoJt. The stuff has to come from the concern
60<i Eighth Safety Congress
about whom it is published. In other words, if you have nothing to talk
about, you have nothing of interest to the employees.
In the six good points laid down by the previous speaker, K think he
has given the answer to what a publication may do to promote indus trial good will. If it ifloes those things, it promotes industrial good will,
whatever that is.
After all, 1 believe industrial good will must get back to the home. Fol
lowing all the other human interests named, when you have a publica tion that can help sell the proposition of Procter & Gamble, or the Fast-
man Kodak, or Goodrich or Goodyear or Sherwin-Williams, or anything else to the man's family--the mother, sister and younger children--that
is. in my judgment, a criterion of the worth of it.
This gentleman (pointing to the chairman) who edits this paper (hold ing up a copy of "Jeffrey Service") has set the pace for a lot of us.
The "Jeffrey Service"Hs one of the good ones. I say this to you not be
cause the assistant editor is here, but because the editor and manager is a man I have long known and admired, and who started with the Sher win-Williams people but who found something better than paint and varnish to take up his employment.
I am going to tell you the secret of this thing is the fact that it gets
back to the fundamental element, the human interest in the family.
In conclusion, if the corporations of the United States are justified in spending millions of dollars annually in getting the good will of the pub
lic for their products, by the same theory they are justified in spending good money--spending it well through good people, qualified and experi
enced to do it--to gather news, put it out, and thus promote the good will of the employees toward that company, toward its products, toward
its service, toward allTliat makes it worth being in existence at all.
The plant organ is Ho better than the company's program of putting excellent brains into it. I was delighted the other day when a firm from
Rochester came to Cleveland and offered the now munificent salary of
$5,000 for such a person. I hope they got him. There is a fellow here
who looks as if he might fill the job, and he represents the company. Me- Pebbv (Eastman Kodak Company) : "They are still looking.
Mr. Jonks: I happen to be the director of personnel of our company, so I am Interested in employment. I gave them the name of a likely
young man. The Plain Dealer immediately raised his salary and he is
still writing "Labor" in the Plain Dealer, although he didn't write the
article in today's paper. Of all the lopsided propositions that ever came
through, that Is one---the failure to interpret a session on employee rep
resentation.
-=i
Gentlemen, let's make our plant publications for the employees on the
level with the best that can be done. The best is none too good, and I
will say the good is enemy of the best. You have got to have the best, at least the better to prepare your plant organ.
If there are any questions about this publication that you would like to ask. I will be glad to answ-er them. Our editor is here today, but he is
Employees' "Publications
607
not very familiar with the wprk as yet. As I told you, "Printer's Ink"
took our editor, but we are glad he is doing a good job.
Mb. Draper (American Multigraph) : I spent some years in the news
paper business, and I found :that one cardinal principle is: They don't
'want to read it. Since I have gone into the house organ business, it has
been even more impressed on me. On checking up distribution, if your
pay roll clerk addresses a copy to each individual, you find out, first,
what employees do not read the house organ; you have the very fine
criticism in reply to "Why dp you throw these away?"
Chairmak "Wanner: The next speaker is going to give you some in formation that will partly explain a statement just made, viz., that some
house organs do not hold enough interest to get the men to read them.
Now, I think that Mr. Sayler, our next speaker, will tell you what kind
of news to put into your house organ, and will tell you the kind that your
men are willing to read. Mr. Austin C. Sayler of the O. S. Hubbell
Printing Company will speak on' "Wihat Kind of Material Is Needed to
Make the Plant Periodical
Success?" I might add that Mr. Sayler
has had a good bit of experience along this line and he knows whereof
he speaks.
WHAT KIND OF MATERIAL IS NEEDED TO MAKE THE PLANT PERIODICAL A SUCCESS?
Austin C. Sayi.er, The Hopsr of Hubbere. O. S. Hurbem. Company, Cleveland, Ohio
The subject is very broad and it is pretty hard to keep to it because there are so many phases which govern the contents of a trade paper.
The trade paper certainly^ must" contain sincerity and Individuality. Every plant has its individual problems, and every item, every line. In that house organ should apply' directly or nearly so.
It is hard to find, in reading a hundred house organs a month that come across my desk, why a lot are printed. They apparently don't have a policy. Now, without a policy you have no way of gauging whether your house organ is a success or not. The mere fact that you are print ing shop news isn't going fs repay you for the effort and money that you are putting into it. The house organ should have a policy or a reason for being, something that will make the man understand that he is a reason for the success of the organization as a whole.
I have made a list of whatT believe a house organ should contain. Now, it should contain matter that will accomplish the big purpose, as I Bee it, of every real house organ. One of the-purposes, to my mind, is to create loyalty to the company. To create that loyalty you have to give the men reasons why they are working for the best company that there is In existence. You want to tell the men, for instance, about concerts; getting in the community affairs; dances; picnics; baseball games; bowling; music, if you have a band or orchestra; the hospital in the plant, or arrangements at thg near-by hospital; visiting nurse; insurance;
60S
Eighth Safety Congress
benefit association; restaurant; store; a clean place to work; welllighted: nothing in the aisles to stumble over; convenient location of theplant; transportation: steady work and good pay.
Reproduce and expatiate your national advertising if you are doing any. Explain the bigness of the Company. Articles along those lines will automatically create a loyalty to the company.
Another reason for the house organ is to stimulate interest in the work and pride in theL quality of the product. Articles on the following subjects will create this feeling: the quality of the product you manufac ture; suggest prizes f&r bettering them; and then your representatives' sales talks--what thezcustomer wants and expects and what he thinks of our products: tell him why our product is the best; the ultimate use of the product; why used and how used; the-necessities of being per fect; what an imperfect article means to the sales department; show the cost of materials generally, not minutely; what it means if a man spoils a part, the delays, the reorder of material in small quantities to replace It; how delays affect sales; quality talks.
I heard this statement the other day from a man who is an authority. He says "Quality talks will automatically, produce quantity." I believe that is true.
Another reason for~arhouse organ is to foster initiative. Inspirational articles: how a mechanic by an idea made some money: suggest giving remuneration for suggestions about improving the machine, the location of the machine, the method of operation, or the method of handling ma terial.
Another reason is to create a spirit of cooperation between departments. Show how slowing up affects other departments. Show how imperfect parts stop production. Give concrete examples. There is no use talking about what they are doing in other cities. Confine all your articles di rectly to your own problem.
Create a spirit of cooperation between factory and office. Personal stories about executives, if interesting, are good. Have articles on the troubles of your executives because if you show the workmen that the men in the front office have real troubles their own personal, little troubles aren't going to look quite so large. Give articles on the necessi ties of a closer cooperation.
Another reason for a. house organ is to create a friendly spirit among
the employees. Tell ?? the news to all the employees regularly. I don't
believe in Procter and Gamble's scheme of selling unless you bare a hundred per cent distribution. If not, you are going to lose some place. If I can't make the house organ interesting enough for every nan to take it home. I haven't accomplish'ed fifty per cent of what I started out to do. I want every man in the plant to read the house organ. Give produc tion records: department news; new employees: new equipment: men who have been advanced and why; small group snapshots: stories of em ployees: illness: vacations among hour help, not the office (the man fn the factory would say, ""He gets paid for it") ; new automobiles; pianos.
Employ ees * Publications
609
vietrolas, etc., in the homes; original verse and cartoons (and, don't let them put something over on you there) ; new homes.
Another reason tor a house organ is to teach Americanization and the benefits of naturalization: short historical sketches; opportunities in this country; advantages under our form^of government; comparisons with other forms of government; short biographies of successful men; serial articles on naturalization. There Is one house organ that ran the best naturalization story I have read. There are very few editors who fun write the kind of article that Jack Patterson of the Hydraulic Pressed Steel Company has written. It is quite a proposition. He had to go through it himself and he knows. If there is anybody who wants good material on naturalization, he should get the series that appeared in the Hydraulic Press. You can't do any better. I believe if you had the space to run a question box on naturalization, it would be a good thing, but be sure of your subject.
Another reason for a shop paper Is to foster desire to save money and own a home. Give examples of what employees have done, preferably tbe lower salaried ones. Show table of what small savings amount to; W. S. S. propaganda; articles about men carrying money in belt, or money hidden at home; being robbed; show the advantages of putting the money in savings hanks.
Another reason for shop papers is to describe safety in the plant and home; being members of the National Safety Council, you will, of course, get good material from this source, but, better still, give con crete examples, if you bave had any accidents in your own plant.
Here is one of the most important reasons: Create desire of the wife to want her husband to work for you and want her son to follow his father. Publish articles on why he should work here; why this Is the best place to work; articles ^descriptive of community affairs; social affairs; about your visiting nurse; about- your insurance (give concrete examples).
I know a company that, when an employee dies, makes a complete In vestigation of what becomes of the money that is derived from his in surance. They tell that in their house organ and it has a good effect on th.e wives and other employees. It is a concrete example.
Some house organs use this and others haven't the space: Home Eco nomics. Our friend-,`the White Automobile Company, make quite, a sec tion of suggestions by wives of employees, none other. Don't take a clipping out of a daily newspaper for a recipe, but If you ha've a real, honest-to-goodness thing that one of the wives did, put it into the house
organ. I read an article the other day of a man criticizing house organs. He
said that he had seen several hundred of them, but that apparently there wasn't a woman in the whole ^outfit who had ever made anything unusual. I believe it is true. I see a great many, and I don't see where a woman has suggested a single thing Jo help the man or other employees In the plant. If you have the room, give them these recipes on cooking, gen eral health notes, care of the children, etc'.
610
__Eighth Safety Congress
Here is another thing: the most interesting thing in the house organ and that which we need to make it an interesting carrier is a Want--For Sale--Exchange column. You would be surprised to learn of the number of things the employee has that he wants to get rid of. That made the success of the New York Evening Telegram. About the time they were slipping,' they started an exchange column and it ran into four pages. That is what the mem like. If they can't get their names in the paper any other way, they will have something for sale.
Another reason is Jo create desire in the man on the outside to work for this com; any. Unow a :house organ that was so effective in this that the day after its first issue was distributed, they had eleven men from other factories apply for jobs. One of them said, "I didn't know before that you had such a hell of a good place to work in." And, at that, this place wasn't so much better to work in, but the house organ made them believe that it was. That is just another reason for a house organ.
Chairman Wanner: Mr. Sayler has crammed a whole lot of things Into his talk, I am sure, and if you remember just half of those, you will have a lot to carry away with you--and don't fdTget what he said about the recipes.
The next topic is JHow to Obtain News Items for a Plant Publica tion." Mr. C. H. Wilson is going to speak on that. Mr. Wilson is the Safety Engineer for the Utah Copper Company. Mr. Wilson has the floor.
HOW TO OBTAJL\T NEWS ITEMS FOE A PLANT PUBLICATION
C. H. Wii.son. Sakkty Excinkkr. Utah. Coitkr Company. Sai.t Lake City, Utah
It is not difficult to obtain news items for a plant publication if you can get your company! to devote some kind of prize. The company that I have the honor to represent gives three prizes for each issue, and through that method we have been able to interest practically everyone inside of the plants. We employ 6,000 men at our works, and the prizes consist of $10 for the first prize, $5 for the second, and a safety first honor but ton for the . third.
We have made it a point not to issue our safety first honor button in discriminately. Everyone who obtained one of these buttons had to win it. We have eighty-two in circulation at the present time, and each one of those eighty-two men who are wearing those buttons has either con tributed an article toJhe plant periodical or has rendered some valuable service to promote safety by offering a safety suggestion or by preventing some one from getting hurt.
Now, the method of obtaining the news items: if you can get your plant management to set aside an appropriation of that kind. 1 should say it is quite easy. We will assume that the men in charge of your management, if they have attempted to issue a publication, must have a
Employees' Publications
(511
large enough _ force to make yopr magazine worth while, and that yoxi have a number of departments.^ At our works we have selected in each department a representative who has been solicited by the editor and by the general superintendent of the plant to collect news for hi3 de partment and send it in to the editqr. So far we have had very good success with that campaign. We are attempting at the present time to go a little farther. We are trying to raise the prize from $10 to $25 and make the second prize $15 and^the third $10 instead of the safety first button.
Our plant periodical may not cover the same things that you men all have in mind. Our publication is strictly a safety periodical, and the matter that goes into our publication is controlled by the Safety Depart ment. There are no others that pass censorship.
I have found that the only satisfactory way to collect news (and we have tried a great many different methods) is to call upon some par ticular man in each departmentrand to get the general superintendent or your general manager to follow that request up with a personal appeal of his own. We have tried to make it plain to the men that the periodical is theirs. It is the employees' magazine. The company pays for it. What
gees into that periodical is strictly up to the employees.
Adjournment.
t
Health Service Section
October 3 and 4, 1919
.Medical
Dr. CHARLES A. LAUFFER, Chairman Director, Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing
East Pittsburgh, Pa.
Company,
F. H. ELAM, Vice-Chairman American Steel Foundries, Chicago
Dr. C. D- SELBY, Secretary Formerly, Consulting Hygienist, U. S. Public Health Service.
Washington, D. C.
FRIDAY MORNING SESSION
HAIRMAN LAUFFER: The deliberations of the Health Service Sec
C tion will proceed according to program.
Your Chairman has been
invited by the home office of the National Safety Council to prepare a
paper, which will constitute the report of the Chairman. The Secretary
having no report to make, and_there being no committees to report, wo
will proceed to items of new business. Attention has' been called to the fact that in the safety lessons pre
pared for public schools by Dr^ Payne of St. Louis, where resuscitation
is referred to. the discarded method is recommended. The Prone Pressure
method has been quite universally adopted; it is approved and used by the
National Electric Light Association, the Bureau of Mines, Safety and San itary Commissions of industries employing upwards of five million men;
the Arnfy, the Navy, the Life-Guards, the Red Cross, the Y. M. C. A.,"the
Boy Scouts--all are swinging around to the practically unanimous ac
ceptance of the Prone Pressure method. (Motion was made, seconded, and unanimously carried, recommending
that the Prone Pressure method be described in the text-books prepared
for schools.) The names of those appointed on the Nominating Committee are: Dr.
H. L. Davis. Chairman. Dr. E. R. Hayhurst. Dr. C. E. Ford. These three
gentlemen will please get together and deliberate on the matter and re
port to the section at W tomorrow morning.
613'
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_ FFiyhfh Safety Congress
Seckktaky Sici.itv: =We will now proceed to the scientific program of the morning. I have the very great honor of introducing the first speak er, who is our ChairBian. Dr. C. A. Lauffer will speak upon "Industrial Health Hazards.'- ~
INDUSTRIAL HEALTH HAZARDS
Dk. Ciiaki.es A. LacTkkk. Mum cal. Director, Relikf Depakt.mext. West, iA'c.iiotrSK Ei.kctkic aNI> ManrKArmtixg Company, East Pittsiutuoii, Pa.
The human dynamo generates a fixed quota of energy. If speeded up, it
stands a determinable overload with immunity: if given rest periods, kept in repair, and properly sustained, the human dynamo will last three score
years and ten, probably longer. The overloaded dynamo develops heat,
in consequence of which wear and tear is greatly accelerated; if temper
ature readings showzthat the dynamo heats up too much. an. early break down can be definitely predicted. The same applies to the human dynamo
in which physical detects and psychic maladjustments, as well as speeding up, overloading, and shortened rest periods, develop "heat," known as
fatigue.
=
Modern industrial developments, collecting vast multitudes*of men and
women in industrial establishments, bring to the forefront the problem of
health hazards. The^vast exodus from rural to urban life, during the past
generation, forcing into indoor occupation, individuals whose ancestors for
generations lived out of doors, has further emphasized the problem of
health hazards. A study of these problems is vital to the employee; health, long life, and
happiness are Involved. It is fundamental to the employer; increased production: diminished labor turnover; contented ranks of healthy, happy,
veteran employees--all tending to increased profits. The employee asks for himself, and his sons: Is it a sate industry in
which to seek employment? Is there any special liability of incurring a trade" disease? Or of suffering early impairment in health? In short,
what are the health Jjazards of this and that industry?
INDUSTRIAL IIEAI.TII HAZARDS OF EMPLOYEES
I. The industrial health hazards of the employees may be grouped as
arising from:--
=--
1. Poisons, dusts, fumes, gases.
2. Heat, humidity, ventilation.
3. Lighting.
^
4. Crowding.
"i=.
5. Eire peril.
__
6. Association with diseased employees.
The Harvard Chartrgives a readily accessible grouping of the industrial
poisons; a consideration of all of them would be out of place in this con
nection. Lead, arsenic, and mercury cause definite toxic effects, when
absorbed by workers in these m.etals. The most used poison is lead. Not
every employee who" handles a paint brush, however, gets lead colic; some
Health Service Section
615
paints are innocent of lead, yet employees, who have never touched lead, will bring- In diagnoses of "lead poisoning." merely because an attending physician knows they are painters. Lead storage in the tissues may ensue when lead is carelessly handled, yet lead poisoning is practically unknown in large plants handljng hundreds of tons of lead every year. The extent of industrial lead poisoning, we know, is much less than some reports would have us believe. ^Employees who cannot be tatight to wash their hands before eating, and who never clean their finger nails, nor care for their teeth, are particularly liable to lead poisoning. Lead cannot be eaten with immunity, within or without the industries, but with indi vidual cooperation, plus careful industrial supervision, the lead hazard can be mitigated. Precautions jn handling lead reduce, almost remove, the health hazard from this source. Individuals who have once developed toxic lead symptoms should be given other employment, as the poison is accumulative, and is never entirely eliminated, hence relapses readily occur, making permanent transfers to other lines of work necessary.
Persons having a tendency to= eczema, or furunculosis, may develop a skin rash from the solvents employed .in removing varnish, shellac, and various insulation dope. Cutting oils, recovered by centrifuge methods,
provoke skin infections; forced filtration through successive layers ot
filter paper removes minute metallic spicules, and filters out bacterial
flora, that affect the skin. Cutting compounds are often culture media for
pathogenic bacteria, and may require sterilization,--by heat, chemical, and filtration methods. Minute burns from flying hot chips; abrasions by metallic spicules in dirty cotton waste,--used in rubbing bands and arms-- rough, scrub-brushes or caustic soaps, may provoke such dermatitis. Every industry has its own problem, or succession of problems, in this line. Persons manifesting suclT susceptibility should be transferred to other lines of work; some individuals can work in chemicals for months without developing trade dermatoses, while others develop such trouble quickly. When 150 employees are subjected to the Identical exposure, and only three develop industrial dermatoses, the factor of personal suscep tibility is suggested. Attention to the toilet--thorough, careful cleansing of the skin--tends to reduce industrial dermatoses..
Dusts and fumes are drawn out of their source, in the well-equipped modern factory, so that the factory atmosphere is, or can be made, rela tively clean. There is justifiable grounds for pride, where a wholesome factory atmosphere is maintained. The competition between factories, to make working conditions the best possible, has not yet been over-worked, and can be promoted to the mutual advantage of both employee and employer. It is. up to the initiative of employers, cooperating with architects, ventilating, heating and lighting engineers, and employees' committees, to make working conditions safe from the health standpoint.
Pulmonary tuberculosis should be mentioned, in its relation to dust and fumes. Dusts in themselves are not infectious. Dusty air is not salu brious, but with the dust evil minimized, as in modern, industries, there are few occupations that can be condemned as unfit for healthy men.
We are told that guinea Pigs, kept in cement mills, develop no calcicosis, and employees seldom do. While the controversy over cement
filfi Eighth Safety Congress
dust still rages, its^ dangers are less excessive than some have imagined. The dust menace inT~other trades is, in comparison, relatively negligible. Coal miners develop more or less anthracosis; iron workers may develop siderosis. Marble--cutters formerly developed calcicosis, which health hazard is now much reduced by suction devices for the removal of dust at its source. Ther inhaJation of foreign particles,--such as coal, iron, stone, textile fibres, animal hairs and furs, grain dust,--gives rise to pigmentation of the lungs. This pigmentation in itself is of no conse quence and everybody has it to some extent.
Dusts are mostly filtered' out in the nose; if the dusts reach the bronchial tubes, they are caught in the bronchial cellular cilia, and coughed up, being expectorated with the bronchial secretions. It is con tended that none of the dust reaches the alveoli. Particles that reach the peribronchial lymph-nodes, and the mediastinal lymph-nodes, pene trate through lymph channels from the bronchi.
Pulmonary pigmentation, and lymph-node infiltration, is not dangerous, until tubercle bacfUThave been implanted. Where has this or that victim of pulmonary tuberculosis acquired his disease? There is no definite period of incubatiorr for pulmonary tuberculosis. So much time elapses between the exposure to the tuberculous infection, and the frank incidence of the disease, that the real source of infection may have passed unob served. The tubercular area can be walled off for many years, lying dormant all that time, but finally there may occur a dissemination from the old focus of infection: Some observers go as far as to say that the primary tubercular"Invasion occurs before the fifteenth year, before tissue immunity is established, and that the tubercular manifestations of later' life are but recurrences of the earlier tuberculosis.
A survey of pulmonary tuberculosis in a textile industry, in which dust inhalation was the=alleged cause of the disease, demonstrated that So per cent of the cases investigated showed a tuberculous near relative, or other immediate household source of infection. The remaining 15 per cent had a more remote source of tubercle bacilli infection, not revealed in this casual survey. The modern consensus of opinion has declared organic dust harmless; there is. consequently, no tuberculosis hazard from the textile industries. A study of pulmonary tuberculosis incidence on the basis of occupation, as afforded by the great sanitaria at Cresson. Mount Alto, and Hamburg, Pennsylvania, conclusively demonstrates that no occupation is exempt; the great white plague can be fastened on no single industry, nor group of industries.
The classes of employees that recruit the tuberculosis army are chiefly those that have relapses of old tuberculosis; those with tuberculous wives; those living in houses, infected with tubercle bacilli; those that have in other ways been exposed to the insidious, slow-acting infection.
Associating at work, or anywhere else, with persons having active pulmonary tuberculosis is a menace to health. Non-tuberculous employees should be spared the hazard incident to working near employees, who are coughing and spitting, in the active stages of pulmonary tuberculosis. Health service measures within the industries prevent their employment, and endeavo'r to isolate employees suffering from active pulmonary
Health Service Section
617
tuberculosis and other communicable diseases. As no such supervision is
exerted over the home life, street cars, theatres, etc., it follows, that the
factory enviroment is relatively free from the peril of tuberculosis, and other communicable diseases.
Tuberculous individuals often gravitate to industries where the Jobs
are light, and the work within their ability. In the quiescent stage of their diseases, these men should be employed. Moreover, many employees
work indoors that should work outdoors. The high incident of pulmonary
tuberculosis attributed to certain industries requires appreciative con
sideration, as an industry Is scarcely responsible for an Injudicious choice
of occupation on the part of an employee, suffering from, or predisposed
to. pulmonary tuberculosis.
------
Tuberculosis is a house disease; indoor life is largely responsible. It
cannot be fairly classed as a trade disease. The purely industrial dis
eases are- but a fraction of a per cent of the sum total of industrial morbid
ity; they are but a drop in the bucket. The preventable diseases, nonindustrial in source, loom large in comparison. Teeth and tonsils, "coughs and colds" cause 'a hundred times as much sickness in the general industries as do the industrial poisons.
The segregation and isolation of persons with "colds" is considered
good practice, as "colds" are "catching." "Coughs" and "colds," more over, are communicated by crowding together in factories, and suscep
tibility to such infections is heightened by poor ventilation, drafts, over heating, neglect of humidity control. These problems of- engineering, successfully solved, make the factory atmosphere safe, and minister to
the health and comfort of all parties concerned.
INDUSTRIAL. HEALTH HAZARDS OF EMPLOYERS
II. The industrial health hazards of the employers may be grouped as: 1. Decreased production; machines lie idle; sicks employees' are Irregu
lar, discouraged, lack."pep." 2. Excessive labor turnover, due to ill health, unfitness for jobs as
signed, -prevalence of epidejnic and infectious diseases. ` 3. Increased accident compensation expenditures, due to sickness mas
querading as injuries. Cases arise daily, where conditions are pathological, but trauma is alleged; or in which a minor trauma has provoked a prolonged period of disability or an unusual degree of permanent Impairment follows injuries, not in consequence of the gravity of the injury, but owing to intercurrent disease, or the previously impaired vitality of the traumatized Individual.
The government employs only healthy men for the fighting line, whose ability to recover from wounds is. 100 per cent plus. The industries necessarily employ many aged and feeble men, suffering from latent dis eases and infirmities, having ^enfeebled powers of resistance, and incur ring delayed recoveries, when injured. The industries are consequently entitled to sympathetic consideration, in the vast economic problem evoked by Injury plus sickness. A term of disability may start as an industrial accident, the trauma being admitted, yet the period of dis
(51
~ Kujhth Safety Congress
ability is prolonged indefinitely by complicating sickness, due to latent disease, activated by the trauma, or Is prolonged by sickness arising from, other causes, or from preexisting diseases, unrelated to the trauma sus tained. Fully "fifty-seven varieties" of sickness are presented as industrial accidents in enterings compensation claims. Among these may be men tioned tuberculosis; syphilis--in various disguises; rheumatism--teeth, tonsils, gonorrhoea.--reach contributing their quota. These latent diseases, and others, are readily activated by trauma.
UKMKIIIKS .SniCESTEK
III. Since these health hazards face the Industrial manager, what can be done about it? How can they be avoided? Measures to this end are: --
1. Industrial Health. Clinics, group diagnoses; health service measures; repairing defects; reclaiming those disabled by diseases, as well as those crippled, and fitting them into selected positions in the indus tries: health education.
2. Legalized releases for defects that cause abnormally long periods of accident disability. Hernia, varicocele, varicose veins, healed tubercular foci In joints, lungs, efc., valvular heart defects, eye
defects, amputations, etc., should be charted, and an employer not made financially responsible for defects and diseases arising from causes unrelated to the employment, nor for aggravations of the
same. 3. Obligatory Post mortems. When the cause of death is in dispute,
the report of the post mortem should terminate the controversy. So many deaths, occurring from pathological causes, but reported as arising from accidental injuries, received in the course of employ ment, make post mortenis essential, if justice is to be done all
parties. 4. Federal Health JUiarts. Transient employees lose a day. undergoing
the physical examination that precedes their employment. A Federal
health chart, renewed annually, valid everywhere, would be invalu
able for the transient worker, as well as for the continuous worker, who remains loyally by his employer year after year. The onus of the physical examination should be removed from the industries.
Proper placement in industry requires the truth about physical de fects. The truth, concealed, works the greatest health hazard to
the prospective-employee.
An annual health inspection by the staff of a Diagnostic Clinic, for
every citizen between IS and
could be achieved under federal super
vision. The surgeon general's office could establish in every community a Federal "Good Health" station, emphasizing diagnosis, and could recommend such remediable measures as the health maintenance of every citizen of draft age-.requires, both for industrial service, and for war. The early correction of defects is desirable; the early recognition of
incipient diseases leads to successful treatment.
Annual reexaminations would constitute a splendid follow-up system.
Health Service Section
10
to ascertain whether recommendations made as to teeth, tonsils, hernia,
varicocele, etc.; diet, exercise,-etc.: had been followed out.
Nation-wide federal health service, devoting its energies to diagnosis,
would not interfere with existing agencies for the treatment of medical
and surgical cases, hence would not in any manner antagonize prac
titioners of medicine, existing sanitaria, and hospitals. A federal educa
tional propaganda for good health, however, could rapidly reduce the
percentage of remediable defectives in the nation, by thus recommending,
and so arousing public opinion as to enforce remediable measures in the
incipient stages of defects and disabilities.
Federal health charts, with photos, finger prints, and complete data of
physical findings, would aid employment agents in rapidly placing men
in the industries, so that they would stay placed; health charts would not
debar worthy men from the industries, but would facilitate in so placing
them that their defects, and ^morbid tendencies, would militate least
against them.
The proposed health charts could be the means of tabulating the avail
ability of men for military service, hence would serve the exigencies of
war preparedness, when men ofrdraft age are again called out; they would likewise serve the industrial purposes of peace.
The day may be near, or remote, when a United States cabinet officer
presides over a Department ofJHealth; or when the Surgeon General of
the Army Is represented by a personnel as numerous and as widely dis
tributed, as that of the Postmaster General. Federal Health Charts, how
ever, and the Universal Diagnostic Clinic service, which would make such
charts possible, are, however, devoutly to be desired; and until obtained,
physical examination must be conducted within the industries, as at
present, in a fragmentary and incomplete manner,--or extended, if pos
sible; if conducted with the frantic haste that too often has characterized
these examinations in the past, the same indifferent valuation will adhere
to this service as heretofore.
-
IV. Employees encounter health hazards apart from industrial service,
that revert back, affecting then-industrial life. Such health hazards may
be grouped as:
1. Inherited Tendencies: bad or indifferent physical and mental endow
ment.
--
2. Family Problems. Unhappy home life menaces industrial safety
and health. 3. Financial Problems.
Worry over bad investments, high - cost of
living, wife's or children's extravagance, or other matters, may
induce more fatigue thaa the day's work.
4. Social Life. Employee may belong to too many things, and be too
popular, losing too much sleep. An employee's occupation may have
less to do with his health, and his continued industrial efficiency,
than the way he spends his evenings.
5. House Problems. Individual houses are desirable, afford every
family Its own home, in sewered towns with paved streets. Crowded
tenements and boarding houses contribute to health Impairment.
H20 Safety Congress
6. Community H<n1th Tb* acute Infectious diseases encountered in tiie Industrie* of any comatimiiy are a. reflection of the diseases then prevalent in that eontiaanlty. Measles, mumps, typhoid fever, scarlet fever, influenza, grip. "eotds.'' bronchitis, pneumonia, smallpox are encountered. -Isolated cases of these diseases, sometimes endemics, or epidemics, occurring in industrial plants, are traceable to com munity sources of infection.
7. -Vcsrlrcf o/ l*rrt<wl Hirpiene. fat. Xcglecttd t*-rth. The neglect of teeth among industrial workersjs appalling. Putrescent stumps, dental abscesses, pyorrbonat. and incomplete dentures are common; money is spent more cheerfully- for most everything else than for dental prophylaxis and denial repairs. The teeth constitute the first line of defense in conserving the digestion; swallowing food swarming with myriads of bacteria from putrescent teeth causes iSfligesiion. No man would buy a horse that has lost its teeth. "I-ife is digestion"; our strength and .energy come from our food, yet some men are so unreasonable as to attrib ute their^11-health and impaired strength to their work, while neglecting their teeth, thus - denying their bodies the re juvenation that comes from wholesome food, thoroughly masti cated, and, thereby properly prepared for assimilation.
<1>)
Diseased tonsils. Tonsillar infections, both locally and by refered manifestations, cause much loss of time in the indus tries. The alleged injuries, in which there are no visible nor palpable-evidences of trauma, such as alleged sprained back (lumbago), alleged sprains of shoulder, elbow, wrist, ankle, as well as -the several types of arthritis, rheumatism, and neu ritis, have the tonsils as possible portals of entry for tbe infection.
(c).
The venereal peril. All three venereal diseases, in their infectious stages, should bar employees from industry. Stric ture ana other complications cause lost time years after the gonorrhoeal infection has been forgotten. The bone injuries
of old syphilitics, with case reports; syphilitic leg ulcers also masquerading as injuries; gummata and sinuses, presenting long terms of disability, arising from slight injuries; and serious Jesuits in mild eye injuries, if recorded In detail, would attest the excessive liability to injury, and the poor recoveries registered by syphilitic patients in the industries. Wasserman tests, as a routine hospital measure, are in order.
(d.) Physical Jslefects, such "as hernia, eye strain, etc., known exist, yet repair and corrective measures are postponed.
(e). Constipation, woefully neglected. (f). Neglect TOf home sanitation, ventilation, etc. (g). Balanced diet, unobserved. (h). Deficientrsleep.
to
JETealTh- Service Section
621
Most men before thirty "are second-raters, or third-raters; physical
defects exist, and morbid processes are implanted from early life, fre
quently before the industrial age.- Physical examinations In the public
schools are often farcical; many remediable defects are overlooked, those
encountered are merely reported to parents who infrequently act upon
such suggestions. Consequently, the industries receive multitudes of
second-raters, who developinto third-raters, who, had their defects been
corrected early and had their mode of life been more hygenic, could give
a better account of themselves.
An employee spends only: 8 or 9 hours in industrial service; in his
home life, community, and social life, during the other 15 or 16 hours of
the day, he likewise incurs health hazards. The superior lighting, heat
ing, and ventilating systems installed in many modern factories make
these industrial plants moreihygienie from a public health standpoint than
the homes, movie theatres, and churches, many of which are more
crowded and worse ventilated. To be consistent, homes, boarding houses,
hotels, theatres, clubs, etc., in which employees spend more hours than
in the factory, should be scrutinized and inspected as industrial plants
now are, in probing sources of health Impairment, and routes of infection
from communicable diseases.
The industrial sick rate Is augmented by a variety of physical defects,
most of which are remediable, and those that cannot be cured can be'
adequately relieved to enable employees to keep at work, if they so elect.
A man must be reasonably healthy to be an efficient worker. A small
maladjustment, a minor neglect, will sometimes lead to serious complica
tions. An employee with a- toothache, whose attention is thus distracted,
will give more thought to his tooth than to his job. An ingrown toe-nail
is preventable; through neglect or improper treatment, it may cause lost time. Elementary hygiene^ and the proverbial "stitch in time", must be observed, if a man in industry, or out of it, is to maintain bis health and
efficiency.
--
While there are Industrial health hazards, and while the zeal in dis
covering and eliminating them is commendable, the facts remain that the purely industrial diseases are very rare in the general industries; that preventable, non-industrial ailments are the' preponderating cause of
sickness disability and health impairment.
INTERRELATION Sir SICKNESS AND ACCIDENT DISABILITY
The daily contact with Industrial disability, both sickness and' accident, brings one in touch withTEheir intimate interrelation. Septic absorption from such foci as teeth, tonsils, prostate, accessory nasal sinuses, peri bronchial lymph nodes, etc., cause much of the disability improperly labeled as injury; patients like to be told that their occupation does not suit them, that their work disagrees with them, but they may resent it if told that their teeth neecL repair, that their tonsils should he removed, that correcting lenses should be worn for their failing vision, or that arch supports are required. -
This leads to the question of industrial fatigue. If a man works hard enough and long enough be will naturally get tired. Industrial fatigue
622 Eighth Safety Congress
may not be excessive, but the fatigue from other sources, combined with the industrial fatigue, may prove detrimental to an employee. For a man to be fair with himself and with his job, he must ascertain to what extent his job is tiring him out, and to what extent his fatigue arises from emotional causes (as^ domestic affairs, financial cares, worry, etc.) ; from septic absorption (as teeth, tonsils, prostate, etc.); from physical defects (as eye-strain, impaired hearing, flat footedness, hernia, etc.); from latent diseases (as incipient tuberculosis, etc.); from acute infections (as grip, nasal catarrh, bronchitis, etc.): from improper diet: from unhygienic home conditions; from loss of sleep; and from other potent factors that may enter into the equation, in the accurate estimation of his total fatigue.
A worker who is constantly fatigued from any cause, or any combina tion of causes, will lose time now and then from sheer exhaustion. The fatigued worker is more susceptible to infectious diseases, from which he makes a retarded recovery; he becomes more stupid, and because less alert, he more readily meets with accidental injury, frcm which he recovers slowly, since he has impaired vitality, and we have injury plus sickness to deal with.
tiik ixnu.STKiAr. cuyio
There being this JEaterrelation of sickness and accident disability, con stituting the twilight., zone of sickness and injury, it naturally reverts to
the Industrial Clinic to find out the sources of fatigue, to evaluate the
factors that contribute to the fatigue total, and to facilitate the recovery
of the individual, in the manner indicated by the findings of the inquiry.
There arise specialties in industrial practice, when an Industrial Diagnostic Clinic is organized: specialization is needed, employing diver
sified talent and training, such as required on a hospital staff. Beginnings of the Industrial .Diagnostic Clinic are observed at many places: the scope of specialties sow covered are: (1) Operative surgery, clean; (2)
Septic surgery; it is ill-advised to allow the doctor who treats boils, and
infected wounds, to rcare for fresh injuries, or redress clean cases; (3)
Physical diagnosis-especial reference to heart and lungs (4) X-ray
service, developing Jnto an ever larger field: (5) Dental service; (6)
Pathologist, for sputum, urine, blood, Wasserman examinations, tissue
staining, vaccines, etc.: (7) Oculist--injuries and diseases of the eye, and
optical service. In addition to these special lines of medical and surgical
service, the Works Dispensary, as occasion demands, consults with
orthopedic and general surgeons, internists, alienists, neurologists, der
matologists. oculists,!lear, nose, and throat specialists, endeavoring to establish correct diagnoses, and cooperate in every legitimate way with
the best available agencies for speedily restoring the disabled to health
and to industry. Where the plant employs hut few industrial physicians,
group diagnoses, the collective findings Qf a diagnostic clinic, may be
accessible elsewhere.^ The multiplication of such centers, within and-
without the Industrie, in the interest of health conservation, is much to
be desired.
-tFJ
Health Service Section
ii'Z'-i
COiCiftTJfITY HEALTH
The Coordination of industrial and municipal health activities, as in
Akron, Ohio, offers a solution of the problem of controlling epidemic dis
eases. With the community health problems solved, the industries will
be spared the absenteeism from this cause, and the slackened production
incident thereto? The works dispensary can become an out-station of
the City Department of Health, with test tubes for throat cultures, so
that suspicious throats may be swabbed when the patients are sent home,
and no delay be encountered in getting reports on findings to attending
physicians.
--
SOCIAL SERVICE WORK
The.control of industrial health hazards is entirely up to the initiative
of the industrial management Health engineering experts--consulting
physicians--specializing in the reduction of the health hazards are being employed by the industries, inLconjunction with engineers in associated
lines, to reduce these hazards.^ Educational effort from within the industries strives to stimulate the
initiative of employees into foresightedness along health lines. To what
extent the industries can enter into community activities without becom
ing paternalistic is a debated question which we will not discuss. Model
house building enterprises--helping employees acquire their own homes--
building and- loan associations^ banking, stores and restaurants on the
no-profit basis, clubs, social centers, playgrounds, hotels for employees,
industrial and technical schools, apprentice courses with technical school ing, athletics, bands, and glee clubs are among the forms of community
enterprise fostered by many of the larger industries, and which have the
endorsement and approval of employees. The. new spirit abroad recognizes participation in industry as in the
nature of a social service; constructive good-will,--based on mutual con
fidence, and real justice,--alone can operate effectively to solve the prob
lems to which industry gives zeise. In the trinity of production. Capital,
Labor, and the Community must unselfishly coordinate their common func
tions of serving one another. _
There are Health Hazards within the industries, that industrial In
itiative should control; within the communities, that the coordination of
industrial and community health service can control; and within the
scope of the individual, there are health hazards which require his per
sonal initiative to combat successfully. With such coordinated efforts, the human dynamo will generate energy uninterruptedly; the worker, secure
in the enjoyment of a fair share of the rewards of toil, can live to a ripe
and honored old age.
zr DISCUSSION '
Secretary Ski.hy ; This very comprehensive paper is now open for dis
cussion. There are many features which will bear emphasis. I desire to call your attention to the point Dr. LauJfer made in regard to federalized physical examination--the centralization within the Federal Government of the power for the physical examination.
624
Eighth Safety Congress
Dr. JS. R. Hayiiurst (State Dept, of Health, Columbus, Ohio): Fa tigue: I think a distinction, should be made between the term "fatigue"
and what is usually meant, "strain." Fatigue is the person's feeling, the
symptomatic feeling, "tiredness". Objectively, fatigue is shown by inac
curacies in execution and less aptitude to work.
Usually, correctly used, the term should he "strain." Persons can he
severely strained and show no signs or symptoms of fattgne because they
have an emotional factor there that is stimulating theKh to the point of
covering up this show. Interest, in itself, hides "fatbaawe." Tuberculosis in Industry: I don't agree with the speaker at ait in the
relation of work to tuberculosis. His ont>ciat*ie4ts d*> i*e* a^fee With the
vast amount of evidence to the contrary. Is Orewt fhrttafta-. fb H<riwti4 in
particular, studies have been made to shew
te certain Roes of
industries who were not in those itxJttetries prw>wi= t* t&w war. imme
diately ran a high tuberculosis rate. IVapfe- Briar {a fh imv mmat ridol-
ties who did not go into the hndnstrtes AW net m* * ksefc tadtemxiosis
rate.
In our office we have ftorn ineersMww efuenp&mfrnt
! charts show
ing lindings of tuberculosis indwtr^es. Ip brae** wethers (IS
24 years
old) for instance. 72 per cent of the deaths are JowMkW hr iaherculosis. Is that the usual tuberculosis prevalence in myf r team BJheB to twenty-
four years of age?
In the United States Census, figures for if*to. the trtet we have, painters
run twice the tuberculosis that carpenters do.
The National Industrial Conference Beard which has been working on.
and studying the conditions among silk workers, wool workers, and
others, say that takings into consideration that bousing and recreation have an immense influence, there is still something inherent iii the indus try that they cannot find that makes this disease greater in the wool work
ing industry' than other" things outside 'an account for.
Federalized Physical Examination; This has been advocated by the
American Federation of Labor. Samuel Gompers went on record in favor cfsome such scheme In connection with the Public Employment Bureau.
Criticisms have come from industrial managers who fear a man might
be able to get any sort <J a record made for him in a given bureau. Until
the time comes when people are willing to stand behind the Federal Gov
ernment and believe inlts doings and findings, we are going to have to
contend with that piece^of sophistry. We should get these physical exami nations made not as a burden upon industry, but as upon the public--the
Government. Personal Hygiene: Personal hygiene means that people should learn
how to protect their health. It Is much more important than industrial
hygiene. The Public Health Association is creating a section on Personal
Hygiene, beginning this year, with a meeting in New Orleans. "Every
man his own health officer" should be the slogan to further a great deal
of health preservation mid maximum health. Frequency of Industrial Ailments'. Let me say this: Deaths due to in
dustrial sickness are very rare according to statistics I can get together.
Specific occupational diseases are rare, although a great deal more fre-
Health Service Section
623
quent than death. Sicknesses, partly due to industry are numerous. while
health complaint--headaches, coughs, constipation, backaches, etc., in con
nection with industry,--practically everybody has these complaints.
Dr. Alexander Hamh.tos TAraerican Radiator Co.. Buffalo. New York):
I want to ask a question in regard to the physical examination. In view
of what we hear so much about now. the labor wtrest. fe* this* an oppor
tune time for a company that has not had physical examinations to in
troduce them? I would like an explanation <w that.
S3kcrkt.\rv Sf.i.bt : Df. HayhUfxf. win yew Pespeed to t&af. please?
Dr. HATiirm: Weil. Ttswd sn. K vm*
that it is not for
selective purpose, for srrappiSg a lot of fr**u ?f t* ran * that you are
going to place men except .Pwr* (`yfww
rwanonr- * communicable
diseases or epilepsy, etc. i ts*rr rw
b+h>** x m who is blind, if
you can't safely do so: fSwt utw nee awti n-oe; *">*** row cannot use
at all in your plant: but -ess* row n-?! pi-**-**
*bv man that you
possibly can. then yon wHOie? nxvnr w-H-H w
Dr. Hamilton: What de
wv *o oHo<"i**e
witst
varfenee
veins, and hernia.
j=
Dr. Hathost:' T *waM"b"* >#ovC*t diws bees beet* taW
upon these defects.
.
rmAi.x l wy i',
,t t* X * w! > . >-n t
Dr. J. S. KtoSKtR t~ha*n*M*
Retnl, Olympia.
Wash.) : I would like to aafe**)1 ther
*w bwArnw Fo my deportment
1 am brought very closely to rcfjrf >* t t=a S4*bs* autofi ami the employee
element of the state. Therwhats been *o<ct t* S* alt f the laboring groups
throughout this country, a decided nwwPiwa to physical examination of
men for industrial employment. We are rather loath to pash that subject
within our state although we feel the importance of it. and at this time
are endeavoring to promote an educational program within the state to
get the employee element of the state in the frame of mind that they,
themselves, are going to demand it. The mistake has been nflfcle. where physical examination in industry
obtains, of making that examination, to a large extent, for selection and
elimination of `men from industry. That should not be considered for
one moment excepting where the applicant is a person affected with a
communicable disease that will be dangerous to his fellow-employee.
But- there is "the point: Do not examine a man physically for elimina tion. Do not examine a man physically for the purpose of trying to fit
him to a job so much as trying to fit that job to the man. You catch
the distinction, don't yont_ A man to give his best service to his em
ployer must be: happy, if you please, in his work and if that man is not
happy in his work he does jnot give all that is expected of him. An ex
amination that is held forTthat purpose is fraught with good results. The
State of Washington takes this stand on hernia: They give full and
complete medical services to^ their injured workmen without limit of time
and expense. We give every man in the industry in the State of Wash
ington full and complete treatment to the point of his recovery, regardless
of what that period may be. We operate on hernias, on men who are
626 -"Eighth Safety Congress
going into new employment, at state expense, that is, regarding their medical services. We do not operate at state expense regarding time lost. We do not pay that. Our rule is this: Where a man reports hernia, he must prove, in order to obtain time, lost, that his hernia was coincident with his employment at that moment and accompanied by pain. That is very easy for any man. to establish and if he establishes that, then .the State of Washington operates it and pays him time lost during the period of his disability.
Dr. F. E. SCHuiiMKHlT(General Electric Company, West Lynn, Mass.) : In regard to the last speaker's remarks about the objection on the part of employees: We have examined 13,000 employees each year, for a little over four years, and there has never been an objection except in twelve cases. Those twelve cases had good reasons for objecting to being ex amined. The objection to physical examination does not come from the employees, it comes from the agitators.
Dr. A. ML Harvjsy (Crane Company, Chicago) : I quite agree with the last speaker in examining employees for a period of about fifteen years. How about suiting the :fob to the man: Here's the position: It's open to a man and he is selected bv your employment office and he goes through your examination. That man is going to be used on a height and he has epilepsy. How are you" going to suit that job to that man? You've got the one job. Isn't that! the process of elimination? You are going to eliminate that man from that job and you are going to do It rightfully.
Dr. C. M. HarcstekZIDoherty Company. Toledo. Ohio): About five years ago I tried to get our companies to adopt the examination. This paper has gone into the discussion of the merits of physical examination, so I will say a few words. I want to agree with the last speaker. We have been using physical examinations for about three years and the meth od of the examinational think, is important. If you put an examiner to work from eight o'clock in the morning until six o'clock at night, I say the examination records and his work are not satisfactory.
I am chief surgeon for all our industries and I have gone into the ex amination office and examined for three or four hours myself. I say three or four hours is enough.! that kind of work for any physician to do and do it properly. Unless these examinations are made carefully and con ducted properly, they are absolutely useless. We have a superintendent of employment and he has a number of clerks, stenographers, and aids. First of all we try to analyze the man. I don't think you can fit the man to the job nor the job_o the man.
I will give you an illustration. I was selected as chief surgeon for a large interurban station not *"connected with the Doherty organization. The views of the different doctors were asked regarding the merits of the physical examination. T_ have been for many years a strong advocate of the physical examination of the workmen and I think you have to educate the employer first. I think opposition or lack of cooperation often comes from the employers and not from the employees.
I find the greatest objection on the part of our employees is due to the fact that they object to having all of the clothes removed at once. If you take the portion of Ihe body from the chest up and make an examina-
Health Service Section
t>21
tion carefully and then from the waist down afterwards, in other words, do it piece-meal, the objection js not so hard. The unions in our town ob jected to our methods of physical examinations at first because we brought the men in nude, purely to save time. We corrected this objection and as far as I Know, they are now -satisfied.
Dr. C. F. Schkam (FairbahRs-Morse Co.): I think we are swiping the thunder of Dr. Selby for this afternoon. I would like to know if anything has been done by the government towards this examination.
RKSPOXSIIHI.ITY FOR IX1UJSTRIAI. U.I.NKSS
Dr. E. B. Starr (Dept. of.Health. Columbus. Ohio): I am a little dis
appointed in the paper in view of the apparent disposition to shift the responsibility for industrial illness almost entirely on to the circum stances that are extraneous to industrial life. I think most fair-minded men of experience will agree it is impossible to put all responsibility on one side or all on the other. We will agree to this: It is impossible to draw a short line of demarcation between the responses of the influences outside of the industry and those incident to the industry."
Frederick Hoffman has made a very careful study of this question, in several trades, from a statistical standpoint. Dr. Hoffman brings out very clearly, I think unmistakably, the fact that industry, especially cer tain industrial processes, have a marked deleterious effect on the work man. I think It is highly imjgortant that we understand this one point: That industry is already paying a great price for ill health among the employees, whether responsibility for that ill health is to be assigned to the industry or employers or to outside influences.
When it comes to morbidity, we have statistics as to all public health work to show in actual figure the actual facts in the case. However, any medical man who has studied this matter or any other person who has taken this matter up for careful study will recognize this fact: That they are paying a tremendous price for what they are getting. Considering it from a purely selfish standpoint, iiie industrial manufacturers recognize that they are paying a heavy price and they are taking the best means to overcome that condition. That means first, to' determine the status of their employers, and I think the papers that will follow will show clearly the value of that determination on the basis of physical examination. If yon place the matter squarely and fairly before the employees. It is only a matter of time before they will be heartily in favor of physical exami nations and will insist that they be made.
Skcrktary Set.ry: I will now call on Dr. Lauffer to close his-discussion.
I-KDKHA1. IIKAI.TU CHARTS
Dr. LiAUKKKr: With regard to the gentlemen's question covering the Federal health charts. 1 don't think there is any serious move being made by the Federal Government to put through any such arrangement. The idea has been advanced by others, but the thought as I presented it to you. I claim responsibility fo: it is the gist of a paper I wrote about two years ago. and which I read in New York before the Conference Board of Physicians. T am firmly of the opinion that the physical examination of
f>28
.Eighth Safety Congress
employees is a burden to which industry is not equal, particularly in
prosperous times, and during war emergencies, such as we have passed
through, when industrial workers were very migratory, and when every
employer was trying tpay a little higher wages than the other fellow,
in order to steal his workers.
If these men in migrating from one plant to another could pull Fed
eral health charts out of their pockets and say: "We are `Class One,' or
`Class Two men', they could be fitted into industrial plants in positions
where they belong.
^
On the other hand, we have the military side to think of. I have par
ticularly stated the industrial side. It was a spectacle of colossal un
preparedness when we jjvent into the war with our draftees unexamined.
Why shouldn't the Surgeon General have authority to tabulate all men of
military age, year by year, so that in case of a necessary call to arms,
within twelve hours there could be an army of 4,000,000 called to the
colors? Federal health charts are entirely within the range of possibili
ties, and would serve the industries in peace as well as assure national
man-power preparedness for war. It would also serve public health pur
poses.
-=
Many people have been thinking along the same lines but as yet Federal
diagnostic clinics, and Federal health charts,- are day dreams that we in
dulge in, and until we attain them, industrial physicians will have to keep
on in the old way, doing the best we can, in examining employees who pre
sent themselves at the gates of industry.
I must say that working men welcome physical examinations, and it
is very unusual for a man to refuse such examination. We examine ap proximately 15,000 to 207000 a year. We have reason to suspect that indi
viduals refusing to beziexamined have some communicable disease, and
do not wish to.be turned down, so they put up the matter of indisposition, or refusal, merely to avoid being rejected.
With regard to the statistics of higher incidence of tuberculosis, and
higher death rates in Certain trades, I have endeavored in my paper, to
state that lead storage inlthe tissues, likewise brass and mercury--as well
as health impairment froni whatever source--must he discovered and
combated, and the patient transferred to other lines of industry. The
physical examination, the industrial clinic, is the remedy being applied.
Pulmonary tuberculosis is a terminal disease. It is a universal men
ace. It strikes those with impaired vitality, whether that impairment
comes through industry, or other sources. I am not blaming industry en
tirely, and am far fromT excusing industry. Statistical studies prove that alcohol is chieiiv responsible for pulmonary tuberculosis: other group studies show that the victims of gonorrhea and syphilis quite generally
acquire tuberculosis aaza terminal disease. The great multiplicity of
factors in the production of tuberculosis makes it incumbent on the indus
tries to tabulate these cases, since the appreciative viewpoint, as to what the industries are up against, is lacking in the library studies of those
who read statistical reports, but who lack the industrial contact. During
their quiescent stages, tubercular patients demand and obtain industrial
employment. Ninety-five per cent of all postmortems show pulmonary
Health Service Section
629
tubercular foci In one stage or another. Most persons have had industrial
employment: their tuberculosis, however, may have been implanted be
fore the industrial age. This being true, why make industry the scape
goat for tuberculosis?
-
FATIGUE
As to the manner of fatigue. Fatigue does puss through many stages. There is a stage of fatigue.in which we are merely tired, and we become sleepy. There is a further stage of fatigue in which we are much ex cited, and we cannot sleep. This latter stage of fatigue, when the ability to rest is lost. Is by many called "fatigue delirium." We see fatigue delirium in the mother who sits up with a sick child for many days and nights, and loses much sleep. As soon as the child recovers, the mother may collapse.
There is the delirium or fatigue in the soldier who undergoes prodi gies of valor and wades through physical impossibilities. He could not undergo such hardships under ordinary circumstances, but the excitement of the occasion spurs him on. When he gets a chance to rest or to sleep, he may sleep two or three days. Hr. Crile and others of our medical men, who have been writing up this subject of fatigue through the medical press, have emphasized that fact. Fatigue, as we understand it, is largely a matter of blood stream toxemia; an accumulation of waste products formed more rapidly than eliminated. There are certain toxic sub stances produced by effort. Certain tissue cell elements break down, there is heightened metabolism, and all these toxins of the increased mental, emotional, or physical effort depress and tire, or may excite and cause fatigue delirium. What I have been contending in my paper is this: For a man to be fair with, bis job, he has to ascertain to what ex tent his fatigue is coming from the work he is doing; to what extent it is coming from that bad-investment in oil stocks, family cares, or other outside concerns.
Hr. Keoeber: If in your physical examination department you have an applicant who, for instance, would have moist rales; you find lym phatic nodular condition^ but he makes a denial of specific infection, do you give him laboratory service ?
Hn. Latjffer: Unless the disease that you mention is in an infectious stage, we accept him for^employment. We cooperate with agencies that do give those laboratory tests. We find three or four a week, who have venereal disease, that we refer to the public health service in Pittsburgh.
Chairman Uattffer: The next paper on the program is by Hr. Alfred Stengel, Professor of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, on "The Subnormal Worker". Hr. Stengel could not be present, but we will be very glad to `heat from Hr. Scbubmebl who is scheduled for dis cussion on this paper and we hope he will make a few remarks that will
open discussion on this interesting subject.
TICE SUISXOKMAI. WORKER
Hr. F. E. Sohttbmehl; Inasmuch as there is no paper to discuss, I am going to give my time,-v?hich I would have taken to, discuss his paper,
680
Eighth Safety Congress
to the general discussion from the floor after one or two remarks. I
hope you will all take advantage of that opportunity and I am sure it
will be much more beneficial to you all than if I were to discuss a paper
that does not exist.
The subnormal worker, pathologically, of course, as you physicians all
know, is with us in large numbers. They are the men and women who
give us a great amount of trouble through their negligence to attend to
the small injuries or conditions that happen to them in the employment,
l.argely. they are the ones that neglect themselves, their jobs, and every
thing else. They are subnormal workers. The more people I examine
the more I am impressed by the percentages that are shown. The examina
tions of the boys in the axmv who were the best and healthiest class, for
example, showed a large percentage. They are not being eliminated from
employment, however, by the discovery of those subnormal - conditions.
There has been an intimation that one of the reasons labor objected to
physical examinations was because of the tendency to exclude men from
employment. I want to say right now that the majority of the physicians
1 have come in contact with in industry, do not examine the men for the
purpose of eliminating them from a job, notwithstanding the statement
made by Mr. Stewart, the head of the Labor Statistics Department. They
have all been doing their Job pretty well and I know we make the exami
nation for the purpose of determining what the subnormal condition really
is. When we find it, we recommend such jobs as are open in the factory,
where they will fit in. The physician in industry today, who is recogniz
ing the subnormal worker, is the best element we have got in industry.
He is placing the -men araund on jobs where they can do the best work.
Chairman Lacfkkr: We shall be pleased to hear from other gentlemen
who wish to speak on this subject. The time is limited to three minutes. D. J. Frank Kaiii.kr (Berger Manufacturing Co., Canton, Ohio): The
question so often in my mind has been in my examination of employees
as to what should be done^with the individual who is subject to tonsilitis,
or the individual who is:Stegligent with the care of his mouth in a gen eral sense. I have noticed that that- class of Individual Is a subnormal
representative in production, generally speaking. The question is what
to do with such cases.
"
Ciiaik.max Latjkkkr: Our Company has an employees' beneficiary asso
ciation and when we run across these subnormal individuals of the type
you mention, with putrescent stumps, pyorrhea, and imperfect dentures,
bad tonsils, etc., we accept him for employment but deny him member
ship in the employees' beneficiary association. If we admitted such per
sons. who neglect personal!hygiene to such a marked degree, the beneficial
association would soon find itself bankrupt.
RIR'KIiKNCKS RMTWEKX IXIICSTKIAI. A XU AIII.ITAKV KXA M IXATtONS
Dr. Ki.oeukr: I want tolbring up the military service as applied to in dustrial service examinations. I think too much emphasis 13 laid upon the fact that military sernce examination and industrial service exami nation should be the sam_c I object to that. I have the honor of being
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at the head of 278,000 workmen in the State of Washington, and the ex perience is great. At tbe^same time, it was my privilege during the war
to have charge of a largernumber of the drafted men. In military sur
gery, anatomical conditions with accompanying symptomatic relations
were always rejected. In industrial surgeries, there should never be an
anatomical disqualification under any circumstances. As an illustration of that. I will mention flat-foot. Flat-foot has no significance in industrial
employment unless it is symptomatic in character. A point that has not been brought up,, and one that is going to be con
sidered within the next few years by all of you, is the relation of hypo
thyroidism to industrial Temployment.
You in the Middle West^here do not have the toxic goiter as we in the
mountainous sections of this country. Hypothyroidism is today the most
important siibject with which we have to deal in fitting our men in em
ployment, and in that, again, I am going to ask that when you do ex
amine and particularly when you examine for goiter and find that you
have a toxic goiter, by all means get your relations definitely between
your hypothyroid goiter and your small goiter that is producing accom
panying syndromes. It ia. an important subject and I want to impress it
upon you.
__
Uk. K. M. Fuki.o.nc. (Commander, Medical Corps, C. S. Navy, Retired,
60 West 5Sth St., New York City) : The last speaker questioned the dif
ferences between industrial and military examinations. Ke also men
tioned Hat-foot. It is well known that the Negro race are all more or less
fiat-footed, which does not seem to interfere with their capacity for work.
The reasons military surgeons are so fussy about flat-feet is not so
much that they hurt or incapacitate the individual, but it is used as an excuse. That is why weyire so careful about persons who have affections which later on may be used as a pretext to evade some irksome or dis
agreeable job or to prevent being sent to some remote foreign station.
If one man bobbles into the sick-bay of a battleship alleging disability on account of flat-feet and he Is placed on the sick list, you will have to put many others on the list with him. The only thing to do is to eliminate
persons from the start who have defects which they may later on use as a
pretense to escape their legitimate duties. In the Industrial field the services of many persons with physical de
fects can often be used for selective work though it is desirable to record
their imperfections at the time of the physical examination In order to
prevent them from being used as the basis of a claim for damages later on.
Dr. Ki.of.iier: Insteadzof putting the flat-footed man, who appears, on
the sick list, put him on his toes for a few minutes. Dr. Fi-ruixc: I would_ like for you to try it. doctor.
Chairman Laukfer: The time for discussions has terminated. We
will proceed with the third paper--"Industrial Dermatoses" by Dr. Wm.
Allen Fusey of Chicago, who is so well-known in his specialty, as to re
quire no extended introduction.
fl
632
Hiijhth Safety Congress
INDUSTRIAL DERMATOSES, THEIR SOURCES, TYPES, AND CONTROL
JDll. Wjl.I.IASI Ali.E.\ ESTSKY, PROFESSOR OF DERilATOLOGY, EMERITUS, University of Illinois, Chicago
There are two sorts ot factors that act in the production o industrial,
as well as of other skin diseases: The first are the individual or predispos
ing factors: the second. The specific exciting causes. It may clear the
ground and save time if, before taking up the exciting causes, which are
our chief concern, we consider for a moment the first group--the personal,
predisposing causes.
^
PBEDISPOSING CAUSES
The predisposing causes are the factors in the personal equation which
make the skin of varying resistance in different individuals. And these
factors are many:
_
The protection afforded by the skin varies greatly in different indi
viduals and under different conditions. The youthful skin is more deli cate than that of the adult. The skin also shows senile changes--that
may occur prematurely without reference to other senile changes--which
lower its resistance. The--woman's skin approximates the youthful skin and is more sensitive than, the man's skin.
l-ocal conditions in the skin, as for example, vascular disturbances, may weaken its resistance; the skin in which the circulation Is poor is
of increased vulnerability! The skin which normally sweats profusely
is more resistant to some"external irritating influences than the dryer
skin, but is more vulnerahie to others. Previous injuries to the skin, as for example many reaction from some external ii-ritants, may permanent ly damage its protective quality.
THE SKIN" SHOWS RACIAL DIFFERENCES
The greasy skin of the iNegro, Mexican, and Indian is tough and can endure exposure to many insults that damage the white skin. Individuals shoiv even greater variation. At one extreme we have the normally tough skin whose resistance is rRnarkable; at the other we find the individual whose skin is so s'ensitive3hat blisters and ulcers are produced by slight
blows and pressure that afh harmless to the normal individual. We also have variable personal susceptibility to irritants. What is
one's skin poison may be harmless to another. Every one knows that poison ivy. for example, is not poison at all to many persons, while in others it produces an inflammation of the skin of extremest severity. We see manifestations of tliisTTpersonal susoeptibility to particular irritants constantly in industrial dermatoses. Often, after repeated exposure, the skin will acquire resistanere^to an irritant. Unfortunately, also, it may be come sensitized after repeated exposure, so that we not infrequently see persons suffering from inflammation of the skin from irritants which formerly were harmless to'them.
These factors of varyiug""susceptibility come constantly into play in in-
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dustrial dermatoses: and they must be borne in mind as an essential part of the problem whenever we are considering the exciting causes of such conditions.
EXCITING CAUSES
The exciting causes of -industrial dermatoses are beyond exact enu meration. These causes, however, may be classified into a few groups, and by briefly considering these we may obtain, perhaps, a suggestive orientation of the subject.__ More than the briefest consideration of these various groups is impossible within the limits of this paper.
The exciting factors of industrial skin diseases may be included in the following classes: (1) Heat; (2) cold; (3) weather; <-!) posture, fric tion, and pressure; (5) parasites; (6) infections; (7) mechanical and chemical irritants.
HEAT
The direct action of heat is not a common cause of trade dermatoses,
except as It produces scalds and burns, which are In most cases surgical injuries involving more (ban the skin. Radiant heat may irritate the skin to the point of producing inflammation--dermatitis--either chronic or acute; we see this, for example, in the form of an eraema of the fore arms and face in bakers. ^Occasionally, after long habitual exposure, heat may produce structural changes in the skin, shown by pigmentation, di lation or the capillary bljjpd-vessels and thinning of the skin--a condi
tion that sometimes occurs in stokers wbose legs are especially exposed to the effects of heat. Rarely, it excites one of the uncommon skin dis
eases, such as lupus erythematosus. But on the whole, the dermatoses re sulting directly from habitual exposure to heat of endurable intensity are surprisingly few.
Oil the other hand, the indirect action, of heat in producing sweating is a frequent cause of skin disease. The skin sodden with .sweat is a vul nerable skin. It chafes aid develops eczema; and in It trivial diseases, such as mild seborrhoeic eczema, become exaggerated into troublesome ones. A habitually sweaty skin is also a favorable soil for bacteria; and infections frequently occur. Pus infections are commonest, resulting in boils, forms of purulent Infections of the skin, and certain sorts of ec zema. Other sorts of infections are also not infrequent, particularly forms of ringworm of the crotch, and of the hands and feet that at times become disabling.
It is very difficult to counteract the damaging effects of radiant heat on susceptible skins. Some protection is afforded by covering the skin to protect it from diffyt radiation and more can be done by interposing an impervious screen iSeiween the worker and the source of beat, where this
is possible.
it
The bad effects of habitual continuous sweating can be minimized by
frequent bathing and other measures to promote cleanliness, and by "in
telligent attention to beginning skin diseases, particularly to beginning
infections. The bad effects of sweating are shown chiefly on the hands
and Teet and in the deep folds of the body. Much can be done to control
trouble In these locations t>y intelligent medical care.
(>':U
Eighth Safety Congress
COLD
Prolonged exposure to cold is apt to damage the skin by producing per manent damage to its vascular structure. These permanent changes occur chiefly in terminal areas oT circulation such as the ears and nose, and es pecially the hands and feet. Every one is familiar with these manifesta tions as chilblains, but not so familiar is the condition of chronic passive congestion of the extremities that shows as cold, clammy, purplish hands and feet and is very comfnon in outdoor laborers in rigorous winter cli mates. It is the same conaition as chilblains but to a lesser degree. It greatly lowers the resistance of the skin and is important because it is a frequent predisposing causer of trouble. This condition and chilblains are of so common occurrence that they constitute occupational dermatoses of considerable practical importance.
The early experience of the great war with so-called trench-foot--which is chilblains--has shown that there are several factors in the production of this condition: First, prolonged or habitual exposure to cold, especially if the extremities are covered by wet clothes- that give off heat rapidly by conduction. Second, hardship, in the sense of overfatigue and failure to get proper food, including at least one hot meal a day. Third, the wearing of clothes that hy_ constriction interfere with the return circu lation, such as tight shoes or tight gloves. In passing, it may be said that the wearing by soldiers o puttees which shrink when they get wet and then bind the legs were found to be particularly bad in this respect.
The application of these facts to the prevention of the bad effects of cold of the skin in industry"are obvious.
WEATHER
it may seem to be goingStur afield to refer to industrial dermatoses that are due to exposure to the weather; but they are a real occurrence. You are familiar with the weather-beaten skin of old sailors and fanners and ethers whose occupations have kept them exposed to wind and sun and cold for years. The skin is wrinkled and ruddy and rough. In those more susceptible to these influences, the cumulative effects of many years of exposure produce serious degenerative changes. They are results of wear and tear and they cannot be guarded against; but they are truly the result of occupation. Fortunately the skin cancers that result in these cases can usually be easily cured if recognized early.
nisrrRK .\.\ll THE EFFECTS OF FRICTION AND PRESSURE
The familiar callouses and corns and thickening of the hands in work
ers which occasionally produce disability can only be referred to. More important are the vascular disturbances of the legs which may result from habitual standing and which is a common source of skin troubles. These troubles are due to varicose veins. Varicose veins, and the passive congestion of the skin ofjthe legs that the condition entails, sooner or later leads, almost invariably, to more or less dermatitis of the legs and not infrequently to ulcers. ^
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C3H
There are some uncommon dermatoses which are occasionally excited by standing; but these areTso rare as to be of little practical importance in comparison with the very great practical importance of dermatitis and ulcer in the skin caused by hypostatic congestion.
Varicose veins cannot be guarded against. They may be the result of inherently poor vessels four blood-vessels are very much like rubber tubing and they vary in quality in different individuals) more frequently they are the sequel of disease.
Men with varicose veins cannot make efficient workers in standing jobs and should avoid therm They do better in jobs that require a reasonable amount of walking; but they are not good workers for these jobs. Vari cose veins are common In women as a result of child-bearing. Women with this condition are likely to suffer eventually from its effects on the legs and should avoid standing jobs.
PARASITES
The damages of parasites to the skin occur in those occupations which involve the collection of groups of men in intimate association, as in work trains and labor camps. Under these conditions, the ravages of vermin are almost inevitable. Fleas, bedbugs, lice, and itch are more than an annoyance; they lead to infections of the skin that produce disability to an important extent. For^example, in the allied armies on the Western Front, under conditions of heavy warfare, where measures to control the pests could not be applied, the ravages of itch and lice, and the secondary pus infections which follow them, produced more disability than any other form of disease. Practical measures for the control of vermin are well known and they should be applied to their extermination in indus trial camps.
The causes to which we have referred above, while they produce a very considerable quota of industrial dermatoses, are relatively unimportant in comparison with the two great causes we have yet to consider, viz.. In fections and External Irritants.
INFECTIONS
In the practical consideration of infections of the skin, we will leave
out of consideration, as <nre of the factors in their occurrence, lowered
individual resistance, although this is a factor of importance in infections
of the skin, as of infections of other tissues. For infections of the skin
to occur, there are at least two other essential conditions:
(a) A. break in the skin surface through which organisms can find
entrance.
. .i.
lb) The presence of pathogenic organisms.
For all practical purposes, it may he said that an infection cannot occur
without a break in the skin. Infections therefore occur most frequently
in rough occupations. Uacteria and other microscopic organisms require for their growth
organic matter, either vegetable or animal. Infections, therefore, are
most frequent in those whose occupations expose them to more than or-
ma
Eighth Safety Co tigress
dinary contact with organic matter. Pus organisms are everywhere and
pus infections occur in all men; but even, infections of this sort are much
more frequent among those whose occupations are, speaking baeteriologi-
cally, dirty. Although pus infections are far and away the most frequent
of disabling dermatoses, there Is a formidable list of other infections of
the skin which occur in industry. These specific infections occur preemi
nently in those whose occupations bring them into intimate contact with
organic matter, whether live or dead, such as manure, soil, grasses and
moulds, live and dead animals, furs, hides and hair, meats and fish.
These bacteriologically dirty occupations furnish almost exclusively a
large group of troublesome and often dangerous specific infections of the
skin.
^
To guard against these specific infections in practice, is an exceedingly
hard problem. It is the more difficult because these infections are. often
sporadic and of infrequent occurrence, although in the aggregate they
cause a large toll of disability and death.
The two essentials in reducing infections are to maintain an unbroken
skin, as far as possible, and to prevent infection when breaks occur. It
is a matter of practical importance for workers to guard against slight wounds of the skin.and, when they occur, to 'take proper care of them.
Superficial breaks in the skin which are not infected, should be sealed
to prevent infection. This can be done by covering them with flexible
collodion or with clean adhesive plaster or by a clean bandage. Before
sealing them, they should be disinfected.
The industrial custom, now common, of having all wounds disinfected
with tincture of iodine might be very well extended to encouraging the
use of tincture of iodiue in disinfecting all small breaks in the skin. It
would be an equally usefuLmeasure, I believe, to encourage in workers the custom of -protecting, either by sealing or by some dressing, all minute
breaks in the skin, particularly about the hands. Flexible collodion Is as
practicable to keep accessible and to apply to the surface as is tincture
of iodine; and if the custom were fostered among workers of sealing
with collodion all minute breaks in the skin, the result would be almost
as important as that which has followed the habitual use of tincture of
iodine to disinfect immediately trivial wounds. There is one caution that must be used, however, "in sealing wounds. Penetrating wounds--
that is wounds going beneath the skin--should not be sealed, particularly
wounds from objects which have been in contact with the soil, because of
the danger* of lockjaw ancFof other serious infections which occur especi
ally In soil and grow freely only when excluded from contact with the air.
EXTERNAL IRRITANTS
A list of the irritants that produce industrial dermatoses would include practically all known local irritants. Such irritants may he mechanical or chemical.
The mechanical irritants are relatively few, but purely mechanical Ir ritants may produce dermatitis, as for example those occurring from prickly or thorny non-poisonous plants or their fruits, and from the
Health Service Section
637
sllicious, spiny particles in sponges. The origin of such inflammations
of the skin may be quite unexpected and difficult to determine, as Is Il
lustrated by a baffling epidemic of dermatitis which occurred among
Stevedores in Bristol, England, and which Wills finally demonstrated to
be due to fine vegetable pricjjles on barley barbs.
But by far the greatest number of irritants that affect the skin are
chemical Irritants. These may be animal .irritants, such as poisonous
hairs of some caterpillar; or vegetable irritants, such as poison ivy or
sumach, or primrose and other poisonous plants; or lacquers; or the dust of Irritant woods, as teak-wood.. The list of such irritants is long and. of
practical Importance.
--
The chemical irritants, using this term in its ordinary sense, range
from the oldest known substances used in industry, such as salt, soap and
soda, to the newest, such as T. N. T. and mustard gas. Even to enumerate
those better known would make a list covering pages. We see their ef
fects in all grades of occupations from the humblest to the most technical. The damage they do usuSlly expresses itself as a dermatitis--an in
flammation of the skin--of greater or less severity. In its slightest de
grees It may be only a pinkness or redness of the skin with some itching
or burning. It may in other^cases be a violent inflammatory process with
blistering, swelling, and secondary systemic symptoms. In extent, the
eruption may affect only admail part of the body surface, or it may he
universal. The severe chemical irritants, such as the strong acids and
alkalis, may product complete destruction of the skin with the formation
of extensive wounds or uleefs. In addition to the irritants that produce the usual inflammatory reac
tions, there are certain industrial substances that produce lesions in the skin that' are not of the ordinary inflammatory type. The substances
that do this especially are tar, mineral oils, and greases and their deriva
tives, and, perhaps, true fats. The commonest lesions which these sub
stances produce are boils and large crops of blackheads and pustules. Such eruptions are seen not infrequently in men habitually exposed to
these substances In their occupations. It is a very interesting fact that similar substances are well-determined causes of skin cancer In workers.
Chimney-sweeps' cancer from irritation of soot, has long been recognized.
More recently. It has been shown that similar industrial cancers may he
produced by pitch, tar, paraffin, creosote oils, and other coal and petro
leum distillates.
__
The control of industrial dermatoses manifestly presents many special
problems, which vary with the numerous - irritants that are involved and
with the conditions of their use. Under certain circumstances, practica
ble measures are available^ to neutralize the irritants, either before or
after they come in contact with the skin. Under certain conditions, it is
possible to prevent their effects by the wearing of protective appliances
such as ordinary gloves, or rubber gloves, or gloves treated with shellac
or other substances to make them impervious. In the manufacture of
T. N. X. a varnish of orange shellac which is painted over the hands,
forearms, and other exposed surfaces, Is said to furnish effective protec-
(538
__Eighth Safety Congress
tiou; and Is suggestive of similar protective varnishes that might be de vised for use in other irritating occupations.
Hut of course, the only entirely satisfactory protection against indus trial dermatoses from external irritants, consists in preventing such irri tants from coming in contact with the workers. This may he practicable, or it may be impracticable or impossible. It is sometimes found to be practicable under necessity, where before it was held impossible.
The most practicable way of handling the problem in certain industries, is by the selection of workers who can endure, without damage to the skin, the amount of external irritants which is necessarily involved in the oc cupation. Some men cannot work at all, where others can work without damage. My impression is, that nothing is gained by trying to keep these susceptible men at work which produces skin trouble. The best thing is for such men to shift their occupation, if possible, when the inability to endure the irritants involved is discovered. When old workers ac quire a susceptibility .^shifting of occupation may involve heavy sacrifices which they desire to "escape. In such cases; unusual precautions and medical care may enable them to continue, but 'it is usually only at tbe expense of discomfort land periods of disability.
IXTK.VSIVK STCIIY Ol- l.N'IUJSTRIAT. UEBMATOSliS DESIKA1JI.K
am conscious of the altogether general character of this consideration of the subject. My only hope is that it may suggest the extent and. possibly, the importance of the problem of Industrial skin diseases. I think these two facts are not generally appreciated. Industrial medicine is so largely concerned with surgical injuries and serious diseases that it has little time to devote to troubles of less gravity. And yet, I believe that the aggregate of distress and disability resulting from such minor troubles as industrial dermatoses, is so large that it is a matter of great practical importance and worthy of intensive study. It is unfortunately a matter which has net been given systematic study by experts in skin diseases, either in this country or abroad, with the possible exception of Oermany. It is. of course, a matter of thoughtful consideration to every conscientious industrial physician, and of sporadic study by expert der matologists. when circumstances bring such cases within their experience. The experts in industrial medicine are unfortunately not experienced in dermatology, which is a highly technical specialty.
There is an important field here which is worthy of systematic investi gation and which promises important practical results. I believe it would be highly useful if a systematic investigation of this subject by experts were undertaken in this ctsBhtry. One practical way of undertaking it, would be as follows: Employ U few men who are trained dermatologists, to devote all of their time to an Investigation of industrial dermatoses as they occur in our industrial centers. Competent, younger men of this sort could be found, who would be willing to undertake it- Associate with these full-time investigatorsj a consulting board of mature experts in skin dis eases who would be available for consultation and advice and for special investigations. SuchJBen are to be found in our large cities and are in practical contact with nearly all industrial centers.
Health Service Section
c:?f)
I believe a well directed investigation of industrial dermatoses contin
uing for a considerable time--for several years---would result in an im
portant addition to our knowledge of this subject--not so much to our
knowledge of the diseases, because they are pretty fully and accurately
known, but of the factors which are important in the production of these
diseases and in their pi-evenfion and control. It was found possible to do
very useful work along these -lines in the handling of very complicated
problems of disease fhat threatened our army during its mobilization in
this country; and I believe such a system could be effectively carried
out in studying this problem- in industrial life. It could not be so effec
tively pursued, even by thorough cooperation, by experts who are all In
fixed locations. It requires a certain number of men to be mobile, so that
tbeir services may be used anywhere. I avail myself of the opportunity,
which this occasion affords, to call attention to this matter as one worthy
of being fostered.
^
Chairman Lauffer: We certainly have very much appreciated the il luminating paper on this very troublesome subject, which has just been
read; and we are favored hy having with us this morning. Dr. John G.
Burke of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who will open the discussion.
DISCUSSION
Dr. John G-. Burke (Jenkins Arcade, Pittsburgh, Pa.): Dr. Pusey, in
his usual brief and conciseTnanner, has covered this subject very thor oughly in the time allowed him, his idea of a commission to study this subject is a good one as it will require some agency that can cooperate between the patient, employer, physician, and manufacturer of the mate rial or supplies that cause the trouble, before we can get much definite data on this subject. A physician can tell a patient that the eruption Is due to some irritating substance that has been in contact with his skin, but the physician cannot take the time to go in the mill or factory and endeavor to And the irritant. I have been told by patients that they noticed that a particular lot of material, barrel of oil or lubricant seemed to be irritating while other lots from the same source and with the same label did not give any trouble. If these troublesome lots could be exam ined and the irritating ingredient discovered, by requiring them to be labeled so that extra precautions could be taken with them, many'of these
troublesome eruptions could be avoided. No discussion of this subject would be complete without considering the malingerer, a term used for an individual who feigns sickness or who after a trivial injury aggravates the wound or otherwise mutilates themselves so as to receive additional compensation. A brief review of two cases will illustrate the point I wish to bring out and show-the extremes of this type of cases. The first case was a girl whose finger^was punctured by a piece of copper wire. It made a slight wound which was dressed a few times by the nurse and apparently; healed in the usual manner. A few weeks later the girl presented large ulcers on the chest, abdomen, and thighs. The first ul cers healed leaving large scars, but new ones would appear. The company bad her removed to a hospital. She also developed some abdominal
G40 Eighth Safety Congress
trouble and her appendix was removed. She claimed that all her trouble was due to the injury and put in claim for compensation. When I saw her the ulcers were air healed, and from the character of the scars, the history of their sudden appearance, the noil-resemblance to the usual der matological lesions, the sites of the ulcers all being on areas covered by clothing, and the delight the patient took in telling of the number of phy sicians who had been confused by her case, all convinced- me that the skin lesions were self Jnflicted probably by hydrochloric acid, and my testimony so convinced the referee that the case was dismissed. The second case was a man who received a cut on the finger which was dressed with a mercuric lotion. This man happened to be an individual who has a susceptibility to mercury and the lotion caused a violent der matitis of his hand. This was recognized and the lotion was discontinued and the wound and dermatitis both healed under a soothing dressing. About the time he should have reported for work he presented himself with a severe vescicular dermatitis involving both hands, also his neck and face. The eruption would subside and then recur. From the history 1 was positive that he was applying the antiseptic lotion that he had found produced a dermatitistHx contact with hts skin, but as it is impossible to differentiate an eruption of this type from a number of eruptions pro duced by plant and chemical irritants, the man was given the benefit of the doubt and a settlement was advised, after which he had no more re currences. As most of jhe states are increasing the allowance for com pensation. we will likely have more of these cases to deal with, and we should always suspect malingering when an eruption does not present or follow the usual coursEi, It is rather hard to think that we have people of this type but those of you who are physicians know that a certain number of patients do not wanfTo get well and they will not do anything they are advised to do and will do everything they are told not to do so as to prolong their disability.
Dr. Marvin D. SuikTT7. S. Public Health Service): The United States Public Health Service -which I have the honor to represent is conducting an intensive fesearcb between tbe various cutting oils and compounds and dermatoses. The Service is desirous of cooperating with industries ex periencing this trouble In order that the best results may be obtained and the cause could be determined. If, therefore, any of the firms you gen tlemen represent are troubled with dermatosis, we will be glad to co operate with you. Your can get in touch with us at 3412 Fulton Road.
Dr. ivr.oEitKR: I think there is one point that should not go unchal lenged. It is a positive menace to the men who are working in the in dustries of this state to. spread a doctrine of sealing wounds by collodion. I say this from actual experience. If you can be absolutely sure that you have not Introduced anrinfection in that wound, or absolutely sure that your application of iodin has destroyed the pathogenic bacteria so Intro duced, then you can be safe in sealing it, but you can be sure of neither, and particularly is that^true of a wound that is of punctured variety that practically always carries some kind of infection with it, which is abso lutely impossible to reach by the application of iodin. Our experiences
Health. Service Section
G-il
have been of such character that we have some time ago made an order
that excludes collodion, entirely, from those kits.
Dk. Starr: I think there was an important suggestion made by the
essayist that should not be overlooked. I think we all grant the vast
importance of the study of dermatosis as applied to industries. He made
a suggestion that a committee of dermatologists be appointed to make a
study of these various dermatoses as found in industry. It seems to me
this is a mighty excellent suggestion and I would like to make a motion.
I thought 1 would ask for aTdiscussion, whether it would be better to
have this section request the dermatological section of the American
Medical Association to appoint such a committee or what would be the
best method of procedure in the matter.
Chairman Lauiter: We wish to begin and close these meetings on
time and consequently it is, unfortunately, necessary to ask Dr. Pusey to close the discussion. In doing so, I wish he would please state what he
would consider the better procedure in the matter, and tomorrow morn
ing at the beginning of the session at D:30. we will have several items of
business to consider, among these, advanced work for the new year, and
I can see nothing more fruitful before us than for us to enter into an
arrangement, probably with the dermatological section of the American
Medical Association, and the United States Public Health Service, to the end that we may from all angles investigate industrial dermatoses, be
cause this is really a very annoying proposition to the industrial physi
cian, and to industry.
Dr. Pusey: I am glad Dr. Burke referred to malingerers. Malingering
is of course not in itself an industrial dermatosis, but It is a condition
that occurs among industrial workers, and when it occurs in the skin it usually requires an expert dermatologist to recognize it. The most atro
cious cases of factitious dermatitis as a rule escape detection for a long
time and until they are seen by a dermatologist.
As to the proposition of sealing wounds, I am glad it was challenged.
The point I made was that breaks in the skin--superficial breaks which
are not infected--should be sealed to prevent infection. It is practical to
make a distinction between uninfected or probable uninfected breaks in
the skin, and infected wonndsT and if the uninfected breaks are habitual
ly sealed over it saves an immense amount of infection. I carefully
excluded penetrating wounds, and wounds that were likely to be con
taminated with soil bacteria. rSuch wounds should not only not be sealed,
but the patients should be given tetanus antitoxin if they have penetrating
wounds.
__
The action I liad in mind was that this organization should pass a mo
tion something like this:
-
"It is the sense of this organization that it would be desirable to have
a commission such as that outlined by Dr. Pusey in his paper for the
intensive study of industrialTdermatoses."
There is nothing to be gained by a committee of the American Medical
Association, this organization^ or any other organization getting volun
teer workers on a committee of this sort. What is needed is a group of
1142 Eighth Safety Congress
paid workers, expert In dermatology, such as could only be furnished by the Public Health Service or some of the research organizations that could furnish the money for salaries for full time workers.
Chairman L;u.:m-:K: We have one remaining paper for this morning to be presented by Dr. Weston A. Price, President of the Research Institute of the National Dental Association, Cleveland, Ohio, on "Bad Teeth and fatigue." I understand this paper is illustrated and contains some advance information that we, as industrial physicians and general prac titioners will be extsamely interested in.
L>n. Pkick: I deem it a great privilege to bring this message to yon. although I feel entirely incompetent to do so. I will ask you to orient
yourselves to this problem by thinking with me of the relation of
the importance of the dental problems to other problems this week when we are studying the safety of the community.
BAD TEBTII AND FATIGUE
Dr. Wkstox A. Price
*
Puksiukxt of the Research Institute of the National
Dkxtai. Association, Cr.EVKi.ANi>, Ohio.
One of our great surgeons recently said, that of the people who are liv ing today, nine out OJT ten will die when they do because of a final blow that will be struck liy a streptococcal infection. Even though they die with pneumonia, lliatlgerm becomes rampant and strikes the final blow, for those who die with pneumonia show the streptococcus germ in the blood. Some one said, "What about the other ten per cent?" The doctor said he was expectingythat they will die by accident.
You notice, then, that we have a safety week in which we are putting nine-tenths of the emphasis on one-tenth of the problem. Our responsi bility now is all the greater because streptococcal infections that kill people, almost invariably come from focal infections.
The men having the responsibility in your great concerns, in my opin ion. should learn the relation of the health and the strength of the in dividuals to the health of their mouths and I haven't any hesitancy in saying that you haven't the slightest conception, probably you haven't one-tenth of the conception that you should have of that importance and
of the facts as they exist, and there is good reason for it. We have all been taught to believe that we could trust symptoms. The greatest men ace and the greatestfflisfortnne in this whole problem has been that the teeth that are moscrlikely and surest to produce the grave systemic disturbances are teeth that, are giving no trouble to the patient whatever.
two types of fatigue
What is fatigue?
may express it as exhaustion or we may go to
Webster and find that it is "the condition of cells or organs that have undergone excessive .activity with resulting loss of power." in brief the inability to do worlc.J'he facts are that fatigue has two particular types. -
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One is a normal physiological process where the resultant work has made an accumulation in the tissue of the waste products and has not supplied to the tissue the rebuilding structures fast enough, and temporarily, we have an exhaustion of the cells. That very process which is fundamental may be impaired, not by overload of work but by a toxin which is going through that patient's body and which is putting on the brakes.
if you take a strain of streptococci that would produce an in\*olvement of the thyroid gland and inoculate goats with it. It attacks a little group of nerves which control the functioning of that gland. The first effect is a hyperthyroid activity. LaEBr that gland becomes exhausted until the organisms may invade it or we may have a state in which it ceases to produce the proper amount oJLthe secretion. The infection produces the effect on the controlling mechanism, just as the large colon may produce a condition of chronic constipation, not necessarily because of a structural change, but because the infection and the toxin are involving the nerve centers that control that system. It is as though you would turn on the current and leave the magnet of a bell under tension all the time. It puts the muscle of the boweLwall in the state of chronic contraction, and similarly may control the functioning of various organs of the body that have to do with repair and the feeding of the tissue.
Our great problem, then, r^diiy will be seen to be one of studying the relation of the dental Infection to these various disturbances which pro duce fatigue.
TEHTII IXFKCTIOXS TA KK MOKK I.IVKS TICAX TUKEKCUI.O.SIS
You, again, will think of the white plague, tuberculosis, that is killing people. There were more people died, year before last, from heart disease, than from tuberculosis and probably more than nine out of ten of the cases of heart disease are the result, directly, of streptococci infection. The great majority, or a largeTiumber of the infections of the heart, come from focal infections. Ninety-per cent of the focal infections are said to come from above the collar--teeth and tonsils chiefly. The teeth infec tions probably take more lives though indirectly than tuberculosis.
But your concern is with the man before he breaks. Fatigue is a quantitative process. We may and do have, large numbers of men who are .doing .less than the normal amount of work because they are invaded by a streptococcal infection producing a toxin which is disturbing the func tioning of those organs or tissues which are involved, and that diminished productive quality of your man or woman is directly caused in many cases by dental infection. It may be a tonsil infection.
What are the lesions that will produce those effects? will be a natural question. In my judgment the^time is coming, and very soon, when every corporation that has the welI-lKing of its men in mind, as well as its own well-being, will do. gratis, irrccmplete dental examination, a complete restoration, so far as the elimination of focal infection is concerned, from the mouth. I believe, further.-that the time is not far distant when our communities will take that responsibility just as our United States Gov ernment does it for our armies.
U44
Eighth Safety Congress
EFFECT of infections on .muscles
JLet us now look at the slides. We will see first an illustration of tix
effect of infections on muscles. Here is a man who could only Ufl fiv<r
pounds with his left hand and he could lift fifty pounds above bis bead
with the right. The difference in the size of the muscles in circwarifef-
ence of the arm is one-half. That man's lesion started when he went
cold water to repair a broken water main and the chilling of Ms bogy
produced a lowered resistance which, together with the fact that be was
carrying extensive dental infections, permitted him to be overwhelmed xxuSt
he came down with multiple neuritis which put him in bed for weeks asd
months.
Take rabbits, for example, and inoculate them with a small culture aad
it will not produce, let vis say, arthritis, but if you take one of the rab
bits and put it out in the cold, it is more likely to produce rheumatism or
arthritis than the others if they are kept warm. If we take others that,
have not had any inoculation and expose them to cold they do not de
velop it.
__
When your worker develops a condition, of the muscle which you call
stiff-neck, the chances are more than two to' one that it is not simply the
exposure from the draft, but it is that plus infection. He had resistance
enough in that tissue to protect it until it was exposed. Now this man
was able, after removal of his dental infection, to swing a pail of water
over his head with tlieJiand with which he could not lift five pounds as
high as his head at the time we began. He later developed that arm
so he could handle a heavy hammer. This repair did not begin until the
removal of the dental^ infection, and bis arm was impaired as was his
health for twenty years during all of which he carried his obscure dental
infection.
You have many people developing involvements of the eye. We have a
number of eye specialists that immediately upon seeing certain forms of
eye lesions say, "This is caused by a definite focal dental infection." They
are so constantly meeting it that without further examination they say,
"This type of lesion is from a dental source."
Here is a man wlio-Bad an iritis of the left eye and not of the right.
That lesion had persisted for months, recurring. A dental infection was
removed and it cleared up and did not come back. The important part
of that history is that we were taught a few years ago that a very large
portion of these eases were syphilitic. Treatment for syphillis did not
help him.
DEAFNESS CAUSED FROM DENTAL INFECTION
Here Is a woman who bad deafness of the right ear. So complete was the deafness that if her-left ear was lying buried in the pillow, she could not hear people talking or children playing in the room. That condition had existed for two ot three years. Within six weeks after the removal of a focal dental infection, that neuritis of the auditory nerve cleared up entirely and she regained her hearing, and for three years has had perfect hearing in that ear.
Health Service Sectian
645
The man fn this picture -weighed only 122 pounds. He had been sent away with tubercular sputum coughing, night sweats, fever and heart involvement. He was fifty-two or fifty-three years of age. After remain ing in one sanitarium for six months, he went to two or three other resorts for his health and made no improvement. He was bed-ridden, a great deal of the time. After the removal of his dental infection, within six months' time he increased in weight from 123 pounds to 176 pounds, you can judge the man's real improvement when I tell yon the congh entirely stopped and he succeeded in taking eu* a Targe life insurance. At first the insurance company said to him. To made application tor life insurance years ago and were rejected because yon have an organic heart lesion. We cannot give you iinsurance. although this examination yon have Just presented seems to indicate that yon are ail fight. We Will have to have another examination.": They sent him to another examiner who also gave a favorable report, but they would hot accept it and sent him to a third examiner who again gave him a favorable report. He then succeeded in getting a large insurance.
If I do not bring you any rother message this afternoon than this. I hope you will retain it and that is that as we see it today, there is no such disease as gall-stones; -gall-stones are the symptoms of a disease. There is no such .disease as stomach uleer: that is a symptom of a disease, a systemic infection. There Lis no such disease as dropsy; It is simply the symptom of disturbances. We might go through a list of lesions which are considered primary but are now known to be secondary. The Important thing for you to remember is that when one of your men or women shows fatigue, he is beginning to break: in other words, he is be ginning to die. Now you maynot like this, but I believe it as much as I believe anything; that you and I are going to die when we die because of a fight with a streptococcus infection in nine chances ont of ten, and whether it is at fifty or sixty or seventy or eighty, will depend large ly on whether the conditions are favorable to the organism and un favorable to us, or the reverse, so you must put very favorable conditions around your people who are working and you must recognize that that condition of pathological fatigue is approaching death of tissue for that person. It may be they will recover many times before a final dissolu tion, but it is death of tissue and excess of fatigue breaks the machine. I am now referring to pathological fatigue. To repeat what I have stated, you and I, when we die, will in all probability die from a streptococcal infection, which infection we will probably carry with us as a focus somewhere in our body, and even though we have pneumonia which lowers our resistance, that streptococcal infection will be present to strike the final blow and the important thing is to break up and remove all nests of focal infection. Tonsils probably are the most important for children and the teeth are far the most important for adults.
FOCAL 1N FECTVO-NS AKE A GREAT MF.XACK
There is no greater responsibility on this great convention which is meeting here this week than to teach people that focal infections are a
fi-Ki
Eighth Safely Congress
great menace to their strength' as well as to their health, and also teach
them they are likely Jo be so obscure that they won't know they have
them.
This picture shows a woman who was dying by inches for about four
years. She weighed about sixty pounds. For nine months she had not
been able to move a nrusele of her body with the exception of a faint
movement of the fingers, and within twelve weeks after the removal of
dental infection, she was able to be put up in a wheeled. chair and she
could feed herself and put her fingers into her hair. Not one of her teeth
showed marked disturbance about the roots, and for a good reason, jvvhich
however we have not understood or perhaps suspected.
The greatest mistake^we have made In the dental profession is to think
that all people react Jlie same to similar focal infections. We have
thought we could take_ dental x-rays and see whether they were likely
to be systematically involved by dental conditions as shown by the x-ray.
If the patient is making a good fight, there will be a local inflammation,
and .if there is an inflammatory process, there will be soreness and ab
sorption. If this is continued, there will he pus flowing and gum boils.
That person is seldomrTnvolved by that type of infection because if you
will take the pus fromrthat gum boil, it is very often steril. That patient
is making a good fight=and is killing the germs at the source.
If you had a sourcerof pollution such as a sewer, wouldn't it be better
to destroy it before ifcgot into the lake and from there into the homes?
Nature tries to kill those germs at the source, but the people who do not
have the normal lighting power, do not kill them at the source and they
break down some orgaiLQr tissue without any local soreness of the tooth
furnishing the infection. This woman's mouth did not show such a
condition as would be-alarming or even recognized.
The next slide is even more conspicuous. Here is a boy eighteen years
of age. You see how his joints are bound up. He has had acute inflam
matory conditions existing in his wrists, ankles, and joints. He had been
suffering and crying fav the hour, day after day since he was twelve
years of age. He could not feed himself: he could not do anything.
His mother said. "Jf Ilcould see him die, I would be so happy." That boy today is up and arouncf on crutches enjoying good health. He wrote how
he had made $10.00 whittling, making doll furniture out in the country.
He could use his hands, in other words, and before he could not do any
thing with his hamls.^Jl'lie dental infection showed almost no resorption
of tissue around the root ends.
The thing that is deceiving the medical and dental profession is be
cause a tooth is not giving trouble and the x-ray does not show much
absorption, they think it is not a source of danger, but just the reverse
is true in a person with low fighting power and a definite locked strepto
coccal infection aboutth dead tooth.
This is the picture^of a woman who was carried into my office and
could not feed herself.^She was a hopeless cripple, and, incidentally, you
will he interested to know how her attack came on. She was working in
a cold foundry making small parts. She had a lowering of resistance
Health Service Section
G47
caused by the chilling of herr hands whtc-h brought on acute arthritis in her hands. They did not have a properly warmed room for her and
that lowered her resistance,which was a primary cause of her break, to
gether with the focal infection. As her husband went out with the chauf
feur to See where to put the car. she said. "Dr. Price. I warn, you to do
everything you can for me~They have taken my four children away
and my husband has told ffie I must either die or get better or he will leave me."
If y_ou will go with me to their home on the West side, which home is now paid for, you will find her cooking for and feeding five children, not
four. She is doing her own house work and she couldn't move her hands before. All that has been done was the removal of dental infections that
were not giving her a particle of trouble.
1 see no lesion related to the teeth so often as 1 see Involvement of the
neck.
` ixKrccriox ok tkktii kkk/:k.xii.\' i.wouk tiik xkck
Here is a woman with stiff-meek. There is a picture showing four ani mals with stiff-neck, inoculated with the infection taken from her tooth,
and yet the tooth was not giving any trouble.
This is an infection of the =spinal cord, the same streptococci growing in
pairs in the roots of the cord. Here Is a girl with typical stiff-neck and
the dental infection produced^ in an animal's neck which you will see In
the next picture. There is a rabbit with a large abscess In the muscle
of the ne.ck.
--
The next picture shows a magnification of these muscles. There you
see those germs right in the muscle itself.
Here is a woman who sat in her chair for eight days because she could
not.go to bed on account o. severe pain in the muscle of her neck, a
typical torticollis of the neck with severe pain. The condition in her
mouth was that she was wearing a plate which covered the roots of three
teeth, the crown of which had broken off, and rather than have the roots
removed, she had the plate .^extended over those roots. Every time she
bit on the plate, she pushed the pus up into the-tissue. People who are
biting on infected teeth are putting a pressure.amounting in total to about a ton every twenty-four hoursOn the process of mastication which directly
impresses that infection Into the tissues. We can bite all the way from a
few pounds to several hundred pounds with our teeth at one time. This
woman was pressing this infection through into her system. and she
remembered after she bad associated these events, that within a few
months she was-not able to Corn her head sideways to the window. She
also remembered that the condition got continuously worse.
The important ^tiling for you to notice is that when we took out these
roots of the teeth and inoculated one or two groups of animals, we pro
duced in the animals a lesion! quite similar to the lesion suffered by the
patient. We anesthetized her neck, cut into the muscle, took out a piece,
made cultures from that and inoculated the other of the .two groups of
rabbits. The next slide shows the rabbits. To the left you have rabbits
inoculated from the teeth and to the right from the neck muscle. Each
648
-- Eighth Safety Congress
produced typical miositis infections of the muscles. Here we have a disection, of the rabbit showing: the involvement of the thigh. For two years she had no recurrence. About six months ago that woman had an involvement of the other side of her neck. I found an infected tooth under the bridge r_took off the bridge, made a puncture of pulp which had pus in it and immediately this neck involvement got better. Within twenty-four hours after extraction it was subsided and she has not had a recurrence. I believe her neck involvement was directly caused by her dental infections. You have large numbers of men and women who have involvements less severe than this caused by the dental condition and you don't suspect them and they don't suspect them because their teeth are entirely comfortable,^
This picture shows the importance of the study of the teeth in connec tion with pelvic involvement, particularly in women. We took the cul tures from the teeth of thirty-three patients and inoculated them into 430 rabbits and only the pelvic organs of rabbits inoculated with, the cultures taken from three patients showed infection. Here we have a distinct infection of the ovaries and uterus of this rabbit. I said only the cul tures taken from three patients produced .that involvement in rabbits.
Two out of the three patients had been operated for ovarian infection and one had been operated twice and a large number of the girls working in your plants who3iave a shadow being held over them because of pelvic involvement and ovarian trouble, may be suffering from dental infection which is picking out a weak tissue. It is a matter of very great importance, both forthe protection of those people because they are so generally misunderstood and for their efficiency that they be given the best possible servicer
ltKAKT 3.\V01,Vi:.MK.\T FROM I>KXT.\r, I >'FACTIONS
Here is a boy with"a. very bad heart involvement. Within eight months
after this picture was taken, he was dead and buried. When they brought
him to me they thought he simply had rheumatism. They" had no
thought that a heart involvement existed. Cultures taken from this boy's
dental infection and inoculated into rabbits, produced heart involvements
in 5)3 per cent of thejabbits and 3 00 per cent developed acute rheumatism
which this boy had. The responsibility for the care of the heart is tremendously great, for
the body has no value to us without a good heart. Since heart muscles
will be attacked as readily as other muscles and since heart valves have a
great weakness for ^streptococcic Infections it is necessary that we pro
tect the hoys and girls from focal infections.
Here Is a girl who gave up her work because of a serious heart in
volvement and rheumatism. Within a few weeks' time after the removal
of these dental infections which, incidentally, were not giving her trouble,
she'had gained twenty-two pounds and had gone hack to work. She ex
pressed her delight with her work in this way to me, "I just love to work,
now.'' She was completely incapacitated at the time of the removal of
this infection.
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SeaMlb Service Section
649
TJtiis Is a picture of Mr. Roosevelt. We speak of him as the greatest human dynamo the country, has ever produced and yet when it came to .the final fight, the streptococcus was probably the cause of his death. The important lesson to me is this: Not bad dentistry, but the fact that Mr. Roosevelt went to South America and he did just what many of your workers are doing, he submitted himself to conditions which lowered his total resistance. He got fever and after the fever had lowered his total resistance, the pulp died in some of these teeth. We who are dentists know that this tooth never had a root filling, nor this, nor this (indi cating.) The important thing was that those dead teeth became the hiding place, the harbotv for the streptococci. They grew, probably, in those places. He did not know it. No one knew it and the result was that they went out from that hiding place and went through his body, selecting the weakened tissues, and finajly took his life.
RESPONSIBILITY OF THE EMPLOYER
Your great responsibility, as 1 see it, is to save those people who cannot save themselves and you can do it by putting into your plants the con ditions that will find these facal infections, which means a skilled dental operator with a splendid equipment and then support him with all of the finances that are necessary and all of the assistance that he needs to give the proper relief to these people. It will be the best investment that you will make in your business this coming year. I thank you.
Chairman Lau^fer: After hearing this excellent address, we would like to listen to some discussion, but the hour is such that we will stand adjourned to reconvene at two o'clock in the adjoining room for the gen eral session of the afternoon.
FRIDAY AFTERNOON SESSION
HAIRMAN LAUFPER: In opening our program for this afternoon we will be favored with a paper by Dr. C. D. Selby, formerly Con
sulting Hygienist, United States Public Health Service, of Toledo, Ohio. Dr. Selby will take up the subject of "The Scope of Physical Examinations in Industry."
SCOPE OP THE PHYSICAL EXAMINATION IN INDUSTRY
Dr. C.- D.' Selby, Toledo, Ohio. Former Consulting Hygienist, U. S. Public Health Service
Industry exists solely for the purpose of converting raw materials into finished products of marketable value. Labor is employed in industry for the assistance it is in the accomplishment of that purpose, and its value is fixed by the skill and facility of its effort in that direction as manifested by the quality and quantity of its output.
G50 ~Eighth Safety Congress
Formerly, when labor was plentiful and the margin between the cost of production and a moderate selling price was sufficient to bring a reason able profit, industry gave but little concern to labor. "Workingmen came and went as they saw fit. were hired and fired as suited the fancy of their bosses, or were let out in dull seasons ami taken on again when business improved. No well-thought-out attempt was made to offset unstabilizing influences and practically none to improve skill.
More recently, when labor has become relatively scarce and the cost of production higher, Jpdustry has been forced to realize that it has a problem in its labor relations: in fact, industry concedes this to be among the serious, if not the, most serious, of its problems. Though old in existence, having* been ignored, it is relatively new. Employers do not yet know how to solve this problem. They are groping. They have created welfare departments, employment, service, and sociological depart ments, have sought to amuse, edify, and pacify the working people, have divided profits with them and have appointed them to act on joint com mittees in the determination of policies--with little effect as indicated by the present unrest j.he greatest the world has ever known.
Employers are still groping, and they are progressing. Labor turnover has been studied, absenteeism investigated, and the cause, of spoilage and breakage sought. Information of value has been gained. It has been learned that the most capable and dependable workmen are those who are healthy, physically competent, and are assigned to tasks they like and know how to do rapidly and well. It has been learned that such, working under pleasant conditid&s void of undue fatigue and hazards to health and limb, are the best producers and consequently the best paid, are the most contented and valued of employees. Industry is now striving to procure such workmen: if unable to procure them in the usual way, to develop them: and. having them, to retain them by offering favorable working conditions and opportunities for further development and advancement.
The procurement of healthy, physically competent workmen may imply the rejection of thosgrwho are not so. However, it does not necessarily follow that such shouldLbe rejected outright and deprived of the privilege oggainful occupation. jgThere are positions in industry, in fact in virtually every plant of reasonable size, that people of varying substandard con ditions of health and_body can fill with efficiency, to the profit of their employers and themselves. For example, defective eyesight may justly disqualify a man from Operating a machine that requires acuity of vision, yet permits him to supervise a gang of laborers with competency. Again, a chronic bronchitis mar render employment in a foundry hazardous and unprofitable, while in the open it may have no detrimental effect. Even the blind and the legless, the tubercular and the nephritic, are capable of productive labor under proper conditions of employment. Only the man ifestly unfit and the victims of communicable disease should be rejected, is a growing opinion among employment managers. The procurement of health and physical competency among working people requires that they be selected for and assigned to such jobs as they are or cau be adapted to-- with rejection a last resort.
The maintenance of a healthy, physically competent force of employees
B
Health Service Section
f>r>i
requires that working conditions shall be such as to safeguard health and limb, that workmen shall have knowledge of how best to live and labor in compliance with the laws of health and safety, and that health and limb shall be restored as promptly and effectively as possible after impair ments or disease have occurred.
The service of physicians," originally sought for the treatment of injured workers, has been found to be of use in the procurement and maintenance of healthy, physically competent working forces. Medical knowledge and skill are, therefore, welcome to industry, for anything that is' capable of assistanceEin the stabilization and improvement of working forces is welcome. Because of this, medicine has come to be an important branch in the science of modern industrial management.
The physical examination~ds the means whereby physicians acquire the information they deem essential to the procurement and maintenance of healthy, physically compettnrt working forces. It is consequently the basis of medical knowledge ihTIndustry and is fundamental to the success ful practice of industrial medicine.
The scope of the examination should be broad enough to enable physi cians to gather the information that is requisite. This means it should uncover "defects and diseases^that render employment hazardous to him who seeks it or to his fellow workmen. It should uncover imperfections that contribute to inefficiency. It should uncover diseases and sub standard conditions of health. In short, the examination should be such as to divulge the true condition; it should be fairly comprehensive.
Although a complete physical examination, with blood pressure read ings. urinalysis and other laboratory tests, is a desirable procedure to follow in industry, it is not always practical. In the first place, industry has not found it necessary except in unusual cases and, in the second place, industrial physicians are usually too pressed for time to investi gate deeply. Experience has gradually evolved four grades of examina tion, depending upon the objective sought, which in turn is frequently fixed by the policy of the company immediately concerned. They are as follows:
1. Superficial Inspection. "This consists of a hasty survey for obvious defects and apparent sickness. It considers height, weight, appearance, deformities, distance vision," hearing, hernia, and occasionally the heart and lungs (stethoscope appliedT outside of shirt). Its objective is rejection of the evidently unfit and exclusion of communicable diseases.
2. fnspcction. This consists of a more complete survey. AH parts of *> the body are exposed and their condition noted. Diagnostic instruments
are used when in. the opiniorrof the physician they are needed. This is practically an examination--Without urinalysis and other laboratory tests.
Its objective is selection and assignment of workers.
3. Examination. This consists of a reasonably complete survey of the body according to accepted methods, and includes blood pressure read ings and urinalysis. It is virtually the same as the examination required by life insurance companies:^ Its objective is not only the selection and assignment of workers, but their health supervision as well.
4. Special Examination. This consists of all measures that are neces-
652
Eighth Safety Congress
sary to a thorough study of the body, including intra-ocuiar observations, gastric analysis, proctoscopy, cystoscopy, x-ray interpretations, investiga
tions of the nervous system, blood counts, etc. Very few industrial physicians are prepared to make such elaborate and painstaking examina tions. Individuals needing them are usually referred to consultants.
The objective of the special examination is the diagnosis of obscure dis eases and pathological .conditions. It belongs ratber to the realm of
internal medicine than tIL industrial clinics. Inasmuch as by far the greatest number of occasions for Investigation
into the physical state bJLindustrial workers occur when they seek employ ment, the inspection WCTild appear to be the most useful of the four grades. It has the advantage of gaining enough information to enable physicians to eliminate.-the manifestly unfit, if desired, and to advise Intelligently in the assignment of others, and to do so With a minimum expenditure of time. Furthermore, it secures enough information for physicians to det ermineJwhich individuals must have additional study, in the form of the examination or special examination, for the intelligent supervision of their health.
To exemplify the author's conception of the scope of examination or, more properly, the inspection, the routine in rise at the Toledo plant of The National MalleableFCastings Company is outlined as follows:
The worker is received fully clothed and remains standing until the feet are inspected. He is greeted in a friendly manner, and attempts are made to put him at easeiif embarrassed or backward.
1. As he enters gait^ carriage, and appearance are observed.
2. He is weighed and measured for height. 3. Vision, both near and far, are tested. 4. The right ear anchjright side of head and neck are inspected. While
this is being doirgjthe hearing on that side is estimated by a ques
tion in a low volcfE 5. This procedure is repeated on the `left side. 6. The face is inspired: the condition of the eyes is noted by lifting
and depressing the lids: the nares, the mouth and teeth, then also
the throat and tha anterior surface of the neck are observed. The worker is requested to remove all clothes from the waist up. 7. The chest is inspected and the condition of the heart and lungs estimated by percussion and auscultation. S. The abdomen is inspected and the condition of the organs estimated
by palpation andZpercussion. 9. The back is insisted and the posterior aspects of the lungs esti
mated by percusrfpn and auscultation.
10. The spine is palpated and flexed. The worker Is requested to loosen his trousers and undergarments and let them .'all down around the ankles. 13. The external genital organs aud inguinal regions are inspected and
palpated. 12. The sacroiliac articulations are examined and the anal region in
spected.
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Wealth Service Section
653
33. All extremities are inspected, mobility of joints and condition Of blood vessels being especially observed.
The worker is now requested to-draw up bis underclothing and trousers, after which he is directed to sit down and take off his shoes and socks.
14. The ankles and feet are inspected. If there is any doubt about the arches.' impressions are taken.
15. Blood pressure readings are taken (optional). 16. A specimen of urine is obtained (optional).
The worker is now dismissed. During the inspection, as defects appear, the physician is expected to inform the worker of their presence and to give him such advice as may seem wise, an interpreter being used when needed-. Special features aje emphasized immediately before departure and further advice given if necessary to enable the worker to do his work without hazard to health.
In. commenting upon this procedure, it may be said that inspections by this method may be made Superficial or thorough, as desired, with mini mum expenditures of time and effort. The inspection moves easily, with out offense, from the exposed parts of the body to those the blunt exposure of which can prove embarrassing to the worker. It meets the require ments for job placement, and prepares the way for subsequent examin ations essential to the supervision of health. When accompanied by appropriate advice, when the information obtained is properly used in assignments to work, and^when those found defective are afterwards helped through medical and social service and continued advice--then the inspection contributes to the health, earning power, and peace of mind of the workers, and its scope: may be regarded as being adequate.
In some establishments applicants for work enter the examining room stripped. If this can be done without offense, the physician's time may be thereby economized to the extent consumed in undressing and redress ing. This is an advantage where large numbers are hired, but the tendency of physicians, speeding from one to another, is to slur the educational feature, which is of exceeding importance. On the contrary, if the doctor is forced to wait, he has the opportunity to discuss with the workers their conditions and therefore no real excuse for not doing so.
That which has been said applies to the inspection of men. The In spection of women is quite another matter and, although the same general plan may be followed, considerable tact and discretion must be used. The thoroughness of the Inspection must frequently be dictated by dis cretion, and it is wisdom always to have a woman nurse present. Good judgment really indicates' that women should he inspected, by women physicians.
For the further exemplification of the author's conception of the scope or the inspection, a form which has been devised for recording the information is presented, as illustrated. This form has been evolved from experience in the physical inspection of school children, the Inspec tion and examination of applicants for. employment and, during the war from studies of industrial medical departments and the forms used in sixty-four of them. The farm will not be described as, with the exception
(>54
--.Eighth Safety Congress
of the code at the topj^it is self-explanatory. The code, it may be said parenthetically, is a part of g. plan in use at the Toledo plant of The
: m
71
report or physical examinahot
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'Oin- .-ill*- only of 1 Ills form is h iv rf\>roliio,*il. Oiagrams of the human tigur,- with mimlirred sccli'uis art* prim,*! >n reVt-rse side of original form.
National Malleable CaBTIhgs Company for determining the kind of opera tion an applicant for work is physically fitted; a description of this plan and an explanation ofZthe code is not appropriate to this discussion. The principal advantages of the form are as follows:
1. It provides for specific mention of conditions most usually found providing also ffll the recording of unusual conditions.
2. It records findinglpractically in the order of inspection and indi cates at a glance^the side of the body involved.
Health Service Section
<i>5
3. It permits recording with a minimum of clerical effort.
4. It permits tabulations and compilation of reports with a minimum
of medical knowledge afTd clerical effort.
5. It permits diagramatic^representations of abnormalities and ampli
fied description of special features.
6. It permits the recording of three subsequent inspections in direct
comparison with the original. And
7. It has a wide range of adaptability In the recording of information
secured by means of any of the various grades of examination, ex
cept the special examination.
In the use of this form, the physician may himself register his observa
tions or, better, he may memorize the numbers and indicate to his clerk
the findings by tbeir number. The latter method is of course quicker and
easier for the doctor.
--r
It will be said in closing that neither the procedure for physical inspec
tion. as outlined, nor the form is regarded as final or conclusive or in
any sense a finished product--Minor changes and additions are constantly
being made in both, as experience indicates their need. They have been
presented here today primarily for the purpose of exemplifying the
author's conception of the scope of the physical examination in industry.
It is hoped, however, that their presentation may stimulate this organiza
tion to take further steps toward the standardization of the examination
and the form, and a promulgation of a better conception of the relation
of the examination to industrial medicine and of that to the needs of
industry and labor. Chairman X-attfkkk:
------Discussion on this paper and the papers to follow
will be taken up in order at the conclusion of the four papers.
The next paper is that of Dr. D. L. Edsall on ``The Industrial Clinic."
in the unavoidable absence of Dr. Edsall this paper will be read by Dr.
Harvey of the Crane Company' of Chicago.
INDUSTRIAL CLINICS IN CENTRAL HOSPITALS
Du. D. L. Eus.vi.r. Dkax. Harvard IIkiucai. Schooi.. CaSiisiuik-.k. Mass.
Clinics in industrial plants for the immediate care of injuries and medical ailments have became of undisputed "value and laws are even being passed to require them. They need no argument now with those of open and educated inind and I have no need to discuss them as they are outside my personal field. The character and extent of the service that they will'render may ultimately go far beyond what is now done in most plants, though this is^pf course a very debatable question, since it is by no means certainly desirable and because it conflicts with the estab lished interests of medical practitioners. But however far this may pror gress, general hospitals will for an indefinite time to come, if not always, be the centers for groups of .experts in the various clinical and laboratory lines that are now essential in the diagnosis and treatment of patients and in the study of problems of health. Individual industrial establish-
656
Eighth Safety Congress
merits can scarcely be conceived of as having each within their- own em
ploy a group of leading men in all the various lines of clinical and scien tific medicine. Hospitals, particularly those connected with medical
schools and with the staffs that the latter have, will always therefore need to be centers for the study and treatment of difficult cases and for
the investigation of problems, however far health establishments in in dustrial plants may progress.
At the present time, however, the general hospitals receive and they will long continue to receive not only complex cases, but the every-day
routine sort of case for ordinary diagnosis and treatment, and they have in their clientele all told a greater number of industrial workers than any other organized establishments for the care of the sick. In perform
ing their simple daily round of duty then, as well as in acting as consulta
tion centers, the hospitals can not give proper service unless they have
on their staffs persons familiar with industrial hazards and their results who will be alert to recognize these and capable of determining their
importance or insignificance in individual cases. matter with others that are comparable.
Let us contrast this
STUDY OX-' IlAZAJtDS Of lSUl'STKV AND Til KIR EFFECTS, A DEFINITE TYPE OF WORK
No hospital is capable of giving wliat is now recognized as good diag nostic or therapeutic service to patients with infectious diseases for exam ple unless it has available the men and the equipment for expert bac teriological work any rnSTe than it could give good surgical care without surgical equipment and expert surgeons: Although not a separate science like bacteriology but work based upon various sciences, the study and recognition of the hazards of industry and their effects is a clear-cut and well-defined type of woffi. Its problems are quite as definite as those of bacteriology and, while they are even more varied and complex, the nature of many of them Jnd the method of attack upon them are clearer and in expert hands more likely to be successful.
The possibility of an industrial origin of health disturbances and the need of determining this point comes up too in the great bulk of the hospital clientele; in fact, its possible importance needs to be considered in a far larger number oL cases than does any other health factor. In the first year that our industrial clinic at the Massachusetts General Hospital was so organized that it_ received the greater part at least of those pa tients who might be suffering from effects Of industry and in whom this needed to be determined with care and through trained and intelligent inquiry over fifty-one hundred persons were sent to this clinic for inves tigation; of this number approximately one-tenth showed actual results of their work that were at least of notewoi-thy and often of dominating importance in explaining1 tlieir ill health. In most of these instances the question could not have_ been settled, and in those in which there was a relation the relation would have been overlooked, had the investigation been done in the customary way by persons who had not accumulated in terest in and extensive knowledge of the possible relations of the patient's
ITealth Service Section
657
Job to his illness. in lead poisoning.
This is clearly shown in our experience in that time
KXrERIKXCK IX I.EAD POISONING
A special search was made for lead poisoning in all persons In whom careful inquiry showed any exposure to lead. Ordinarily the poisoning is looked for only when either the hazard is o'bvious and commonly known or the symptoms clearly suggest it. The difference in method had the result that the same number of lead cases were found in one year by special search as were diagnosed in five years by the ordinary methods and this in the same clientele coming from the same general line of in dustries.
A considerable trial of a special industrial clinic in a general hospital and of other less well-defined methods of attacking the problem of the relation of industry to general medicine has convinced me that no other method than a special clinic goes so far to insure good service to the patients and no other method so stimulates and enlightens the interest of the hospital staff in general in this important health factor. Likewise, by no other means is it possible to group the cases together in such man ner that the results of study can be analyzed and made available, and in no other way does there occur such an accumulation and repetition of experience as to make evident and important problems that had been un
recognized or had seemed Tpf little significance.
PAID STAFF NECESSARY
To be really useful and successful several things appear to be neces sary. The clinic should be in charge of a physician whose greatest in terest is in the work andL he should be on sufficient salary to enable him to spend most or all of his time at the work. This is necessary in order that he may properly develop his clinic and may be free to make many visits to factories in order to accumulate constantly increasing knowledge of industrial processes and in order to determine day by day whether in doubtful casesLJeen in the clinic the work really explains a part or the whole of the effect upon health. Much of his time will be needed also in making studies in the clinic, in factories, and in the laboratory of the problems^ that are frequently suggested, and in this he will have many opportunities to keep occupied voluntary or paid as sistants. Another essential element in the clinic's success will be a trained social worker who is familiar with factory conditions and in dustrial processes as well as with general social conditions. Through her, will be best handled many of the social details of the records and she will- be able to investigate both home conditions and factory conditions in order to provide the essential knowledge of the relative bearing of the home and the factory upon the health of the patients. Such a small paid staff is necessary for success. From this It may easily be enlarged with voluntary or paid workers^as occasion demands. Furthermore a method must be adopted which will make sure that all cases with interesting or suggestive industrial relations get to the clinic. It will not suffice to de pend upon those in the medical, surgical, or other clinics for sufficient
Go 8
Eighth Safety Congress
interest to refer cases either spontaneously or upon request. They usually do not recognize the hazard or its relation to the patient and in the pressure of their work they frequently forget to send any that they do recognize.
We have with some success adopted the plan of having a social worker, who is sufficiently instructed in industrial hazards to serve in this way, stamp the cards of all new patients as they enter, if their occupations come within a list furnished her or if they otherwise seem interesting. Whatever other clinics they go to, they must when so designated go also to the industrial clinic before leaving. The other social workers in the various clinics are also instructed to send to the industrial! clinic any cases showing points of interest in relation to industry. Cases that are primarilj- of industrial interest, especially certain groups that are being particularly studied in the industrial clinic, are transferred to that clinic for regular care: others are simply referred for diagnostic, therapeutic, or preventive advice while flieir management is . continued in the other clinics.
Carried out consistently^ in this way the clinic will, in any large out patient department, have abundance of material both to provide wide ex perience in industrial effects upon health and also for study of the prob lems that local industrial activities furnish. Some of these problems will he already known; soiue^will become apparent from time to time as a large number of people pass through the clinic and the possible relation of a job to a disorder becomes emphasized by repeatedly meeting the pos sibility.
l'ltl.MAUY VAI.UK UK 1 NOL'KTIUAt. CI.INIC
The primary value of such a clinic has been, in my mind, the better care of the patients. EcfnSUy obvious are the opportunities for furnish ing new knowledge and thus improving conditions through carefully planned studies and through accumulation of records and analysis of
these. .Likewise important todt hospital that lias relations with a medical
school is the opportunity 5 train all students into an appreciation of the relations between varied industries and medicine, and to give special and detailed training to undergraduates or graduates who wish to become esj>ecially qualified in the medical service of industry. The latter students can be given thorough knowledge of a limited number of hazards through serving temporarily in one; or more plants. In no other way, however, than in such a clinic, so far as I know, can they so well be given a com prehension of the extremely, numerous and varied things they should be prepared for and then have opportunity to observe in factories a con siderable number of typesnof these and the methods of controlling them. By serving with the staff ip the industrial clinic, and in the factory visits that the work there leads the staff to, they get a wide general training in elementary knowledge of these things that would be otherwise ob tained only slowly, laboriously, and unsystematically.
Beyond those mentioned, however, we have found other not unex pected sources of interest and helpfulness arising through the clinic.
Health Service Section
Go9
Diagnoses made in individual cases or advice given to the patient have often been transmitted to the employer with the result that he has there by first recognized the existence of that hazard in his plant or first seen how it may be controlled. ^Employers have frequently ' extended the ad
vice to cover all those exposed, or have investigated conditions not pre viously studied, oi* have sought further advice from us or from others. This has been especially true of the small employer who has but slight or no health service in his establishment, but it has repeatedly occurred with large plants.
Labor unions have also at times come to us for health advice through some of their members haying been in the clinic. Fairly and tactfully carrfed out, the relations with labor unions may be made very useful in furthering industrial health, among other reasons because a clinic in a general hospital is obviously not subject to the suspicion that the unions unhappily often have toward the health service in their own industry.
COOl'KKATIVK STflUKS OK I NHL'STRIA I. HAZARDS
The largest possibilities
useful development lie. however, in the re
search that can be carried out if the clinic acts as a center for coordinating
`the problems that are unearthed in it with the health and technical de partments of the industries on the one hand and the men and facilities
on the other that are found in medical schools and hospitals. There are
all told among these two groups and their equipment the possibilities of
attacking all sorts of problems and not infrequently of solving them. Re
search developments ^hat win control or do away with hazards are of
course in the long run farjmore important than the diagnosis and treat
ment of a group of cases, important as the latter is. In the past several
years cooperative studies ot blood problems, problems in pure physiology, problems in metabolism or in biochemical matters, toxicologic problems,
problems of general hygiene and
sanitation, and others have
appeared desirable as a consequenceof observations in the hos
pital clinic. Some of USese have been carried out with our col leagues in the medical school and hospital in spite of the heavy
pressure of war conditions. Studies have also been made in co
operation with physicians in charge of large' plants and several cor
porations. some of them very large, have offered the cooperation of any portion of their research departments in working out the technical in
dustrial end or the engineering aspect of some hazard that observations
in the clinic suggested the_existence of. In this way as in most others our clinic as well as our Whole method of attack upon industrial medi
cine, from the hospital or^the academic standpoint, is really in its in
fancy but progress thus farr seems to open a vista of real public service
if the varied departments, of hospitals and medical schools can develop cordial cooperative relations with the health departments and technical
depai'tments of industries. ^ Unlimited possibilities of good results with-
satisfaction and credit to both sides seem open and the problems and the
opportunities for interesting and serviceable work grow constantly as one
studies the matter.
660
'Eighth Safety Congress
Chairman Dauffek: It is unnecessary to introduce the next speaker Ur. JSvans of Chicago who has previously addressed National Safety Council audiences. I take great pleasure in welcoming him to us.
HEALTH EDUCATION IN INDUSTRY
Da. W. A. Evans, Chicago
In the fight against premature death and disablement due to accident,
injury, and illness, progress is being made in certain directions but not in
others. The bacterial diseases with the exception of pneumonia, bronchi
tis, and influenza havaJbeen very greatly decreased. The death rate of
infant and older children from all causes has been greatly decreased.
These two decreases have been considerable enough to lower greatly the
death rate. Heart disease, Bright's disease, apoplexy, and diabetes have
very materially increased.
We attempt to make a distinction between diseases due to habits and
those due to customs. Ebr instance, the bacterial diseases in the main are
spread by community customs. The habits of the individual are of lesser
importance than the mass habits called customs. On the other hand, in
the case of diabetes the larger factor is the habit of the individual. While
many flaws can be picked with this classification in the main it serves
to make a useful distinction with a reasonable degree of accuracy.
Applying the rule wejfind that in the main the diseases which are on the
increase are those due to faulty habit. Another line of division would
be on the basis of organized effort at prevention. Applying this rule
broadly we find that the improvements have been in that group where
preventive effort has been made and the lack of improvement has been
in those where there hast been neglect.
When we come to study accident rates we find that there has been a
tendency upward for fifty years. The fatal death rates from all external
causes by decades in Chicago since 1867 have been:
1867-76 ____________________=.____ 93.2
1897-06 ________________________________106.3
1876-S6 ....................................__________ 90.6
1907-16 120.8
1887-96
............................Si_______122.6
The rates for 1917 and 191S were 11S.1 and 99.8 respectively.
SUGGESTED CHANGES IN CLASSIFICATION OF ACCIDENTS
In an effort to analyze these figures I have come to this conclusion. In the rearrangement of the classification of the causes of death it would
be wise to divide external causes Into those where there is intent to in
jure and those without^ intent. The former are not related to careless ness. "In this group there should go suicides, homicides, and legal execu
tions--Numbers 155, 155a, 155b, 155c, 155d, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160,
3 61, 162, 163, 177, 182, 183, 184, 186a--18 causes in the Bertillon classifi
cation responsible for more than one-quarter of the deaths due to external
causes.
--
I suggest that when the next revision of the Bertillon classification is
Health Service Section
661
being considered you be represented and tbat you endeavor to bring about such, revisions in the nomenclature and classifications as will make it easier to marshall the facts relative to accidents. Also that you have proper governmental agencies collect and tabulate non-fatal accidents.
And now returning after the digression- We find that the tendency of rates for deaths from all causes to rise is due to a rise in the rates for homicides, suicides, and what have been termed public accidents, and that this rise has been enough or more than enough to compensate for the decrease in industrial accidents.
Between 1913 and 1917 the number of fatal accidents in industry fell from 25,000 to 22,000--an Improvement of 12 per cent, and the number ox serious accidents from 700,000 to 500,000, and the number of accidents serious enough to keep a man from work six weeks or more from 300,000 to 26,000--a fall of 26 per cent. This improvement was due to educa tion of ljoth employer and employee and the use of safer types of machin ery.
During the last seven years the employer class has become greatly in terested in accident prevention, the employee class moderately so, but the interest of the general public has lagged far behind. In 1917 of the 77,000 fatal accidents In the XT. S. registration area 55,000 were outside of industrial plants. Of the 510 fatal accidents in St. Louis in 1917, 400 were outside of industry. j^Of the total death rate from all causes in the registration area of about 14 a little more than 1 or one-fourteenth of the whole is due to violence. In 1901-5 the violence rate was 101.7; In 19061910 it was 1.07. Since 1910 it has heen: 1911, 1.04; 1912, 1.04; 1913, 1.08; 1914, 1.02; 1915, .99; 191S, 1.05.
Table showing number^ of employees" death rates from all causes, death rates from disease, and death rates from external causes among the employees of ihe Panama Canal Zone, 1906-1917 inclusive:
Number of
Year
Employees
1906.. ................... 26,547
1907..................... 39.23S ^
1908-..................... 43,S91 "
1909- ................... 47,167 ^
1910- ................... 50,892
1911-.................... 48,876 -- 1912...............'.... 51,852 1
1913.................... 56,554------
1914...................... 44,329
:i915.
1916.___________ 33,176 --
1917. ............... 32,5S9'
Death rate 41.73 28.74 13.01 10.64 10.98 11.02 9.26 8.35 7.04 5.77 6.03 7.09
Disease
Death rat
death rate External Cai
39.66
2.07
25.44
4.30
S.68
4.33
7.55
3.09
7.5 3.48
7.65
3.38
6.36
2.81
5.24
3.11
4.40
2.64
4.05
1.72
4.58
1.45
5.74
1.35
Note the following points-- 1. The personnel referred to were almost all adult males.
2. Negroes predominated. 3. The work was done^largely out of doors with heavy machinery. The
climate was unhealthy but the efforts to control disease were ex-
f>(>2 Eighth Safety Congress
cepiionat. tin none of the reports Is there any stress put on acci dent prevention.)" i. The fatal accident rates of 1908 (4.33) and 1907 (4.30) were higher than the disease "death rate of 1915 (4.05) and only 1.44 per 1,000 less than the death rate from all causes in 1916. 5. The death rate from disease after 3 911 was exceedingly low. 0. The death rate from accidents was very high every year. 7. The improvement in the death rate from disease is far greater than the improvement "in the fatal accident rate. S. Or. Gorgas explains that the very high death rate from disease in 1906 was due irr'g'reater part to an epidemic of pneumonia. 9. The rapid rise in the death rate due to external causes in 1907 he explains is due tozmore blasting and railroad work. 10. In 1906 he says there were 35 deaths among the white employees, of which 19 wereTrom disease and 16 from violence.
As a side light showing the importance of fatal accidents In determin ing the total death ratef I call your attention to the attached table. This table shows the death rates per 1,000 from disease and from accidents In the Canal Zone among "employees between 3906 and 3917 and compares them with the fatal accident rate in the registration area in the United States. At one time tlis fatal accident rate in Panama was four and onehalf times that in the United States. It is even yet one-third higher. The death rate from disease fell from a maximum of 40.5, thanks to intelligent, well supported effort. The very high fatal accident rate fell only from 4.52 to 1.35 minimum. T hope when we come to build another canal we will have an accident :prevention policy comparable to the disease pre vention policy employed when the Panama Canal was being dug.
After showing the steady decline of accidents in industry between 1913 and 1939 Payne says "There is another story for public accidents or accidents occurring in the home, on the street, and generally outside of industrial establishments. There has been a marked growth in the num ber of this type of accidents in the past few years. The reason for this rapid increase in the juimber of public accidents while the industrial accidents have as rapidly declined is that industrial managers are thor oughly aroused to thezsnecessity of accident prevention in their plants but the public in general is still unconscious of the significance of safety."
To bring about the desired' ends it is not enough to Inform and in struct. That does not go far enough. The habits of the people must be changed. Each person must not only know what practices are safe and what hazardous but he must apply it to himself. In the back of his head he must carry the thought constantly. While his mind runs in its proper grooves and hisZinuscles are doing their customary work there must be a subconsciouSTTealization of hazards and an instantaneous re sponse to stimuli of danger. It may be that a tendency to go about in an sbsentininded trance must be corrected or that a naturally poor incoor dination and clumsinessrmust be overcome. This is the problem. How can it be solved? Theziolution when found is to be applied to the em ployer group including general managers, superintendents, and all bosses;
Health Service' Section
663
the employee group including all who feel no responsibility, for others, and the general public. The employer group are very well informed but many are indifferent for one reason or another. At least many do not act at all and others act somewhat thoughtlessly. The employee group are less well informed andJess interested. The general public are most in need of information and of interest.
Recently a great professor in a great university wrote as follows of personal hygiene, "Personal hygiene is not a subject that can be advanced by public meetings. It hasjt'o be worked out by (or with) each person individually." A good answer to this opinion appeared in the headlines of a daily paper issued about the time this letter was received. It read, "Dress designers call for larger hips this season. Checks and stripes and lots of yellows appear to be favorites."
When fashion decrees that hips are to be larger hips will be larger, or that checks, stripes, and lots of yellow are to be worn, you can bet they will be worn. It will scarcely.be denied tbat fashion determines wearing apparel, clothes, shoes, the shape of the feet, in great measure the food and the methods of its preparation, and in some meas\ire hours of sleep. Now no one will contend that fashion is worked out by or with each per son individually. An impulse, and not infrequently a- convention of the interested issues a decree and forthwith the civilized world obeys it. There is no other field where there is so little individuality, so little wOrk by or with the individual.
AI1 of the items specified in the above paragraph--clothes, shoes, food, sleeping hours--are matters of personal hygiene. Now personal hygiene is a matter of good habits^ on tbe one hand or bad ones on the other and so is safety work when, viewed from the standpoint of the general public. Personal hygiene gpd accident prevention are cut from the same cloth. "What I have said about personal hygiene applies to accident pre vention. If there is no field for any but individual effort in personal hy giene the same holds true-of accident prevention. On the other hand, if public work pronouncements, feats, discussions, newspaper articles, publicity can affect changes in matters of personal hygiene they can be effective in accident prevention.
I agree that the most effective method of education is by personal indi vidual work. I am for it as strong as any one. But it has limitations which' make it impossible as a solution of our difficulties. It is tedious, expensive, and requires too much machinery to be practicable as a means of meeting tbe whole situation. There are great possibilities for the group method even in educating adults. I propose to discuss some phases of some of the. group methods.
. KDUC.VTION OF ADUbTS
Moving Pictures. This method of education is so well understood by you that I need not say much about it. Let me offer you this suggestion. Try one short run of lessons in a program of lighter stuff. 'When Health Com missioner of Chicago twelve years ago I found that evenings devoted to health talks and health pictures lost their pulling power, whereupon I
066
Eighth Safety Congress
gest that in these articles suggestions of control and compulsion be min
imized.
_
Spealccrs. Since so many foreign speaking people do not read, it
might be well to employ some pensioners and disabled men as conversers,
talkers--a functionary corresponding somewhat to the Jewish schnorrer.
Go among the men and subtly talk the harmfulness of accidents. But the
larger field for personal and oral presentation will be lectures and demon
strations. Many of you have made very efficient use of lectures illus
trated and non-illustrated. Let me suggest that you vary your method oc
casionally by introducing"a brief lecture unexpectedly into a program ar
ranged on a basis of entertainment solely. Thus you will secure a little
of the time and thought of the indifferent. Such a lecturer remembering
(he lack of interest of most of his audience will do well to speak briefly,
epigrammatically, making use of catchy, easily-remembered phrases.
Still Life Pictures. On the market there are now several automatic
projection machines. These can be used to advantage if their pictures
and texts are frequently freshened and if the location of the machines
are changed occasionally. Talking Machines. Occasionally advantageous use can he made of talk
ing machines. For instance, short talks by Judge Gary, Mr. Rockefeller,
Lloyd George, President Wilson and the presidents of great corporations
would prove effective.
. Expositions. .1/"scums.jand Kindred Methods are of service in educating
employers as museums of safety and other permanent exhibits such as the
display in the rooms of the Illinois Labor Bureau. Hazardous machines
with dangerous parts advantageously set in rest rooms.
So much for the education of adults--always a difficult thing to do,
expensive and wasteful. __
EDUCATION OF CHILDREN
The education of children is a far more satisfactory field. I have read with interest Education. in Accident Prevention prepared by Dr. E. G. Payne upon request of the National Safety Council. It is a guide book for teachers. In other words it may be considered an excellent work for the education of teachers in. the teaching of accident prevention. The U. S. Public Health Service and various state boards of health have pre pared text-books on health subjects to take tbe place of ordinary readers. As I understand it none njf these have ever come into very wide use. Teach ers have explained to melthat they must use the adopted text-books and no book agents ever attend the meeting of the adoption boards to secure the adoption of these free health readers. If you go into the text-book field there is but one way to do and t'hat is to play the game as it is played. It might be advisable for you to consider cooperation with, the health people in the production of readers, spellers, and other texts mak ing use of such stories as. you could furnish as material for the books.
There is a general agreement among teachers that teaching should deal more with the experiences of the day. Even first and second readers would be more interesting if they carried some experiences from the work
Health Service Section
shop and the home rather than many of the stilted, far-away stories now
carried. But when you get into this field, if you do, play the game as it
is played.
7
Payne says while industrial accidents are limited very largely to adults,
the same is not true of public accidents. In 1916, 10,534 children under
10 years of age in the registration area were killed by accidents with
perhaps 250,000 others severely injured. Discipline.--This is a good place to say that discipline is a most potent
factor in the prevention of accidents. Childhood is the time to teach dis
cipline. Workmen's Compensation.' Far and away the most potent educational
influence of accident prevention was the passage of the workmen's com
pensation laws. The placing of accidents on an economic basis was di
rectly responsible for much of the result. A great part of its effect
came through creating a background for the National Safety Council and
its superb educational work. Thus indirectly and directly workmen's
compensation was responsible for the Safety First movement. Personally
I would like to see the application of the same principle to prevention of accidents in fields other than in industry and the general prevention
of disease.
Chaihman LAUfTKit: We will next be favored with an address by Dr. U. IS. Ford of the General Chemical Company on "The Coordination of
Industrial and Community Health Activities."
COORDINATION OF" IX D USTJR IAU AND COMMUNITY HEALTH ACTIVITIES
Du. C. E. Foku GkxkkaTTCiikmicai. Company. New Yokk City
In the early history of medical work in industry the employment of a physician in a plant was considered an evidence of a benevolent attitude on the part of the employer. The protection secured against excessive costs resulting from accident and injury, the shortening of the period of disability, the relation ofTthe doctor to relief agencies, and the doctor's value as an intermediary inT industrial relations established more or less the value of the plant physician as a member of the Operating staff: and as a result of really meritorious work on the part of a few pioneers in the Held, it became evident that pre-employment examinations, as well as periodic re-examinations, prolonged the usefulness of the employed, both to the Industry and the individual, his family .and therefore to society.
Probably the greatest opportunity for the promotion of the public health has arisen through _the rapid development in industry of medical departments--manned as these departments should be by medical mengiving their full time andLTthought to the conservation of human lives.
In the discussion of oat subject, a review of the relationship of the public health department and the medical profession and through them the latter, the public, would seem, perhaps, profitable.
"Public Health" is a field which embraces sociology, engineering, chem-
668
Eighth Safety Congress
istry, and bacteriology, as well as medicine, and the man with, adminis trative gifts may have qualified for his post through any one of these allied sciences. The fact of a man being a competent physician does not make him a qualified health officer. Public health is a science and art in itself and peculiar to itself, the essential being that the official should have studied and practiced, this science and art. If he be a medical man, his position, with the present* professional view point, is strengthened with his profession and the public.
FUNCTIONS OF A HEALTH DEPARTMENT
A health department, in performing the functions imposed upon it by law, must reach, more or less directly, every person within its jurisdic tion. The past generation has witnessed radical changes in the theory of preventive medicine. = Officials are no longer permitted merely to meet emergencies as they" arise. "Health promotion" has become more Important than "disease prevention," and "disease prevention" has come to be more regarded that "disease suppression." The archaic policy of acting only in the development of emergency, of merely being ready to make the best of a badZsituation in repairing damage after it has oc curred, has been relegatiyL to a less enlightened day. In carrying out Its work of prevention, a health department must endeavor to arouse the interest and attention of individuals rather than of the masses or classes.
It has become axiomatic that the Government relation can only be as strong as the individualsjwho constitute it; hut it must bo borne In mind that public health is a matter for the state and the nation--not merely individual towns o.r cities, and the war experiences demonstrated that disability, preventable in character, is far more prevalent than we have been 'conscious or willing" to admit.
IMPOKTAXCE OF PUBLICITY
An aggressive health department employs every possible means of pub licity--the public press, as well as the other agencies of which I shall speak later--in an effort to maintain a personal contact. Unfortunately public health publicity costs money and to he obtained, must be paid for. The controllers of the public purse strings have not yet arisen to the importance of this function, and, excepting in the few instances in which private funds are available for the promotion and support of publicity, the endeavor has failed. The success or failure of any endeavor for the bet terment of public health depends, to a great extent, upon the attitude of the medical profession. Tn the main, that attitude is sympathetic and encouraging. However, there have been measures of very decided public value involving principIes_of social and economic worth that have been so strongly opposed that-their worth has been lost to the community. The canons and ethics oL the medical profession provide that the first duty of the physician is^to the individual, whereas in preventing dis eases, the first duty is to the public.
Throughout a relatively, brief but active relation with the medical profession it has been observed tbat the individual doctor has been so
Health, Service Section
669
occupied with the specific case that he has all too frequently permitted, others to direct the social, economic; and professional adjustments that modern progress has made necessary. This notwithstanding that the professional interests and those of the public are identical and should be solved and applied only by A socially-minded medical leadership.
The present day is intolerant of isolation from affairs. With others the doctor must become active and not only support and direct actively but create those remedies for the ills of society with which he is or should be familiar. Unless medicine does tbis and makes apparent its group strength before the people, the people will all too frequently be victimized by the various cults and pseudo-medical interests that quickly grasp the importance of public control and especially with legislative and govern mental interests.
Science has developed facts that have afforded remarkable opportunity for progress, but, in so doing, serious obligations have been imposed upon the doctor. Changes- in health administration have, at times, been radi cal, perhaps revolutionary, but no more radical and no more revolutionary than the changes that have come to our scientific thought.
The modern health administration, in asking much is likewise giving much to the physician. The individualization of health work. Instead of threatening the material Interest of the doctor, actually benefits him in many ways. The more intimately the individual doctor becomes ac quainted with the aims and purposes and underlying motives of the modern health department, the more valuable his influence becomes to the people of his community and the more useful the department becomes to him' in the pilrsuit of his practice.
PERIODICAL PHYSICAL EX A MJXATIONS
Health officials are now urging periodical physical examinations for all persons, as the means of detecting insidious organic diseases- in their in
cipient and easily curable stages and while the medical profession may be
called upon at certain times to render service gratuitous, or with small direct return, in such examinations for the purpose of education and demonstration, it is true that the establishment of this excellent custom Is not only likely to save or prolong the lives of thousands, but in the ulti
mate brings largely increased returns to the physician. The more people think health and talk health, the more generally they seek medical coun sel and guidance, consequently the more generally the physician is em
ployed;
--
It is invariably true, whenever there are established anti-tuberculosis
leagues, with their dispensaries, medical nursing service, together with
the educational and publicity campaigns essential to their success, those
medical men specializing in tuberculosis, as well as the general practi
tioner, have an increased clientele among those actually suffering from
tuberculosis and seeking treatment for it, as well as those who came to
think seriously of their own physical condition on account of the agi
tation of the subject. Tbis is similarly true in communities in which campaigns against venereal diseases have been undertaken. . In such com munities the venereal specialist and general practitioner report an in-
(j 10 Kighth Safety Congress
creased demand for this service and, of course, this means that the unin
formed have not sought The advice of the advertising or itinerant quack.
This well illustrates the fact that that which is best for the people of the
community and that which may be over-insistently urged upon them--
redound, to the material advancement of the reputable physician.
The physical examination of school children with the discovery of the
enormous amount of the_heretofore regarded relatively harmless defects
of the upper-air passages of the ears and mouth, have conferred enormous
physical benefit to the community as well as the financial support of the
medical man. This same helpful attitude is'maintained by the diagnostic
laboratory in their relation with the medical profession. While these
laboratories are maintained for the benefit of the people as a whole, the
service of the laboratoryTis rendered almost wholly through physicians.
Occasional specimens acre received from laymen but the name of the
attending physician always accompanies the specimen, and a report sent
to the physician, and in^practically every" instance it is found that such
specimens are sent wittLthe advice of the doctor. In the case of Wassermann tests, it is doubtful if the laboratory ever received a specimen, except from the physician. This is similarly true of specimens from
patients suspected to be suffering from diphtheria, typhoid, and the
other communicable diseases.
In actual practice the laboratory is maintained wholly for the conven
ience of the medical man, saving the individual hours of labor and no
inconsiderable outlay oLnioney and if one may judge by the increasing
demand for laboratory service, this convenience is becoming generally
appreciated. On the other hand, the more general the medical profession
engages in. modern health activities in their own community, the more
quickly they utilize the ^service of the staff of the several divisions of
the department, the morf. constantly they employ the services of the lab
oratory for the exact diagnoses, the greater assistance they are rendering
the Clovernment in riieeting its obligations to the people.
'Phe closest possible relation should exist between the private or indus
trial physician and the public health official. Public health departments heretofore have peen limited in their relations with individuals for the purpose of teacl/ing personal hygiene.
y/
Tire l.VKVSTltlAr. IIEAI.TII DEPART MKNT
The industrial health department can be made the new and strong arm of the public health department in bringing about precaution in matters
of health.
-
Morbidity statistics noT now available may be secured, as well as or
ganized assistance in times of epidemic. The demand for this sort of service' by the far-seeing executive, unap
preciative of the necessary qualifications of a medical director capable
of undertaking the responsibility, has led many medical men. the recent
graduate, the unsuccessful or moderately so. Into the field of industrial
medicine: but until qualified men are created by university training or
long and varied experience, the cause of industrial medicine, and irfturn
industry itself, -will not obtain the largest measure of benefit.
Health Service Section-
671
It no longer suffices Cor an industrial organization of any size to employ
a part-time physician who utilizes liis job to pay office rent or automobile
upkeep. The physician who considers accident work or casualty surgery
as a mere "pot boiler" or "stop gap" Cor a period of financial stress will
hardly prove ornamental to his profession.
To meet the present-day requirement of a medical director it seems that
the following qualifications, ih addition to a medical degree, are essential:
At least five years of general practice--in that a knowledge of man and
his foibles may be acquired. During this period it is necessary that the
future industrial physician should maintain a connection with the public
health agencies, such as theFcity health department with its various dis
pensaries, the general dispensary, and other public medical service, in
order to develop the social viewpoint as well as to broaden professional
skill.
7
The industrial physician should have a knowledge of practice, not
necessarily profound, of the fundamentals of industrial relations and these
include--applied preventive^ medicine, medical and psychopathic medi
cal investigation, recreation, accident prevention, and the methods lead
ing thereto. Knowledge of the special problems relating to the employment of wom
en and children: some knowledge of pensions find insurance, including
liability, group, and social: some knowledge of plant organization, which
is likely to prove effective in dealing with the problems of labor.
Knowledge of employment methods: some notion of job analysis, physi
cal and mental tests, to determine the fitness of applicants; knowledge of
race problems, knowledge of Industrial training, apprenticeship, continu
ation schools for training inTparticular jobs: at least some know-ledge in relation to the. post of living according to local standards.
Knowledge of the hours roj work in relation to fatigue and output;
knowledge of shift systems, rest periods, regularity, absenteeism, etc.
At least a superficial knowledge of the security and continuity of
employment in slack seasons, while convalescing from accident or disease,
in case of labor-saving improvements, as well as with the advent of old
age. He should have a general knowledge of physical working conditions,
safeguards, disagreeable gases and dusts; beating, lighting, ventilation,
locker rooms, wash rooms, rest rooms, restaurants, hospitals, laundries,
toilets, showers, plant beautification, drinking water. Of course he should
be responsible for the physical examination of applicants and the periodic
re-examination of employees, as well-as the medical attention to families
of employees when such is ^applied.
He should have a very definite knowledge of housing, transportation,
recreational and educational!facilities; the transfer and replacement of
misfits, -or as has been said.:"fitting the square peg to the round hole."
He should be familiar with the follow'-up work, especially among new
employees--with absenteeism and the injured; the replacements of in
jured and crippled employe.
He should have at least^some knowledge of the athletic and social
672 Eighth Safety Congress
activities, company stores, commissaries, the type of house suitable for
economic . administration and housing; problems generally.
Me should be familiar^with labor turnover and its cost; designs and
data for the construction and operation of hospitals, lunch rooms, neigh
borhood and community houses; general education and Americanization,
together with a knowledge of broad methods of raising the standard of employees' living conditions and ideals.
In the foregoing I have perhaps wandered far afield with the object
however of indicating that the medical man with a broad view and such
Knowledge, however general, will be of such great value to the organiza
tion and every person in it as to command the highest respect, wield a
constant influence, find his post seeking him, and incidentally name his
own. salary.
With the broadening oI concept a few plant service departments have
extended this field by supplementing a series of lectures, or by other
means, bringing attention to the various phases of preventive medicine,
emphasizing their social land economic value.
That which has made! America great in industry is her faculty of bringing together energies hitherto rambling and misdirected into a
rounded concrete whole with largely amplified production.
The mainspring of production or success is individual action and not
state action. Success is nothing more or less than opportunity for the
individual. The enlightened business man of today sees clearly that the measure of his success is almost directly in proportion to the degree
of opportunity his operation creates for others. But of what value is opportunity lacking its_ essential adjuvant?--the individual in good
health.
~
In the U. S. there are 1,500,000 people constantly sick with preventable
diseases, and 8,000,000 men between the ages of 18 and 45 are physically
or mentally subnormal.
While most of us are born with good "health we have but a brief ex istence before we carry within us, or are exposed without to the agency of
our destruction.
COST OK PltKYENTAItl.K ILLN'ESS
from a recent report by Irving Fisher of Yale we are informed that
there are approximately 3,000,000 persons in the United States suffering
from some form of sickness of whom 1,100.000 are in the working or
productive period of lifer--three-fourth being actual workers who must
lose at least $700 per year, .which aggregates $550,000,000. The expense of
medicine, medical attention, hospitals, extra food. etc., at least equals this
amount. Thus we have^a total cost of illness amounting to $1,100,000
--at least one-h of which is preventable.
The sick man is a burden to the community, while the well man is-an
asset.
-*
Out of every hundred who are twenty-five years old today 36 will be
dead at 65, 53 dependent upon relatives and charity. 6 self-supporting and
only 5 well off.
Health Service Section
673
It has been, shown that of families dependent upon charity 77 per cent of the members were physically unfit.
A most effective method of reaching the employee and his family Is
through the house organ, which, if well edited, is a welcome visitor to the domestic circle of each employee. It is well, of course, that the
printed column should be supplemented by presentations by the medical staff of the organization, who-should reach groups of employees orally or directly as opportunity may offer by means of the stereopticon or the
motion picture.
~
It has been my practice in. lecturing to groups of employees and their
families to discuss industrial-medicine in accordance with the following
scheme, closing the course by discussing problems and hazards peculiar
to our own industry:
J2
Physical examinations--their immediate and remote value; likening the
human body to some well-known machine or device, in the plant and dem
onstrating the a.nalogy between the wornout and exhausted parts and the
organs of the human body, emphasizing the vital importance of mainte
nance and repair.
:i
This method can be readily applied to suqh organs as the kidneys, lungs,
liver, circulatory apparatus, etc. The acute and chronic infections, wheth
er of industrial or general origin, and their importance are pointed out. The subject of personal hygiene is simply presented, utilizing the dis
eases or. defects that .have come to recent attention in the plant as a basis for illustration.
The subject of sanitation is^ presented systematically by following the plan of organization of 'modern health departments and their various divisions; for instance, the department of sanitation. The discussion includes the nuisances--sewerage and sewage disposal; garbage, its col
lection and disposal--domestic animals, flies, mosquitoes, etc., together
with the importance of good housing and the effects of bad housing, and lodging houses.
The spot maps made by health departments-indicating the highest tu bercular, the highest communicable disease rates--excepting perhaps ty phoid fever--the greatest juvenile delinquency, crime, drunkenness, and so on through the entire category of social ills, match exactly the spot maps indicating the greatest housing congestion.
BEEATION OF CONGESTION- TW DISEASE
Some years ago the Department of Health of this city, through Miss
Cdadsey. made a- study of two districts, one being in the old crowded section of the city and the other in an outlying section--Newburgh way,
which is composed largely of_ employees of the steel mills. Rents were
practically the same.
~
In the first district In 1907 fb 1914, there were 90S cases of tuberculosis
recorded--52 per 1,000 of population. In the second there were 450
cases, or 28 per 1,000 of population.
In the first district, in 19127"there were 665 cases of communicable dis
eases, or 3 per 1,000. In the second, 286 cases, or 1.29 per 1,000 of popula
tion.
--
Hi 4
-Eighth Safety Congress
From the foregoing, little computation is required to definitely fix in
dollars and cents the higher value of life in the uncongested section.
it must be borne in mind that a house is not a mere place for shelter.
It must provide that which will promote efficiency in labor and strength
of character and citizenship. The house connotes the family; the family
and not the Individual Js the unit of our civic structure.
It is now well recognized that in the modern factory at least the em
ployee is in better environment than in his own home. It seems the
height of folly for industry to expend many times the per capita cost or
health administratiomsh the maintenance of healthful surroundings in
the factory and permit the ostensible beneficiary to return to a home
environment carrying die elements potent with destruction to the individ ual worker, his children, and posterity.
Under the head of communicable diseases--prevention, treatment, and a simple discussion otiantitoxine. vaccines, their manufacture and use,
the length and importance of- quarantine, etc. Venereai Infections and
their effects are discussed freely, as they have come to he recognized as
the most important df" communicable diseases, heretofore shrouded in mystery and crime and not discussed with candor and intelligence.
This subject almost always enlists and holds the attention of ail audience.
It is amazing that theraverage individual knows so little or nothing of
the remote effects of venereal infection.
Tuberculosis presents- a wide and interesting field. Its relation to housing, overcrowding,^ foods, hours of labor, fatigue, rest, sleep, etc.
are pointed out. In connection with child hygiene in addition to the child itself, pre
natal care, reference to obstetrics, obstetrical procedure and Infant feed ing are discussed. The value of the medical examination of children is
emphasized.
_
Industrial hygiene is~ intimately related to child hygiene, yet when children leave school and 'enter active life the health authorities lose sight of them. Industrial hygiene Is an important feature in public
health work and it is^lainlv the duty of some authority to supervise
these voting men and women during the early period of their industrial
activity.
=-- -
Under the heading ot^food and dairy inspection--the production, cool
ing. handling, shipping, storage and delivery of milk, together with the
food value, the importance of bovine tuberculosis and the dangers of the insanitary market, together with the handling of food in the home, are
referred to.
'
in connection with vital statistics, birth registration, and their im
portance. invariably attracts attenion;
Tlie laboratory affords opportunity for a simple discussion" of culture taking and examination of diphtheria, typhoid, gonorrhea, syphilis, etc.
These subjects al ways mi list the closest attention of an audience. A description of the"examination of water and its importance is also
interesting.
t"?
These and other health-department activities presented even with haste
Health Service Section
675
hold the attention of an audience for half to three-quarters of an hour and bring forth questions indicating not a little grasp of the subjects
discussed. Supplementing the lectures it is advisable to offer a motion picture
show. Stereopticon and motion pictures appeal to shop employees and their families and large and, appreciative audiences are readily obtained either in the shop or at meetings under the management of Employees' Associations which now exist-among larger industries. Films are available from many sources. Our Government, in cooperation with other Govern ments, .together with educational and industrial institutions, maintains at Washington a Bureau of Commercial Economics, which has a large series of films on most of the subjects of personal and public welfare. The various state and municipal Health Departments and practically all of the state and national organizations for promoting health have series of pictures presenting strongly dramatic appeals on the subjects having
their attention. ' The American Child Hygiene Association, the Social Hygiene Associa
tion, The National Tuberculosis Association, The American Medical As sociation, The National Housing Association,. and others supply for a very modest cost sufficient material for a season of bi-weekly or monthly
lectures. A satisfactory series of lectures by the Works' physician is difficult for
the reason that most of our present-day industrial surgeons in small plants are part-time employees having neither the disposition, qualifications, nor time to discuss community problems. Unfortunately again the physician is trained to indiyidualism, seeing only the case and not viewing disease in its community aspect. His services are usually limited to advice to Individual patients, and if interested and conscientious this service is of course valuable and to him Js due the highest credit for the discharge of this responsibility. That there is an opportunity foi- the industrial phy sician to make a great contribution to the advancement of public health cannot be gainsaid. The work is clearly desirable; but at what cost and how shall it be brought about?
COST OF KHALTII SUI'KKVISIOX IX IXDUSTKT
In 11116 the National Industrial Conference Board surveyed 99 leading industries in an endeavor to-ascertain the cost of health supervision in industry. It was disclosed that the cost incident to the care of 495,544 employees was $1,23S,4S5 <5T!r$2.50 per capita. `The budget of the N. Y. Health Department is $3,957,292,15, or in round figures, $4,000,000. The population according to the_Bureau of Census .Tuly 1. 191.S. is 5,872.143, or roundly, 6,000,000. Hence it is that the per capita expenditure is about 67 cents.
The population of Cleveland in the same year was 810,306 and its Health Department expenditure slightly less than $250,000, or somewhat over 30 cents per capita.
This lack of expenditureTioes not include however the maintenance of hospitals. If industry sees^its way clear to make an outlay of $2.50 per
676 -Eighth Safety Congress
employee, surely it is possible for the community to make a somewhat larger output and obtain returns wholly out of proportion to the sum ex pended by industry- and that from the public funds.
It is clear, therefore, that there Is an overlapping of effort with no inconsiderable waste o money. Experience has shown that there are three stages to the development of social movements: a period of agita tion, a period of organization, and a period of final incorporation of the desired order of things.
CKXTRAJ-IZATIOX OF fTJRCIC HEAI-TII EDUCATION
It is obviously the time for beginning an agitation having for its object
the centralization of public health education and control in some cen
tralized governmental authority. This organization might well stand
sponsor for such a movement. It is unfortunate that the present scope
of function of the U. Sr Public Health Service could not include the Ad
ministration of Compensation Funds and other forms of social insxiran.ce
likely to eventuate, which in accord with the claims of their advocates w|H react xo the prevention of disease.
It is perhaps more courageous than discreet to suggest that business
in its present altitude'toward Government control, complete or partial,
of social or economic function, pool its interest in a small group of the
community with that of the community as a whole. Nevertheless, with
the advantage demonstrated, executives are quick to respond to the de
mands of the period.
It would seem entirely feasible to consolidate the function of Compen
sation Commissions with that of National, state or municipal departments
of health, or. if the principle of States rights interferes, it would be workable to bring nbout_co;>peration between the agencies with the point
of contact resting HpoCtlie state department to the end that their re
spective functions be applied to a single or at least correlated effort that
would make its impress on the whole community in the better under standing of the purpose- and value of preventive medicine.
Cjiaikmax
"^This brings us to the consideration of the papers
which we have hc-en hearing this afternoon.
DISCUSSION
Nr. S. I>. Hx.'itii.\i:n (Department of Health, New York City) : In dis cussing the paper of DtETSelby I wish to call particular attention to the opposition regarding physical examinations which exists in the ranks of labor. I understand that one of the planks in the platform of the steel strike relates specifically! to the matter of physical examination. In the city of New York, owing to the compulsory requirements of the physical exam-tj'i-i'Ti >r bakers and the arbitrary exclusion of bakers from their occupation w fcm the presence of a communicable disease is found such as tuberculosis or syphilis. It has reacted, in a very unpleasant and un happy manner. There is at present being put into effect a scheme of revocaUomtiir.ing these individuals. Even in the tubercular cases, an open
Health Service Section
G77
air bakery is being contemplated. So that we will try to work a less de gree Of hardship, but I do believe that this organization should put itself as in favor of physical examinations, not with the idea of excluding a man from his chosen vocation hut of practically showing him how he can work to better advantage for himself, his family, his employer, to say nothing of the community.
Mb. Robixsox (California & Hawaii Sugar Refining Company): I would like to ask Hr. Selby what he considers a fair remuneration to a physi cian for making physical examination of employees--that is in the case of a plant which does not employ a physician regularly. Our employees are examined by a local physician, and at present our examination is very simple. It does not go into the details of a thorough examination by any means, and I have in contemplation the request for a more complete physical examination of employees, and in regard to that I would like to get an idea of what this examination is worth to the average, physician. We employ an average of abouf 1400 men.
Mb. J. S. Keoeber (State Medical Board, Washington) : The industries which have taken the van icr this movement of physical,, examinations are skimming the cream. They are getting the physically Gt men in their employment and they are profiting by it; but if this movement continues we shall have universal examination for employment, and just as sure as you live you are going to have a discard, a discard that is just as inevitable as the discard in a poker game, and those industries which are forced to draw front this discard will not think very much of
that whjch. they will draw. A condition of the physical examination which places on record that
condition of the man when he enters industry is one thing. There is a permanent partial disability in industry due to the breaking down of the constitution of the man just as clear as there is a permanent partial disability to industry by reason of the fact that dropping a man down an elevator shaft or chewing himT up in some piece of machinery or doing the thousands of other things that he receives compensation for. If that man or that woman is broken down in the occupation incident to his employment the world says, "It is too bad;" the doctor says, "A case of nervous breakdown." We who view that subject from its intimate relation are regretful. The general public says, "Well, another one gone." But
there is a liability attached to it on the part of industry, that condition which created that physical disability, and that must be met and made a component part of your examination.
JDr. C. H. Seeby: I think there were two or three points brought up in connection with physical examination. One is the attitude of labor. I realize full well that labor is antagonistic to the physical examination, not the theory of physical examination but the way it is applied. They are not opposed to the physical^ examination for the purpose of determin ing the condition of their bodies and the use of the information so secured to their betterment, not at all. If they have any advantage coming to them because of the physical examination they accept it willingly and gladly. I maintain that the physical examination and the subsequent
f t s
Eighth Safety (Jotigress
supervision and assistance In the maintenance of health instruction, etc.,
is a right which labor has the privilege of demanding, and I think labor
should demand it. As I said the examination is basic to industrial medi
cine. Industrial physicians cannot act intelligently in the supervision
cf health conditions and working conditions unless they have a knowledge r.f the facts as they exist in the bodies of the men working in those plants, and the only way that they can secure that information is by
making the physical examination, but if that information is not used for those purposes, if Tf is used only for the purpose of rejecting unfit
applicants for employment, certainly the physical examination is going to get into disrepute. -J--Vtsited a number of large institutions during the
war. Several of them gave up the physical examination. "Why, did you
give up physical examination?'' I asked them. "Because the only evident
result that we saw front it was the exclusion of workers and we want
workers." That was the only effect that those manufacturers saw from
the physical examination. Now Ladies and Gentlemen, that was the fault
of the medical profession. I say that the theory of examination is all
right and it Is acceptable to labor. If labor has not accepted it, it is the fault of the medical profession in applying the principle of physical ex
amination--nothing else.
As to what a physician should be paid for his services in making physi
cal examinations, that IS a matter for the physician himself to determine.
1 cannot suggest anything further.
Mu. .M. C. Gooisi*kki> (General Electric Company, Erie, Pa.): I \yould like to comment on this question of rejection. You must reject for cer
tain positions in ordernfo protect a man against himself and to protect
his fellow workmen against the man. You couldn't put a man subject to epileptic fits up into the air. You must protect him and the men under neath him. You must TSject him for certain jobs but you can give him a
job somewhere else.
--
Chairman- Lai.-m-kk: =As
adjourned.
Adjournment.
this
concludes
the
discussions,
we
will
stand
SATUKDAY MORNING SESSION
HE meeting was called to order at 10:00 A. M.f Dr. Chas. A. Lauffer,
X Chairman, presiding. Chairman- Lai:ki-i:r: First in order of business, we will ask for the re port of the Xonnnalingl'oiinnittee. Dr. Davis of Cleveland, Chairman:
REPORT-OF NOMINATING COMMITTEE
Du. Davis: Your lioirrinating committee has agreed upon the following mi tiles as officers of tire Health Service Section:
Dr. W. I. Clark of the Norton Company. W'orcester. Massachusetts, as Chairman.
Dr. A. \\*. Coloord. Carnegie Steel Company, as Vice Chairman.
Health- Service Section
I>r. William A. Sawyer, Eastman Kodak Company, as Secretary. (On motion the report was accepted and the candidates elected.) Chairman Dai-kkeb: Another item of business before the meeting con cerns advance work along technical lines for the ensuing year. The gen tleman who read the excellent^paper on "Industrial Dermatoses" yester day. suggested that a motion be passed by this section to the effect that a technical man. a specialist in skin diseases, he put on the committee at the home office of the National-Safety Council, and that work along con structive lines be organized through industrial physicians and members of the American Medical Association, to the effect that something in the way of prevention and treatment be arranged for the reduction of industrial dermatoses. We have the assurance that members of the Dermatological Section of the Medical Association will assist us with their records and in. every way enable us to find :out what has been done in the way of pro tective coverings for the skin; wliat has been done in tlie way of rendering gloves impervious to chemicals by the use of protective measures so that what a committee of this sort would have to do would he largely to visit and cooperate with men in this special field. The United States Department of Health has done a great deal of work along these lines but there are some things that have not been covered. One year devoted to a constructive program along this line, and another year to a constructive program along some other line, would be highly advantageous to industrial medicine. I think the matter is an important ene, and I would like to hear from Dr. Clark.
REGARDING COMMITTEE ON I snpSTHI AI. IlliltM ATOKKS
Dit. Cr.AitK: It would be exttemely valuable for us to take things up in just this way. This is a reaJLconstructive piece of work which can be done. We all have experiences with dermatoses. I don't think there is any industry that hasn't at least the danger of furunculosis in its work and we go from that to various definite forms of poisoning .which occur in special industries.
.Now to be able to have some definite ideas along .these lines, to be able to cal] on some central body for information and advice when we run into some definite problem, it seems to me would be of the greatest value to every one. I would like to see such a committee appointed and I would like to see an appropriation tor such a committee to carry on its work where it would be in eontacttjvith men who would be able to give the best advice possible, and where you or 1, or any one else can send in and get information and advice in regard to any perplexing problem along the dermatological line ~'which may arise.
1 have been very much interested in the question of cutting oils. We have had practically no trouble in the way of infection in hands and arms, except in a very few individuals who apparently do have a lowered resistance and do have thesezinfeetions. About a year ago, I established a conference with my nurses mad each nurse reports once a week in this conference the number of infectious which we have had in clean wounds, and we haven't had any. But, we do have a certain number of these skin
6S0 Eighth Safety Congress
infections around the forearms and hands which we can't say are due
to the cutting- oil, but may be due to other causes. Now the problem which
arises is, how are `e going to get the best way of finding out quickly
whether our cutting oil is infected? What is the simplest method of find
ing that out? WhaLshould we do if we find the cutting oil is infected?
What is the best method, the best and cheapest method of protecting
our workers' hands and arms in case there may be some Infection in the
cutting oil? That simply gives an experience which we are all bound to
have, and we can readily see how important the problem is.
The Chairmax: Could we hear from Mr. Williams of the National
Safety Council staff?
-Mr. Sidxev J. Wji.i-iasis: The Council does not want to start competi
tion with any medical organization. Most of you remember the discus
sion about a year again Chicago about a combination of health organizar
tions. We don't want to run counter to that. On the other hand, if this
section thinks the line of inquiry which you would like to carry out would
be a contribution in the general field of medical and health development,
certainly the Council is very glad to have you do anything along that line
that you wish. The sections in the Council have always been almost
entirely self-governing. I don't clearly understand whether yon have in
mind principally the appointment of a paid man to work on this subject,
or the appointment of a committee from among your own men best quali
fied on the subject, or both. Is it both. Dr. Clark?
Dr. Ci.ark : My idea. sir. was to have a central individual, or group of
individuals, as the case might be necessary, to whom any one could write
any dermatological problem and who would be in position to answer
him thoroughly. justias you would write to the Public Health Service, but they would probably not give you as good and clear information with
out special investigation. This man would be able to give you a quicker
answer.
Mr. Wii.i.iams: Would that involve the addition of a man with medical education to the National Safety Council's staff to take care of this work?
Dt. Ci.ark: I doiTtr think it would be necessary to have a man; we
could send that matter in to the National Safety Council and let them
handle it as they saw fit, and. if there is enough work to justify hiring
a man to take care CEt it, all right. If there isn't, they can handle it as
they see fit.
-23
Mr. Wir.i.iAjis: SoTar we haven't had any one on. our staff with any
medical training whatever. The health bulletins have been prepared by
officers of the section, and we have simply issued them. I am sure I can
say for the Council and the Executive Committee that they would look with great satisfactlcrtETon the appointment by you of a special committee
on this subject, because that would be quite along the line of our general
policy of collecting aiid disseminating information in connection with
safety and health atnfLallied problems in industry. I am sure also, that
the head office will give at least some time, on the part of someone on its
staff, to carrying out the detail, routine work outlined by that committee,
in the way of writingTor information and so on.
IIedlthTService Section
6S1
I am not sure that we could"at this time appoint a full time man. on the staff, because Just at present we are spending every cent of our in come. It is possible you mightZOnd some of the younger medical men in industry" in Chicago that might be paid a couple of hundred dollars a year for a few hours of work a week.
Dr. Davis makes the very practical suggestion that this committee which you may appoint, should be able to meet in Chicago one or more times during the year, inasmuch as most of you are connected with in dustries and could make a trip like that occasionally. You could meet at our headquarters, and then we could make such arrangements as seem necessary to take care of the detail work. Dr. Clark as Chairman of the Section is ex-officio a member of our general Executive Committee and will attend its meetings as often as possible and represent the section.
Dr. Harvey (Crane Company,"Chicago) : I take it from the speaker yes terday that this plan .didn't contemplate the hiring of a full time man; neither did it contemplate putting the National Safety Council to any great expense. It was merely to^ bring out the fact that there was a need of collecting data on the broad subject of industrial dermatoses, and, while it wouldn't be feasible to have joint committees from the National Safety Council and the American Medical Association and the American Association of Industrial Physicians, because they wouldn't do any work, still, as Mr. Williams said, a committee would take bold of the work and get in touch with these experts in skin diseases who would be glad to go over the data and analyze ItT and get out some good information for physicians in the industrial field. I can't see that there would be anj' great expense and it doesn't contemplate a physician and surgeon to be added to the staff.
:Cuairmax Lacffkr In order to bring it before the meeting will you recommend that the incoming president appoint a committee of three, with power to act?
Dr. Harvey: I make a motion that the incoming chairman of this
section be instructed, and requested rather, to appoint a committee of three or five, to handle this broad subject of industrial d.ermatoses, co operating with the Executive Committee of the National Safety Council, and other organizations interested in this subject, and report back, if pcssible, at the next annual melting.
(The motion was seconded and: carried.) Chairman- Lauffek : Our first paper on "Malingering" will be presented by Dr. Judson C. Fisher of New York--Dr. Fisher.
MALINGERING--INVOLVING THE PROBLEM OF GETTING THE SICK OR INJURED EMPLOYEE BACK TO "WORK
Dr. Judson C. Fisher. SEEci.vr.iST in Industrial Insurance,
New York City
Malingering may be defined a~ the conscious and deliberate feigning of illness or injury", or as the exaggeration of symptoms. Some comparative Zoologists, after studying the animal kingdom, say that malingering is a
(i82
. -- Eighth Safety Congress
form of self preservation--an offslioof of fear. In tile animals it is called instinct. If one stops^to analyze the casts of malingering in respect to na tionality. physiognomy, and mentality, there are evidences that this "in stinct." as it were, is a real thing and a trait which supports Darwin's The ory of Evolution. History and Literature have recognized malingerers since the beginning of the world. The earliest instance known is recorded in Genesis, Chapter 31__Verse 35, where Rachel, in 1056 B. C. malingered in order to secrete the; stolen idols of Laban. What boy in our day hasn't malingered in order, to attend the ball game, carry water for the elephants, go fishing,.or escape an unprepared lesson? While the problem is old. yet in these~Jfast-moving days cf industrial activity there are new aspects which must be considered. The various methods of malingering, the tests for its detection, and the training of the doctors for this special branch are food for_s>ther papers.
That admirable legislation known us the Workmen's Compensation Act. now operating in the majority of the states, has given us an opportun ity to study cIoseKy_.the injured employee, and. where occupational dis eases are included, has stimulated interest in the sick employee.
In justice to the workmen in general, I believe malingerers to be in tile minority. Thejtieas brought out in.this paper are for the purpose of detecting and curing an .ulcer which causes the innocent to suffer, and by its cure will cause the honestly-disabled employee to receive all the honor, sympathy, and consideration due him.
The malignering SBployees may be roughly classed as: A. Dishonest employees who say little. B. Exaggerating employees who are less experienced and therefore
voluble to .make the most of their injuries.
"FAKIRS"
The dishonest, employees or ''fakirs" are those who have a slight or no accident or illness. They report an injury and become immediately dis abled. The doctor finds little or nothing upon physical examination, but, willing to be alwayg^fair, gives the employee the benefit of the doubt and sends him home. His disability becomes total, and on account of "pain" lie says he cannot work. If he has a slight cold he reports sick and says the pain in his chest keeps him from work. A physical examination shows no evidence jgf illness.
Where settlements, are permitted, as among stevedores and longshore men under the Admiralty Law, foreign labor is urged and often assisted to malinger by the Hunners" or "shysters." Within the last three months I have seen the foHeaving malingering cases of this class:
1. B. C. age SSr^Italian, married, was lightly hit by a draft of boxes and was supposed to have injured his left shoulder. He went to a doctor, fwho treated him every day. Physical examination three weeks .from date of accident for the purpose of determining the extent ofTOisability. showed marked inability to raise the left arm sind. upon palpitation, a very tender shoulder joint. After various tests, no signs of frsteture or changes in or about the joints were
Tieai t h Service Section
0S3
discovered. There wasja mottled blue area of skin about 4 Inches in circumference over the shoulder. The "bruises" were superficial and not deep. Investigation confirmed the suspicion that these "bruises" were caused by some one sucking the skin of the shoulder, and making what the Jjovs call "fox bite." Had the man had a real injury the settlement would have been in proportion and the "runner" would have JEad a larger fee. In this case the employee was dishonest and the-lVunner" tried to assist him to be more dis honest with the hope for greater benefits. 2. P. Q_ age 46, Hebrew, married, claimed to be walking along a ware house when he slipped Jjn a banana peel. In trying to catch himself he bent backward and hit his head and the middle of his back upon some crates standing imar, No one saw the accident, bnt a doctor strapped his back. When examined there was a blistered area of skin across the small of the back, which proved to have been made by a hot poker in order to fool the examining doctor. While his back was being examined, his clothes were dropped down about his ankles, and his hat placed upon the floor. During the examination he claimed inability tff bend forward. lrpon being left alone he was seen, through a peek slit from another room, to bend over, pull up his clothes and pick up his hat.
At present, in the investigation of the State Insurance Fund of New York, a regular school has been discovered where employees of the Fund coached injured employees yto malinger so that they received higher awards than they were entitled to receive.
Flagrant malingering where the claimant is dishonest, unassisted, is seen as in the following caseCL `
.1. M. N. German born, age 22, draughtsman, was injured in Niagara Falls. He claimed thaf~while lifting one end of a drawing board he felt pain in both groins. Physical examination showed a large indirect inguinal hernia on both sides. He claimed never to have had a lump on either side before. He insisted upon operation by his New York family ^doctor and not the Insurance Company's doctor. His doctor uled carbolic acid in mistake for novoeaine, burned the skin from the boy's navel to his knees and he became sterile by the contraction of the scar tissue over the cords. Investi gation showed that the^drawing board weighed 12 pounds and his end, therefore, weighed 6 pounds. His could not have been a traumatic hernia. This malingering caused loss of services and money to .the employer and much suffering with permanent dis ability for the malingerer.
2. M. M. was led in by aT young girl. He stated he was 51, married, family in Italy, and had been-burned in both eyes by live steam. He claimed to be abledro distinguish light and dark only. External physical examinationTffiemed to bear this out, except for the fact that his eyes quickly followed the dropping of a ring to where it rolled. While he was faced toward the window his coat was put on another chair, his TTat hung in a darkened corner of the room,
6S4 Eighth Safety Congress
and his glasses.changed to another position of the desk and par tially hid by a paper. His ability and agility in finding these ob jects while talking about compensation led to his claim being re jected. 3. A young man, JLormeriy an acrobat, age 28, married, sprained his ankles while carrying a heavy chain. He returned to work in three weeks, compensation was paid and the case evidently closed. He apparently did the same and heavier work for nine months. Then he laid off and asked for a rehearing. Physical examination was negative, x-ray^was negative, yet he held his feet almost rigid. Several doctors, including the Chief Surgeon of an Accident Board, could find no cause for his complaint that "the pain in his ankles was so bad he couldn't work." X couldn't elicit the usual evidences of pain, and finally had him kneel in a chair facing the back. His feet hung rigidly- Tapping the achilles tendons caused an unex pected free extension of the feet. This movement was not painful. This was one ofTthe very few cases where I felt justified in. testify ing "this man has no pain." Despite the negative evidence the Board awarded .compensation. Beavlng the building the employee said to me "I guess I didn't talk up to them enough. S. told me that he talked tip and was given $30<J0 and' X got less than $1000." After the settlement he had no further need for his cane.
KXAGGKRATIOX OF Sl'MPTOMS
The second class is composed of employees who have been, ill or injured so that the evidences^re present upon physical examination, and yet who claim to be unable to return to work. In these cases the physical examination, shows exaggeration of symptoms. The men decide not to return to work until they are as "fit as the day they quit." This class may be divided into (TO those who are in the age group 25 to 40, and (2) those who are in the age group 55 to 75.
The age group from 25 to 40 contains many malingerers who desire time off because when Idle they make more money as follows: J. C. belongs to several I,o4ses or Muttial Benefit Societies, whereby the total weekly benefits, including ccmpen.iation, exceed the average weekly wage. His wife may also be-working an.d adding her mite. In these days of high wages and comparatively low compensation benefits this class has fallen off in numbers,'hut in ordinary times these employees we always have with us. The men find it much easier to have free medical attention, to have high weekly ^Benefits, and to be able to sit around and talk or read, than to have tdzfwork in order to earn the amount sufficient for their needs. This isiSspecially so when the earning power is less pro ductive than the benefits.
The age group from 55 to 75 years--the winter season, of life--usually contains men who own a little property purchas'd with their savings, and have rent practically free. They have children who are married, and any at home usually contribute, so that the income from Compensa tion Boards, T-odgesr3fnd members of the family with an occasional
Health Service Section
6S5
gratuity from the employer is more than sufficient to feed and clothe the family. These men are satisfied to sit around and talk and do the chores, but when it comes to work they claim inability of all sorts. A good example of this class resides in the city of Buffalo. His history is
as follows: K. K. age 62, married, no children, while working for his brother as a carpenter, fell a distance of 10 feet and landed on both heels. He fractured both heel bones. The injuries were promptly and properly treated. The slight swelling of the legs, common to inactive men of his age, appeared occasionally, and there was a slight deformity due to callous formation in the left heel. He was fitted with proper arch supports and shoes, baked and massaged, and after a period of total disability for 52 weeks, was told to return to work. The brother-employer was approached concerning re-employ ment of X. X. He said he thought K. K should rest, and thereby prolonged the disability, because Iv K. would "work for nobody but his brother." X. X. ^claimed pain in the muscles of his leg after standing a while, and pain in the bones of his feet at nights He refused to try to do anything. Five years after the accident the examination revealed nothing more than the usual results of this type of fracture. Investigation proved that he owned his home, did the chores, cut the grass, cared for his garden, hoed the pota toes, and yet exaggerated his symptoms, so that the Insurance Carrier has paid him $15.00 per week for five years, with the prospect of paying him as long as he lives, and the chance of sup porting the widow afterwards. Statistics show that more employees malinger who are injured than
those who are ill. This is probably due to the legal liability feature, therefore, we will deal with bur problem of returning the employee to work, with a tendency toward the accident feature. Necessarily this will involve problems of workingmen's compensation administration.
If Health Insurance ever becomes law in this country the American people will be astonished at the days lost through illness in comparison with the days lost now. The curve will increase each year. This was demonstrated in "Workmen's Compensation. The first year the law went into effect the insurance companies made money because the benefits were not understood. The next year the days lost increased and have been in creasing" in numbers each year.
, 5PBOBI.E3X OF BETTJ1BNISG A SIALIXGEREB TO WORK
The problem of returning^ the Injured or sick malingerer should be attacked as the medical profession attacks diseases. The premise is that the disease is present. TcCtreat it properly there must be a knowledge of the causes, the symptoms and signs of the illness itself, and the cure by (I) preventative measures, so that others will not be afflicted, and (2) the treatment of the diseased one by eradication of the symptoms.
A. As to the premise there Is no argument. No sane person doubts Its existence.
Us
<;S(>
Eiyhth Safety < 'onyress
B. The causes of nEHUngering:
These are many, and because of their importance in treatment they
should be mentioned in border.
1. The Employee.
^=-
Starting with the malingerer himself we must consider him as to his
Among foreign elements all ages tend to exaggerate and malinger,
ability to endure \vouhL_result in a far le3s malingerinng in proportion th
especially the I^itin races. The American youth, except in rare instances,
wants to be back at wdrk as soon as possible. His future is before him.
About 50 years of age roan begins to consider work as. a means of exist
ence and takes pride in his past achievements. He begins to feel that
society owes him a rest and a pension, and exaggerates accordingly.
Some older men, with the pride of years of service behind them, will
drag themselves to work if possible that their record may not be broken.
Men with such spirit are the rdal heroes of labor. Unfortunately human
nature seeks rest as the sun of life sinks.
The influx of women'w'orkers during the world war has been too recent
for reliable statistics. *ZTt would seem, however, that their ambition and
ability to endure would result in far less malingering in proportion than
among the male sex. 5
The less educated, the lazier men become. Conversely, as the mind im
proves its status so does the malingering become lessened. There seems to
arise an ambition which refuses to be downed by ill luck. Therefore,
lack of education is recognized as a cause of malingering.
The mental attitude of the employee is interesting on account of the
motives discovered. (al He may be revengeful and feel that his em
ployer owes him moreZJhan the law provides, or that the prolongation
of disability will tend to get even with the employer for some real or
fancied wrongs, (b) JBe may be ambitious for attention, sympathy, and
alms. All clinics have those who make regular rounds year after year.
The Hospital Charity Organization Societies, Churches, Bodges, and
various benevolent safilfities know this type well. Cc) He may be
defective mentally, and that type includes the fanatics, the convulsionfsts.
the hystericals, imitators, and manic-depressive cases. 2. The Employer.
Employers may be divided into two classes for our purpose, (a) One
class is composed of those who are too generous. They pay full wages
for time lost irrespective of compensation laws. In some few cases this
would be extremely gracious and well deserved, but the temptation of
nature to prolong disability Is too strong in the vast majority of cases.
b) The other class Lis^ just as close and indifferent as possible. While
I was trying to induce^ a president of a large concern to introduce a
sanitary lunch room, "hospital, and first-aid organization, he said "Why
should I try to make itjpleasant and safe for those fellows aside from my
question of rate? ThT whole 5000 would walk out tomorrow and not
think about me if an agitator trumped up some fancied wrong." Had he
paid more attention to the men's comforts, organized safety-first units,
learned a few men's names, dropped, a smile or word of commendation
Health Service Section
687
here and there, or built lip a brotherhood among- the employees, there
Would be little economic loss through malingering. Personal interest
properly exercised breeds loyalty among employees that even instinct
can't abuse very much. Keeping the employees informed as to statistics
of work in past years for comparison, and accident frequency with loss
In terms of sick or injured days, will go far to arouse an unbeatable pride
in the workmen's heart.
lack of interest on the part of the employer
means a lack of proper follow-up methods and does much to favor.
malingering. 3. The. Industrial .iccident Boards.
These foster malingerinirby (a) having no facilities for quick hearings
in malingering cases as Hpn as detected. In some states it takes from 2 to 6 weeks to have a case appear on the calendar after application for
hearing has been made. If detected, the malingerer knows he will be
given consideration at least to the date of the hearings, which gives him
added weeks of benefits, which he otherwise would not receive, (b) Urging
legislation, raising the amount of compensation indiscriminately. The
man with a sore finger can do work of some kind where the man with a
broken leg could not get out to look for it. The helplessness of the latter
requires greater expenditures and should have a higher rate. In other
words, a scale depending upon the degree of disability should be chosen.
The simpler the`injury, or the undue prolongation of an accident in like
proportion, calls for less in benefits. The most worthy should be entitled
to the maximum benefits. Malingering is fostered by high benefits,
(c) Mixing politics and sentiment with business. Very few appearing
before various state boards have not seen an elaborate staging of a case
with relatives for supporting parts, in order to sway the Board, and the
subsequent sympathy cause a ruling not upheld by the higher courts.
Many have seen union cards' and political affiliations worked to the limit,
because the Law says that the Board shall be the sole judge of fact.
With proper "introductions" the malingerer is confident that the Board
may be generous. (d) Failure to prosecute perjurers or malingerers
when so proven. This freedom from prosecution is a source of comfort
to the malingerer. What has he to lose? (e) Failure to have a com
petent medical member of the Commission, .whose duty would he to
arbitrate all medical cases. He would weigh the opinion of the Chief Medical Examiner against .the testimony of the Insurance Company's doctor, or the claimant's doctor. Malingerers could not then trust to the
ignorance of a lay mind concerning the importance of the medical prob
lems involved! or the symptoms presented.
4. The Medieul Profession, sad to relate,
mnlinfferinff.
.^
contributes
much
toward
(a) Family doctors depend upon the ramilies and their friends for
their practice. They feel they can't afford to get on the wrong side of
any fence, consequently the malingerer preys on them for certificates of
extended disability which the doctor can later usually hack up with some
kind of opinion, lb) Lodge and Society doctors are in the same class
and their reappointment the following year depends on the vote of the
6SS
Wighth Safety Congress
Lodge. These doctors rarely perjure themselves for a few dollars, but
they will stretch the truth. Malingerers get certificates comparatively
easy from such men. (cl The shyster doctor, as well as lawyer, we
have with us. To such the truth means nothing and they trust to their
personality to convince lay Board, members of a fearful and wonderful
condition in the claimant. This type of doctor has his "price." (d)
Incompetent doctors treating all manner of cases prolong and sometimes
provoke disability unduly, and discourage the injured or sick. Thus they
encourage malingering. T 5. The "Third Tartu," ^
The so-called friendly enemy or runner who learns a few symptoms
of disability and how tctproduce them artificially in some cases. This
party, plus a natural malingerer, makes a hard combination to beat.
The runner is after his percentage and the higher the cost to the
employer, the greater his profits.
C. The detection and methods of detection of the signs and symptoms
of malingering will be left to the Industrial Surgeon or Specialist in
malingering. Suffice to say that the diseases having been proven present,
we next consider the
-
I>. Treatment.
1. Prevention or prophylaxis.
This consists chiefly in correcting or removing the causes.
As for the employee;-pension the faithful employees before they are
added to the industrial scrap heap, stimulate pride in men to outdo the
women in stick-to-it-iveness. Educate them at least to an awakening
interest; determine the mental attitude by physical and social examina
tion before employment Slid eliminate the mentally unfit. The moral
and physical hazard of those employees in daily contact would be greatly
increased if defectives were allowed on duty.
The employer should be"kind, gentle, courteous, and jolly, but firm and
not unwisely generous. He should make the employees feel it Is their
business also, and each man is a spoke in the wheel which will not run
smoothly if a spoke Is Kissing. He should advocate employees* clubs,
comrorts, and organizations, and encourage them with his occasional
personal supervision.
The Industrial Boards should have one-day emergency calendars presided
over by a commissioner ^ho is a competent surgeon and specialist In
malingering; a fair scale of benefits so that the worthy receive their
due; a high sense of honor as custodians of hundreds of thousands of
dollars of employers' moiftys; an understanding that politics and senti
ment must be minimized in relation to business and the law. and the
prosecution or assisting the district attorney to p.rosecute all malingerers
and perjurers so proven.
The Medical Profession will from now on contain trained industrial
surgeons. Progressive colleges are beginning the courses. These should
supplant the family, lodgef^ociety, shyster or incompetent doctor. These
surgeons should be supported by industry but not subservient to it.
The Boards and Employers should refuse to discuss a case wherein
there was a runner or shyster lawyer. These vultures prey upon the
Health* Service Section
689
laborer's ignorance of his rights under the law and demand a percentage of that to which the Law Jays he is entitled. There Is no need for the runner and he should be eliminated. 2. The active treatment of Malingering.
The problem resolves itself into the fact that these employees are lingering and loitering on the threshold of industry. How best to en courage their voluntary return?
(a) Starting at the beginning of employment the application blank should have these questions on it:
(1) (2) (3)
Have you hatLany previous accidents? Explain. Have you had any previous illnesses? Explain. Are you now in good health?
A malingerer is not necessarily a good, liar, for a good liar remembers
his previous story.
----
(b) There should be a careful physical examination before employ
ment. Defects can be notediso that minor injuries cannot be amplified.
(c) Accidents or illnesses must be reported by some one within 12 to
24 hours after occurrence or they cannot be considered. Employers should be protected by the law in this. A physician makes an immediate exam
ination and controls the case, then a smashed finger at home can't be
charged to industry; a gonorrhoeal joint can't be referred to a strain
two weeks previous; lumbago can't be called sprain at work. Of course
where eye particles give trouble next day, or infection sets in three days
after a scratch there are definite signs of presumptive injury while at
work.
__
(d) Proper Organization^
(1)
(2) (3) (4)
Chief Surgeon.Z3A trained industrial surgeon who has spe cialized In malingering. He should have a pleasant and forceful manner; he a business man and well read. He must have a convincing manner on the stand and have tact. Assistants, as^many as necessary, to treat all injured men immediately upon report of accident or illness, and to make thorough examinations before employment and at any time where necessaryr Nurses who can pleasantly jolly a malingerer, and if possi
ble shame him into going back to work. One or more social service nurses, male or remale, to check up and investigate any suspicious actions or questionable testimony. These nurses should have a claim training so that they know a few details which they could attend to when necessary.
(e) Proper System.
^
A system to lessen malingering could be used as follows:--
As soon as an employee reports ill or injured he has prompt attention
by a doctor. The doctor's report, estimate of disability and history of the
case seen the previous day, is filed every morning. The employment
pard is ^tt$.Qhed to his history and physical examination card and becomes
690
Eighth Safety Congress
part of it. These cards^53- files go to a doctor for comparison. It the case looks legitimate the treatment continues until disability from that illness or injury ceases. The file then is placed back in the filing system and the case closed. If the case looks questionable the facts are investi gated by the social service department and action taken accordingly.
If the claimant later tries to reopen his case claiming all sorts of symptoms, he can be confronted with his previous well-kept record.
If disability lasts over four weeks the case automatically goes out of the assistant's hands until the Chief Surgeon shall have made an exam ination and report. The^Chief's word is final--the man goes to work or receives further treatment--general, operative, or reconstructive. This gives also the advantagesof the Chief Surgeon being able to watch the work of his assistants.jgAt any time an employee is thought to he malingering the report should be made confidentially to the Chief Surgeon.
The scheme may be expanded into the realms of state medicine. It may also grow into a clearing house for information concerning dishonest employees, such as the life and accident and health companies support. When an employee is dishonest to the point of malingering he should be known, that the honest employees be not made to suffer by his actions. This would reduce the number of so-called "traumatic hernias" alone, so that the saving in this one type would pay for the bureau.
This scheme is also applicable to any group of employers or insurance carriers in any one city where the individual system might be too expensive for any one employer.
(f) Proper punishment. A firm hand by the industrial Boards in dealing with malingerers is essential. It matters not whether benefits are cut off on the date the employee should have shown his good will and attempted' to resume some work upon the physician's advice, or the knowledge that detection of malingering will certainly he punished by the Boards or Courts--the employee who is fakingjrvill fear the consequences. Fear goes a great way to keep people straight who otherwise might be intentional maling erers. This fraud is tlie;meanest of all and should be severely dealt with. (g) Expert Diagnosticians. This group would include a well-paid Medical Commissioner, skilled in industrial medicine anti surgery and in the detection of malingering, and well-paid Chief Medical Examiners. Employees may have their own opinions, but they cannot seem to learn that working, after certain disabilities, will do more for them than medicines or treatment jjn hastening a cure. The difference between the patient visiting his ownv'Soctor and being examined by the Commission's Expert is that in the former case the patient seeks advice, while in the
latter case the patient squeezes symptoms to fit the condition. The former doctor is perhaps biased^ The Expert' is unbiased, and while giving the employee the benefit of The doubt, he is an administrator of justice to all, especially that great class of honest employees who say "I don't want' anything for myself. IiWant a good body and to get back on the job.''
The Expert should be acquainted with industrial conditions so that his judgment as to a finger injury would be fair to a tailor, or watch-
Health tier vice Section
(>01
maker, while the same injury would be less disabling to a foreman or driver, and the return to work order should accordingly be influenced.
The Expert should study the individual and know character. lie should know when to agre^with dishonest complaints and when not to agree.
He should have a fair knowledge of decisions of State Boards and Courts in various types of cases, as his questions and the answers thereto may prove of great value ^To the Commission in legally interpreting a malingerer's statement. . ~r
Finally, he should have A thorough knowledge of pathology. This is essential to account for many of the symptoms alleged by a malingerer. It is of untold value in the hundreds of tests to check malingerers. That is something of which the malingerer knows nothing.' This will stop the testimony of unscrupulous~doctors concerning a wonderful pathological condition, purely invented in the hope that the lay members of the Board will give the patient the benefits.
COKC1.USIOXS
In attempting to recognize the disease, investigate the causes, and treat the condition, there has been one point in view--that of returning the sick or injured employees =who tend to malinger, to work in the shortest time consistent with goodjrecovery. This saves an economic loss to the employer and protects the honestly-disabled employee, who by reason of his honesty should profit in proportion as the malingerer should suffer. The American spirit is justice for all. Stress has been laid on welltrained industrial surgeons^ This is because in my opinion few mistakes could be more serious or'do more real harm than to stigmatize an honest man a malingerer. It is possible by proper methods to prove malingering. At the pointy of doubt the Medical Commissioner is essen tial and his opinion should prevail on all medical questions. A nnmDer of malingerers get surprisingly well before they will be examined by the Chief Surgeon or. Medical Commissioner.
The malingerers cause the medical profession making impartial exam inations to view any caserwith suspicion until proven innocent, ff we can minimize the numberjpf malingerers we shall have done much for the honest sufferer. We shall also save the toiler from moral degradation which- follows misspent tline and unearned income. The detection of malingering is a highly specialized branch of medicine, for by It society pays its just debts, fraudulent claims against innocent parties are pre vented, and industry receives back the men as useful members instead o'f their heing leeches on society.
Chairman- La offer: Th the absence of Dr. Hambrechl. Chairman of the industrial Commission!of Wisconsin, who was to open the discussion. Dr. i-i. F. Kolleliberger. cf East St. Louis, who has given a great deal
of attention, to the element^ of play in restoring the unconscious malin gerer. will address us. Is^Dr. Kollenberger present?
Dr. Kollenberger has done work in connection with the Y. M. C. A. and the Army, and has found that men playing ball, and doing various exercises, mere play, have unconsciously exercised the joints of their
692 Eighth Safety Congress
backs and enabled themselves to bend and execute movements that they had before thought impossible. A person can do often as a matter of play, what he is unwilling or unable to do as a matter of work.
Or. Kollenberger is not here. I would be very glad to hear from some body on the subject of . malingering. The question has been admirably opened for discussion.
DISCL'SSIOX
Dr. Holtz (Pittsburgh): I hesitate to comment on Dr. Fisher's ad
mirable paper, however, he made one or two points which I would like
to discuss. There is one point I would like to challenge rather mildly, that is reference to the greater amount of malingering being found in
the foreign born, or the persons of low mentality. It has been my ex
perience, in a few cases of malingering I have run across, that the ma
lingerers have been of rather high mentality and shrewd. I don't believe'
that the successful malingerer can be classed among those of low men
tality.
I i: - >
In the matter of getting injured employees back to work as quickly as
possible. I have found that carrying into civil industry the practices of
some of the things we 5did in the army are very beneficial. Such, for
example, as those severe* hospital cases that -have been disabled for a
number of months. Heretofore it was our experience, and it is possibly rather common, that the severely injured employee easily becomes hos
pitalized and forgets howrto work. Quite recently we have had some pleas
ing results in applying jthe modified methods of vocational training or
education, if we call it that. These cases in the hospital, if they can't
use their hands, we try to have them use their feet. If they can't use
their feet we try to have them use their hands. We try to have them do
something that occupies Atlieir mind and we find at the end of their con
valescence they haven't forgotten how to work, and we get them back
on the job much more easily than we did before. Citatrman Lauitkk: Dr. Kollenberger has just come in.
Might we
hear .from you abqut your work. Doctor? Dr. Ivoli-C^cderokr: Ilintlie army, in dealing witb the wounded soldiers,
we found that the men wtfo came back to us wounded needed many times
mental treatment. We found also some of them, if there is such a thing
as unconscious malingering, could do things if they would. So, we try
to supplement the work of the surgeons in the treatment. We did our
work rather through play activities for these wounded men.
I will be just as brief as possible because I know you are crowded here.
We found this, and I think you will recognize the point, that when a
man is being massaged and is given the various types of treatment his
mind is focused on his injury and the poor fellow is wondering if he is
ever going to get well. lie knows the thing we call "hero stuff" Is soon
over, and he is up against it. So, we started a plan of play activities
so it would give them the exact exercise needed with his mind focused
off his Injury.
Jb'or instance, playing ball. I happen to have this glove with me. Here
is a simple glove, witb straps to flex each finger and here is a man who
Health Service Section
693
has been shot in the arm, or who has an injured elbow. Men have come
to us who have had their arms in casts for six months; the elbow rigid,
the fingers stiff. Now what can be done with that man to get his mind
focused on some recreation ? Well, we got a glove like this. The arms
of some of these men were so weak they couldn't hold them up, and they
would have to grasp the wrist with the other hand to punch a hag. In
a few weeks' time we could put a tennis racket in the man's hand.
Strapped It on and then have another man opposite him with a tether
bail. A. tether ball is a hall attached to a string and a stick on the other
end of the string. The injured man would try to hit that ball, he had forgotten all about bis wrist and his injury, and he would hit that ball
and try to wind the thing up on the other fellow. He would play for
probably ten or fifteen, minutes. You can readily see what would happen,
the range of motion would be increased, he unconsciously contracted
those muscles in there. If there is any break in tbe continuity of the
nervous system they would not contract. There was one man put tpis glove on his hand for the first time and
played for about ten minutes, and the glove was taken off. It was quite warm and sweaty and he started to close his fingers, and as he closed them
his eyes bulged, because' he had never been able to close his fingers as
much as that before, and in fifteen minutes he was able to move his
fingers. The" thing is this, I have in mind that while there are a great number
of tests to discover unconscious malingerers they sometimes discover them
selves. They will stoop for a ball, or drop their crutches without think
ing. If we can do this for the men who have been injured in our armies,
isn't there a great possibility to serve these men who have been injured In our industries? It is a. new field and I wish I had time to tell you of our other experiences, they all open up new ways of helping our men.
Ckaibm.vx LAcrreK: The next paper is "Tbe Treatment of Burns,"
by Dr. Clark.
Db. W. I. Cube: I have a great deal of hesitation in reading this paper. When I was asked by the Chairman to read a paper on burns, I felt a good deal of reluctance in accepting because some of tbe men in industrial
medicine see a great many more burns that I do- I think really a paper
on burns should be readlby a man who is in one of the steel industries,
or some industry where the burn hazard is a very large one. However,
from my small experience in burns I have worked out a few ideas, a sort
or resumfi of the whole subject which I hope will lead to a very active
discussion. It is simply to provoke this discussion that I'am reading
this paper. It is a short one, so you will have plenty of time for discus
sion. *
~r-
TBBATNIEXT of BURN'S
Db. W. I. Clabe, Jb., Nobtox Coitpant, Worcester, Mass.
Moorhead, in his Traumatic Surgery,* published in 1917, writing of burns says: "Practically speaking, they should all be regarded and
treated as infected wounds due to heat."
`Morehcad, John J., Traicmatic Surgery, 1917, p. 616.
(504
fijir/hth" S'rrfrf i/ ('ontj-rfiSs
Oo!cord'-'in a most rarefuLdiscussicn of burns and their treatment says
of a visit to a hospital where there were many burned cases: "Every
burned surface was covered with pus and the smell was disgusting.
Many writers speak of the ^absorption of pus from suppurating burns as
a frequent cause of death.
Why is it that burns tend to run a septic course? The heat which is
sufficient to kill the cells of the skin layers in a third degree burn should
certainly be strong enough to destroy microorganisms upon this skin
and it undoubtedly does. Thus a burn is an injury to one or more layers
of the skin resulting in death of the exposed tissues and readily infected
either direct from withoutmr from the neighboring unburned skin.
Therefore if we can keep a burn sterile it should, after the separation
of the slough, become a clean granulating wound and follow the same
course as other wounds ofZthis type.
While epithelium will grow on an infected surface its growth is slow
and unsatisfactory as compared with its growth over a sterile surface.
It is exceedingly difficult to maintain sterility in a burn of any magni
tude. Even with the greatest care any wound which is frequently dressed
becomes infected and this is particularly likely to occur when a mass of
dead and partially devitalized tissue Is the type-being treated.
In considering the treatment of a bum we have to consider two things,
the treatment of the burned ind|\'iduaj and the treatment of the local con
dition, the part burned.
The treatment first should be directly for the burned individual. The
conditions to be combatted are shock and nephritis. Secondary condi
tions such as fever and pulse rise with meningeal symptoms, vomiting
and diarrhoea, and sometimes symptoms of gastric or duodenal ulcer may appear as a result of thrombosis and toxic absorption from the local
burned area. These must be met as they arise.
The order of treatment is^as follows:
1. Put the patient to bed_in a warm room with hot water bags to feet
2. In removing the clothes, cut around burned areas being careful not
to tear the clothes from the_skin and cause additional trauma and avenues
for infection.
3. Protect the burned areas thus exposed by covering with sterile
towels or sheets.
^
4. Give patient *4 gr. -morphine with 1/100 gr. atrophine by hypo.
Repeat with caution if necessary.
Morphine is a stimulating narcotic and if used carefully can be em
ployed to combat the shock without risk.
. As soon as possible start a Murphy drip in order to combat shock
and supply fluids to the kidneys.
. When patient's condition begins to improve start treatment of the
local burned area.
-
The local treatment of a burn is practically the same for first degree,
second degree, and third degree burns. One or all types may occur In any
case.
.
sCofooivI, A. \\\. fitteruationaXirJournal, Surgery, May, \9\9.
Health Service Section-
695
KI KST Ut-T.UKK
The first degree burn involves only the outer layer of the skin, there
are no blebs following and^ no scarring results. The first, last, and only
treatment needed in this type of burn is to powder freely with powdered
stearate- of zinc. When this type merges into second or third degree
burns in the neighborhood the whole area had best be treated with a so
lution dressing. Before this is applied, however, a careful cleansing of
the skin with a mild antiseptic is carried out. This must be done thor
oughly, but gently, especially around the burned areas. For the skin three
or four inches from the burn, benzene applied with cotton mops and fol
lowed by 3% per cent Tinct. of Iodine is probably the most satisfactory
method of^sterilization. As we approach the burn ether should be substi
tuted as ii'is less irritating. It is applied with cotton mops. The doc
tor should wear sterile gloves, use sterile instruments, and if he opens
blebs should first sterilize the area with 3% per cent Tinct. of Iodine.
Moorehead recommends puncturing the bleb aseptically at the junction
between the sound and unsound skin.
After the surrounding skin has been prepared and the blebs attended to,
the burned area should be covered witb a suitable sterile dressing. There
are three types of dressing now in use.
1. Wet Solutions of which the most favored are 1 per cent Sol. of
Picric acid and Saturated Sol. of Bicarbonate of Soda.
2. Ointments of which the most used are Boric Acid and Soda Bicar
bonate 3 per cent. There have been a number of special burn ointments
developed, two of which have been so thoroughly tried out that their for
mulae will be given.
First Ointment. UsecL by Dr. A. W. Colcord in the treatment of S.000
burns.
'
I* Carbolic Acid _z
Thymol Menthol Camphor of each gr. 5
Ichthyol
Balsam of Peru of each gr. 10
Zinc Oxide Starch of each^JVfc drachms Petrolatum to make one ounce.
Mix well.
Doctor Colcord uses this ointment in 1/6 strength from the start. plied daily "with aseptic precautions.
Second Ointment. Ugld at La Panne,1 Belgium, during the war.
Ap
Vaseline Lanoline _ Antipyrine
`Dr. Rene Sand, llclgiuffizpersonal communication.
----------------------------------20 _______________________ 20
_________________________60
fi9G
Eighth Safety Congress
Boric Acid ................................
60"
Salol _______________________________
20
Iodol or Iodoform -----------
20
Phenol _________________________
20
Bichloride ofMercury..h_..........................................................................................................02
This ointment gave" extremely good results and was used with, aseptic
cautioD.
~
The third type of primary dressing is warm wax. This method started
with the proprietary substance Ambrein, but it has been found that the
action is only mechanical so that there are a number of mixtures of par
affin and resin now on the market which are quite satisfactory. One used
at the American Steel and Wire Company and Norton Company at "Wor
cester consists of
Paraffin ................................................................................................_______________________________70 White Wax .................................^r........................................................................................................20 Resin -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10
AH of the combinations are dispensed in solid form and must be melted
before using.
iF
atETIIOD OF APPLYING WAX
The method of applying the wax is first to dry the skin thoroughly using an electric blower such as is used in barber shops for drying the hair. After the area to be treated is thoroughly dried the wax is either sprayed or painted on. Spraying is wholly painless, painting nearly so. The wax must be just liquid Before being applied and can best be melted down in a double boiler. When the 'wax is painted on, sterile cotton swabs on applicators are the best instruments to use. The warm liquid wax should be dabbed on not "painted." The wax hardens almost at once forming a smooth coating extending over the sound skin for a short distance on all sides of the burned area. Upon this thin hardening, wax layer sterile sheet wadding which has been dipped in the wax is laid and over this another layer of sheet wadding. The whole dressing is held in place by a bandage. The advantage of using wax is the immediate cov ering of the burped area with a smooth sterile protecting surface with splinting of the injured part. '
The wax is removed daily coming off en bloc with the sheet wadding. The secretions underlying it are washed off with normal Saline, the area dried with hot air, and a fresh: wax dressing applied.
It seems to make little difference which method is used if the work is done carefully and absolute aseptic technique maintained throughout. Personally the author prefers a sterile saturated solution of soda bicar bonate for the first few dressings. It is easy to apply, gives considerable relief to the patient and requires less technique and handling of the in jured area than the ointment or wax. It should be applied by saturating a piece of old sterile sheeting in the solution and wrapping this loosely about the burned area. The moisture is maintained by surrounding the
Health Service Section
697
wet linen with oiled silk. -The dressing can be moistened from time to time by lifting a corner of the silk and carefully adding the solution.
If there is little sloughing the ointment or wax treatment can be in
stituted but if much sloughing is present a moist dressing will be needed.
The disadvantage of continuing the soda is that if any infection is pres ent it is liable to flourish in the alkaline medium unless the medium is distinctly antiseptic. For this reason it is well to stop the soda dressing after 24 hours and use alum acetate solution.
Alum ___________________________ Lead Acetate ----------------Water __________________________pts.
Dissolve separately and mix. Do not filter. Shake before using.
Pts. 5 pts. 25
500
This solution is mild, non-irritating and antiseptic. It has a white
precipitate which seems to have a very soothing effect upon the skin.
The solution has been used largely at the Worcester City Hospital and
elsewhere for burns.
^
After the slough has separated and granulations begun the turn may
be considered a granulating wound.
Three things must now be considered,--encouragement of Epitheliation,
care of the granulations, prevention of a deforming scar.
Epithelium forms fromThe germinal layer of the skin and its down
pocketings, and it is from: this layer that fresh epithelium is formed.
Three things seem to assist epitheliation greatly; first a sterile granula
tion tissue to grow over, ^second a smooth surface to grow under, third
pressure.
The difficulty of preserving sterile granulation tissue has been men
tioned. If It can be preserved, wax provides probably the best type of
surface to grow under. Its chief advantage is the ease with which it
can be removed without Injury to the new formed epithelial cells. At the
Ambrein Hospital In Paris a thin layer of sterile zinc oxid ointment is
applied along the epithelial edge further to protect the cells especially when the hot wax is applied. The cleansing of the wound after the re
moval of the wax is easy as compared with the cleansing of a wound cov
ered with ointment. However where there is any tendency, to infection
of the granulating surface the ointment is probably somewhat preferable because of its antiseptic properties. The importance of pressure in the
healing of granulating wounds was first noted by the author when exam
ining a series of burns irTthe Worcester City Hospital. Burns of the back
were in all cases progressing better than burns of the chest or extremity,
and it was concluded that_ pressure was an accelerating factor. It seems
to make little difference as to the type of covering which is employed pro
vided it Is smooth. Thus sterile adhesive plaster has been used by many,
and the author has obtained good results with gutta percha tissue, if
there are no wrinkles or air spaces.
f!08
Eighth Safety Congress
IXFECTIOX
Granulation tissue once infected is almost impossible to sterilize as
those who worked In France know only too well, therefore the basic prin
ciple in the treatment of burns as in all surgery is to keep asepsis of the
wound if possible and if in snite of all care it becomes septic endeavor
in every way to render it again aseptic. In burns Involving a large"area the burned area always becomes in
fected. This has been strikingly brought out by Fauntleroy and Hoaglund
in their recent paper in the `Annals of Surgery. In cases of this type it
is obviously impossible to expect to obtain sterility. The method used in treating these very extensive and difficult burns employed by these
authors and also favored by TVIoorehead is the open-air treatment with out any dressing at all. Massive crusts form over the burned areas and
beneath these pus forms plentifully. Cases seem to do a little better if
the crusts are not removed, but gently lifted when absolutely necessary
to give drainage. The crust forms a dressing very similar to paraffin. Fauntleroy and
Hoaglund. in discussing the treatment of these crusts say, "There seemed
to be two separate, distinct periods, at which time two distinct results
occurred simultaneously in all cases. The first period in which removal
was continuously followed by the same heaping up process. The second
period in which following a ^week's period of non-interference, removal, at this juncture, of the crust with the application of a thin smear of boric
ointment on lint was followed by a quick bridging over of the raw sur face with new skin and complete healing with no scar formation in a few
days* time."
=
To sum up: while it should^ he possible to maintain sterility in burns,
this is difficult and where large areas are involved almost impossible. In treatment the individual should be treated first, the burn second. The treatment of the burned area may be divided into the primary
treatment which consists of cleansing and the application of a moist dress
ing, and the secondary or more permanent treatment when open air. spe
cial ointments, solutions, or wax may be indicated.
Experience tends to show That absolute standardization of treatment is impossible in the secondaryTreatment as burns react in different ways. It would be advisable, howeyffi, to restrict the drugs and ointments to a
minimum number and study leach one carefully in order that a certain
type of standardization may he obtained. Emphasis should always be/laid upon strict aseptic technique without
which good results cannot be obtained. Chairman Lai'ffkk: We are now ready for the opening of the dis
cussion of Dr. Clark's excellent paper. Dr. Colcord, who was to open the
discussion, is unable to be present, but his paper will be printed in the
"Proceedings/''
agjg.
1 Fauntleroy. A. M.. ami I IcagluncI, A. \\\. ,-tunals of Surgery, .Tune, 1919, Vol l-XIX,
No. 6, p. 5S9.
~-
Health Service Section
699
DISCUSSION
U. A. W. Coi.coilP (Carnegie Steel Company, Clairton. Pa.) : Or. Clark has given us a splendid paper. He Is up to date without being Caddish-- and conservative without being a back number.
His remarks about treating a burn with the same .surgical cleanliness we do any wound cannot be commended too highly. His statements that every third degree burn must in the course of granulation and healing become infected is open to serious question. Much depends upon what we mean by an infected wound. Of course there will be pus germs and pus cells in the discharges. Lexer found in his Vienna clinic sixty pus germs per square m.m. in his cleanest made operating wounds. It takes more than the presence of pus germs, pus cells, and a visible discharge to make an infected wound. Sloughing flesh will have odor and will contain germs of putrefication. BuE this does not mean infection.
Infection is a disease at living tissue and there must be the clinical signs of the reaction--inflammation if you like--heat, redness, pain, and swelling--Nature's effort to repel the invader. The burns where the slough comes away kindly---where there is no marked rise in temperature, where the tissue about the slough show no clinical signs of infection I do not call infected. Much- of the tissue must come away in the liquid form and during the coming away of a large slough there may be some
rise of temperature. I must insist that our burns In the Clairton Hospital are not infected
as I understand infection.^ My nurses, assistants, visiting surgeons, and patients themselves all agree with me.
I have seen many infected burns during the past few years in our hos pital. They are all from three sources:
SOUKCKS OF ISKECTEIl BURXS
1. Delayed cases that came with an infection already started.
'2. A. certain percentage^ of our Ambrine series--say 25 per cent. :t. A few cases of slight infection of burns where skin meets mucous
membrane about eyes, nose, mouth, or anus.
All other cases now reaching far into the -thousands run a uniformly
clean course and heal with a minimum of pain and scarring under the use
of our burn ointment.
^
This ointment is a powerful local anaesthetic, a deodorizer, a germicide.
It comes as nearly to sterilizing the surrounding skin as anything I have
seen. It is with slight exceptions, non-poisonous and non-irritating. It
can be put on full strength for first dressings, where skin is not broken,
spread well beyond the-burned area. The surrounding skin has been
carefully cleansed with ether. As epidermis begins to shed we change to
one-sixth strength, diluting with five per cent boric ointment. In an oc
casional case of what I caU irritable burn (possibly one per cent of second
degree burns) it is necessary to use the five per cent boric alone. I have
never seen any unpleasant constitutional effects and the only local ill
effects have been those with a Balsam Peru idiosyncrasy--say one case
in five hundred. Here it'or anything else containing even a small amount
of Balsam Peru causes a^demiatitis. It stimulates granulation and epi-
700 Eighth Safety Congress
dermis formation, making the healing more rapid than by any other meth od I have seen.
Twice I have discontinued the use of this ointment for a time--once to treat a series of thirty cases with picric acid; once to treat several hun dred cases with ambrine. In. both instances the old employees who were familiar with the ointment treatment were loud in their demands that we return to it as they worked in greater comfort.
The open-air treatment as brought forward by Moore of Minneapolis in 15)05 was a great advance over most methods then used. It was used for some years in a number of Pittsburgh hospitals. Dr. Clark is right in saying that the burned area gets covered with crusts and pus. This is infection and means pain and absorption of pus with a higher mortal ity in extensive burns. It means injured kidneys and the other long train of results of prolonged sepsis.
It means delayed recovery, greater destruction of tissue and more scar ring.
I cannot say too emphatically that In my opinion there is no excuse for infection in the average burn. The days of "laudable pus" are gone, let us hope, forever. The same attention to cleanliness we pay in our appendicitis operations and leg amputations will yield as good results in bums.
Dr. Clark asks, "Why is it that burns tend to run a septic course" since the heat sterilizes the burned tissues. Many things happen to "unsteril ize" the burned area--probably most are infected during the first few minutes after the injury--clothing dragging over the burned area; a blanket thrown over the patient and touching the burn; attempts to wash the surrounding skin; temporary dressing of cream, oil, butter, vaseline, or various home ointments, none of them sterile. Probably the most constant source of infection is the surrounding skin. Every hair follicle, sweat gland, oil gland, and the whole skin surface of the average working man are filled with pus germs- Here is the weak point in the Ambrine treatment: It does not provide for the sterilization of surrounding skin nor does it absorb the discharges from the burn--just holds them against the burned surface and surrounding skin affording perfect culture con ditions for germ multiplication and pus manufacture. The only wonder is that more than 25 per cent of Ambrine cases do not become badly in fected. Some advocates of the paraffin treatment advise the changing to Dakin's solution when. the_Jtorn becomes very septic. But why let tbem get septic? Why not use aTTaethod that keeps them clean from the start?
When an infected burn comes to me I often use two or three days' constant wet dressings with Ochsner's fluid--then as pus disappears change to the ointment.
I also use the Ochsner's during the sloughing stage of deep large third degree burns. I have madjTa trial of a number of the wet dressings for burns, boric acid, soda' bicarb., normal salt, but prefer borax 80 grs. to a pint or Ochsner's fluid for above named purposes.
SKIS GRAFTING
Dr. Clark makes no mention of skin grafting. To skin graft a granulat ing surface it must be fairly- clean. I can readily see how a burn with
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the open method or by the Ambrine treatment would be too dirty to shin graft. With the alum and lead solution I have had no experience. I usually use two or three days of wet dressings before skin grafting. Have used both Reverdin and Thiersch grafts with about equal success. Skin grafting should be done in every extensive third degree burn and as early as possible before much scar tissue forms. Young of Glasgow reports some splendid results with the whole skin grafts of Wolfe, Krause, and Matas.
I wish most heartily to endorse every word Dr. Clark says about the use of morphine and atropine as soon as a severe burn is seen. This fol lowed by the constitutional treatment he outlines is, in my opinion, the most important thing in his paper. ,
His method of cleansing the surrounding skin sounds good. I have not tried it. Washing the surrounding skin or doing anything that may get dirt into the burned area is to be condemned.
On the whole it seems to me we are indebted to Dr. Clark for his bring ing the subject of burns upMo date. His endorsement of the Ambrine treatment and of the Open-air method has the backing of some of the best surgeons on both sides of the water. I have given my own personal opinions and the results of Tmy experience frankly. It is only by this honesty and fearlessness that we can arrive at the truth.
Dr. C. M. Habpster (Cleveland) : I don't believe I have ever heard as fair a representation of the subject. Of course, we all have certain modi fications of our own, but I agree thoroughly with the point brought out so strikingly by Dr. Clark that the large burned areas are almost always becoming infected. X suppose we all use the method of putting on paraffin wax, and I agree on the surgical principle of painting the infected area and sealing up with wax. JSbw we have made a simple modification in the treatment of our cases Jn the use of paraffin method of treatment. The paraffin is spread on fairly heavy paper impregnated with Balsam of Peru, a paper of six or eight thicknesses placed over the burned area. That is the primary treatment for uninfected wounds. If the wound be comes infected we continue ^throughout the case with applications of the parraffin and paper impregnated with Balsam of Peru and we have found we have had splendid results. I recommended this method of treatment in a large chemical works, and special Government industries where a large number of burns occur, and I have received reports from the mili tary surgeons that they have been able to turn men back to work much quicker by the use of this method of treating burns than they did before.
You can also impregnate ^your gauze with the wax, or mosquito bar or anything like that. Once the wound has become infected, and we have treated cases where there have been extensive burns from the knees up purely with paraffin paper, but once it has become infected I believe the application of bi-carbonate of soda or some simple treatment of that kind is the proper way to handlers, burn.
Dr. August P. Knoefel (Terre Haute, Indiana) : I am perhaps more careless in my technique thsm most men, but I have yet to see an exten sive burn that has never become infected. "We work in a- coal mining district and the miner is biirnt as a result of an explosion of gas, or coal dust. Most of these men work with canvas trousers and cotton shirts
702 Eighth Safety Congress
and practically all the burns extend from the waistline up, that includes the two upper extremities, the face, head, neck, and' ears, and as I say, I have yet to see one which didn't finally become infected. It is not the type of infection that is accompanied by any high temperature, more of a saprophytic infection.^ The former treatment was the application of salol ointment, but in the last two years the treatment adopted is to cover the patient's burns with a wet picric acid gauze. This dressing remains in position for Jtwo days, then the para-wax (we use the plain para-wax without any addition of medicament whatsoever) Is applied, we use both the atomizer and the brush, the camel's-hair brush. We find that with the camel's-halr brush we can cover the body much quicker than we can with a cotton swab. A cotton swab, no matter how It may be prepared, or how it is manufactured will give perhaps half an inch covering with one swipe. With a camel's-hair brush three inches wide, we get three inches wide When we apply it, therefore, we expose our pa tient much less than if Jwe used a small applicator. It works best at a temperature of 165, although I have seen it run up to ISO. As you make the swipe with the brush^the patient says, "Ouch" or something like that. Hut the pain does not persist.
With reference to the remarks read from. the paper, that there is a time when there should be a change in treatment, if you continue your paraffin until the wound Tias entirely healed over, that is. skin epithelium has formed, you will delay that time by continuing the paraffin. There is a time when you are .compelled to stop your paraffin dressing and ex pose it to the air and iE will heat much quicker. We still use the old time stimulation method, on the small areas that seem in spite of ail treatment to fail to heal, and that is, the use of silver nitrate.
Chairman Lavkitkk: Any further discussion on the subject of burns? I believe Dr. Clark, that would be a good subject for a questionnaire, and if you will get the addresses of all the doctors here and other in dustrial surgeons by the^questionnaire method, the committee that could be appointed could help in tbe solution of some of tbese interesting questions that we as industrial surgeons are much concerned in. The sooner we have a man ready to go back to work the less work, we have on our hands, and it is To our interest to study the quicker methods of getting the injured baek-to work. Ok. Blooucooi) (Baltimore) : I have had very little experience in burns. But in cases of burns where the healing process is very slow, no one will question the statement that a burn that destroys the entire epithelium must heal from the edge. The burn in which there is some epithelium left is different from the one where there is no epithelium left. We meet a stage in which we find it not only difficult to keep the tissues asep tic, but difficult to keep the granulated tissue from forming. But the danger of granulation exists: the greater with the excessive tissue as the base. That excessive tissue ultimately forms and you get edema as you would anywhere where _the vessels are contracted because edema is most marked on the return v^sels. the venns type not arterial. The only tiling 1 want to ask is this, 1 find that in some burns they reach a stage where skin grafting should be employed. That will shorten
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the period of disability very much. I will not go into the very important thing which he spoke of, bu^ it ought to be emphasized whenever you speak of a burn that throughout the entire course of the burn you feel you are responsible there iiTTIb contraction. Contract ions in burns are in the hands of those who dress them. They can be prevented.
in skin grafting, when thr patient has sufficient skin from which to take the graft the problem of skin grafting is simple. With a tissue graft I have demonstrated at thejend of three weeks you can take another skin graft before you take the tissue, or exit a little pinch graft, and un less you are familiar with the technique you will look upon it as a very difficult thing. The pinch graft you can do every day, one. or two. or three. The pinch graft has an advantage in skin grafting on areas that you can't disinfect. The tissue graft, as a rule, rarely takes, unless you ent out the granulation tissue. Or yon make it aseptic. It apparently has a stimulating effect upon the granulation tissue.
Now we have learned from work in the war that when an injured man hasn't enough skin for his own graft, we can get successful graft from individuals whose blood matches, from individuals from whom you take blood transfusions. I have had most satisfactory results with grafts from individuals on burns. = I have had no experience yet in matching up graft ou persons whose blood matches. In the past our grafts have been very satisfactory, but perhaps you have found skin grafting unneces sary. The reason I have hajL a large experience in skin grafting is due to the fact industrial surgeons have not first treated the burns.
Chairman- Laukfek: Dr. Sloan, who will take Dr. Crfle's place on the program is here, and will now read Dr. Crile's paper.
WHAT THE WAR HAS TAUGHT US IX SURGERY
Dr. G no Ron W. Cru.e, Ci.kvki_a.no. Ohio
The great contribution of the war to surgery was not the production of hitherto unrecognized methods of treatment, but rather the accumula tion of masses of evidence .regarding the comparative value of various
methods. There is no fundamental distinction between the war patient and the
civilian patient. The soldier-coming for treatment is in a greater or less degree of exhaustion from the conditions of his environment, the civilian
patient is in a greater or jess degree of exhaustion from the condition
from which he seeks relief.! Further exhaustion from the trauma of the operation, hemorrhage, and -infection are the prime dangers in each case.
In the army the outstanding requirement is to return every possible man to active service in the shortest possible period of time consistent with a permanent cure. Efficiency in civilian surgery should demand the
same. It is to this end that tke lessons learned in the field are being studied
anew in their relation to the civilian patient.
"SORCERY LIVED YEARS IX DAYS*'
in the service in the field many lessons were learned. Every theory was tested in the crucible of practical application on a vast scale. We
704: Eighth Safety Congress
were dealing witli hundreds of thousands of patients as we deal with hundreds here. Surgery; lived years in. days. The combined experience of thousands of surgeons; was immediately available for comparison and for study by the individual surgeon; by the surgical staffs of hospitals; by the consultants; by the Red Cross Research Society; by the Interallied Conference; all of which were seeking to discard the false--to find and to hold fast to the true. -4,11 questions pertaining to the care of the sick or wounded soldier were thus studied in detail and in the mass by the na tions at war; and finally in Paris at a conference of those chosen by their respective governments to make up a consensus of opinion, con clusions from this great'mass of evidence were scrupulously drawn.
One fact stands preeminent among the many elicited by this vast ex perience; i. e., that the prime problems of war surgery as of civilian surgery are shock, anemia resulting from hemorrhage, and infection. Whatever the lesion of the patient, whether it result from war missiles or from disease, provided the lesions are anatomically operable, he will recover if these three menaces can be obviated or successfully treated.
irrrECTion
The mere fact that man is surrounded, covered, and penetrated by an infinite number of bacteria, and lives, is a proof that the human body has within itself adequate defense against bacteria. This defense we may be sure was attained through struggle and survival-1--that is, through biologic adaptation--and is the bulwark of the treatment of infection.
An interesting proofnf this biologic adaptation is the fact that the various parts of the body have varying powers of defense against in fection, the most- efficient defense in general being possessed by those parts most exposed to -Infection from injury, such as the external soft parts or those which lieLin infected areas, such as the intestines.
On the other hand, the inner protected parts--such as bone, especially deeply-placed bone, tlie^deep muscles and encased organs and tissues, such as the heart, the^brain, the spinal cord, and the retroperitoneal tissue--have had less opportunity to make a selective struggle, hence in these parts weaker defenses against infection have been evolved. What does the tissue of the foot possess that is not possessed by the mediasti num, or by the femur? fWiiat does the peritoneum possess that is not pos sessed by the dura, what endows the skin and the peritoneum -with a better defense against Infection? That part whose defense is weakest usually possesses a limited blood supply, as compared with parts whose defense is stronger. There'is apparently no other difference as striking, nor as marked as the difference in blood supply. We may then infer that a rich blood supply is the key to the defense against infection. The face and scalp, the external parts of the body, the abdomen, have a rich blood supply as compared with the deep lumbar muscles, the bones, the spinal cord, the retroperltoneaLtissue. Not only is the normal blood supply less in these poorly defended regions, but the local vaso-motor mechanism is less developed, hence there is less reaction to the invading bacteria. For the most efficient defense there must he not only abundant blood, but normal blood. As Sir Almroth Wright has shown, the blood must not
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be acidosed, as when blood pressure Is low, for saprophytes flourish in such a medium. The bones, the deep tissue planes, the mediastinum, the spinal cord, the brain, the retroperitoneal space, are all hazardous regions for infection. In the mind of the surgeon the body should be charted like the sea, and he should direct his course according to this chart. One region requires one plan of action, another, such as the scalp or the face, no special plan. Face wounds heal almost equally well with good sur gery, with poor surgery, with no surgery. The infected mediastinum heals almost equally badly with no surgery, with poor surgery, with good surgery. A pulseless patient becomes a universal mediastinum. A limb, anemic as from a neglected tourniquet or from the severing of the ar terial supply, becomes as helpless as the meninges; the war patient in exhaustion from cold and wet and exposure, from loss of sleep and from lighting, and the starved civilian with cancer of the stomach or with per forating ulcers, alike have a universally weak defense. Patients pros trated by shock or by hemorrhage have low resistance. As a rule, de feated, dejected troops have less resistance than victorious troops. The defense, then, in the normal soldier varies with the several parts of the body, the frontiers, of the organism being best defended. The defense, even at the frontiers of the organism, is lowered by interference with
the local blood supply, whether of an entire limb, or of the devitalized bloodless tissue along the injured track of the missile; it is weakened by low blood pressure from shock, with its secondary acidosis; or by hemor rhage; it is weakened when the entire individual is in exhaustion. The defense. In turn, is augmented by rest, by sleep, by fluids, by the revision of wounds; by restoration ol the local and general blood supply.
In addition to these measures which augment the resistance of the or ganism as a whole, it is essential to increase the local resistance a3 well. Whether we are dealing with a war or a surgical wound, this may be se cured by vitalization of the part attacked; by physiologic rest, by de struction of contaminating bacteria, by the application of heat.
In war wounds vitalization is accomplished by the excision of every particle of devitalized soft tissue and bone; by removing every particle of foreign material--clothing, mud, missiles--in such a manner that there is no added surgical devitalization from goading retractors or rough handling of fractures. Vitalization is promoted also by making sure there is ho interference with the blood supply, by employing a minimum of foreign material for treatment, such as tubes, etc.
The wound may be further vitalized by moist or bj- radiant heat. The vitality may be maintained `by overcoming infection; by preventing pool ing "of wound secretions. Therefore in recessed wounds the Carrel-Dakin treatment does best. The Jeeper and the more recessed the wound, the greater the Indication for ^jCarrel-Dakin. It must always be borne In mind that the operation must be done lightly and sharply; for if there be rough handling, needles^ moving of compound fractures. If piercing hooked retractors tear the flesh, and if intermittent muscular contractions grind tissues between the ends of ragged bone fragments, then the net result of the operation is the substitution of surgically devitalized tissue for the devitalized tissues nt battle casualty.
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Eighth Safety Congress
l'hi/.'iiolouic Jfetst. Physiologic rest includes more than mere muscular
and psychic rest.: it implies equally cellular rest. Living cells are dis
turbed by air: by desiccation: by physical contact of dressings: by many
chemical antiseptics: by bacterial toxins. These points have been strongly
emphasized by Sir Almroth Wright whose teaching has placed a renewed
emphasis on the importance of the cellular protecting of wounds, to
ensure cellular physiologic rest.
"1--;
To secure physiologic rest in the case- of a fracture, an even adequate
continuous extension must be made--an extension sufficient to prevent
the goading of soft tissuesrby sharp bone, and to prevent bony fragments
from grinding each otlierT Physiologic rest of the soft parts means mass
quiet by means of supports--such as splints, slings, swings, and exten
sion suspensions: it means for compound fractures and for injuries of
the soft parts no tight bandages, no tight stitches, no accumulation of
wound secretions--blood, serum, etc. For open wounds it means that
antiseptics must not be^dLamaging; that dressings must be painless; it
means elevation of extremities for comfort and the prevention of swell
ing, Kor visceral injuries it means absolute rest, low diet, freedom from
excitation, anociated environment. Drstruction of Cont aniinaling Bacteria. The first and most depend
able agency for the destruction of contaminating bacleria is the bac
tericidal power of tissu^
This normal defense of tissue against bac
teria is present only in_living tissues: and the ability of living tissue
to overcome infection depends on its vitality. Normal living tissue has
strong bactericidal power. As vitality is impaired down to the death
point, so is the bactericidal power impaired to the zero point. More
over. when infection begins, the infecting agent itself has the power of diminishing the vitality lit advance of the infection through chemical in
jury. tension and swelling. Thus as Kenneth Taylor. Cuthbert Wallace,
liasi!ford, and others have shown, many anal-robes cannot live at all in
normal tissue, but only In damaged tissue. The anaerobic invasion is
made possible only by injury through chemical action, through shell in
jury. through swelling or~ anemia, or shock and exhaustion whereby the
resistance of the tissue, is lowered. Therefore in a compound fracture
that is settling down, or goading by a sharp fragment of hone will de
vitalize a small area, and in consequence an area of infection with the
advancing tissue damage will be, established. Therefore we may say
that the whole wound isrrlcfensively only as strong as its weakest point.
If the defense line is broken tit one point, the entire line of defense may
give way.
.
Antisi jttics. As for the relative value of the various methods of anti
sepsis St is difficult to ..choose among, them. Perhaps the method which
has proved most universally useful, excepting under battle conditions, is
the Carrel-JJakin. This... is of value in wounds with necrotic tissue, in
empyema, in recessed Wounds with a tendency to pooling of the wound
discharge, and as a general method. Carrel and Dakin have made an out
standing contribution to surgery. Dicliloramin-T. flavine, bip. and Wright's
hypertonic solution, each has its value under certain conditions. Per
haps tile most useful of all in civilian surgery after Carrel-Dakin ts flavine
JIeaLt h &erv ic e Scation
707
which is non-toxic and carCbe used for days without HI eflect. It is of
special value in multiple stage operations in which it is necessary to Keep the wound in static qua for a limited period, as in certain cases of
exophthalmic goiter. It should he noted that it should not he used in
contact with silk sutures ag_ft dissolves them. Heat. ' The therapeutic value of heat has been sanctioned by the ex
perience of physicians and of the laity since the dawn of medical history.
The therapeutic place of na other "agency is as secure. Moist heat, dry
.heat, radiant heat, electric'light, sunlight--all influence the infections
favorably.
^
In what way may heat igxert its beneficent influence? Granting the
premise that' the natural defense of the organism against infection is made
through the agency of phagocytosis and the chemical antagonism of the
blood plasma, it becomes evident that in either case the defense is chemi
cal. The fact that the defense is chemical gives at once a clue to the
mechanism by which heat^assists the defense against bacteria. It is
probably because with the rise of each degree in temperature in any
system--inorganic or biologic--the chemical activity is increased ten per
cent and the electric conductance two and one-half per cent. The in
creased chemical activity increases the chemical defense: the increased
electric conductance increases the metabolism. Therefore, we may sup
pose'that heat accelerates the chemical defense so far as it involves the metabolism 'of the phagocyte, and so far as it involves chemical defense
of the blood plasma, and that heat also aids by increasing the total amount
of blood in the inflamed part, thereby increasing the number of phago
cytes. Moreover heat assuages pain.
analogv iskt\vi:i;.v. ar i*[:.vnicii-1s and tiik war wotr.vp
In this discussion of infection an interesting analogy between appendi
citis and the war wound suggests itself.
In a case of acute appendicitis, If the dead appendix is removed be
fore the infection has invaded normal tissue, then the wound Is closed
immediately, primary union follows, and the vast possibilities of" the
inflammation of the great abdominal cavity will be averted. Likewise, if
the dead tissue in the track of a war wound is excised, before living tis
sues are invaded, the inflammation of a great mass of soft tissue will be
averted.
_
In appendicitis even after: the infection has penetrated the wall of the
appendix and invaded the peritoneum, excision of the dead appendix will
facilitate recovery. In war wounds, even after the infection has passed
beyond the devitalized tissue, excision of the devitalized tissue will facili
tate recovery.
When an appendicitis has developed into a localized abscess with an
organized wail of granulations, the surgeon deals with the abscess as
such. When the infection~in a war wound has developed into an ab
scess with new tissue organization, no debridement is done, but the ab
scess is treated as such.
In the war wound" the stage of contamination of dead tissue--the period
before infection develops--corresponds to the period before infection from
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'Eighth Safety Congress
a dead appendix penetrates the wall. In this period if the dead appen
dix is excised cleanly, the case recovers: if the dead tissue of the war
wound is excised cleanly the case recovers.
Appendicitis and war wound infection develop through identical
phases--localized infection, spreading infection, abscess.
If an appendix abscess is roughly handled, spreading peritonitis, pyle-
phlibitis, bacteriemia, etc. may result. Comparable results follow when
an infected war wound lis roughly handled.
Appendicitis was no^mastered until the surgeon had learned to fore
cast its future accurately, and today--in other words until he took the
initiative away from the disease and attacked instead of defended. In
like manner the military surgeon discovered that in the case of the war
wound, as long as hejjpft the initiative to the infection, be could not
achieve mastery. To wait in the case of a devitalized war wound until
the infection had spread widely--until there were pain, swelling, red
ness, and tenderness, was to court defeat. Like the tomorrow of the
appendix, the tomorrowof the war wound must be read today--and action
taken today. An antiseptic
wound.
-__ does jhot
cure
appendicitis--it
does
not
cure
the
war
There is no difference in principle or in practice between the treatment
of appendicitis and the treatment of war wounds. The time factor is
equally vital; the treatment is comparable; the natural defense is iden
tical.
SHOCK AX'D HEMORRHAGE
The consensus of opinion of the Interallied Surgical Congress and the
.British and American surgeons in military service generally may be summed up in the following brief dictum: The best treatment of hemor rhage and shock- is rest, warmth, fluids, morphin for pain, and blood
transfusion.
~
Civilian surgery and war surgery in their relation to shock present one
important difference. The depleted civilian patient may he in a "pre-shock"
state when he conies tinder the surgeon's care; the wounded soldier is
often in shock. Nevertheless identical methods will prevent the develop
ment of shock in the Jirst case and will successfully combat the present
shock in the latter.
__
Physiologic Rest. Physiologic rest includes mental and psychic, as well
as physical rest. It mgatis reassurance; it means an atmosphere of quiet
and confidence: it means optimism as well as skill. Physiologic rest can
he achieved only by the cooperation of surgeon and intern, nurse and
orderly. Warmth. The loss o power to create body heat Is one of the damaging
effects of shock, for the organism is much injured by a subnormal tem
perature. The application of heat, therefore, is one of the essentials of the
treatment and of the prevention of shock. The most readily applied form
of heat is hot air under blankets. Under war conditions, hot-water bottles
and other forms of direct heat are not useful, because of the time required
for application, and because of the danger ef producing burns. Atorphin. If' the patient has pain, if he is restless, and if the pain and
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restlessness cannot be otherwise relieved, then give morphin in one-
sixth grain doses until the pain and restlessness is overcome; and there is evidence that morphin in still larger doses is specifically useful.
Oxygen. If there is a. wound, of the chest interfering with the supply of oxygen, then give oxygen. It available, all cyanosed, all gray-blue pa
tients, all shallow-breathing patients should have oxygen. A nitrous oxid machine for giving anesthetics is an excellent means of administering
oxygen under pressure.
^
fluids. Water in some form should be given, preferably by the mu
cous membranes. Sodium bicarbonate in a five per cent solution and
combined with five per cent glucose is most effective. But in acute, grave
cases from 2,000 to 4,000 c- c. of fluid should be given each twenty-four
hours'. Water intravenously is rapidly eliminated from the body. Water absorbed through membranes or tissues is retained in much larger
amounts. Water to be ttnost useful should have a biologic pass. Prevent and Overcome the Damaging Effect of Low Blood Pressure-.
ta) by elevating the foot of,the bed; (b) by early transfusion, the Bayliss solution of gum acacia may be used. It has the advantage of being more readily available than blood. Under war conditions, donors for
blood transfusion are usually numerous among the lightly wounded
patients.
t
One of the greatest errors is to allow a patient to remain in a state of
low blood pressure in the hope that he will improve through his own
resources, reserving a blood transfusion to be used as a last resort after it has become obvious that the patient is going to die. This is the same
faulty logic that was once used in dealing with appendicitis. When the
indication for operation in appendicitis was supposed to he a clammy, pulseless state, when the patient was dying, surgical treatment became almost discredited. It is equally illogical to wait for impending dis solution in shock before improving the circulation. Treatment should not be- deferred until the inaugural state of death is established. There is another method of treating shock which Is not generally applicable to
war conditions, that is narcotization with morphin--giving morphin on
tbe same scale as in the Alonzo Clark treatment of peritonitis, i. e., keeping the patient under morphin so completely that the respirations are cut down to about twelve toJHfteen per minute and the patient is deeply asleep. During this time one should give between 2,000 to 3,000 c. c. of
normal saline infusion subcutaneously. When properly carried out ex
cellent results may be obtained by this method which, however; should never be employed if there is cyanosis, and never routinely, and always under expert supervision.
TIIE OPERATION
The Interallied Surgical Conference adopted as one of Its conclusions that in the treatment of wounded soldiers the anesthetic of choice is nitrous oxid-oxygen combined toith local anesthesia. Among the evidence offered in support of this tenet Surgeon-General Sir Anthony Bowlby pre sented the work of one of EBe most brilliant British military surgeons, Capain Douglas C. Taylor, and the work of the Chief of the Anesthetic Service of the British Army, Captain Gregory Marshall. The experience
712
Eighth Safety Congress
The essential points In. the anociated treatment of abdominal infection, therefore, are the following:
1. Nitrous oxid-oxygen. 2. Anesthetized incision. 3. Accurate, clean-cut operation to diminish both infection and shock. 4. Adequate draiuageT 5. Kowler's posture-----s. Vast hot packs over the entire abdomen, spreading ureli down over
the sides. 7. hive per cent sodium bicarbonate, with five per cent glucose by rec
tal tap, continued as long as it is tolerated. S. Primary lavage of the stomach, repeated only if indicated. (It will
rarely be indicated if anociation is complete.) J. From 2,500 to 8,000 c. c. of normal saline subcutaneously every 24
hours until the=period of danger is past, lo. .Morphia hypodermically until the respiratory rate is reduced to
from 10 to 14 per minute, and held to this rate until danger is past. L'nder this combination of the anociation of peritonitis with the ano ciated operation, my associate. Dr. W. E. Lower, and I have performed 4U8 consecutive operations for acute appendicitis, with or without gen eralized peritonitis, without a death.
THE GOOD SUBCEOX
The surgeons and the pathologists who for four years have intensively studied war wounds, have formulated many theories of treatment--many apparently contradictory theories. Thus there have been presented the claims of the value of various chemical .agents against those of no chemi cal agent; of moist dressings against dry; of heat against cold; of fre quent dressings against infrequent, and of no dressings against both; of sunlight and of electric light against occlusion; of immersion against hot air; of bacteriological control against clinical judgment; of vaccines, tox ins, and foreign proteins against normal reaction; of wound innoculation with harmless organisms against wound sterilization; of isotonic against hypertonic solutions; paste has competed with paste; bip with ip; sap with both; and chromic pastes with all.
Does not this intensive study of infection in war wounds for this com paratively short period equal and recapitulate the more leisurely study of infection during the thirty years since Lister first proposed the carbolic spray? And is there flat slowly emerging from the present conflict of opinions the same fact as that which emerged from the post-Listerian period--that the one agent of successful surgery, whether war surgery or civil surgery, is the good, surgeon?
In civil surgery here In America, by what agency was mastery achieved over appendicitis, over "cholecystitis, over tubal infection, over adenitis? What agent has contributed the most to the success of resection of the intestines and of the stomach; of gastroenterostomy; of treatment of suppurating stone in the kidney; of the treatment of infection of subcu taneous tissue? What agencies have achieved survival? One and but one
Health Service Section
713
--the sound surgeon, who always creates opportunity. Is it possible that in these four intense years of war surgery, in which more experience In traumatic surgery has been accumulated than during the past 30 years, we have traveled around the same circle as in civil surgery and have again found the same surgeont
ay sound surgery we mean the assumption of complete inclusive re sponsibility for every item that enters into the result; the consideration of the wound as well as the patient; the development of an ability to read the wound as well as the man aright. Sound surgery means quick, innocu ous, timely intervention; it means seeing clearly the tomorrow of the wound; it means no intervention unless there is to be a net gain; it meansa sharp knife, a good anesthetic, is. painless innocuous dressing; It means as much respect for the tissues of the anesthetized man as those of the unanesthetized man; it means a training in judgment that unerringly tells when to cut, how far to cut, when to q\ilt cutting. It plays all the defenses and reparative forces of the patient. Good surgery is the exponent of no single method. It rec ognizes the anatomical and environmental situations in which chemical and physical agencies are useful. Good surgery exploits physiologic rest and iiuids and sleep; It gives little pain. Good surgery evokes confidence; and confidence begets restoration. Good surgery, then, makes use of anti septics and physical forces, just as it uses incisions, counter-drainage, re visions, skin-grafting, blood transfusion. Good surgery does not substi tute an easy formula for its principles; above all, it always is dissatis fied with its work and always is open to suggestion.
What could the good surgeon accomplish with the wounds of war, with good opportunity but no antiseptics? Without antiseptics he could close by primary union a higher percentage of contaminated wounds than with antiseptics; he was able to remove damaged tissue with such accuracy
that the natural defenses of the revised wound became Its best antiseptic; he closed penetrated knee joints more securely without than with anti septics; he closed penetrated skulls without, better than with, antisep tics; he cleared up foul and infected superficial wounds as well without as with antiseptics; he met gagTgangrene with the timely use of the knife as well without as with chemical agents. He closed healthy super ficial wounds with early suture tied lightly; healthy wounds that could not be closed by suture he closed by skin-grafting, both as a healing and as a bacteriocidal policy; he closed fecal and urinary fistulas without antiseptics-.
On the other hand, he realized-equally that in compound fractures with or without bone infection, in deep, recessed wounds, in pyocyaneus infec tion in many other types of wound that antiseptics might have great ad vantages, and' he used them and used them well. In certain phases of a wound, he would use Carrel-Dakih; in another, acetic acid; In another, hot pack; in another, incision--^physiologic incision today to avoid the tissue tension of tomorrow; in another transfusion; in another, sunlight or electric light; In another, continuous alcohol to make a scar covering.
In the rush of a great battle, he incised for drainage, and in addition
714
-- Eighth Safety Congress
he made "physioIogMjtincisioiis" to avoid the tension that is sure to follow the next day from the inevitable infection.
But in quiet times, he dissected out every atom of devitalized tissue. He read accurately not-only the wound, but the patient; not only the pa tient. but the military situation; not only the military situation, but the condition of the Infecting soil, the state of transport, his surgical assist ance. and the type rof nursing care--that is, he weighed accurately his chances for success. Therefore, the army medical service and the wounded man pinned their hope and their faith first, last, and always to the one agency of wound treatment that in civilian surgery emerged clearly from the confusion of the Listerian period; emerged clearly from the confusion of the four years of^mHilary surgery--the sane, souiKl surgeon.
CJtAjK.M.vx L.wKKKit: _ In opening the discussion of this paper, in the absence of Dr. Moorhead (whose paper will be published in the pro ceedings) 1 would JUce to call on Dr. Bloodgood.
Uk. Hi.(h>i)owhi: -I_ hope this paper will be published, and I believe I can say this summary is the best that he has done. Perhaps there are some surgeons wlio^Jon't realize these little details because in civil sur gery as a rule the_tissue of an individual will stand a great deal of in sult. Ii will heal Jji spite of everything. When you are called upon to treat an individual whose resistance is lowered, or a particular type of wound where the resistance is lowered, the results depend upon these details. Hut. unfortunately when you have an individual of that kind, a wound of that kind, and don't get recovevy or don't get a good healing of the wound you jam always place that individual in the group that should have died any way, so that your mistake is covered. It Is a very difficult thing to compare the additional recovery and the lowered mor tality In the gronpJn which this detailed, knowledge, and the action on that detailed knowledge, is required for the reduction of mortality and
improving results. A great many good surgeons think these points are more or less dreams,
but there are some of us who know absolutely that these are essential to a certain group. How the only way to develop that technique is by routine. You might say it is unnecessary, but the treatment must he- In routine, l.'nless you have made it routine, you. your assistants, and your entire team will not he equal to applying the treatment the wa> ft should be. I believe if we could corral all operations for exophthalmic goiter in this country the mortality would tell you the teams that iav* developed this technique in their lowered mortality.
Chairman h.vt*PKt-rii; This very excellent paper will be published in the report of this Safety Council, whether it will have any publicity through the medical press yjr not. I don't know. But I believe it is worthy of publication in one_of the surgical journals. It was certainly a very ex cellent paper and V hope arrangements can be made to have it put very extensively before "Industrial surgeons.
1 would like to ffll; Dr. Bloodgood what is the most successful form of dressing to be used with the small pinch graft? I have used a large
number of them and I would like to know what you have found. Doctor,
has been the most successful dressing.
Health Ser vice See tion
715
JJk. Ur.ooiH;ooi>: I think all your questions will be answered in Davis' book on Plastic Surgery. I don't know of any surgeon in this country who spends more time on that subject. I wish that some of my associates were here because they do all the grafting now, but they taught me how to use the pinch graft. My experience in grafting has been excising a granulating wound, and we reached a point of one hundred per cent., we excised the area and cut it outln grafting. 1'hat is the ideal way, but after your area reaches a certain point you can't do It. The pinch graft we have been using, they just wipe the little granulated wound they have tried to keep clean, put the graft on, and no dressing. After that you can go back to whatever dressing you want.
1 have had very little experience with the treatment of burns, but I believe Dr. Crile's statement iirr regard to good surgeons applies here. I have treated burns in childrenis hospitals, and I.can see all those cases and 1 have never had any better results and that was a period when 1 had more time to treat a burn than jny other time since. It is the essential feature of the treatment. Youlcnow, you can go all the way through the treatment but if you are dirty, no form of dressing that you can apply will be good enough to countgract your dirt. The cleansing of that wound is one of the important Things, the daily dressing of that wound in which it is given a. bath just asrj'ou give a young baby a bath. The skin must be clean. The burned area of the body must be clean, and Gentle men, the best thing I find afteTja certain stage is soap and water. Soap and water, and it takes time. I believe that it doesn't make any difference what you put on your burn if -you are clean. I have found just as good results with boric acid, but the burn after a time meets the stage that it needs some other food than boric acid, or any other treatment. Exercise of the individual is important and sunlight, but I think there is a stage when grafting should be done.
DISCUSSION
>Dh. I. -T. .Mhokiikm) i Interbojough Traction Company. New York City) : Colonel Crile has very adequately stressed the importance of infection and the value of some of the antiseptics, notably Dakin's solution used by the Carrel technic. Unfortunately, this solution is difficult to prepare, it is unstable, it is not well snited^Ior emergency treatment except in large hospitals. In addition to this.The application of the Carrel technic needs special training, it is time-consuming, in effect making each dressing an aseptic operation. For these reasons this valuable method of combating infection can liave but 1 imited-application in the ordinary accidents of Industry. One of the very valuable war lessons in this connection was the demonstration that thorough cleansing of a wound within twelve hours of its receipt was the best preventive of infection. This cleansing aimed sparingly to cut away all bruised or damaged tissue from the wound for the reason that the organising! of infection thrive on just that sort of soil. By this process (called debridement by the French) the vast major-
1 r>r. Moorhead was not p reseat at the session and his discussion of Dr. p:ip< r \v:is not r**swl. but was latter ijc-nl; in to "bo inclucloti in the T*ro-
ceedingrs.
-
. .,,
716
~ -- Eighth Safety Congress
ity of wounds could be immediately sutured so that primary union would be attained. In the ordinary wounds of industrial warfare, it is not often
necessary thus to debride the injured area as the same effect can often be obtained by vigorous scrubbing and mopping with soap suds. The part is then cleansed with sterile water, liberally swabbed with 3 per cent tincture or iodine, loosely sutured and provisionally drained for 24-48
hours. If then no evidences of infection are present the drain Is re moved. In wounds already infected we must resort to antiseptics, as
Colonel Crile has stated. Once the process is under control and we
have demonstrated the absence of streptococci, we may proceed to suture
this class also, thus cutting short the period of healing. This plan .of
jirimary suture for cases seen within, the first 12-24 hours, and secondary
suture tor cases seenr later, is one of the great advances in. traumatic
surgery.
___
Shock and hemorrhage usually co-exist in the traumas of industry and
Colonel Crile has had unusual opportunities before and during the war to demonstrate the value of transfusion. Likewise he calls attention to the safety of nitrous-oxid and oxygen as the anesthetic In this group. Of
all anesthetics, chloroform seems particularly dangerous in traumatic cases and it should never be used. In the absence of nitrous-oxid, ether
by the drop method on the open mask is the safest. For short operations, the French surgeons converted me to the use of Ethyl chloride and I have many times used it for cases not requiring more than fifteen minutes. It
should be given on a mask and is valuable also to induce anesthesia pre liminary to ether. Local anesthesia, intra-neurally or intra-spinally has
also a place, notably in certain amputations.
After all is said, aiLColonel Crile has so well indicated, the capacity of
the surgeon is the big factor in the result, irrespective of the antiseptic,
procedure, or apparatus employed. The routine of treatment can be
learned by the novice; but the teaching of experience makes the sane,
sound surgeon.
;
One other war lesson is that relating to the treatment of fractures. The
conversion of a compound into a simple fracture by the process of de
bridement is a real gain. In well muscled parts, like the tbigh and arm.
this procedure should be used with extreme care. The Thomas splint and
the modifications of it should have a wide application. The methods of direct traction suchjs the lieseley tongs and the Finochieito-Chutro
Stirrup have a place--of great usefulness in fractures of the lower ex
tremity.
--
Another important Jenson is the procedure of early mobilization of in
jured joints. We learned in the war to keep an injured and even an in
fected joint active and not passive. Likewise we did not splint joints ad
jacent to fractures for nearly so long a period as was our former practice. Function is dependent upon activity and in future we will less often per
mit joints to remain;long inactive. Chairman' Laokfek: If our discussions are at an end, I wish to ask on
behalf of the incoming chairman, that the courtesy extended to me during the past year be extended to him. I invite you all to the National Safety Council in Philadelphia next year, providing it is held there.
We stand adjourned.
Metals Section
October 2-4, 1919
J. A. OARTEL, Chairman Director of Safety, Carnegie Steel Company, Pittsburgh, Pa.
HOMER J. WEEKS, Vice-Chairman American Steel and Wire Company, Cleveland, Ohio
W. E,JWATTERS, Secretary
National Malleable Castings Company, Melrose Park, Illinois
THURSDiQT MORNING SESSION
HAIRMAN OARTEL: As you know, at the last session of the Con
C gress, Mr. Prank E. Morris of the American Rolling Mill Company
was elected Chairman of the Metals Section, and he served until he wan appointed Field Secretary for the National Safety Council, at which time the job was wished on me, so I have served only part of the year.
Because of this change in the officers of the section, the best work has not been done, but we have tried to do what we could-
The year that has passed has been a remarkable year in the reduction of accidents in the iron and steel industry. I suppose you are all familiar with the figures contained in a recent letter written by Dr. Frederick L. Hoffman, Third Vice President and Statistician of the Prudential Life Insurance Company, to M3r.T3. L. Close, Manager of the Bureau of Safety, Sanitation, and Welfare of the United States Steel Corporation.
In that letter the Doctorrgells of the remarkable reductions In life in surance premiums that have been given to men working in the iron and steel industry wholly because of the safety work that has been done. I think that is one of the biggest contributions that has ever been made to safety, the fact that a conservative life insurance company that does not do things hastily has, after_ a thorough investigation, decided that our safety work has brought such results that- they can consistently lower premiums on life insurance. And so, I think it may be said that this is one of the big contributi'onsTLo safety that has been made in the last year.-
There have been some remarkable accident reductions by a number of
companies, but I won't takL the time to tell you of them.
I will now call on Mr. Watters, our Secretary, to give his report.
717
71 s
Kujhlh Safety (Jonyrcsx
RICPORT OF TUB SECRETARY
Your executive connylttee had their first meeting in Chicago, on Octo ber 15. l'.'l-s. ami tlieir work for the coming year was planned. There were present: F. 1C. Morris. Chairman: Homer J. Weeks, Vice Chairman: \V. H. Cameron. H. .1. William^: aiul R. H. Cluerrant of the National Safety Coun
cil starr. The Secretary was absent on account of illness.
.Metal Section activities for the year 1VMS-1D were taken up in detail and it was agreed that each of the standing committees should be co'ntinued, and that the work of the section should he carried on along the same general lines as heretofore.
The advisability of having a special committee to disseminate informa tion among the members of our section was discussed and it was decided that this work should be done by Including this information in the month ly news letter.
tU'I.I.KTI -V A.NII S.\l' i; I-UACTK 'KS I'OJ! M 1TTKK
After thoroughly canvassing the field, Mr. .1. A. Oartel,. Director of Surety. Carnegie Steel Company, was chosen as Chairman, of the Bulletin and Safe Practices Committee.
A report was obtained from Mr. I.amont, as to tile amount of bulletin material on hand andjt was learned that there was enough to run until the first of December^
It was suggested by -Mr. Williams that many bulletins from other sec tions are applicable toutlie industries'of the Metals Section, and that the scheme of leaving it tn the headquarters staff to decide on material for the bulletins for all the sections would avoid any duplication.of effort.
The different departments of the Iron. Steel, and Foundry Industries were outlined so tliatJMr. Ouerrant would have a guide to work from, and it was agreed that the sectional members present would send several scenarios in to the Council headquarters so that the various principal hazards common to the section would be covered. A machine-shop bul letin would be of interest to all Metals Section members in view of the fact that every industry in our Section has a machine shop.
Therefore, it was decided that for the year twenty-six of our bulletins should be General Metal Working bulletins such as would be useful in any machine shop, and that twenty-six should be special bulletins applying strictly to the hazarda^of Iron. Steel, and Foundry members. The bulle tins for the past yeaTZthen have followed this plan, the Metal Working ones being issued on alternate weeks with those which were strictly sec tional.
sai-i-: i'i:.\rna:s i`Ami-iu.K'is
The pamphlet on "Cleaning and Finishing Rooms in Foundries" which was prepared by Mr._Guerrant for the Metals Section, was carefully reviewed and was issued to members of the Section last Fall. The second Safe Practices pamphlet for the Section, that on "Blast Furnaces." is almost ready for the;rpriliter, and will likely be issued within the next three or four weeks.
Metals Section
719
NEWS l.ETTKHS
Rather than depend on a general appeal for material for our monthly news letter it was decidetTto make a specific appeal to a limited number of members whose interegJLin the work of the Section is assured.
OTHER COM M 1TTKKS
The selection of the other committees was postponed until the next
meeting.
-
-------- NEXT MEETING
It was decided to hold the next meeting in Pittsburgh. November 20. The meeting adjourned aT5:30 P. M.
-- TIIK MOTISII MEETING
The second meeting of your Kxecutive Committee was held in Pitts burgh on November IS. 3*hose present were: F. K. Morris, H. A. Weeks, J. A. Oartel, .T. A. Northwood. \V. R. Rasmussen, W. E. Watters.
Each of the different committees reported much progress. The pro gram for the next Congress was laid out more in detail.
There were two more meetings of your executive committee held, one in Pittsburgh in May, and_one in Cleveland in dune, for the purpose of completing the draft of the Safe Practice pamphlet on "Blast Furnaces."
Mr. John A. Oartel, Director of Safety, Carnegie Steel Company, suc ceeded Mr. Frank Morris, as chairman of the Metals Section, Mr. Morris being appointed District Field Secretary of the National Safety Council.
Since our last Congressrtlie Metals Section has received -11 new members. We have also had "1 members cancel their membership, the cause in a big percentage of the cases being the plants closing down. (On motion the report was accepted.) Chairman OARrrt;r.: I think perhaps 1 should report for the Bulletin and Safe Practices I.eaflet Committee, although Mr. Watters has touched on
that in his report. I waSTtett itig along fairly well when I was made Chair man of this section and_becatise of that, the work did not go along quite so well, but we have tried to do what we cbuld and iiave been able to produce seme very good bulletins.
I think, perhaps. I should also report for the Program Committee, of which Mr. .1, A. Northwood of the Cambria Steel Company was Chairman. Mr. North-wood is unable to be present today, but I think the program we have for this Section. iOiot the best, is the most practical that we have ever had at a C-ongress^_Of course, you will pass your judgment on that
at the close of the sessions. I think it would be in. order now to appoint a Nominating Committee
to nominate a Chairman; a Vice Chairman, and a Secretary for the ensu ing term. 1 will appoint on that committee Mr. C. E. Pettibone, of the Pickands Mather Company: Fred Bennett, of the Buckeye Steel Castings Company: and H. E. Steinmetz. of the Midvale Steel and Ordnance Com pany. Will this committee please be prepared to hand in their report on
Saturday morning? --=
720
Eighth, Safety Congress
The first address on our program this morning is by Mr. H. L.. Church.
ACCIDENT PREVENTION IN A MALLEABLE IRON FOUNDRY
H. L. Church.
Director ok Emh,oymext Service, Iron Works, Rockford, III.
Rockford
Malleable
There are, broadly speaking, two angles from which one must view the question of accident prevention in industry--the physical and the hu man. By physical, I refer to the matter of safe equipment and the respon sibility of keeping that~Bquipment safe at all times. The other is the human element, and has tD do with the habits of the men and the manner in which they perform their work. Owing to the fact that the amount of power-driven machineryjn a foundry is comparatively limited, we are ' of the opinion that the vital matters in promoting safety in the malleable foundry are largely concerned with the human element and the various activities that grow directly or Indirectly out of it. This is particularly the case when we are dealing with prevention of accidents distinctly char acteristic of the malleable business, and are not considering such cases as are common to all branches of industry.
There are two factors that conspire to make work in a malleable foun dry especially dangerous, if proper care is not exercised. These factors are the work itself and the men lotio do it. FOUNDRY WORK MUST UK MADE SAFER AND MOKK ATTRACTIVE TO HOLD THE MEN
In the first place, the handling of molten iron--especially of malleable --is fraught with danger! Malleable cools very quickly, hence a molder must work rapidly to pour off a ladle full. The fatigue attendant bn carrying ladle after ladle=pf iron, the heat always in evidence, which pro duces an enervating effect!and the mental strain one is under at the time, combine to present a field of activity that is not very attractive. One often finds seasoned foundry men who for some reason or other get away from the molding trade.^-and who are with difficulty induced to return. One man told me some weeks ago that he had spent the best years of his life in a foundry and he was a blamed fool for so doing. He is now watch ing a machine in one otjaur large plants, not making as much money as he did while molding, but he says he is better satisfied. I do not wish to pose as a crape hangeJS^but we must face the fact that men, in north ern Illinois at least, are leaving the molders' trade, and we are concerned as to where our future nToIders are to come from. This is preeminently a problem for the employment executive, but the safety engineer also has his role to play. We- are of the conviction that foundry work must be made more attractive^and more safe .if we are to hold the men we al ready have, and that is part of the safety man's job.
The second reason grows out of the first condition I have outlined. As foundry work is not desirable and appealing, it does not attract the class of men who fit into organizations where the more skilled operatives are called for. Consequently! the foundry employment man usually has to take practically the lowest class of workers available. As a rule, these
Metals Section
721
are foreigners who understand little, if any. English, and read but indiffer ently their own language. Most if not all of these never have received in their own country even the most elementary notion of safety and sani tation. Put these men into a malleable foundry where working conditions are unpleasant and hard for .even the fellow above par. and you have a combination that keeps the foundry safety engineer guessing most of the time. More than this, the ^employment service tries to develop and Americanize these men, and then is obliged to see many of them slip away into more enticing fields of industrial activity, conditioned, of course, by their ability to expand. This is true especially of the present generation which is characterized by apparent unwillingness to tie oneself down to a trade, and is .not applicable to men of the older generation, among whom are the mainstays of present-day industry. However, the personal service director who has a broad outlook on life will not complain about this fact, but will face it gracefully, and feel that be is doing his part to de velop and unify to a certain extent the heterogeneous elements that fall into our national melting pot.
The net result of these two ^conditions outlined, the nature of the work, and the kind of men who must do it, is that the problem of safety in the foundry is preeminently one Tor the employment department, as a large part of the labor turnover in a malleable foundry is due to this peculiar maladjustment of the man and the job.
FOUSDBV BUI1XS
Our organized safety movement dates back to the spring of 1917, when we installed a first-aid hospital. A few weeks later, our employment de partment was inaugurated. -One of the first lines of research work we undertook was to study the accidents reported during 1916 and the first half of 1917. Interesting information was gathered from this study. We learned that a large percentage of foundry burns, which formed the most distressing and costly of our accident cases, were suffered by men com paratively new in the business. Our experience has revealed the fact that molders who have been following the trade for years, and helpers who have become seasoned to the hazards of foundry life, are almost negligi ble as far as the human element in accident prevention is concerned. Not so, however, the half-baked molder or transient gangway dancer. These fellows, we found, suffered by far the greater number of burns. This brought us face to face with our problem: to reduce the number of burns among the inexperienced foundry workmen, which constituted -our most serious hazard. Insistence ra the use of safety shoes, goggles, leggings, and gloves prevents a great many burns, but we believe one must go deep er than that to get at the heart of the matter.
I remember reading a number of years ago a humorous sketch entitled "Curtailing the Liquor Traffic." One old timer suggested that the traffic be curtailed by cutting off half of its tail. Another maintained that twothirds of the tail should be amputated. Still another thought that the whole tail might he spared. Finally, a radical grapejuice advocate sug gested "cutting oft the cur's tail right behind the ears." We feel some-
722
Eighth Safety Congress
what the same wav. at least as far as curtailing the number of foundry
burns is concerned. We_ believe that the best results are to be obtained
by getting right at therjnen themselves. In other words, we can control
such externalities as safe equipment, preventives, sanitary surroundings,
etc., but we cannot control the inexperienced human element. This we
must educate. To substantiate this, permit me t'o say that an analysis
cf-tlie accidents during ill 17 showed that 57.S per cent were due to the
carelessness of the injured man. and 17.1 per cent to the carelessness of
a fellow employee. The remaining 25.1 .per cent were accidents which
occurred under such circumstances that no particular blame could be
placed. During lfHS. 3ST^_"per cent were apparently unavoidable, as against
25.1 per cent the year before. This, of course, reduces the number of acci
dents due to some one's carelessness, showing a gain over the preceding
year. This year, to the first of September, has made even a better show
ing. We have had :israe.cidents within this period, and just 50 per cent
have been unavoidable.;- the other half being traced to negligence. I might add that a large number of the accidents referred to the company
physician this year areieye cases, with no disability involved.
We have just said that the experienced foundry man does not cause us
any concern as regard^ avoidable accidents, but we are especially con cerned with novices. Ear this reason when we talte on a man who is new
to the malleable game-no matter whether he is an apprentice niolder, a
skilled moltler who liasTworked only grey iron, or a laborer, we lei! him how to do liis work with the maximum of safety to himself and his fel
low workers.
^ ItKOl'JKK .MI-.V To WKAIfc MOUIKHS1 SMOKS
Among other things.Twe explain our reasons for requiring all men who
work in the foundry dTfring the heats to wear molders' shoes. These we supply at cost. We further tell the new man that his feet are under in
spection at all limes, anil we expect him to keep his shoes in such condi
tion that they afford the necessary protection. If the new man is to carry
iron, we warn him against damp ladles and explain the danger of dump
ing drops in damp places. We also explain that the rights of others must
be respected, and thatjie must await his turn at the furnace spout. Tn
order to enforce these rules, we provide a watcher at each furnace during
the time that the heat js taken off.
The location and purpose of the first-aid hospital is told the newcomer,
and we try to impression him the necessity of reporting to his foreman
immediately even the^slighiesi scratch or abrasion. Often it is discour
aging to find out that men who ought to know better sometimes pay no
attention to a slight wound, but neglect it until it becomes painful. On
the other hunt!, if is vgjv gratifying .to see a new man come to the hospi
tal immediately.
___
:ih)I) 1MCTCUKS X i: Ml >111 I'm: HU'S 11RV ItUI.r.irrj.V IHIAIH'S
1 have already alluded to the fact that the average foundry laborer is unlettered, cither in English or his native tongue. For this reason, we do not believe that bullet in boards have any particular value. Pictures.
Mefnls fieri ion
7 *2:i
however. speak every language, anti he who does not read at all can profit by them. I wish there were more good pictures suitable for the foundryindustry. Machine shops, railroads, electrical, and construction trades are well represented, but the library of pictures illustrating the distinctive hazards of the foundry industry make a relatively small showing.
We have developed one branch of activity at our plant which may have contributed somewhat to the,reduction of accidents during the past two years. We have a man in out* organization who speaks several languages fluently, and a few others imfi. passable manner. One of this man's duties is to spend some time jn the foundry each day. and as opportunity pre sents i.tself. to talk to the men along the lines of safety and accident pre vention. as well as other propaganda that occasionally seems advisable. More men of the untutored classes can be reached by occasional chats in their native language than can be appealed to by high-brow pay envelope stutters, well written bulletins, etc. These are all right in their place, hut their place is not the malleable iron foundry-.
KIRST'AU* WO UK
Every .foundry should have a first-aid hospital. In plants where the payroll runs up into the thousands, and where there are many accidents every day, a trained nurse or experienced first-aid attendant is necessary. In smaller shops, where it tides not seem advisable to secure the exclusive services of an expert, there can usually- be found two or three men with level heads and steady nerves, who can be easily trained in first-aid work, and any of whcm can be available when needed. This reduces the cost of operating the hospital to aTow point, and in small shops this is the only-
way to handle the matter. So well has ou.r first-aid hospital been handled that in the twenty-seven
months of its existence, only two cases of blood-poisoning have developed from an injury- or burn. In both of these cases, injuries were not reported until too late to stop, infection. It might be interesting to add that one of these cases was the first-aid attendant himself, who scratched Ills hand on .a rusty nail, and did not take the trouble to disinfect it. Ills penalty for not practicing what he preached was that he vvas tied up for two or three weeks and had a jnerry time keeping the blood-poisoning within check.
Tbere is another problehT connected with handling first aid in accident cases. The average workman is prone to neglect an accident for several days, until it becomes serious. One may follow up the policy I have out lined, and he may think Jhe is getting the matter pretty well in hand, when some fine' day, Tonynr Mike or Pete lays off. and later we learn of an accident of a week agcrtbat he neglected to report, and that has now become painful and of grave concern to him and to us.
We have developed a method of handling this situation which cannot fail to succeed if faithfully followed up. Every morning a list of ab
sentees is made up and every man whose reason for absence Is not known either to his foreman or to the employment office, is visited at his home and the reason for his absence is learned. We are doing this primarily
Metals Section
October 2-4, 1919
J. A. OARTEL, Chairman Director of Safety, Csmegie Steel Company, Pittsburgh, Pa.
HOMER J. WEEKS, Vice-Chairman American Steel and Wire Company, Cleveland, Ohio
W. ErWATTERS, Secretary National Malleable Castings Company, Melrose Park, Illinois
THURSDAY MORNING SESSION
HAIRMAN OARTEL: As you know, at the last session of the Con gress, Mr. Frank E. Morris of the American Rolling Mill Company
was elected Chairman of th<F Metals Section, and he served until he was appointed Field Secretary for the National Safety Council, at which time the job was wished on me. So I have served only part of the year.
Because of this change in the officers of the section, the best work has not been done, but we bavejtrled to do what we could-
The year that has passed has been a remarkable year in the reduction of accidents in the iron and steel industry. I suppose you are all familiar with the figures contained in a recent letter written by Dr. Frederick L. Hoffman, Third Vice President and Statistician of the Prudential Life Insurance Company, to Mr. C. L. Close, Manager of the Bureau of Safety, Sanitation, and Welfare of the United States Steel Corporation.
In that letter the Doctor tells of the remarkable reductions in life in surance premiums that have been given to men working in the iron and steel industry wholly because of the safety work that has been done. I think that is one of the biggest contributions that has ever been made to safety, the fact that a conservative life insurance company that does not do things hastily has, after a thorough investigation, decided that our safety work has brought such results that they can consistently lower premiums on life insurance: And so, I think it may be said that this is one of the big contributions to safety that has been made in the last year.-
There have been some remarkable accident reductions by a number of companies, but I won't take the time to tell you of them.
I will now call on Mr. Watters, our Secretary, to give his report.
717
71 s
Kiijhih Safety Congress
HKP'ORT OF TUB SECRETARY
Your executive committee h:ui their first meeting in Chicago, on Octo
ber 15. nus. ami their yvbrk for the coming year was planned. There were
present: F. K. Morris.'Chairman; Homer J. Weeks, Vice Chairman: W. H.
Cameron. K. .1. WilJianTg and R. H. Cluerrant of the National Safety Coun
cil staff1. The Socretafjr was absent on account of illness.
Metal Section activities for the year 1 VMS-10 were taken up in detail and
it was agreed that each of the standing committees should be co'ntinued.
and that the work of^tlie section should he carried on along the same
general lines as heretqjore. The advisability of Having a special committee to disseminate informa
tion among the members of our section was discussed and it was decided
that this work should be done by including this information in the month
ly news letter.
""-y-
r.r I.l.llTI N AMI SAI K ! It A (.'TICKS COM M 1TTKK
After thoroughly canvassing the field, Mr. .1. A. Oartel,. Director of Safety. Carnegie Sieel.Conipany. was chosen as Chairman, of the Bulletin and Safe Practices Committee.
A report was obtained from Mr. J.amont, as to the amount of bulletin material on hand and Jt was learned tliat there was enough to run until the first of December.
It was suggested by Mr. Williams that many bulletins from other sec tions are applicable ta the industries of tlie Metals Section, and that the scheme of leaving it to the headquarters staff to decide on material for the bulletins for all the sections would avoid any duplication.of effort.
The different d'epaftments f the Iron. Steel, and Foundry Industries were outlined so that Air. Guerrant would have a guide to work from, and it was agreed that tbe sectional members present would send several scenarios in to the QQuncil headquarters so that the various principal hazards common to the section would be covered. A machine-shop bul letin would be of interest to all Metals Section members in view of the fact that every industry in our Section has a machine shop.
Therefore, it was decided tliat for the year tiventy-six of our bulletins should be General Metal Working bulletins such as would be useful in any machine shop, and that twenty-six should be special bulletins applying strictly to the liazards_of Iron. Steel, and Foundry members. The bulle tins for the past yeajilthen have followed this plan, the Metal Working ones being issued on alternate weeks with those which were strictly sec
tional.
S V l'l'_ IMtAC'l'IfKS PA M 1'lll.KTS
The pamphlet on 'Cleaning and Finishing Rooms in Foundries" which was prepared hv Mr. Guerrant for the Metals Section, was carefully re viewed and was issuejL to members of the Section last Fall. The second Safe Practices pamphlet for the Section, that on "Blast Furnaces." is almost ready for the ^printer, and will likely he issued within the next three or four weeks.
Metals Section
719
news i.ettehs
Rather than depend on a general appeal for material for our monthly news letter it was decided to make a. specific appeal to a limited number o members whose interest in the work of the Section is assured.
OTHER COM MITTKKS
The selection of the other committees was postponed until the next
meeting.
"3"
- NEXT MEETING
It was decided to hold the next meeting in Pittsburgh. November 20. The meeting adjourned at 5:30 P. M.
=*rilE SKO>N 1> MKKTlNt;
The second meeting of your Kxeeutive Committee was held in Pitts burgh on November IS. J'hose present were: F. K. Morris, H. A. Weeks, .1. A. Oartel, .T. A. Nortliwood, W. R. Rasmussen, W, 12. Watters.
Each of the different ^committees reported much progress. The i>rogram for the next Congress was laid out more in detail.
There were two more meetings of your executive committee held, one in Pittsburgh in May, and__one in Cleveland in dune, for the purpose of completing `he draft of Jjie Safe Practice pamphlet on "Blast Furnaces."
Mr. John A. Oartel. Director of Safety, Carnegie Steel Company, suc ceeded Mr. Frank Morris; as chairman of the Metals Section, Mr. Morris being appointed L>istr!cf~Field Secretary of the National Safety Council.
Since our last Congress the Metals Section has received 4 1 new members. We have also had 31 iftombers cancel their membership, the cause in a big percentage of the cases being the plants closing down. (On motion the report was accepted.) Chairman O.vrtkt.: t think perhaps I should report for the Bulletin and Safe Practices Leaflet Committee, although Mr. Waiters has touched on that in his report. I was getting along fairly well when I was made Chair man of this section and because of that, the work did not go along quite so well, but we have trtgd to do %vhat we cbuld and have been able to produce seme very good bulletins. I think, perhaps. I should also report for the Program Committee, of which Mr. J. A. Northwond of the Cambria Steel Company was Chairman. Mr. Xorthwood is unable to be present today, but I think the program we have for this Section, if not the best, is the most practical that w-e have ever had at a Congress. Of course, you will pass your judgment on that
at the close of the sessions. I think it would be in order now to appoint a Nominating Committee
to nominate a Chairman, a Vice Chairman, and a Secretary for the ensu ing term. I will appoint on that committee Mr. C. E. Pettibone, of the Pickands Mather Company: Fred Bennett, of the Buckeye Steel Castings Company: and H. E. Sffifnmetz. of the Midvale Steel and Ordnance Com pany. Will this committee please be prepared to hand in their report on
Saturday morning?
720
Eighth Safety Congress
The first address on ouT program this morning is by Mr. H. L.. Church.
ACCIDENT PREVENTION IN A MALLEABLE IRON FOUNDRY
H. L.
Church.
Director ok Employment Service, Ih5JT Works, Rockford, III.
Rockford
Malleable
There are, broadly speaking, two angles from which one must view the question of accident prevention in industry--the physical and the hu man. By physical, I referlto the matter of safe equipment and the respon sibility of keeping that equipment safe at all times. The other is the human element, and has to do with the habits of the men and the manner in which they perform their work. Owing to the fact that the amount of power-driven machinery on a foundry is comparatively limited, we are ' of the opinion that the vital matters in promoting safety in the malleable foundry are largely concerned with the human element and the various activities- that grow directly or indirectly out of it. This is particularly the case when we are dealing with prevention of accidents distinctly char acteristic of the malleable business, and are not considering such cases as are common to all branches of industry.
There are two factors that conspire to make work in a malleable foun dry especially dangerousHif proper care is not exercised. These factors are the toorlc itseJf and the men ic.ho do it. FOUNDRY WORK MUST UK MADE SAFER AND MORE ATTRACTIVE TO HOLD THE MEN
In the first place, the handling of molten iron--especially of malleable --is fraught with danger. Malleable cools very quickly, hence a molder must work rapidly to pour off a ladle full. The fatigue attendant on carrying ladle after ladle of iron, the heat always in evidence, which pro duces an enervating effeclgiand the mental strain one is under at the time, combine to present a field of activity that is not very attractive. One often finds seasoned foundry men who for some reason or other get away
from the molding trade^?and who are with difficulty induced to return. One man told me some wj|eks ago that he had spent the best years of his life in a foundry and he Was a blamed fool for so doing. He is now watch ing a machine in one otjur large plants, not making as much money as he did while molding, but lie says he is better satisfied. I do not wish to pose as a crape hangerrbut we must face the fact that men, in north ern Illinois at least, are Leaving the molders' trade, and we are concerned as to where our future molders are to come from. This is preeminently a problem for the employment executive, but the safety engineer also has his role to play. We are of the conviction that foundry work must be made more attractive and more safe .if we are to hold the men we al
ready have, and that is part of the safety man's job. The second reason grows out of the first condition I have outlined. As
foundry work is not desirable and appealing, it does not attract the class of men who fit into organizations where the more skilled operatives are called for. Consequently, the foundry employment man usually has to take practically the lowest class of workers available. As a rule, these
Metals Sectiofi
721
are foreigners who understand little, if any. English, and read but indiffer ently their own language. Most if not all of these never have received in their own. country even the most elementary notion of safety and sani tation. Put these men into a malleable foundry where working conditions are unpleasant and hard for .even the fellow above par. and you have a combination that keeps the foundry safety engineer guessing most of the time. More than this, the employment service tries to develop and Americanize these men, and then is obliged to see many of them slip away into more enticing fields of industrial activity, conditioned, of course, by their ability to expand. This is true especially of the present generation which is characterized by apparent unwillingness to tie oneself down to a trade, and is .not applicable to men of the older generation, among whom are the mainstays of present-day industry. However, the personal service director who has a broad outlook on life will not complain about this fact, but will face it gracefully, and feel that he is doing his part to de velop and unify to a certain ^extent the heterogeneous elements that fall into our national melting pot.
The net result of these two conditions outlined, the nature of the work, and the kind of men. who mult do it, is that the problem of safety in the foundry is preeminently one for the employment department, as a large part of the labor turnover in a malleable foundry is due to this peculiar maladjustment of the man and the job.
EOUSDBY BURNS
Our organized safety movement dates back to the spring of 1917, when we installed a first-aid hospital. A few weeks later, our employment de partment was inaugurated. One of the first lines of research work we undertook was to study the accidents reported during 1916 and the first half of 1917. Interesting information was gathered from this study. We learned that a large percentage of foundry burns, which formed the most distressing and costly of our accident cases, were suffered by men com paratively new in the business. Our experience has revealed the fact that molders who have been following the trade for years, and helpers who have become seasoned to the hazards of foundry life, are almost negligi ble as far as the human element in accident prevention is concerned. Not so, however, the half-baked molder or transient gangway dancer. These fellows, we found, suffered by far the greater number of bums. This brought us face to face withjour problem: to reduce the number of burns among the inexperienced foundry workmen, which constituted -our most serious hazard. Insistence ~oTi the use of safety shoes, goggles, leggings, and gloves prevents a great jBany burns, but we believe one must go deep er than that to get at the heart of the matter.
I remember reading a number of years ago a humorous sketch entitled "Curtailing the Liquor Traffic." One old timer suggested that the trafficbe curtailed by cutting off half of its tail. Another maintained that twothirds of the tail should be= amputated. Still another thought that the whole tail might be spared. Finally, a radical grapejuice advocate sug gested "cutting oft the cur's tail right behind the ears." -We feel some-
722 Eighth Safety Congress
what the same way. aijeasf as far as curtailing the number of foundry burns is concerned. Wfe believe that the best results are to be obtained by getting right at therinen themselves. In other weirds, we can control such externalities as sale equipment, preventives, sanitary surroundings, etc., but we cannot control the inexperienced human element. This we must educate. To substantiate this, permit me to say that an analysis cf-the accidents during^T.917 showed that 57.S per cent were due to the carelessness of the injured man. and 17.1 per cent to the carelessness of a fellow employee. The remaining 25.1 .per cent were accidents which occurred under such circumstances that no particular blame could be placed. During 1!)1S. 3SJ37per cent were apparently unavoidable, as against 25.1 per cent the year before. This, of course, reduces the number of acci dents due to some one's carelessness, showing a gain over the preceding year. This year, to tht^first of September, has made even a better show ing. We have had 2S Occidents within this period, and just ~.o per cent have been unavoidable!. the other hair being traced to negligence. I might, add that a large number of the accidents referred to the company physician this year a redeye cases, with no disability involved.
We have just said that the experienced foundry man does not cause us any concern as regards avoidable accident?, but we are especially con cerned with novices. For this reason when we take on a man who is n*w to the malleable gameryio matter whether he is an apprentice molder. a skilled molder who hasiworked only grey iron, or a laborer, we tell him how to do his work with the maximum of safety to himself and his fel low workers.
itkoi'iiti-: mi-:n to VKAii moi.milts' snotes
Among other things, we explain our reasons for requiring all men who
work in the foundry during the heats to wear molders' shoes. These we
supply jit cost. We ftiriher tell the new man that his feet are under in spection at all times, and we expect him to keep his shoes in such condi
tion that they afford the necessary protection. If the new mail is to carry
iron, wo warn him against damp ladles and explain the danger of dump ing drops in damp places. We also explain that the rights of others must
be respected, and thaUie must await his turn at the furnace spout. Tn
order to enforce these rules, we provide a watcher at each furnace during
the lime that the heat js taken off. The location and purpose of the first-aid hospital is told the newcomer,
and we try to impression him the necessity of reporting to his foreman
immediately even the ^slightest scratch or abrasion. Often it is discour
aging to find out tliat_.men who ought to know better sometimes pay no
attention to a slight wound, but neglect it until it becomes painful. On
the other hand, it is very gratifying .to see a new man come to the hospi
tal immediately.
^
ijdiuj rici l i:ks xki:iii ii i-oi: nu'xnitv nui.i.irrj.v nii.vuns
I have already alluded to the fact that the average foundry laborer is unlettered, either in English or his native tongue. For this reason, we do not believe that bullet in boards have any particular value. Pictures.
Metals Section
T`2:i
however, speak every language, and lie who does not read at all can profit by them. I wish there were more good pictures suitable for the foundry industry. Machine shops, railroads, electrical, and construction trades are well represented, but the library of pictures illustrating the distinctive hazards of the foundry industry make a relatively small showing.
We have developed one braijch of activity at our plant which may have contributed somewhat to the^reducticn of accidents during the past two years. AVe have a man in our organization who speaks several languages Huently. and a few others in a passable manner. One of this man's duties is to spend some time in the foundry each day. and as opportunity pre sents i.tseif. to talk to the men along the lines of safety and accident pre vention, as well as other propaganda that occasionally seems advisable.
More men of the untutored classes can be reached by occasional chats in their native language than can be appealed to by high-brow pay envelope sniffers, well written bulletins, etc. These are all right in their place, hnt their place is not the malleable iron foundry.
KJBKT-Ain WOKI-r
Every .foundry should have a ffrst-aiil hospital. In plants where the payroll runs up into the thousands, and where there are many accidents
every day, a trained nurse or experienced first-aid attendant is necessary.
In smaller shops, where it does not seem advisable to secure the exclusive '
services of an expert, thereccan usually be found two or three men with
level heads and steady nerves, who can be easily trained in first-aid work,
and any of \vh::m can be available when needed. This reduces the cost of
operating the hospital to a Tow point, and in small shops this is the only
way to handle the matter.
So well has our first-aid hospital been handled that in the twenty-seven
months of its existence, only- two cases of blood-poisoning have developed from an injury or burn. IiFbotli of these cases. Injuries were not reported
until too late to stop infecObn. It might be interesting to add that one of
these cases was the first-aul attendant himself, who scratched his hand on .a rusty nail, and did not take the trouble to disinfect ir. His penalty
for not practicing what he preached was that he was tied up for two
or three weeks and had a merry time keeping the blood-poisoning within
check.
Tl
There is another probleuTconnectecl with handling first aid in accident
cases. The average workman is prone to neglect an accident for several
days, until it becomes serisjus. One may follow up the policy I have out
lined, and he may think Te is getting the matter pretLy well in hand,
when some fine' day, Ton.v~or Mike or Pete lays off. and later we learn of
an accident of a week ago'that he neglected to report, and that has now
become painful and of grave concern to him and to us.
We have developed a method of handling this situation which cannot fail to succeed if faithfully followed up. Every morning a list of ab
sentees is made up and every man whose reason Cor absence is not known
either to bis foreman or to the employment office, is visited at his home and the reason for his absence is learned. We are doing this primarily
724
Eighth Safety Congress
to secure information that will help us to work along the lines of stabiliz ing our working force. ^However, a valuable by-product of this plan is the help it* brings to the first-aid department. If a man has been injured and he has neglected to report it until it became painful and compelled him to lay off. we get at the fact the first day lie is off duty. If it looks like a case that may be critical, we get the matter before the company physician. If it seems likely that the first-aid department can handle the case, and that a few days! off is the maximum, we take the man back to the factory where the first-aid department takes care of his case. We then take him home if necessary. We follow him up and see that he gets the necessary care until he is able to resume work.
This, in the main, is the outline of our efforts and experience along the lines of accident prevention in the malleable iron foundry. No plans, however clever or well laid, will succeed without persistent, honest en deavor. No system is better than the man or men who operates it. Wheth er we have succeeded in reducing accidents by activities along the lines we have outlined is of coarse debatable. We may have been simply fortu nate. Possibly so. Our records do show, however, that our accidents have been reduced in number, and if we have been simply fortunate, that for tune at least coincides chronologically with our organized efforts.
REDUCTION IX ACCIDENTS
Permit me at this time to present a few statistics. During the second
half of 1917, which was the first half-year of our organized effort, we had
one foundry burn to every twelve men employed. During the first half
of 191S, we had one burn for every 30 men, and the same ratio obtained
during the last half of the year. The first six months of this year was
somewhat better, with a showing of only one burn to 44 men. Since the
first of J uly to date, we have had only one burn that necessitated a man
laying off. We are especially gratified at this result in view of the com
paratively large number of apprentice molders we have been obliged to
take on, owing to a serious (shortage of skilled molders.
To judge from our own "experience, we do not hesitate to say that every
malleable iron foundry, iio matter how small, should be equipped with a
safety organization somewhat along the lines we have tried out. It may
not'be possible to have one who devotes all his time to this work, especi
ally in the smaller plants^ In view of the peculiar employment problems that confront foundries at present, we believe that every malleable shop
should have an employment service department, part of whose functions
is the safety-first propaganda. These two branches can be combined very
successfully if plant conditions do not warrant an exclusive safety engi
neer.
_ EXTENDING SAFETV AND SANITATION TO THE HOMES
I have already alluded To the fact that the malleable foundry usually has to take practically the least desirable class of workers available and try to develop them. This affords the opportunity of the malleable foun dry to serve society, if there exists any altruistic sense at all, and I for one, believe that there should be. We must take these men as we find
Metals Section
725
them, many of them hardly above the ten-year-old in mentality, and give them their first instructions in safety and sanitation. If we can do so without becoming manifestly paternalistic, we might extend the scope of our operations to reach them in their home life. The average man spends about nine or ten hours under influences .created and maintained by his employer. The remainder_of his time, not devoted to sleep, is with his family and acquaintances. If, under these circumstances, the employer cannot inculcate the principles of safety, who will? If it is inadvisable to extend our safety workjto the men in their homes, we can at least hope that they will apply in their home life what we are trying to teach them in the shop. If we can impress the men with proper conceptions of safety and sanitation in such a way that they become not merely a formal ob servance of shop practice, but a rule of life, vital and dominating, we are contributing our share to the development of those elements of society that come under the sphere of our influence.
Chairman- Oartel: Mr. Church, I am very sure I express the sentiment of the entire Metals Section when I voice my appreciation for your very practical paper.
Gentlemen, we have twojor three minutes left for discussion. Are there any questions any of you want to ask Mr. Church? Is there anything you want to add to his pamper?
DISCUSSION r Mr. William Randall (Valley Mould and Iron Company. Sbarpsville, Fa.): I would like to aslv Mr. Church if he compels or demands his em ployees to wear leggings and safety shoes.
SAFETY SHOES
Mr. H. L. Church: We compel them to wear safety shoes. We have not compelled them to wear leggings as yet but are inducing them to do it by moral suasion. Wegexpect to do so in the near future.
Mr. William Randall: If you can't obtain that result, what do you do, discharge them?
Mr. H. L. Church: We haven't had much trouble in compelling them because we furnish the shoes.
Mr. William Randall^Does your company furnish all the shoes? Mr. H. L. Church: Yes. We furnish the shoes. The Secretary: Do you make any charge for the shoes? _ Mr. H. L. Church: We handle them absolutely at cost. We had one spell several months ago when the fellows were complaining about the high cost of shoes. We discontinued the shoes and told them to buy them up town. In about a weethere was an awful holler about it, and we went back to our old practice.-- Me. H. N. Yates (Rogers-Brown Iron Company, Buffalo, N. Y.): Whatkind of shoes do you mean by moulders shoes, congress or lace shoes? Mr. H. L. Church: Congress shoes. Mr. H. N. Yates: We find great difficulty in getting the men to adopt
72<;
Eighth Safely Congress
those shoes. I would likcMo 4t what the duties of your Service De
partment are.
--
Mii. H. Ii. Cm-i:n: Tb'
wm service is intended as a clearing
house of labor methods. _Vl** rail the {employment Manager the Employ ment Service Director. lit* inv*itigates discharges, seettres new help,
takes care of the personal relations of the men in the shop. He is the
same as the (employment Manager in most concerns. Cir.wRMAN Oaki'ei.: There is a request that Mr. Vanderpool say some
thing on leggings and slices Mic. Vaxukkinu.i.: At the Xational Malleable Castings Company we have
no trouble in getting nieiCto wear leggings. We furnish the leggings,
making an initial cliarsc. Tlieir money is refunded if they leave 11s.
We go around daily and inspect the leggings, and those in. need of re
pairs we pick up and at the same time hand the man a new legging. We haven't had any trouble in getting them worn.
Mtt. J. D. James (Xew Jersey Zinc Company): We have had quite a
number of foot burns by_met.nl. Very often we had as high as two or
three a week. 15m. in the last few years we have eliminated burns alto
gether.
__z
First of all. we tried leggings, but the men complained that in the sum
mer mouths they could not wear them because they were too warm. So.
we kept experimenting on_a kind of footguard. We don't have any trou ble in getting them to weary lie spats, as we call them, ami have eliminated
foot burns altogether. 1 have a pair at the desk and if you would like to
examine them. 1 will be glad to show them to you. We don't charge any
thing for them and we have no trouble in getting the men to wear them.
Chairman Oakthi.: I.et us leave the inspection of those spats until the close of the meeting. 1 amlsure we shall all be glad to see them because this is so vital a point in mir industry.
The next address was tor have been delivered by Mr. M. F. Gartland of
the Marion Gray Iron Follfdry Company. Marion. Indiana, but .Mr. Gart land is detailed on account of illness, and the paper will be read by Mr. T. YV. Y'anderpoll of the National Malleable Castings Company.
TIIE 1'KRSOXAI. EL.E3.1KXT IN A SAFETY PRO OR AIM FOR _TIIE FOUNDRY
M. F. Gauti.axii. Mauiox Gray Iron Foundry-, Marlon, Ini>.
We state a fact and we don't need to prove it when we say that the foundry can never be made as.safe as a parlor. We may have the most expensive and most modern_machinery and equipment that money can buy, our buildings may be models of perfection so far as light and ventilation and general arrangement j^re concerned, we may coerce our men in the matter of wearing moldersi shoes, leggings, and goggles, but the fact re mains that a splash of hot Iron will still cause a burn when it comes into contact with the human body. A casting or a piece of pig iron will still mash a foot or break a toejf it drops at the right spot at the right time.
Our high grade equipment will do a great deal to eliminate the
Metals Section
727
splashes and other accidents due to machinery but beyond that there_ is yet another element. Improved methods of handling the product will eliminate a great deal J5I the danger that arises from this source but no piece of machinery or equipment has ever been made that is entirely fool proof. We must seek yet further for the final analysis of our safety
problem. We shall still have our accidents in spite of all these good.
things. If we could operate ~u foundry by machinery from the pig iron yard
to the shipping platform without the touch of a human hand we should have no foundry accidents. But we can't do that, we must have men. Our foundries must be alive with men through every part of every work ing day. Again, if wsliad the men of our foundries engaged in the task of making mud pies by hand we should have no foundry accidents. The element of danger thaOies in the nature of our product would be eliminat ed. But we are not Iji the mud pie business and we are not making and shipping castings by machinery. We are making our product from pig
iron and scrap. To pttfTit on the market we must have men. Men must
unload the iron, the goal, and the sand. Men must charge the furnaces and heave In the coal to heat them. Other men must draw off the molten charge and pour it into the moulds, and still other men must dump the castings from the moulds and follow them step by step through the finish ing processes and then put them on board the cars for their destination. In each of these operations from beginning to end there is a certain ele ment of danger fromjjie very nature of the materials and because of the
fact that human hands must direct each one of them. This element of danger or hazard can Je lessened but never eliminated entirely by the in stallation and use of jSore modern equipment.
" THREE EEEME.N'TS OF HAZARD
We have, then, three elements of hazard with whieh. to contend even in
the best of our foundries: our equipment, our product, and our men. The
safety engineer and the foundry expert have done a great deal to eliminate
the danger in. the manufacturing process and they will yet do a great deal more. Let theiffJlo it. That is the'ir Job but let us give them our
best cooperation. They each have their field, and each fs important to
our organization. They have dealt primarily with' machinery and me
chanical processes and in the course of time may hope to arrive at some
thing near perfection so far as safe machines may l>e concerned. The
greatest hazard yet remains and here is a job for the human engineer.
While the. safety engineer is dealing with machines the human engineer
is dealing with a problem far more complex than any machine can ever be.. He must deal with human nature and all of us know enough, about
human, nature to know that we know very little. We don't know our
selves so very well Jib, of cotirse, we cannot hope to know fully any one
else.
^
THE IT CM AX ELEMENT
It is the purposeTof this paper to direct your attention to certain phases of the work of the human engineer. For the sake of clearness the sub-
728 Eighth, Safety Congress
ject will be presented as though his work were to be entirely divorced
from that of the safety engineer. It win be so presented but with full
knowledge of the fact that the two types of work are very closely related
to each other and that the safety engineer is very often a human engineer
as well.
--
We are asked to discuss today the strides that have been made in the
progress of safety work for foundries. Perhaps the greatest stride possi
ble has been made when we recognize the true nature of our problem and
put our hands to the task of its solution. We may say with confidence
that the foundries of the-country have recognized the problem and that
they have set about solving it. We may find conclusive evidence of this
fact in every new safety" device that is installed and in every piece of
so-called welfare work that is being undertaken for the workers in our
plants. Owners and managers everywhere are beginning to recognize the
human element that enters into their safety problem and they are all
striking out. some of them blindly, perhaps, to find its solution. We have
housing plans. We have gardens by the thousands for our employees.
We have clubs and classes.- We have entertainments and socials. We
have free clinics and visiting nurses and social service workers. We have
bonus systems and plans of profit sharing and a score of other lines of
welfare work all trying for the one goal of making, the worker a more
efficient and better satisfied man. All of these things are good and should have a great deal more of our attention. They should be encouraged
among our workmen and should be given larger appropriations of money. We have but to look into bur own lives to see how easily men are thrown
off their guard. We know that a night without proper rest is fatal to
our highest efficiency on the day following, and we know that a long
stretch of hard work without periods of proper relaxation and recreation will bring about a break down in our better judgments. We may not
suffer a broken foot from a falling pig of iron or a burned ankle from a
splash of molten metal but we have accidents In our mental processes
which are just as painful And a great deal more costly in dollars and
cents. Perhaps we should have a great deal more serious accidents than
the foundry laborer has if we carried our load and worked where he works
and under the same conditions. We know that everything^we do in our leisure time has its effect upon
our lives while we are at rwork. The thing that is true of the executive
who works in ideal surroundings is still more true of the man who labors
with his hands and earns his living in the heat and smoke and confusion
of our foundries. To a very"large extent he is made or unmade by the things which happen to him outsfde of his work-day life. So then we may
say that a divorce suit in a^local court may be more dangerous to the man
involved than an open pit tfear his work bench. A threatening landlord
may produce more injuries^ in our foundry than our worst hazard of
equipment. In other words, the man whose mind is ill at ease or who
isn't properly housed and fisd may make our plant more unsafe than It
would be if we removed efery safety device in the whole place. The
man who was just bora careless and never outgrew it is more dangerous to our plant when he is in there at work than he would be if he stood Off
Metals Section
720
at a safe distance on the outside and hurled firebrands Into It three times a day. '
T1IE MISFIT
Now let us look' at some of these men of ours who are so prone to In
jury. Let us make up our minds to help them If we can. The effort will pay for itself in many ways. First there is the man who Is a misfit. We
didn't know there was such an. animal a few years ago but we are. begin
ning to recognize him. now. rThere are men in all of our foundries who
ought not to be there. They have been drawn into our employ through a chain of circumstances and it is hard for them to break away. They
belong there just about as much as the members of the National Safety
Council belong in the business of deep-sea diving. They-have about as
much sympathy for our business as the average safety engineer has for the business of the steeple jack. Not having interest in their work they lack
the incentive to become efficient workmen. They drag through the day without enthusiasm and leave when the whistle blows with a full quota of
accidents piled up behind them. These are the men who make our State
Industrial Commissions keep one eye on our accident charts. It is be
cause of such men as these that we have a high rate of industrial insur
ance for our foundries of all types. But they are there. Our ^foreman can point out half a dozen of them
any time we ask him. We know they are there but what are we going to do with them? That question is easier to ask than it is to answer. Per
haps the easiest thing would be to give such a man the opportunity to
find work somewhere else. We would have done that in the old days but
we hesitate to do it now; not that we love the man any more than we did but it is not so easy to replace him with a better man. Another and better solution is to give him his opportunity in some other part of our own plant
if possible. We know this plan will work because we can all call up a
great number of individual cases where it has worked. The trouble is that very few if any of us have adopted it as a principle for every day applica
tion. The consistent application of this principle will eliminate a great many of our misfits. It will make careful and efficient workmen out of a
great many of our accident makers and will orten be the means of keep
ing a valuable man on oiir pay-roll. Of course we can't do this by merely saying that it will be done.-jlf we believe it we must work it day after
day, week in and week out. It will call for a closer cooperation between
our different production departments and between all foremen and the
employment department.
~
We cannot lay down any rules for the application of this principle.
Each case must be handled In its own way. We cannot say bow long a man should be kept on trial. Some men respond much more quickly than
others, and we cannot say that the principle will work In every case be cause we know it won't. There are some men who are misfits no matter
where you place them and for such as these there is no hope in the foun
dry. The sooner we start them on their way out the better off we shall
be. All that we can give tct the plan in patience and perseverance and
good common sense will not produce perfect results but we can accom-
7:5.0 Eighth Safety Congress
plish something that is very much worth while. We shall wn4ef>ttd out men better, at the very least, our men will understand ns better ad4 i this we shall have more of their loyalty and devotion.
THE XIAN 'Willi 1*1 Bl-ON A I, Tm R.IP
The next man who is a great maker of arridetrtn ie. the
*#wd
is ill at ease. He is not so easy to roivvCBit* and not j=n tpn fn tbst trttli
when we do find him. He may be tmshW abont
on** *T wntf of
t hi nits and very often there seems To he c-odwtotewref-wfe of theflT aW rut
them. He may he. under ordinary emdftions. a wry mrefnl and loyal
workman hut. when "troubles a ton"' fail njxm him he toon: Tie sense of
proportions and all thought of safety for Mw*elf r*r rfftefe he rrn*ded <srt
of his tnicd. The sorrel of hi* Trouble in that hie mind h fnr*tial
bis
own personal problem, so. of rwtmw. It flwwwit. he fiysd
him work.
When a man works without thinking we may be sure fb*f he witj mkmb
make trouble for himself or for some one who work* tw*t him. Ifbea
we meet with a case of this kind we must have a jer*Oe remedy. A pre
scription of the "shot gun variety" has no value to this man. He is not
interested in generalities. His own personal problem* must be met and
solved. Every plant needs arsouad of sharpshooters who can hit the spot
every time. Call them what you will: visiting nurses, social service work
ers or what not but first findyoiir men and women who have common sense
and good judgment and then turn them loose with authority enough to
ride over every precedent and break every rule of the plant if this be
necessary to supply the one: and only remedy for the worker who is in
.trouble. A dozen troublesome cases for which real remedies have been'
found and applied are worth more to a plant as a business asset than to have entertained the wliole working force in most royal style. These per
sonal contacts with the individuals of our work forces are just about
as Important and should be carried out just as systematically as our con
tacts with our best customers.
Now we shall have failures in dealing with this group just as we have
failures in dealing with the misfit. Cases will he found where it will be
impossible even to establish, a friendly relation. It will be more than im possible to be- of help but the effort. If honestly- made, will not be lost en
tirely. On the other hand We shall find that the help we arc able to give
to those who do receive us, in many cases, is a real God-send to their lives.'
THE CARKI.ESS ACAV
The next man who makes us.lie awake at nights wondering what is go ing to happen next is the careless man. He was born that way or his life has been such that be lias-grown that way-. Nearly all of us are careless to a certain degree but ffe Jncl men in all walks of life who are danger ously and criminally careless. They are more dangerous to the plant than a box of dynamite. We can be sure that the dynamite will explode under certain conditions but wo never can tell when the careless man will let go. He usually does so without warning and in a moment of time may put the whole works out of harmony for a month or two. If such men
.Wtats Section.
T-M
bore the complete resalt of thwhr rwb fotfy we roieht well say "Good
enough for them" b<#rt Che-yuSxws-f, Th*> mnweeu*- n<4 always suffer with
the guilty and the eaufeiesv msee" darken'-/eat- f<* bts* companions
than he is to hlmwW. W*- ;aw> Ml
tew
eoutfanaHy beep
others in trouble no *rr-i#t .><
'**-rMi="=<!r-Mw=e
wBo w^rn to- live
under a lucky star and e*r sen- httr* i ivwse'' =
The fortunate t6ine *Jwt io-**, ,<u4<it: utie
:% w
educate
hint both as an imflvpgEfeM tnrt r>
'sV. .-m asftwftl to him on- the
basis of loyalty to ftiv fwa^r ;**} ** -*4'*-n -f -rfc**e=*= wv fl4 with hint.
The careless men of mw1 jgwp*t **> we
-r at> -t-v `EV>t e prescript
tion" in the form of
-ei<t e-niec iif w!s'tw*amtl activi
ties. A downward ort'T u -h ^-i-i.*>.> i-!ei
** **-w**r* a matter of
pride to them; The
r-w -sa tHpce *r iyeomt the most
careful if be i>bwn-M
s
ifc-tr*** *k -fur
hf-jc folly or if
he should inflirt m vojifrvy nomm h Wee woe-k***-
sfBwtW he aiii. how
ever. Chat he' pmhath-iy effl n rv fe -Me- a**'*'
of eflSrtency on
his own account, but th*t hy> nv tw n>d **-,, ^ -.fl **-r heart-to-heart talk
with some member of >tw et<v>-iv. sHsCf A4*er all the safety meeting
and the safety bnlleria very
gjdl Wwu-- bxkc of n* are prone to
think that a safety meeata* fee a tine- fhiast tor the other fellow. The
heart-to-heart talk will place the responsibility na the individual
where it belongs. Here again the personal contact is the thing that is most effective in gaining the desired end.
As we shall find some misfits who cannot be "fitted" and some personal problems we cannot solve so we shall find some careless men we cannot
, cure. Carelessness is born in selfishness and where selfishness has taken
deep root in the life of a man it is hard to lift it out. There are some men to whom no appeal can bcunade. When we find a man like this, the best gift we can bestow- is the pay-olf slip. We owe it to ourselves, we pwe it to our careful workmen, and we owe it to our incurables of every kind to give them the opportunity to work where there is less that is hazardous. Our buiness has in it so many unavoidable hazards that we cannot afford
to"be hampered by the man who will not help us to make it as safe as
possible.
=
~~~
ENVIBOnMENT
There are two -other elements in a safety program which should have consideration here. Theypire not entirely personal but they are so closely related that it would be a mistake not to mention them in passing. The first of these is the element of environment. Environment is directly re lated to efficiency and. efficiency is a half-brother to safety- The man who works at a rate of speed- which is normal to him as an individual will have fewer accidents than, he would if he worked a great deal faster or a great deal slower. Tlie piece worker, who. naturally, is interested in maintaining a high degree of personal efficiency, will have fewer acci dents than the day worker who takes occasion to kill a block of time now and then. The oneris keyed up to Ms normal pace with mind alert and with attention centered in his task while the other takes the pace that will keep him out of trouble with the foreman, fffs mind may he
732
Eighth Safety Congress
a blank and his attention may be focused anywhere hut on his work. It is not difficult to see the relation that exists between each of these men and the accident record of the plant where they work.
We may say with confidence that everything which has a bearing on the productive labor of our, men has also a bearing upon, our accident ex perience. Everything which takes the attention of our men from their work will be reflected in the number of accidents we have and everything we do to improve working conditions will mean not only a higher rate of production but also a lower rate of injury. Even the buildings where men work have their bearing on this personal problem of safety. A building so constructed that men csEa constantly watch the street outside is a men ace to the safety of the plant. When men watch the street they do not watch their work and nothing is more productive of injury. We should have our buildings well lighted, to be sure, but the light should come from windows well above'the level of the average workman's eyes.
Responsibility for the environment of the plant does not rest upon the
management alone. All who work in the plant have their share in this. The foreman who keeps his department as neat and clean as possible will produce more and better eastings than the foreman who allows his men to work in a place that is^ constantly out of order. Just as the executive will do better work in a -Well appointed office that is kept clear of rubbish so will the molder and laborer do better work if they are not compelled to climb over miscellaneous piles of slip boxes, bottom boards, and broken ladles every time they move about the shop.
The second thing which should have special mention here is that of
proper Instruction for thermun newly hired. This is a more personal mat
ter than that of environment. A man may be a good workman even a
master of his trade but if he does not know our methods of doing work in our foundry he may cause any number of accidents to himself and
others before he learns. No man should be turned loose alone on a job until he has learned all he can be taught about it. He should know all of its hazards and should! be shown bow bis work is to be related to other work throughout the plant. He will work with more understanding and with a more sympathetic attitude of mind. These have a direct bear ing on the question of his^ making a safe and efficient workman for ns. That we believe in this is evidenced by the fact that we all say "we do it the best we can" but we are not thorough about it. We go about it in a haphazard way. One foreman will tell a new man this thing and that thing and the other thing and then some one else will tell him two or three other things and we suppose he has been instructed in all lie needs to know. What the man needs- is a comprehensive view of the whole organization. The.task of giving him this information should he assigned to a definite group of qualified men and the new man's acknowl edgment of having received such instruction should he made a part of his employment record. 1
The time allotted to this paper and its discussion will not permit us to go into this subject as deeply as we might wish. Let it he said that this is just one more of the loose ends that fly about all of our plants. If we
Metals Section
73?.
bad the vision and the power to gather them all up and weave them into
the fabric of our organization we should have organizations so strong that
we need have little fear of the ordinary troubles that come to us.
INDUSTRIAL, RELATIONS
All of these problems were greatly minimized in the old days when the workman lived in the home of his employer. The complexities of modern life will never permit us to return to this condition but we must approach the ideal of the constant personal contact with our workmen if we would seek to minimize the problems of this our present day.
That there is nothing that is entirely new or original in the subject matter of this paper is well known to the writer. It is only hoped that by bringing these same things to our attention again and again we can be brought to see anew our obligation to those who work for us and with us. There is nothing new tojbe brought forward in this problem. It is
the old problem of the relation between men. We have not entered into
any new obligation to our men in this new day of great industrial activity. Our obligation is the same if we have one man or a thousand men working for'us. It Is that we shall give them all we can of ourselves so long as they are faithful and loyal and continue to give us the best tbat is in
them.
_--
If the .repetition of these things which are so well known to some of
us has enabled any one of us to see our problem and our obligation with
a little clearer light the effort has not been in vain. If it helps any one
of us to get away from the running of our business as we would run a
machine; or if it helps us to understand the personal element that is in
our safety problem and helps us to make the solution of the problem a personal" matter for our personal attention it will have accomplished its
purpose.
-
In the absence of the Chairman while giving his address before the
A, B, C Section, Mr. W. E. Watters, Secretary of the Metals Section, took
the Chair.
^
Acting Chairman Watters:
In the absence.of Mr. Garttand, we may
be handicapped in the discussion, but if there are any questions Mr. Van-
derpool can answer, I am sure he will be glad to do so.
If there are no questions, we will call on Mr. Earl W. Kessler for his
paper.
t
SUGGESTIONS OUTLINING FUNCTIONS OF SAFETY COMMITTEE
E. W. Kessler, Detroit!Steel Casting Comtaxy, Detroit, Mich.
I wish to take a few moments from the allotted time for the reading of my paper, to express my appreciation for the privilege of meeting with such a splendid organization, and also of representing the Detroit Steel Casting Company as a member of the National Safety Council.
7:{4
JEighth Safety Congress
The paper I am about to read contains suggestions outlining satety
work as applied to steel foundry practice.
'
The support of the management is absolutely essential in inaugurating
safety functions, and should properly recognize the work by giving it a
genuine place in the OTgjanization. and best to prove its interest it should
be willing to cooperate with the members of the Safety Committee in a
frank and open manner; also to authorize the adoption of all consistent
recommendations that ruay be offered by the Safety Committee or that
may be otherwise properly presented.
...............
The attitude assumed by the management, will naturally, reflect upon
the employees, and should it be .one .of indifference .then only indifferent
results can be expected^ The work.willsucceed only in proportion to the
amount of conscientious effort ppt into it and the more support and coop
eration given it the more gratifying and lasting the results will be. This
is the first step.
,
. ..
. ....
The second step is that of organizing a Central Safety Committee, con
sisting of the J^remen in charge of the. various departments in the plant;
also other high-grade men in whom the. management as well as- the em
ployees have implicit_Eonfidence in tlieir ability to adopt and practice
safety methods affecting the departments under their supervision.
The Central Safety Committee should be a permanent one and its
duties should be to outline and supervise all safety work, and to receive
and act upon all reports, recommendations, and suggestions. It should
meet regularly at leasLeveiy two weeks for general discussion.
We have another committee in our plant, known as the Workmen's
Committee, which is made up of men who are actively engaged in differ
ent operations. The duty of this Committee is to report to the Secretary
any hazardous conditions affecting that class of work or operation, and especially the careless practices of fellow-employees, and less upon the
points of danger to beprotected by safeguards.
The Central Committee, which acts upon all the suggestions made by the
Workmen's Committee^ without any desire to disrespect or belittle its
work, has found that Jn several instances it was not advisable to make
corrections suggested by the "Workmen's Committee.
This. Gentlemen, is the procedure that we inaugurated in the year 191S
and have continued ujLto tlie present time. We have during this period
equipped our cbippersr'grinders, break-off men and acetylene welders with
goggles. We have also obtained the best possible equipment for our
sandblast men and electric welders. All emery wheels are properly guard
ed and properly set by_one of our mechanics, who is held responsible for
the placing or setting the wheels on the arbors, as there is a possibil
ity of the wheels being broken by careless workmen. This eliminates
some of the danger
wheel breaking while in operation. In our No.
2 shop we have a saiig_o men pouring hot metal. Previous to the time
that we insisted upo'ULthese men wearing safety shoes, many or them
suffered with burns oil their feet. However, since our men have been
wearing these safetyjgfhoes accidents of this nature have materially de
creased.
._
Metals Section
7Ho
..
.HOOKS AND CHAINS
The question o hooks and ehains was called to our attention at one
time, and as a matter o fact there is a good deal of danger involved in
their use. It was suggested tEat we have a weekly inspection of hooks
and chains, and that we anneaLall chains about every three months, also
that .when chains are found To be in bad condition, they should be
scrapped and replaced as there" is no economical practice in allowing a
chain to be used in a defective condition. All these suggestions were
adopted by the Central Safety Committee.
Of course we all realize that the equipment used in a steel foundry Is
very different from that of an automobile plant, and other manufacturing
plants. In many of the large manufacturing plants in Detroit where meth
ods of safety are In force, even- machine is well guarded. Our plant has
not a large equipment of machinery, but wherever gears are exposed they
are properly guarded.
After all is said and done, however, a large percentage of the accidents
in a steel foundry * i was tempted to say a majority of them) are of such
a nature that they cannot be guarded against by tire installation of guards
or the use of any mechanical means which the company can reasonably be
whereexpected to install. There is^jilways an element of danger
large
weights, such as flasks, molds, castings, etc., `are being constantly han
dled irrespective of whether^these are handled by foreigners ox- native-
born men. As a nation we are careless, and nowhere are we more careless
than in tlie' safeguarding of our own lives and limbs. In all walks of
life we are prone to take chances to save us a minute's time, or something
even of less value. It is a part of the feverish pace at which we live.
The foundry is no exception ^to this prevailing spirit, and as long as it
exists, though safety devices he!p. they will not eliminate many of the
distressing accidents which are all too common.
One of the most important functions of the Safety Committee must
therefore be to endeavor to inculcate in the men a greater degree of cau
tion in their work and a feeling which will decrease the number of chances
they constantly take. A short time ago I talked with a safety man who is connected with
one of the large concerns in.Detroit employing several thousands of men.
He stated that in their plant almost everything had been done toward
making conditions safe for the employees, and that their big problem was
the slight accidents of which r spoke a few moments ago, and he wanted to
know-how they could be overcome. My answer to his question was, "It
is utterly impossible to employ safety devices .to overcome them, as it is
up to the employee himself" These slight accidents are caused by
thoughtlessness, ignorance, ~and carelessness.
Carelessness seems to
be lurking In every plant In the United States, and the only way
to get it out of the plant is by spreading National Safety propaganda
around the plant trying, to Impress upon the minds of the men that-this
is a safe shop, where principles of safety are practiced, and they too must
think Safety-: and if it wef^not for-constant medical attention many of
736
Eighth Safety Congress
the slight accidents would probably result in infeqtions and possibly
something worse.
~
Acting CiuiKMAX Wattebs:
Is there any discussion on Mr. Kessler's
paper? It was very good and brought out some very interesting subjects.
[Mr. J. D. James comes forward wearing a sample pair of the spats
used in his plant, to show them to the members of the Metals Section.]
Mb. J. D. James: As I said a moment ago, we had quite a number of
foot burns in our foundry so we tried to get the men to buy foundry shoes,
but we couldn't compel them to do that. They claimed they couldn't
afford to buy those shoes In addition to Sunday shoes.
PREVENTING FOOT BURNS
The next question was how to prevent foot burns. We designed a sort of spat. They didn't work very well; the string would come off. Then we went a step further and tried something in .the shape of a legging. They complained against that and said they were entirely too hot. We couldn't compel them to wear the leggings, so we tried the spats you see on me. We have been using them over two years and we have not had one single foot burn during that ime- In fact, before we take the metal from the cupola, every man has his spats on. As soon as we do the morning work and the casting, they get into them. The foremen put them on also, and in that way they set a.good example for the men in wearing them.
(A discussion on the subject followed and Mr. James also showed the members of the Section a belt he deviBed for the use of brakemen.
Mr. Oartel resumed the Chair.)
DISCUSSION
Chairman Oartel:
Mr. James has brought up a very good point.
Hasn't it been true in the past that we have devised things like this and
shoved them at the men? I think Mr. James has told us a better way. the
way of moral suasion, of reasoning with a man and bringing it iip in a
friendly manner? I think if we will do that, it won't oe long before we
get the men on our side. I have known of many instances where a foreman with tact has taken
things up in that way and by the use of tact and friendliness has con
verted men to the safety Idea who have been radically opposed to it.
USE INTERPRETER TO GIVE SAFETY INSTRUCTION
There is a question X would like to ask Mr. Church. I didn't have time after his paper. Mr. Church, you spoke of a man who wbuld go around among the employees occasionally, a man who could speak their various languages and give thgm instructions and talk safety "to them. What does that man do in your plant?
Mb. H. L. Church: He is connected with, the employment work. Chairman Oartel: j=As an Interpreter? Mr. H. L. Church:-- He does other work as well. He scouts out after
Metals Section
737
the men when, they are absent and takes care of the first-aid work, as
well as the interpreting' work." Chairman Oabtki.: How do' the men receive his safety talks and In
structions?
Mb. H. D. Church: Very kindly, indeed.
Cixairman Cartel: I have always taken the attitude and insisted upon
it wherever I could, that one of the places we are falling down In our ac cident-prevention work Is in our lack of instruction to new men, and I
think this idea is a very good one, and that is why I am interested in it.
In our own company we have a certain plant where they do something
along that line. It is one o the hazardous departments--the shipping
department--where they load'billets, bars and plates of steel that have
to be bandied with cranes and flings. You men who know anything about
that know it is very hazardous--the danger of chains breaking, the dan
ger of not getting a good hold on the load and things like that.
They decided to appoint a man similar to the one Mr. Church has told
us about who should have for his particular duty the instruction of new
employees. The. success in this has been wonderful. So, I wonder if we haven't neglected the new mair'just a little too much. He has come into
our plants. We have given him a pick or a shovel or other tool and he
ha3 gone to work. Mr. H. L. Church:
We utilize that man also in interviewing applicants
who don't speak English fluently. Our feeling is that the average for eigner asking for a job is very ill at ease because he cannot handle the English language fluently. So, we interview the man in his native lan
guage. We find that when youget a man on the quiet, he will present bis better self to you, and the man who knows the other fellow's language, knows bis national culture, too--the national viewpoint of the applicant-- and he is able to put himself into the other fellow's place. You get at the
better side of the men in that way. We-use that man for instructing the men in the American language and
interviewing, also for interviewing these men in their homes in case of
sickness or any trouble where^we think we can help them. He is con
nected with the Employment Service Department.
Chairman Oaktel: AnotherTthing that interested me was your mention
of a man who looked up whatSe call "delayed treatment cases". I think
that is a very good idea, in getting them before they develop into very
serious cases.
InHow long have you had that
operation?
Mr. H. L. Church: I think we started that about the first of March.
We started that preeminently to keep a close touch on the fellows who quit. We found the labor turnover high. We found that going to see
a fellow right after he quit and before he settled in a new job, if he did
have a grievance, we could fiaOhings up. In my paper I referred to that
as a by-product. It has been working fine. We intend to keep that feature
working as long as we do business on the lines we are now working.
Chairman Oaktel: I imagine most of you are foundrymen. This is the only foundry program we have and I hope that we will make the "best
of it. We still have about forty-five minutes before twelve o'clock, so if there is anything that lies close to your heart in safety, speak it out.
738
Eighth Safety Congress
These are the occasions when we rub against the other fellow and get his ideas and viewpoints and frequently in that way we get a good deal of good, some ideas that we can take back and put into operation in our
own individual plant. There came to my notice in the last year a foundry case where the
State Inspector came in and said they needed more light. That was one of the recommendations. Now, you as practical foundrymen know the situation either in an iron or steel foundry. You have the dust from the sand. You have the dust from the castings, and you know how dim it is in a foundry. But. they whitewashed that foundry and the result was nothing short of marvelous in the increase of light. There was a question as to how long it would last. Of course, the foreman and the old-timers said, "What is the use? It will last a day or two and then it will be in the same condition." _ But, it lasted more than a day or two. So, I give that out as a bit of information--the case of whitewashing this foundry. ) have no doubt that it made more cheerful men.
I see our old friend Dr. Chaney is in the room. Dr. Chaney has been working at the safetyUame for a long, time giving us some very valuable statistics and I know of nothing that would be better than to call on Dr.
Chaney at this time to give 11s a few remarks.
Dit. Lh-ian W. Cu-iSEY (U. S. Department of Labor): I thought I was here to listen and not to talk, but called on in this fashion, I can hardly refrain from making the most of the opportunity.
XKW IlKTOKT OX STEEI. IXIIIU5TKY IN IMIKl'ARATION
I have followed with a great deal of interest from year to year the fortunes of the different departments of the iron and steel industry* Xow. this gives me the opportunity to advertise my wares. I am to have a new report on the steel industry coming out this next year. 1 am very sure you will be interested in following the experience which is shown there, and especially the influence of war times.
We have had the most tremendous upheaval, industrially, that has ever occurred and it has affected our whole experience in the matter of acci dents as well as in jr whole lot of other things. It has unquestionably affected the foundries. Following the experience of certain large com panies whose figuresirl have had from year to year, I find that during the war period they all went up. Their accident rates were higher than they were before. The foundry is rather an irregular proposition. It doesn't vary so much fromiyear to year in the matter of the number of cases that happen but severe cases do often happen.
You will have some years when ypu have a very high severity and other years when it isn't six much. The thing which is attracting my attention, and- making me wonder, is why the foundry runs along so closely to .some other divisions^of the iron and steel industry which naturally are more hazardous. I think most of you would naturally think the blast furnace was a mo re-hazardous place than a foundry. Now. as a matter of fact, the hlast furnace has dropped a great deal faster than the foundryin the severity of their accidents.
Metals Section
73!)
Why are you still killing folks in the foundry? Do you have to? Some of you know that 1 talked about that subject this -morning and I have it on my mind--that is, that the deaths in the foundry seem to be more numerous than they need to be. Where do they happen? Almost all of them in the transporting of material. That is the serious thing in the foundry, judging from the figures I have, that is, you pick up a big mould or casting with a crane: in connection with the operation of the heavy material with which you deal, you are having a considerable number of deaths. During the war, you had more. I don't believe I need to ex plain to you why you had more. If any of you were doing business then, you know why.
It seems to me that with the readjustment of the industrial conditions, which must come now after we have gone through this war period, there is a chance for a very heart-searching inquiry on the part of you foundrymen as to how you can cut down these dangers and get rid of them.
thisYour foundry accidents have not gone down as satisfactorily (and
does not mean any particular foundry but foundries in general all over the country) and as rapidly as I think they ought to as compared with other departments of the iron and steel industry. Now. I want you, with the reconstruction that is going on, to inquire into the situation more
earnestly and more exactingly than you have done.
You aren't going to get at the situation unless you adopt, as we have in the Bureau of Labor, statistics, and some of the accident commissions are adopting some method of following the costs.
You can follow your experience by costs per hundred dollars on pay roll per accident. You can tell whether you are better or worse this year than last year. It is a simple thing to do--to follow the cost. But, if you want to know if yon are getting along as well as the other fellow, you have to have some other method of procedure.
Now, we have developed a method of investigating accident costs which we call the severity rate, and if you are familiar with that, it will enable you to compare your own experience with foundries in general. If you haven't given that matter attention as to finding some way of following accident costs from year to year, which will not only tell you what you are doing but tell you how you run in comparison with industry as a .whole, you ought to know about it. Of course, I have a certain amount of personal interest in this method of procedure because I devised it along with a colleague of min?, but it isn't a point of whether you deal with it according to my method or somebody else's.
Study your costs, or go into them more carefully than you have done. You certainly have .a margin_of opportunity which will be disclosed to you by a study of that kind, which ought to help the accident severity more than it has.
Chairman Oartki.: Doctor. T am sure that if you can get them on their toes and send them back home asking "why," they will get results.
VRA NSKERUI NO M ATKRIA r.
Dr. Chaney in hfs remarks told us that most fatalities in foundries came from transferring materjal. Now, what does that tell you? There
740
^Eighth Safely Congress
are two factors in transferring material on an overhead crane. One is the crane ruan and the other is the man who does the hooking on. Has any
one here had any experience along educational lines with those types ot
men? Have you done-anything to educate your crane men or educate your
floor men? I would like to hear some discussion along that line. I don't
think we can get, either by engineering revision or mechanical safe
guards, anything tliatwill protect us from this hazard of transfer in a
foundry.
JJ
Mr. Bari. W. Kessler: I wish to mention several things that happened in our foundry duringthe past year, in the matter of transferring castings.
We have found it a very good idea to have a chain man. At different
times we had chain men and other times we didn't, I presume owing to the fact that the labor situation was rather acute and we tried to get common
labor. But, we alwaj's manage to have a chain man who will do the hook
ing on and then while the load is being transferred, this chain man gives
the warning to the ffisn. Of course, it is rather hard to carry a load and
not pass over any one, so we always use the chain man to warn the fel
lows.
Then, when they are lowering a flask, they seem to get their hands
under the flask, and Jit seems hard to impress on the foreign element that
they should keep their hands from under the flask. Many injuries occur
in that way. The chain man is always instructed to warn these men,
too. Chairman' Oartel:
Mr. Vanderpoll has been requested to tell us some
thing about how they transfer castings in his plant. Mr. Vanderpoll: We have what we call the main man or the leader
and he is to go ahead about twenty-five feet of the tray or whatever the crane is handling, and the crane man has a special gong he uses. We aim to keep men from being under overhead loads. It is hard work but we
try to have a crane man who will confine the load to the gangway or that
place where the mem will not be working. Secretary WatteuS: How do you transfer your material at the other
plant where you don't have overhead cranes?
Mil Vaxiu ki-oll: With plain, everyday hands.
Secretary Watters: How about those mules? Mr. Vaniutspoi.i.: We are now installing the electric tractor. We find
they are a big helpc^Cevertheless, it is more or less hand labor in getting
loaded up.
TM
It is not so much hauling the load that causes the accidents but getting
the lead to haul. Where we have our accidents is on the curves, knock
ing off the castingEbv striking gates and other objects.
Mr. -T. 13. James: ^ We have decided that the only way to prevent acci dents i? to see that the slings and hooks are always kept in good order,
and that care is epEreised by the man who does the hooking. The road
must be clear for the crane at all times. Secret ary Waiters: I would like to ask if anybody here has a system
of daily inspection on rope slings, either wire or hemp, and what his
experiences along that line are.
Metals Section
741
Mr. William Randall (Valley Mould and Iron Co.): We have a re port turned in to the safety director's office every week giving the number of the chain and its condition. They are either O. K.'d or sent to the shop for repairs. We must have that report, positively, every week.
Secretary Watters: Is there only one man who makes that inspec
tion? Mr. William Randall:
Yes, sir, we have an expert in that line who
makes the inspection on the slings and chains. Secretary Watters: HayS: yon any idea of the number of chains and
slings you have, roughly? M*. William Randall:
I judge possibly seventy-five to a hundred.
Secri-ttary Watters: All sizes, I suppose? Mr. William Randall: Yes. Secretary Watters: Do you make a practice of giving a minimum size
of rope or chain? Mr. William Randall: Cam not sure what the size is. Secretary Watters: Is it ..as small as half-inch? Mr. William Randall: Nothing as small as that. I am under the im
pression that an inch is the smallest in a cable. Of course, we have some very heavy loads in our foundry and you can't run any risks in handling
such loads.
' z___
Chairman Oartkl: While we are talking on this subject. I want to call
your attention to the fact that one of the topics of tomorrow's session 13
"Consider the Crane," and fd.m sxire we will all be very much Interested
in that.
, ^r
WEEKLY CHAIN INSPECTION FOB CRANKS
Mr. A. S. Phelps (Pratt add Letehworth Company, Buffalo, N. Y.) : In regard to this weekly chain inspection: about four months ago we started weekly chain inspection and every chain is numbered with -the letter in dicating the department prefixed, and the office clerk sends out a report to the master mechanic with aspecial man delegated to make these investi gations weekly. He goes around every Monday or Tuesday. The chains are suspended from the crane, every link is inspected, and defects noted on the report. He is provided with red danger tags and if a link or hook is defective, one is attached to the crane, at once putting it out of service.
When the inspection is completed, one report goes to the master me chanic and one to the office,-and that chain is not used until the repair is O. K.'d by the master mechanic. When the repair is made, a notation is made on the master mechanic's report which is then sent to the office.
We have a card index. One side shows the detailed construction of the chain, the size and capacity V)f the hooks, etc. On the reverse side of the card is the detailed report of the defect found and the notation, made by the master mechanic of the department.
'We hope from this to learn in what department and what class of chains are failing. That is,zjn one class you may find a hook continually pulling out. We wouldn't notice it otherwise if it wasn't for this report. It really takes a chain record to locate where some particular hazard is-
742
Eighth Safety Congress
I haven't any copies of those cards here, but I shall be glad to send
them to any one interested. Chairman Oaiitki.: Have you had any result in accident prevention? Mu. Piihi.iv: The hookers and the foremen of the department are sup
posed to make a general inspection of the chains each day but the thor
ough inspection is made by a practical man each week and is recorded as
1 have told you. We have noticed in the annealing department that two particular lengths
were failing and continually failing. We noticed the notation on the card and it seemed there vvaj a square type of stool where the chain hooked around and since then we have designed that stcol on a radius.
Chairman revision.
Oaiitki.:
That is what the Doctor would call engineering
j ?;
STA.MIAKII SICX.U. I'OK MOVEMENT OF THE CRANE
Have any of you had any experience in educating or instructing your
crane men or llcor men as to what their duties consist of? It has been
the experience of all of ns that in transferring a load, several men want
to give instructions, and that has often resulted disastrously. I know
companies that have restricted the giving of orders to one man. It has brought very good resuljj. They have also designed a card of instructions
for floor men which they post all along the floor regarding what the du
ties are in giving signals and illustrating these cards with the signals
to he given. A standard signal has been published, gotten out by the
American Bridge Company. Tlie U. S. Steel Corporation is using it. The
State of Pennsylvania has adopted it and I think a number of other con
cerns. It gives a standard signal to be given for each movement of the
crane.
--
American Stki:i. & W1 it): Co. Rki*rkskntativk:
We have safety rules and
we hold what are known as departmental safety meetings. Those are
held twice a month. The crane men have to learn these instructions by
heart, and then they take them,'one at a time, into a room and each one
of .the crane men is supposed to know these rules by heart. He goes through them every once in a while so he is thoroughly acquainted with
them,
--
Whenever a crane mail is taken sick or is absent and we need extra
men, we take an apprentice, from the electrical department, a man famil
iar with electrical apparatus. We. don't get anybody from the mills.
Chairman Oartei.: Have you those rules published in a booklet?
American Stkki. & Wire Co. Representative: The rules are published in
a booklet but I have no--authority to say whether I could give them out. If there are any here who would like to get them. I could take their names
and take it up with the higher authorities. In regard to signals, we are
using the method nientijoned and it is very successful.
Chairman Oartei.: Is there anything else along that line? Is there
anything of general interest to foundrymen?
Da. I,m.\N W. CiiaSkv: I haven't heard any reference to the careful
study by Mr. Earl Morgan with regard to chains, which was published by
the National Safety Council and afterwards republished in one of our
. Metals Section
74-'i
bulletins. The question ofTXhe safety of the 'chain or sling used seems
to me to be still a very serious one. I continue to have in the reports
which come to me from year to year evidence that the chains and the
slings which are used are not as good as they ought to be. They break
too frequently and when they break, serious and even fatal injuries are
very apt to result. Anything that will shed light on the way to safe
guard the crane operator is worth while. Chairman Oartei.: Is there anything else?
If there is nothing else,
a motion to adjourn will beJIn order.
Adjournment.
FRIDAY MORNING SESSION
HAIRMAN OARTEI.,: - The first paper on our program this morning
C is by Mr. C. C. Rausch.
The topic is "Consider the Crane."
Now.
my experience has been that the crane is one of the live hazards
of the metal industry today and 1 am very sure that Mr. Rausch, from his
wealth of experience, will give us some good information along that
line.
=
CONSIDER THE CRANE
Chester C. Rausch, Assistant Director, Safety Institute of America. New York City
Ever since Noah handled! lumber while constructing the Ark and the Egyptians stones while building the Pyramids, the problem of handling material has been present in industrial work of whatever sort or kind. It is not improbable that one of the earliest methods of handling material
was by the use of some term of rope manufactured of hide or woven
barks passed over the limb! of a tree. Later some means was found to use parts of trees that had been blown over, or that had in some way been felled, to construct the siaipler forms of derricks. As we know them today derricks and cranes are the result of a development extending
through centuries and representing the solution of many problems one after another. Of -late years various forms of power have placed at the
disposal of man a ready means for adapting his machines to types of
work that were formerly done by the laborious efforts of man and beast. In nofpartieular field has greater development ljeen made than in that
of handling and c'onvevingZmaterials In connection with the processes of
construction, manufacture, and transportation. More recently the fact
that electric current furnishes such a flexible source of power has greatly accelerated this development and in the past decade the enormous in crease in the use of steel!Iand iron for the fabrication of structures and objects formerly made of wood has called for a further development of
machinery to handle the greater unit weights involved. During the last
three or four years particularly the production of cranes of all sorts has
greaterincreased unbelfevably ami not only is their lifting capacity
but
744
Eighth Safety Congress
tbeir flexibility of operation and their safety of manipulation as well. Where we formerly saw^ braced pole derrick superseding a single stick or gin-xwle, we now find, locomotive cranes, tower derricks, overhead travelling cranes, gantry cranes, floating derricks, wall cranes, gib cranes, and a variety of combinations of these devices that enable almost any conditions where material must be bandied to be met by the selection of a type of crane to do the work and that will at the same time, con sume the least power, offer the greatest flexibility, and afford the great
est safety during operation. During the last ten years the writer has had opportunity to observe
the operation of cranes of all types used in manufacturing purposes and in construction work, as well as in those fields that generally are consid ered under the head Of transportation. In spite of the developments that have been made, both from the point of efficiency and safety, there appear to be still a large number of hazards that are reproduced re-, peatedly in the construction of later models or that result from the man ner of their installation- or the method of using them. It is to call at tention to some of theg& points and to offer some suggestions by which these recurring hazards'*^may be eliminated that the present paper Is pre
pared. The locomotive crane, is coining to be one of the most common types
in use. both in shopsrrand in yards. Unlike the overhead travelling crane, it is not confines!: to definite limits of operation within a building or over a given yard space but, because of its mobility, it operates equally well within a shop oiyabout a yard. This flexibility "of operation con
siderably eliminates t.lie number of tiroes that a piece of equipment must be handled when it is taken from one location to another. Moreover, the boom forming part of its construction enables it to reach places an over head crane could not approach. This one feature, probably more than any other, has brought about its introduction in many plants to per form a great variety of work formerly done with the use of rollers, skids, and various sorts of lifting tackle. The locomotive crane is a rather recent development anc] while its hazards are more or less obvious, there are not as many men available who are skilful in handling this type of crane as tberqgare .of other types. The greater skill required in their operation, and their mobility, has resulted in a greater number of accidents from their use.
ROAP-UKU SUOUl.l) I1K KKl*T IX 11EST COXDITIOX
One of the main sources of hazard consists in. the failure to keep the road-bod over which The crane must travel in the best condition. Fre quently. in an effort at economy, light weight or partly decayed sleepers and second-hand, defective or light rails have been used, resulting in an inconvenient and unsafe roadbed. The failure to keep the road-bed prop erly tamped and drained allows it to settle and become uneven so that the crane does not travel steadily and is far more liable to overturn. The use of improper-frogs, crossovers and switches, and the failure to keep them in repair --increase this hazard. Such a road-bed throws nu-
Mjeials Section
i 45
merous strains into the structure of a moving crane by the swinging mo
tion imparted to the load suspended from the boom. This condition
sometimes becomes aggravated to a point where collision of the suspend
ed objects may occur with other railroad property or with structures in
the yards adjacent to the track upon which the crane travels. This dis
tracts the engineer's attention so that collisions with pedestrians, trucks,-
and teams are more apt to occur.
When locomotive crane track-ways are placed too near buildings, es
pecially on curves, the entire attention of the engineer is often required
to prevent collision with buildings and in cranes that are capable of con
siderable speed of movemenrtamage is frequent. Where the crane is
large, both in lifting capacity and range of boom and the engineer's cab
is located- some distance above the ground, this hazard is peculiarly
acute. The waiter recalls a case where a slow-travelling fifty-ton loco
motive crane could pass a building only by being turned on its table
at the same time it was moving ahead on a portion of a curve. The
corner of a building placed beside tbe curve was entirely demolished
and a considerable portion oJL tbe roof removed by being struck by the
frame. Another time, whilermaking this turn, the engineer was giving
his entire attention to avoid collision with the building and failed to
notice an automobile truck standing close to the rails. On a straight
track it would have cleared the truck, hut caused a collision because the
crane was turning on its table; The crane which, had considerable power
of locomotion, forced the truck against the side of the building, demolish
ing its entire front end.
7
rItA .VKS KRKQ CK.VI'I.V OVKKTCRS
Overturnings are frequent with locomotive cranes. In the smaller sizes the wheel base is extremely short and in many cases the boom is swung with loads beyond the safe capacity for any increased angle of elevation and the crane is tipped on its side when this angle is in creased ever so little as a result of even slight inequalities in the road bed. Even when travelling on a straight track under these conditions and with the boom axis parallel to tbe axis of the track, slight obstruc tions on the rail are sufficient to cause disaster because the crane is working practically at its ultimate lifting capacity and its point of safe balance. This type of accident occurs in construction work particularly, because the road-bed is nearly always of a temporary nature and poorly laid. Moreover, on such jobs, supervision of crane operators is apt to be less careful and the material handled less standardized In size and weight, so that overloading is easier and more frequent.
Another difficulty is the inability of the operator to maintain a clear view both ahead ahd behind--his crane while travelling. Inability to see toward the rear when the eigne is moving forward frequently results In people being injured when the crane is turned on its table and Inability to see toward the rear mayTgiuse people or objects to be run over when the crane moves in that direction. Reflecting mirrors, similar to those used on automobiles, tend to eliminate this difficulty, provided the mlr-
746
Eighth Safety Congress
rors are adjusted carefully and are of sufficient size to afford ample view. In some cranes small windows have been placed low down, in the rear of the crane and the storage tanks and coal pockets altered to per mit the use of peekholes through which the engineer while standing
in his usual place and turning his head can see behind the crane. Even
when alarm bells or gangs are used the engineer cannot be certain, with out seeing, that an accident is not Imminent to material or persons on
the track.
--
Whenever any crane -overturns, unusual and frequently very consid
erable strains are placed on the structure of the crane, particularly the
boiler and steam piping^ which, because of the internal pressure in them
are already seriously stressed. Engineers, even if they are fortunate
enough to escape scalding or injury when the crane overturns, may te penned in and seriously burned unless the doors and windows on such
cranes are arranged to open outward and are provided with fasteners operating from both the inside and the outside.
Many times the original structure of the crane, particularly the boom, has been changed: lengthened to increase its range, strengthened to in crease its capacity for lifting. Any lengthening of the boom immediate ly reduces the capacity of the crane to handle safely loads at a given elevation and an increase of the cable size and strength or an increase of
the steam pressure to^ permit the lifting of heavier loads at greater boom elevations introduces strains that frequently cause collapse. The
failure of many crane engineers to recognize the tremendous reduction
in the safe capacity of the crane due to any change in elevation has re sulted In the coIlapse_j>f many booms. This tendency to lengthen the boom has been greatly increased by a desire to facilitate the placing of work in locations beyond the reach of the boom as originally made. The writer recalls a number of instances where such changes as this have resulted in death to the operator. It is a tendency that most certainly
should be corrected. ^
si'Krr.M-n..ut sir.vrs ckkati.y ixckeask hazards
If the operator of
crane, and particularly of one that has been
structurally changed.Hs given to the performance of spectacular stunts
while operating it th% limit of damage is beyond estimate. Speeding
the crane along the track, rotating the crane upon its turn-table at such
speeds that the load is swung far beyond a point directly below the end
of the boom, thus virtually increasing its length in addition to creating
a considerable side strain and the dropping of load from considerable
heights and stopping^it just before it reaches the ground, are perform
ances which the cranes were not constructed to stand, even considering
all factors or safety used in their design. The combination of two or more
of these performances at the same time may introduce strains great
enough to overturn the crane, to destroy its structure, and to injure not
only the crane but many structures adjacent to it. Where the .crane is
elevated upon a trestle the hazard is greatly increased because strains
are sometimes thrown upon such a structure that It cannot safely with-
Metals Section
747
stand them. If the crane falls from such a structure it is obvious that
the damage is apt to be tremendous. Many operators overload cranes
and take a. chance that the crane can handle the load. This tendency is
fostered by the fact that the crane is never under the observation of a
single foreman but moves from place to place in charge of its operator.
While such acts are, of course, matters of discipline, there are several
devices which have been attached to cranes to indicate when the crane
Is at the point of overturning and to give audible warning beforehand.
The best devices of this sort are placed in the cab of the engineer and
are frequently supplemented by an indicator placed on the boom which
shows, by means of a pointer, the safe load that may he picked up for
any given boom elevation.^This indicator may also indicate safe over
head clearances for the boom. The use of the tables of safe boom ele
vations for given loads frequently placed on plates attached to the frame
of the crane or in the cab, cannot be depended upon because they re
quire the exercise of the element of personal estimation of conditions
upon the part of the operator.
Whenever cranes approach obscure corners of buildings, door open
ings, or other points from which traffic or individuals may issue, the
engineer should be under obligation either to stop the crane or to have
it in such control that a collision could occur only under unusual cir
cumstances and then in a manner to cause only minor injuries.
Locomotive cranes are frequently poorly illuminated even when they
perform their work in places where the operator has no adequate oppor
tunity to see clearly the work he Is doing. The placing of several storage
battery cells aboard such a crane provides current for adequate light in the interior of the cab for firing and for illuminating the gauges and particularly for a spot light that can be controlled by the engineer and
thrown upon the objects liejs handling. Very frequently a light placed
on the tip of the boom, and arranged to throw its rays vertically down
ward, has been found of great advantage. Whenever such cranes work
at night consideration should certainly be given to these points.
The work done by locomotive, cranes is nearly always conducted out
of doors and little attempt: is made to house them or to protect them from the elements. As a result rust, with all its attendant and subtle
hazards, attacks the machine in various places--the cables particularly.
Proper painting should be given at frequent intervals, adequate lubri
cation provided, and the boiler should have regular inspection. "Improper
feed water may introduce ^trouble enough to put the crane out of com
mission.
'
In the operation of such cranes dependence is frequently placed upon
lowering the load and swinging the boom to throw an object upon
storage piles or into a location that cannot be reached by the crane
when in its ultimate safe position for such a load. The element of time
is here depended upon to permit the load to swing into its final place
before it can tip the crane far enough to cause it to overturn or leave the
rails. Any failure of judgment on the part of the operator is fatal. Another pernicious tendency is sometimes revealed when the crane is
748
Eighth Safely Congress
derailed and a leverage option is created fey attaching the boom to the track ahead and by the application of power causing it to lift the rear end of the crane so that it may fee swung again to the rails. This is done with the boom in ah almost horizontal position and has destroyed cranes by introducing the severest strains to which the crane could be subjected. It is obvious that this can only be done where the road-bed is laid in a manner sufficient to permit such a strain. Recognizing this fact and to increase the leverage the operator endeavors to reduce this strain on the track to a~ minimum by placing the boom In its lowest position. The housing of_the hoisting mechanism and the anchorages of the turn-table are very often lorn apart in this manner.
OVERHEAD TKAVEU.IKO CRAKES
Overhead travelling cranes have probably received as much attention at the hands of designing and safety engineers and inspectors as any other single piece of equipment. This is probably due to the fact that it travels over areas in^whicb are located many workmen and much valuable machinery and material so that a failure of any part of the crane may bring about disastrous results. ' A locomotive crane neces sarily clears its own way before proceeding so tbat there is not the same proportion of hazard as in the overhead crane which may create dangerous conditions over the heads of many men without their knowl edge. One common fault is the failure to keep the rails upon which the overhead crane travels in proper line both for lateral and vertical ad justments. A slight settling of the rails or a slight misalignment side ways as a result of stfgins introduced by wind, settlement of building foundations, overloarting of structural' framework, etc., frequently causes the tracks to assume :|n extremely crooked appearance. The writer
knows of a case where as much as fourteen inches of settlement occurred and where there was a lateral displacement of nearly eight inches. On this particular crane-way loads as heavy as twenty tons were being car ried and in order for the crane to navigate at all one rail had been practically freed of all anchorage to its supporting girder and had even been greased under the~flange to permit it to slide sideways and so fol-'
low the movements of the crane. Struts, with nuts on the end, held the rails from falling off the girder. The eccentric strains thrown on the frame of the building by this condition and upon the crane, due to a swinging of the load which was thrown out of equilibrium by such
movements, was considerable and several serious accidents resulted.
Fortunately a change in management furnished air incentive to eliminate these conditions. In airother case a crane repeatedly jumped the runway rails at one end until the wheels were found to be of different diameters and so made one end progress farther than the other.
<>VKI:IIKA1> CRANKS sIIOVI-l> 1IAVK SICAS I N 1)1 CAT INC TUKII! SAKE CAPACITY
Far too many overhead cranes are used without adequate signs to in dicate their safe capacity. The writer recalls a case in which a load, so
Mctuls Section
74-!)
large that the crane could not lift it, was placed under as much lifting strain as the crane could exert and was then dragged down the length
of the shop to its location. Such practices, while they are not frequent, indicate a tendency on the part of the operator to take chances--a ten dency probably fostered byJiis lack of adequate information regarding
the capacity of the crane or of the dangers which such treatment intro
duces.
=
Wherever the space available in a shop will permit, there should be a
free aisle-way from one length of the crane-way to another over which
loads may be carried without the necessity of passing over more than a few individuals. There are not many old shops where this is possible
but there should be some portion of the shop specifically kept as free as possible from men and valuable material and machines to permit the
crane operator to carry material over such a space without any more hazard than is necessary. When unusual loads are carried over such
spaces every individual should be made to stand from under the load. There are many excellent installations of the highest quality of cranes
operating over inadequately illuminated spaces. The fact that the operator is a considerable distance afeve the floor where the attachments to the
crane hook are being made and that he must see through a haze that
sometimes develops in shops' from product being manufactured in spite of proper ventilation only aggravates an already bad condition. This hazy atmosphere might be a permanent or only a temporary condition. For example, a foundry is very often badly troubled with this haze dur ing a pour and a machine shop that may be generally dear will become
clouded for a portion of the day as a result of a large babbiting operation done inside the shop or from the wafting of smoke or fumes into the shop from other parts of the building or from out-of-doors. On days when natural illumination^^Saries it sometimes happens that the lights
are not turned on during the darker periods so that there are periods of comparatively poor illumination from the crane operator's standpoint.
PROPER II.I.r.M [NATION AIDS TIIE CRAXE OPERATOR
In many shops the 'artificial, illumination is not sufficient to afford ade
quate vision at any time,
may be far too expensive to increase the
general illumination for the benefit of a single crane operator and in
such cases, and even when illumination is good, excellent results have
been obtained by attacliingr=io the crane trolley one or more lights prop
erly covered with a focussing reflector and--So arranged that the-area im mediately about the hook when at its lowest point and near the floor i brightly illuminated.' Such_ illumination tends not only to assist tite
crane man to observe whgt Is being done on the floor but helps the crane attendant to make proper attachments to the load. Furthermore, when such a load is travelling down the shop the brilliant illumination throw's it into bold relief and it serves as an admirable warning of its approach. In many shops the hook of the crane is painted white and kept white in order that it shall attract attention to itself and furnish some measure of indication to the crane operator of its location with
750 'Eighth Safety Congress
reference to the floor. Where such a hook is illuminated by overhead lights as just suggested, it is very conspicuous.
In many shops lighting fixtures arranged to furnish general illumina tion of the floor are, from necessity, placed above the travel-way of the crane. If such buildings have wide spans the crane operator, unless
properly shielded by an awning to his cab, is confronted in his view up
and down and frequently across the shop with many spots of brilliant and glaring light that serve to confuse his vision. In some shops this gen eral illumination from above the crane-way is augmented by lamps having angle reflectors, and too often no reflectors at all, placed just below the crane runway. When asperating the trolley on the far side of the stwp these lamps throw a steady stream of light into the face of the operator, seriously confusing his action. Such lamps should be shielded tram above with reference to any position the load to be observed toy the crane operator must assume.
A person making an examination of any considerable number of head travelling cranes~is impressed by the fact that so many of them have none of the electrical equipment in the cab properly guardrdThere are exposed contact points, circuit breakers, knife switches uMl terminal lugs carrying from 110 to 500 volts or more. Contact with these exposed points may not only kill a crane operator but may temporarily incapacitate him so that his crane continues its motions uncontrolled. The use of the simplest form of shields or guards composed of asbestos, wood, sheet metal or other material are not only easily applied but inex pensive. The possibility of serious accident in the movement of an uncontrolled crane is.jyuflieiently great to require ample protection for the crane man and new equipment should be specified to have only backconnected control panels and inclosed resistance grids.
Many cranes have practically nothing more than a hand rail to keep the operator in the cab. During his slack moments, when he is com
fortably stretched on A box, stool or bench, any lapse of consciousness
would permit him to_shoot under this rail and fall to the floor below. There is no reason why the crane should not be enclosed to a reasonable height with grillage _to_ prevent such an accideftt and in a manner that need in no way interfere with the craneman's vision or movements.
KKI'AIK IIKCK SIIOL'I.I) UK CKOVIDKl)
Cranes, like all other apparatus, require occasional repairs and con tinual maintenance. rTDTstrikes one as almost criminal to note the lack of any adequate repair deck over which the crane may be housed and from which oiling, adjustments and repairs may be safely performed. There is scarcely a condition in any shop where such a deck cannot he
provided in one end nr the other for at least a portion of the width of
the crane span. Although there are many heavy parts used in the con struction of the trolley of a crane, no provision is made for a small wall crane or a travelling chain hoist to assist in this work. Many times repair men are exposed to serious hazards from falling on ac count of this lack. It is not infrequently the case that the bottom
Metals Section
751
chords of the roof trusses are used in making repairs and at such times They are subjected to strains which they were never designed to with
stand. Workmen are frequently called upon to make crane repairs after
dark and to use electric drills or soldering Irons in connection with their work. The placing of a few plug receptacles for the attachment of portable extensions to make -connections to these tools would greatly
assist in this work. Such provisions should be made as parts of a re
pair deck.
--
Most cranes are now fitted with an over hoist or over travel stop
that automatically arrests the upward travel of the hook and its load if
the operator fails to disconnect the power of the hoisting motor as the hook-block approaches the hoisting drum. On large cranes that handle
heavy loads the hook travel upward is slow and in many cases the part being hoisted requires a maximum upward travel of the hook- Crane
operators have been observed to turn on the power and calmly wait for the load to come into contact with the over travel release, thus discon
necting the motor. The fallacy and danger of such operations are evi
dent and should be matters of strict discipline. Every crane requires its cable to be lubricated to prevent wear front
friction and destruction from rust. While such lubrication accumulates grit and dirt in some shops the advantages of the lubrication tending to
give long life to the cable more than offset the damage which this grit may do. The lubrication of the cables is sometimes accomplished by a
man standing on the trolley who applies the grease a# the cable fef
wound up. Sometimes the cable is all wound up and the top half of
the drnm properly greased. --The bottom half is then greased after the
drum has made a half revolution to bring the angreased cable into an
upward position. The writer recently saw a very clever greasing device
which could be temporarily attached to the top of the hoisting block In such a way that an arm holding collar made of soft wlcSeing could pro
ject oat and surround the cable. This arm was connected with a tank
supplying grease in such a way that the cable, by passing through the collar, became properly lubricated throughout its entire length.
l*BOVIIK MK.WS OK Al'CKSS to I'.VBS
In view of the present knowledge concerning crane operation it seems rather trite to mention the fact that so many cranes are operated with out a safe or convenient means of access to their cabs. The daily ex posure of operators to falling, to contact with live wires, or to being overcome by fumes or gases while climbing to their cabs is considerable. It would seem the. part of wisdom that not only new structures, but old structures as well, should be equipped with either a properly enclosed ladder or an adequate stairway from which the cab could be reached with a minimum of danger.^:
Overhead travelling cranes^ and locomotive cranes to an increasing ex tent, are handling material by means of electro-magnetic lifting devices. These are so ruggedly constructed that they will withstand almost un limited abuse. 'The only weak link in their safe operation is the cable
lO'Z Eighth Safety Congress
connecting them to the source of power or the power supply itself. Usually the source of power is sufficiently reliable to make failure only a remote possibility. The cable, however, is subjected to all manner Of rough handling as a result of following the movements of the magnet and from its contact with the ground, material being handled and, some times, with the devices that are used to keep the slack of this cable from fouling itself with- the boom. One of the best solutions of this diffi culty has been the adoption of a cable which can follow the magnet in the same manner that the lifting cable follows it. If this cable passes over a suitably grooved "pulley at the tip of the boom, or on the trolley drum of the crane, and is so arranged that a counterweight will carry the slack down the boom or that it will wind up on the drum of the trolley most of the wear can be avoided.- Suitable electrical connections can be made by means of contact with a sliding bar or with a rotary collector ling on the trolley winding drum. A proper application of this device will not only result in longer life to the cable but avoid all damage due to kinks, cuts, abrasions, and strains.
One may still find a tendency to overload crane hooks. "While the haz ards created by the improper use of chains is well known, and may re sult in careful laandlingof them on the part of well informed operators, there are still a considerable number of floor men who introduce strains in crane hooks which it isImpossible for them to stand without serious de formation or breaking. "In handling some objects several chains are used so that the mouth of the hook is filled and attachments are made to the very tip of the hook inTtich a way that a severe side bending strain is introduced in addition^tp the lifting strains introduced by the chains hanging at the bottom of tile hook.
XKUI.KCT Ol-' CHAXE ItEUAIK A N13 TJl'KliEl*
The inconvenience attendant upon work performed on overhead cranes and the failure to provide convenient platforms from which to perform such work, has resulted in much neglect of crane repair and up-keep. One of the most noticeable defects is an increase in the amount of play and hack-lash that is allowed to develop In all parts of the structure, particu larly in the gears. When this is excessive and the gears pound badly, tlie starting of the motor or its reversal from a raising to a lowering motion introduces strains on pinions, shafts, keys, and other parts suffi cient to cause much damage. This wear is very often due to the fact that adequate lubrication has not been furnished because access to tbe oil and grease cups has been difficult and the person responsible for maintaining the equipment" has neglected to do his work because of the difficulty of getting at the places where it must be performed. In some cases this condition hasr been helped 'materially, and even overcome, by the use of oil cups or compression grease cups serving all parts of the crane and so located that they can all be reached from the crane walk way. It then becomes necessary only to go with an adequate amount of gr.ease or oil to the several conveniently located cups to keep bearings adequately lubricated.
Metals Section
753
Gantry cranes,, wall cranes, and other combinations of hoisting ap paratus capable of operation in one or more directions, each has its par ticular problems, but they have been covered by consideration of similar conditions that occur largely in both locomotive and overhead travelling cranes. There is probably So piece of apparatus that does more to fa cilitate easy and convenient work than do these various types of cranes and it seems strange, when one considers that so much has already been done to make them safe, Jthat there still remain so many obviously dan
gerous points at which they could be improved, not only to facilitate their
speed of operation but to reduce materially the hazard to the operator himself and to those adjacent to the movements of sttch cranes.
(This paper having been printed in advance, Mr. Rausch with the per- ' mission of those present waived its reading and opened the discussion with incidents illustrating statements made in the paper. He said in part:)
STUNTS OK CRANK orKRATOES
Mb. Ratjscie: One thing I have noticed is that men operating cranes become obsessed with a psychological- reaction of their work. They find
there are certain things they can do with the crane. They can allow it to run freely before it is brought to a stop. They can let it take a load up quickly, and so on, and after a time that becomes such an obses sion that they endeavor to do stunts, and that has introduced a number
of accidents.
-r~
X recall one case where a man was severely reprimanded several times
in the operation of a tower crane that was handling steel construction
plate for ships. You know,; most shipyards are exposed to considerable
and very high winds, perhaps more so than places where cranes are
operated between buildings and the wind does not. therefore, get a large
sweep. This man wanted to depend on the swinging aspect of the wind
and to control by the force of that wind rather than to take the time and
allow guides in the control jaction in the wind. Kfow, a plate four feet wide and from eight to ten feet long presents a
considerable area and the wind exerts a considerable force against it. Those of you who have attempted to swing a .large barn door know the effect, That man was accustomed to do that. The result was that one
day the sling instead of swinging in a uniform way got a gust or pocket of wind and the plate swung in such a way that it freed Itself from the clutch. The clutch may or may not have been in good condition, but
the plate under the action of that wind apparently swung in such a way that with the lowering effect, it broke loose. That may seem an exaggera tion, but I think you men;can appreciate that with a rapid lowering of the plate in a sudden gust of wind, the hook was freed and the plate came down. Fortunately, the only damage in that case was to property and not to individuals. That is one illustration.
In another case, an attempt was made to swing the bucket and at the same time carry it over the limit beyond which the crane boom itself could operate. That was xlone with the knowledge of the construction
manager of the particular? Job because he would not take the time or
754
Eighth Safety Congress
expend the money to move the rail over. Subsequently it was necessary to erect a derrick to supplement the action of the crane.
1 wonder if anyone in the audience has had a similar experience with motions of cranes, due to winds or to centrifugal swinging or Other forces that have caused the cranes to drop the loads or overturn or break in some way so as to cause damage.
UCK OF COSSffiHBATIOS KOK XATITUK OF THE WOUK
One thing in construction work I would bring to your attention. In many plants the crane is taken off for a portion of a week and put on construction work. It is^ all perfectly well with a man familiar 'with cranes under regular condition, but when you take this crane down, you may change its boom length, you may alter it in some way to handle the drums of a boiler or a long piece of shafting or some piece of equipment.
I recall one crane used_in a .cotton mill to handle tiers. A tier is a big kettle from ten to forty feet in height. They used that crane to handle those tiers and they used their regular operator. The regular operator had very little La do. Practically all he had to do was unload coal and occasionally small loads from flat cars. The rest of the time he spent reading in his cab until called for. This day he was called was following a Saturday of rather strenuous unloading of coal. No one took the trouble to indicate to the crane operator the amount of load he was handling. He was~~judging the load on the fact that the tiers looked fairly light. Thgy_jwere hollow. They were nothing but a light load from appearance, yet it happened because of the construction and the chemicals used in them. In which case a certain plate had been used, he failed to take into account that the tier was about twice as heavy as it appeared. The result was that when he reached over the hole in the roof, the crane tipped forward until the hook rested on the edge of the' roof and the result was jOne of the tiers was badly damaged.
Practically such accidents are due to the lack of consideration for the nature of the work thatTthe crane was to do.
I recall one time the need for requiring an engineer to make a study of the crane that had been in use. It was presumed that that crane had been examined regularly and frequently. Ample lubrication appar ently had been provided^: The cables had been renewed. At proper in tervals other repairs bad been made. I don't know why I had the feeling, it may have been a plain, ordinary hunch, but I felt that the crane should be gone over. Thyg result was the main block was found to have a sheave pin, normally an inch and a quarter in diameter, which, be cause of improper lubrication, had worn so that the thickness of the sheave pin was less than my little finger: and that was to take about twice the usual lifting load. I don't know what would have resulted if the examination had notrbeen made. It is presumable it migbt have been taken up a short distance.
That only brings to light this point in operation: it is necessary to make periodical examinations. It is frequently well to have a man not concerned go over it in an unbiased way and check up every point. One would presume a worn sheave pin that had worn down to that extent
Metals Section
755
would have been observed- ^It happened that concurrently with the wearing of the sheave, the lip of the sheave had also worn and that had misled the man. There arer other parts of the crane vital to the susr pending of the load and those frequently are badly worn.
II.l.t.'M I NATION IX KKI.ATIOX TO CRANK OIM'.RATIOX
Another thing I have noticed in cranes is the failure to consider the
crane operator from the point of vision. To place a crane operator in a
cab over a load is to presume that he has an excellent opportunity to
oversee what is going on when the reverse may be the case. You know,
as I mentioned in the paper that it is a custom to provide more brilliant
illumination in the shops. It has been a custom to insert in the old re
ceptacles lamps of higher c&pdlepower and much more brilliancy, and
very Often the crane operator has been the victim. I could mention sev
eral plants where that is true. The crane operator is obliged to look
into extremely brilliant and high powered sources of light. Those can
be shielded ever so little, without reducing the illumination, and give the
operator a position from which he can work in comfort and with no
trouble whatever.
The most successful arrangement for illuminating the object which the
crane is handling that I have seen is one that has been evolved by two of
the men of the Brooklyn Navy Yards. I don't know just who was father
of the idea. That is to place: a concentrated focusing shade with a high-
powered light on the trolley of the crane so that it throws a flood of light on the object and on the block itself, thus furnishing illumination as' they
do on the policeman on the street crossing at night. In that manner,
there is an area of. brilliant illumination in which space the crane tender is able to operate. That also serves to illuminate the load when it is raised and lowered and serves as a warning when it is moved up and
down the shops.
^
If, on the other hand. the. block itself is painted white or black and
white stripes, it then, serv'es as a warning, particularly if illuminated in
this way. You know, the average shop becomes uniform in color. On the
other hand, if the block is properly painted, at day and night as well
because frequently you haveclouds in the day time, you will have very little difficulty of a block striking objects. That is beneScial to the crane
operator. Many shops have planers, boring mills, presses, and other
machines so situated that the load must be carried over them. I have
in mind an accident where -the crane operator gave as the explanation
the fact that he could not see with sufficient clearness to distinguish the block from the general tools and walls of. the room so as to raise it to
clear the equipment.
TM
I could think of a dozen "other points along the same line as possible
points to which some of you men, although you may be interested, had
yournever had
attention drawn.
Mr.- S. G. Kingsley (Halcomb Steel Company, Syracuse, New York): I would like to ask if the men at the Navy Yards had any experience in
regard to the life of the lamp that was focused for direct illumination?
756
Eighth Safety Congress
Mk. C. C. Rauscii:
I^gm glad you mentioned that point. It Is a
point of omission on my part. It is necessary to so suspend the lamp that the vibration of the trolley
as It travels, or in the turning of the drum, will not jar the lamp. The
present-da}' lamps are pretty rugged but they will not stand an undue
amount of jarring. It is necessary to make the suspension that the major
portion of the shock will be removed by absorption. That can be done
by suspending the socket gp little piles of felt washers because they will pack down and yet absorbs that little extra vibration that destroys the
filament.
--
Mu. G. G. Kjxo.si.ey: The reason I asked that is because in our crane
illumination in our melting shop where the atmosphere Is hazy, we have
suspended three lamps fastened to the end of a conduit along under the
bridge walkway and it has been our experience that the life of the lamp is very short due to the vibration of the crane. We are just about to in stall at the end of the conctjjit a spring and allow the cable to run through. It will be giving the lamp sufficient space to take up that vibration.
Ha. C. C. Rausch: ItjTs surprising how little absorption in the way of shock absorption is necessary to have the filament in an electric lamp.
Even a single washer will absorb the shock sufficiently to save the
filament. Your electrician^ if he is aware of that fact can easily provide
against it.
-----
Mr. T-ewis of the McKinney Steel Company, I believe was to punch
the legal holes in my argument. Mjj. O. J. Lkwi.s (McKinney Steel Company) :
No comment Is necessary.
I believe on the comprehensive consideration of the crane. From our classified statistics, we find our crane accidents are more in
connection with the appurtenances to cranes, the cables, the slings, and the chains; so, in order Jto get this under way, just let me touch on points that relate to the operation of the crane in that way, and it will be
my experience in a steel plant, the open, hearth, the rolling mills, and the
shops connected with them. We found that one of the things causing accidents was the lack of
uniformity of signals, and we found that standardizing the signals adopted by the National Safety Cojfficil. illustrated in that way and posted through out the crane cabs, was the starting point of our uniformity of operation.
We found the use of handles' on the hook to he one of the most impor
tant things we have had.___Hooks should not he welded. They should be
forged.
--
We are still waiting figr an efficient limit switch.
I think the limit
switch contributes to our accidents everywhere. We had a case the other day where the limit switch was placed ver'S' high. By the very
nature of the work the limit switch must be placed high, and in running the switch, the momentum; of the crane runs along and causes an accident.
In our analysis of thegclassification of accidents, classified under the headings of hooking or unhooking, struck by load, "falling loads, we find a large percentage due la the process of hooking and unhooking. We
have found more effectiveness in the use of uniform signals, avoiding the use of several giving the signals, especially in the changing of loads
Metals Section
io
where men are ready to lift. The best way to learn the lesson is to travel with the crane operator.
Just one more point: It is lather far-fetched from the operation of the crane and yet it has a bearing on it, especially in view of its serious consequences. It is the wearing of the trunnions on the steel ladle due to the tilting of the ladle. There is a heavy abrasion there that involves the strength of the trunnion and brings about the necessity for closer in spection on what might be considered merely a break or crack. That is deceiving, and should lead"to the systematic and efficient inspection of ladle trunnions. That.-is a point I have had in mind and if any one has a system of scheduled efficient inspection, I would like to have it.
CESTER OI-' GRAVITY
Mr. C. C. Rauscii: There is one point that has occurred to me. brought about by this suggestion. Crane operators, crane signal men, and floor men are not men who really appreciate just what is conveyed by the idea of center of gravity. I don'fjwvant to introduce any technical discussion here but if a crane operator! or a crane floor man could for once and for all be absolutely familiar with what is meant by the actual center of gravity, probably 95 per cent of the accidents due to the tipping over of loads would be avoided, andTr to that knowledge he could add this fact, I am wondering if it would Jot he worth while to educate crane men, to take them by themselves, and: demonstrate to them by picking up various objects. Show them how to pick up an object wben supported by dif ferent points. For instancejryon can pick up a roll in a sling and you
know unless the sling is held, perfectly in the middle there is a tendency to slip, or if it is not held byieyes in the hook so it can't turn you know perfectly well it will assume a position so that it finally comes to rest with the center of gravity under jQte hook which is the point of support.
You can pick up a tank or a crooked piece of structural steel so that the point of the center of gravity of the object is apparently supported without the object. Or, rather, the center of gravity appears not to be in the object, and in fact is nojt^
A crane man will learn that by experience but if you can take a crane man aside at the beginning and tell him, and illustrate by photographs, then he will eliminate those accidents due to picking up an object and swinging it along the floor JSther than carrying the crane to pick up the object directly over its center of gravity, or move the crane in such a way that the object can `be picked up without changing its location. -
I have photographs in. nsy office of an accident where a man was cut completely in two in a case where a transformer was lying on its sideb and was picked up by the Mrs cn the side of the case, and at a certain point the friction of the entf of the case and the concrete floor was such that the pull on the cranelwas sufficient to slide the thing against the wall, and' the man was caught. I venture to say that every man who has seen a crane in operation has seen that tendency. When once a man gets that firmly in his mind, it is a thing apart from him and unconsciously he will govern his crane and so attach his slings to the- load and bring
7:18
Eighth Safety Congress
the crane over the general center mass of that body, that there will be no accident.
Now, that suggestion^if carried out by the man who will take the trouble to get his craneJnen and floor men and illustrate so fully that.it becomes clear to them.will have cleared a point that has caused deaths and a great many accidents and much destruction of property. I am sure that is familiar to you all and only needs to be followed to more logical solution to avoid that sort of trouble.
Chairman Oaktki.: We have overrun our time on this subject, but I think it was worth while, and am sure if 1 have anything to do with the
Metals Section program next year, we will have Mr. Rausch speak on the center of gravity in connection with crane lifts, and perhaps have him illustrate in some war or demonstrate with an operator. Because as a practical mill man, I know how vital that point is.
To carry the point of Mr. Rausch a little further, have we not been preaching theory in ourrmills and factories when we should have been demonstrating things toCpur men?
The next paper was to have been given by Mr. H. P. Heyne, Safety In spector of the United Alloy Steel Corporation, hut we have a telegram informing us that Mr. Heyne is ill and unable to be present. So, the paper will be read by Mr. O. N. Toner of the National Malleable Castings Company.
NEW WAYS TO PUT SAFETY ACROSS IN A STEEL PLANT
H. P. Heyne. Safety .Inspector, United Alloy Steel Corporation, Canton, Ohio
Each establishment should have its system of shop discipline, but there are ways in which the employees can better inform themselves regarding what is expected of them, through the inauguration of a systematic pro gram for conducting the work.
The new way to put safety across in any plant, is to meet the problems with a better understanding of affairs, and an assurance of fairness be tween the foremen and the employees, which should furnish the material for erecting the foundation for the cooperative spirit which the coming era is ushering in.
The two factors which bind men together are fellowship and good-will, based on mutual confidence. These are indispensable in attaining unity of purpose on the part ot all for the welfare of all.
COOPERATION
The spirit of cooperation brought about the desired results in the war. It will be found necessary to promote this same spirit in all lines of endeavor, and to direct our efforts toward minimizing the economic loss by teaching the elimination of waste and increasing human efficiency, which may be accomplished through advancing the average man's ability.
We are entering into a new age, and otir advancement depends on enthusiasm and -cooperation in industrial, social, and spiritual activities.
-Metals Section
759
We must eliminate all forma which may not be in accordance with what is just and of good repute. ^jNot until we can trust each other without being skeptical, shall we have made a great stride in the progress of humanity. A truthful person, one who can be trusted under all circum stances. surely is an asset -toAny community.
We should unite and maintain the forces of progress as they were united In war, and stand for^construction and development of world wel fare against demolition and retrogression.
We are living today in a changing era, and tomorrow will bring an advanced period in evolution^ which means that more thought and action must be directed to the moral and intellectual side of life. The subject of living on a better and higher plane where all may come to a ^better understanding, should be taught and discussed, in private and public gatherings, so that the proper seeds may be sown in all directions and our efforts prove productive^
OUR SCHOOI.S
We must get encouragement through our schools, for they are the greatest factors in the making of the future. Institutions of learning have devised ways and means for advancing education, through making the studies interesting and * teaching as much .is possible by tacts. Pupils should be taught the right things in the right way, for many fundamentals have been neglected. There are many conditions, today, which might have been prevented had the persons been properly taught. It would not be amiss to direct our efforts to the end that all humans would he better and cleaner, through banishing all evil and destructive habits and cus toms. We have accomplished much through cooperation, fellowship, and efficiency; but there still remains a large area to be cultivated.
rORRKiNERS IN SAFETY WORK-
Let us not disdain nor ignore one another, regardless of our so-called
station in life, for we are all members of the universal family, and
should assist our less fortunate brothers.
In our several departments where the workmen have little or no knowl
edge of the English language, we appointed the more enlightened for
eigners on the mill safety committees, through an interpreter who ex
plained to them just what was expected of members of the safety commit
tee, and also that tbe safety committee button was presented to them in
recognition of their ability in promoting safety among their fellow
oyees.
^
le committee button turned the trick, for the men felt that`they were being colfisidered, in assisting us in the work. The number of lost time
injuries (those extending beyond balance of the working turn) was re duced 14 per cent for the first half of 1919 as compared with that for
1918 (our reduction in ISIS as compared with 1917 was more than 50
per cent), which was partially accomplished through getting the for
eigners more interested in safety work. In other words, these fellows had a greater chest expansion. However, we made it clear that they
must approach their fellows in a proper manner, otherwise they would
760
Eighth Safety Congress
not obtain their 'cooperation; and we made them feel that they were
safety investigators and were considered a part of the safety organization.
The safety button is a badge of an accident preventionist, and must not
be construed by the men as having any authority invested in them, other
than to signify to theit fellows that they are safety investigators. The
button which, of course; was not presented until after the men had an understanding as to what was expected of them, had a 'good psychological
effect.
7^
The personnel of our ^Workmen's Committees up to June 30, 1919, was
composed of foreigners lio the extent of 12.6 per cent, and they have shown
quite an interest in safety work. (Members on Workmen's Committees,
339 Americans and 49 foreigners.) Why should not the foreigners be
considered tbe same as the Americans, for an injury is an injury, regard less of race, color, or creed? The foreigners are a part of our working
force and should receive consideration at least to the point that they are
human beings.
ACCIDENT STATISTICS
Accident statistics should consist of simple summaries and charts, which enable the executive, by brief reference, to know the present condi tion as compared with a preceding period. Without the records, it is difficult to determine the. degree of progress.
We maintained records of injuries from different angles; including the classification by departments, occupations, and by foremen. The reports were furnished the foremen so that they could study the conditions and get after tbe "high spots." The report indicating the injuries to men under the various foremen, shows at a glance the foremen's accident standing, and gives onmsomething to work from when approaching the foremen, by comparing the rates with others who have a better classifica tion.
This scheme created, and maintained the competitive spirit among the foremen, and made them talk and practice safety.
THE FOREMEX"
One of the important duties of a safety engineer, is that of keeping
the foremen interested~in accident prevention work, which means the
changing of plans from time to time, so that their enthusiasm may be
maintained. The safety engineer should always be on the alert for articles dealing
with accident prevention, anil to distribute the information among the
department heads and^oft bulletin boards, as tbe dissemination of tbe proper kind of information will manifest itself in a manner whereby the
safety movement will he-further advanced and receive tbe recognition to
which it is entitled.
^
The service bulletins, issued .by tbe Xational Safety Council, may be put
to good use by distributing the messages among the foremen, as these
bulletins may show up some of their weak points, and cause them, to think. We get our foremen In^read the bulletins together with other material,
by attaching a circular.letter to the papers, which they sign, and pass-on
to the one whose naxqejae.xt appears on the list. The file is returned to
Metals Sectio-n
761
the office after having made _ the rounds. In other words, we have a record of the papers having been read, and the psychological effect which the signing has upon the foremen. In cases of instructions, we give each
foreman a copy for his file.
ACCIDENT INVESTIGATIONS
Too much stress cannot belaid on that section of safety engineering which deals with accident Investigations; as corrective measures or
methods are the outcome of the results of the investigations if they are
conducted in a thorough and impartial manner.
Each accident involving lost time should be thoroughly looked into,
together with injuries where no time was lost, hut which might have been
serious.
--
On the more serious cases, We interview each witness to the accident,
so that we may get at the foot of the trouble. The witnesses make
affidavits to their sthtements before a notary in our department. The
injured employee's statemenfnlso is taken, so that we have full informa
tion from both, sides. When the statements have been secured, a meeting of the investigating
committee is called, which iCSomposed of the department superintendent
and foreman of the division where the accident occurred and the members of the safety teams. The iiljormation is gone over, whereupon the com
mittee renders an "Investigation Report," which is signed by the members of the committee. The report brings out the results of the investigation as to what or who was to blame for the accident, and makes recommenda tions with the view to preventing a recurrence.
A copy of the witnesses' statements and the committees' report is for warded to the General Manager, General Superintendent, and Department Superintendent. A copy also is retained in the permanent files of the Safety Department.'
The time consumed in drawing up statements in a business-like form, and attacking the accident from various angles is well spent, in that each case is recorded in a detailed manner for future reference; and the psychological effect, which ffie investigations have upon the men, in time
results in a reduction of injuries, and an economic saving to the employer.
rSYCJJOLOGY IN SAFETY TOE '
When a proposition is to be offered, it would prove advantageous to take the matter up with the persons concerned and invite their sugges tions, for they might have something to offer which would prove practical and beneficial. At the samflime their having been consulted would have a good effect on the men, which leads to cooperation in the work.
When a person is having a hard time and comes for sympathy, it is best to recognize his sufferings and find some word of encouragement. Then again, when one approaches with a message of his good fortune, try to share it with him in a sincere manner. This is human engineering, and will assist in a proper understanding and the binding together of individ uals with a proper feeling and interest toward each other..
Supervisors should not; criticise employees without first having made
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Eighth Safety Congress
an investigation, andlihen it is not necessary to ride "roughshod" over
them, but give them an. opportunity for an explanation, as a correct inter
pretation may clear the situation.
After all, what have we gained by following the method of "Rawhiding"?
The men become dissatisfied, which affects their efficiency, and upon the
first opportunity they will leave the service of the company; this neces
sitates the "breaking in" of a new man, which results in a loss of produc tion, with greater liability to accidents, as well as increase in the labor
turnover.
r-
Every one desires cooperation in the work, and if the supervisors are
considerate but firm, they will be successful in having the men work with
them instead of working for them.
SAFETY ENGINEERING
Safety engineering might be called the study of human nature, which
will be one of the important business principles in the future, and is
worthy of serious thought.
One quality which plays an important part in safety engineering is the
habit of being courteous, by simply saying '"Please" and "Thank You,"
and bidding the timeTSf the day; just a mixture of good manners and
kindliness. It produces!sunshine on the cloudy days; its presence cheers
a person and puts himJn a better mood.
We can assist each other by being friendly, and our friendliness will be
reflected among our acquaintances, who will become friendly in spite of
themselves.
--
A safety enginer should be an example of good-fellowship,--to the extent
where he needs an adding machine when he starts to count up his friends. Safety first is applied! common sense--it is a service of unselfish use
fulness--for there can be no efficiency without common sense.
DISCUSSION
Chairman Oartel: Is Mr. Darr of the Cambria Steel Company here? As Mr. Darr who was to lead the discussion isn't here, we will throw the matter open for generaLdiscussion. I am sure you gentlemen have.tried out a few new stunts!!! You aren't up-to-date Safety Engineers if you haven't because my experience is that we have to keep bringing in new ideas from time to timer
Is Mr. Claude Smith in .the audience? We would like to hear from you, Mr. Smith.
Mr. Smith: About the only'new stunt we pulled off in the last year was a couple of montlis~Ugo. We, the same as everybody else, ascertain what departments and what gang have few accidents and in order to reward them, we give .them publicity. During the last year we have taken photographs of Those gangs (eight by ten, mounted on ten by fourteen-inch cards) and given them to each man. Of course, you cannot get a department of several hundred to swing that stunt.
We get these- men together,- take their photographs, give them a little
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763
talk on safety, and then publish the photograph in our safety bulletin, which gives them the publicity and honor for their achievement. We then have enough printed, and paste a letter on the back congratulating the men and expressing the hope that they continue their record, and that every one in the photograph will never be injured through neglect or carelessness. The photograph has a value to the men because every man likes to get a picture of the men working with him in the gang. We have found this has been a^very popular undertaking for getting the cooperation of the men in connection with accident prevention.
Another stunt we have worked this year in departments where we have had rather a hard struggle in getting a good accident record is to hold a raffle of a gold watch. Of course, every one in the iron and steel in dustry knows I am strong oh prizes. We work new stunts continually. For instance, on our plant number one we had a difficult time to get them down to the right kind of accident record, so we decided to hold a raffle in that department. Our plant interpreter took out cards with printed numbers on them. There was a detachable stub with rules to prevent accidents on the reverse side. Each man in the department was given a stub which entitled him to one chance on the gold watch. In that way the personal element entered into it because we saw each man and gave each man a card. His support was assured because in order for him to have a chance to win he would have to get through the month himself* without haying a lost-time accident. The department would have to get through without having any accident of more than seven days lost time. This department got through the month with a splendid record and a man from the pit won the gold watch.
When we awarded the watch, the men gathered around and we gave a safety talk. That can best be carried on in only one or two departments in a month.
Another thing we have done Is to make use of blackboards on which to draw cartoons on accident prevention. We now have a blackboard about four times as large as the average bulletin board located in each de partment near the bulletin board. Our inspectors draw pictures on those bulletins twice a week. We draw up the design at the office; they draw them for the boards as they go around the plant. We don't have the same design on all the blackboards, but have a dozen designs ready. That seems to get a message to the men. They go around the blackboard and discuss in their own language what the picture means. That is a good educational stunt.
Mr. Phiup Stremmei. (National Enameling and Stamping Company, Granite City, Illinois) : This is a very important subject and there Is a great deal of thought in it---"New Ways to Put Safety Across in a Steel Plant." Now, there are a number of ways to put it across but there is only one way to put it across; as it should be done.
THE QUESTION OF GIVING PRIZES
I have just heard the gentleman preceding me say something about
giving prizes. I object to the giving of prizes to any man for the doing
Of work in any plant.
~
764
JEHghth Safety Congress
I have been a Sunday School Superintendent for twenty years, and
I have always taken tfee position that no child should be rewarded be
cause it is a regular attendant at the Sunday School. Are you educat
ing the child to comeito school or to get that which is fundamental in life? So it is in the/safety game. Are you giving the safety work to
these men, and getting them on these committees, and interesting them for the purpose of securing that prize, or is it for the purpose of inter
esting them in safety?-- Now, in our plant, the one thing we are trying to do is to impress upon
the men of our plant that they have certain responsibilities resting upon them and that they must answer in the affirmative that they are their
brothers' keepers, and from that standpoint, Mr. Chairman, we should
present our safety program, not for the sake of prizes, or using them as
a means to inspire menZto become interested in safety, but to make them feel that it is a part of their job to be interested in safety. In the first
place, it is for their personal benefit and they are doing the bigger thing.
They are doing the humanitarian thing when interested in it in order
to protect the other fellow. It is a mutual proposition. There is nothing newrin putting safety over in a plant.
old story of self-protection, and for the other fellow.
It is the old,
For example, we have meetings in our plant in such a way that the
men want to come to these meetings. We have the meetings in a way that the men receive a "vision of the responsibilities and the advantages
of safety and they do hot ask for any prizes.
When I took charge of the safety work, they were offering all sorts of prizes and I immediately cut 'it out. I want to say to you (I don't say
it egotistically or because I have charge of it, either) that we are today accomplishing more along the lines of safety in our plant than ever be
fore. Why? Not because we do it differently today than ever before but because we are constantly, through bulletin boards and other means,
keeping before the nierr that they are their brothers' keeper, that there
is a responsibility resting on them and that they have a duty to perform. By that means, from the smallest man up we have been able to put safety across in the plant without awarding any prizes.
In our last meeting we had a group of motor truck hoys. One day a
hoy who does not operate one of these trucks, while it was standing
alone, started it up, running into a man and breaking his leg. So, we got this young man aijgL brought him into the safety meeting. We also
brought the motor truck boys into the meeting and we discussed the
question. After it waf over, twelve of the motor truck boys asked if
they could he membersrof the safety committee. We said, "Sure." It is amazing how careful those boys are operating the trucks today. They
are not joy riding today as we have, previously caught them. We do
not caution them any longer because we brought the man whose leg was broken before them antLit was an object lesson for them.
If you use the method of demonstration, bringing these things home
vividly and constantly; getting them to realize that they are their broth
ers' keepers, I assure you, you need no prizes, no new fangled things to
Metals Section
765
put safety across because the average man has intelligence enough and there is a desire in. his heart, not only to protect himself but the other fellow and home and loved zones. I think, that while some try this thing
this way and that, there is only one way fundamentally. Mb. R. C. Salisbury (Interstate Iron and Steel Company, Chicago):
I
do not see the comparison or advantage of comparison between the Sun day School boy and the foreign element, that is, in the teaching of the two. Mr. Stremmel hasn't outlined any specific plan or approved any
other medium than the safety prizes. For nine years we have conducted successful safety campaigns and
always through the medium of safety prizes- The men come to learn why those prizes are given and are told by their foreman that the prizes are awarded 'for a good accident record. It would seem to me that a com parison between Mr. Smith's accident records and Mr. Stremmel's would be the only way of determining which is successful, without prizes or with prizes. I would like to see a comparison of their accident records.
Chairman Oartel: That is a good point. I think if that could be
kept in mind for next year, it would bring out an interesting discus
sion. Mr. Smith:
5L In speaking of new ideas to bring safety across, I don't
want to omit the importance' of that which Mr. Stremmel has been talking
about. I believe in putting safety across from an educational standpoint just as much as anybody. In fact, anybody who has made an analysis of accidents knows about 98 per cent of the accidents 'occur, even after the plant is safeguarded, due Sjjl the human element. Knowing that 9S per cent is up to the human eleasent, then. 98 per cent of our efforts should he directed toward the human element. We know that education is the big
problem, it is just a question, of how you are going to educate your men. We have a great many bulletin boards and all kinds of meetings; that
is all a part of the regular routine work. These stunts which I just mentioned were some of the ideas worked out in conjunction with that
work, not interfering with_it, not deviating from the regular work in any way because we believe in just those things he believes in; it is fundamental.
A few years ago when rule books first came out, a great many companies
issued rule books. They were published at Gary Works when I was
there. We bad no prizes when those books were given out- We got a good many men in the offices for witnesses. We asked, "Did you read your
rule hook ?''
"No."
_
"Where is your rule book?"
"Home in the "trunk," or "Thrown away."
Well, we commenced to find a way to make the men read their i*ule
books. In a small plant that may be a simple matter, but when it comes to a plant of several thousand men, it is a problem to get every man to read his rule hook. Sorwe got out safety service medals, which were
given to any man who worked six months without having lost time on
account of accident, and had passed an examination on the safety rules. Now, if that isn't worth while as a prize proposition, I don't know what is
766
Eighth Safety Congress
worth while. I think it is very much worth while because we are get ting the employees to read the rules.
You give a man a "prize" for producing a certain tonnage in a rolling mill. It. is the same proposition in accident prevention. Of course, in some places the superintendents in small departments are able to put this across without the use ot prizes. I believe that safety can be put across without prizes, but, prizes make it a little easier. It is just a case of making it easier to accomplish your purpose. If a man is going to re ceive a watch, belt or knife, or anything else as a prize, it will be an incentive. "We found that before we offered prizes for suggestions, we got about one hundred suggestions a year. After we offered prizes, we got about four hundred j^that proves it.
From my experience, Jthere is no question but what prizes get some benefit, a whole lot more than they cost.
Mr. H. L. Church (Rockford Malleable Iron Wiorks. Rockford, 111.): The question of prizes seems to me to be based on whether a man is an ideal ist or a practicalist. If a man is a practicalist, he will take the ground that a child should go tcT Sunday School on general principles. He will take the position that any man in the mill or machine shop is his broth ers' keeper as well as his own. While, the idealist will bribe the child to go to Sunday School. When I was a kid I'was bribed to go to Sunday School, and I'm glad I was. If we can bribe these kids of twenty-five and thirty years of age, yet kids in mentality, go ahead and bribe them and then let the informatiorrTIOak in.
Chairman Oartet.: iTEm sure that a great deal could be said on both
sides of this question, and as Mr. Smith has said, "By their fruits shall you know them," and I am sure I shall suggest this as an item on our program for the next Congress.
Next on our program^la a "Practical Demonstration of Investigating Accidents." which will be staged by Mr. H. J. Weeks, Chief Safety In spector of the American Steel and Wire Company, with a number of the employees of that company. Mr. Weeks' company has gone into that very
thoroughly and I am sure- we pre going to get something good. We will
have to ask your indulgence for a few minutes until we set the stage.
PRACTICAL DEMONSTRATION OF INVESTIGATING ACCIDENTS
Stager ry H. J. Weeks and Employees of American Steer and Wire. Company
Report of Court of Inquiry held in Accident Case of Fred Koenig. Check No. 1.000. Carpenter
(Address to audience by Mr. H. J. Weeks.)
It is the practice of therAmerican Steel and Wire Company to make an investigation of all accidents or near-accidents, the object of which is to determine the cause, place responsibility, recommend discipline for the
Metals Section
767
negligent person, and suggest means for preventing a similar accidentThe members of the Court are generally the Works Superintendent or the Assistant Superintendent, the Master Mechanic, the Labor Employment Supervisor, three foremen, and the district and mill safety director. We
will now give yon a demonstration of our procedure. Mr. G. A. Pmr.i.'irs addressed the Court as follows: We are gathered here to investigate the accident of Fred Koenig.
Koenig had his finger taken off in the Carpenter Shop while ripping
boards oh the circular saw. The injured man makes the statement that he was ripping some %-inch
boards of short length and Awhile pushing the last board through, his
hand in some manner came. in contact with the saw. The foreman makes this statement. That the man was ripping some
%-inch boards 12-inches wide down to 8 inches with the saw guard raised and while doing thisT in some manner his fingers came in con
tact with the saw.
=--
Time of Accident: 2:00 P;=M.. Tuesday. Sept. 2. 1919.
Nature of Injury: Amputation first finger, right hand.
Length of time off duty: Two to four weeks.
Board: Messrs. H. J. Weeks. Chairman; C. A. Phillips, Assistant Super
intendent; A. C. Germain, WT J. Smith, F. Fennell, O. Walker.
EXAMINATION UY THCE CHAIRMAN OF O. F. WALKER, EAII* 1.0YMENT SUPERVISOR
Q. Mr. Walker, do you have in your records, Mr. Koenig's employ
ment slip? A. .Yes, sir.
--
Q. When was he hired? A. On the fourth of February and started to work on the fifth.
Q. Who hired him, .you, or your assistant?
A. I did.
-=^=r-
Q. Did you read form No, 3453 to this man, explaining the safety
rules? A. Yes, sir.
-- --
Q. Did this man seem toceomprehend their meaning?
A. He seemed fully to understand them. Q. Did he sign one of these cards? A. Yes.
Q. Who conducted this man to the Carpenter Shop?
A. I did.
TM
Q. What did you do after you arrived there with him?
A. I introduced him to Mr. Kirtland, Carpenter Shop Foreman, who showed him the wood-working machines, safety devices. lockers, etc.
Q. How about the fire escapes?
A. He was also shown those.
Q. Did you stay with Mr. Kirtland while he was doing this, or did
you return to the office? ---
A. I stayed with Mr. Kirtland until he finished.
Q. After you left Koenig that day did you make it 3"our business to return to that department for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not
this man was following his^ Instructions?
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MigMh Safety Congress
A. On several occasions I went to the department to see how the man
was getting along and as far as I could see he was doing his work in a
satisfactory way.
~
KXAMIXATIOS MY TIIK CXIAiRMAN, OF Ms. G. E. KjtnTE.ASTD, FOREMAN OAHPKNlEft SHOP
Q. Mr. Kirtland, tell us what you know about the accident to Fred
Koenig.
-
A. I understand he i was ripping some %-inch hoards fox- boxes, the
hoards were IS inches icing and 12 inches wide and he was ripping them
down to S inches and doing this work with the saw guard up. He was
pushing them through, one board following the other, until he came to
the last board and then; his hand came into contact with the saw. Q. How do you know this man Koenig had the guard raised?
A. One of the shop men. Chase, told me.
Q. Had this man ever been instructed as to how to use the saw guard
and other safety devices in your department? A. Yes, he was brought in by the employment supervisor and I took
him all through the shop and showed him different pieces of machinery,
and I asked him if he was a carpenter and he said yes, and I asked him if he ever worked on the machinery such as we had in the shop and he
said lie was familiar with it. I showed him over the shop, explaining the
fire escapes, water palls, fire extinguishers, and took ail the pains I
could to instruct him cm the lines of safety. Q. After yon had yoUf talk with this man you were then satisfied that
he was an experiencercLearpenter and used to handling wood working machinery?
A. Yes.
*
Q. What was your observation of this man after he had been working
there some time, was he careful or inclined to be careless? A. I thought he wasjl little careless at times. I was walking through
the shop and noticed file saw running with the guard up out of position,
and he was preparing hoards to put under the saw. I called him and told him it was not permissible under any circumstances to have the saw-
guard raised. Q. Was this the onlyytime you saw him with the guard out of position?
A. I was through another time that I recall, and noticed the guard raised.
Q. Did you again call his attention to this dangerous practice?
A. I did and in a^nanner I thought he thoroughly understood and
told him it would not b_&permitted under any circumstances.
Q. From that timejm^up until the time of the accident, did the man
do his' work in a careful manner? A. Yes, so far as I_ know.
Q. Is there anything else you have to say in regard to this accident
we have not mentionsL: if you have, speak freely?
A. I don't know of anything.
^Metals Section
769
EXAMINATION BY THE CHA1HMAS, OF FRED KOENIG, TIIE INJURED MAN
Q. Koenig', bow is your finger today? A. I suffered a good deal last night*but the doctor said I might go
back to work before long,
Q. Fred, tell us as near as you can how you got hurt.
A. I was sawing some 'jk-inch boards 12 inches, down to 8 inches in
width and in some manner_my'finger came in contact with the saw.
Q. How long have you been working for the company?
A. Six months.
_
Q. When you were taken to the Carpenter Shop were you introduced
to the foreman and did he in turn take you over the Ca'rpenter Shop ex
plaining the safety devices and rules of that department to you?
A. He did.
"T"
Q. Did you thoroughly understand the instructions you 'received?
A. I think I did.
-------
Q. I understand that you are an experienced carpenter and used to
handling wood-working machinery; is that correct?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. How much experience have you had?
A. About six years.
-a:
Q. When you were employed did you receive a card on the back of
which were a number of safety rules with instructions to follow?
A. Yes. Q. Have you that card with you? A. I think I have. Q. Read the rules on the back of that card.
1. This Company maintains a Safety Organization for the purpose of preventing injuries to employees.
2. Every employee is considered a member of the Safety Organiza
tion. 3. Safety instructions' and rules must be obeyed. 4. Safety devices installed must be used. 5. Safety guards removed for repairs or -adjustment must be re
placed before machinery is started. 6. Unsafe conditions or practices are to be reported to the fore
7. 8.
man.
The Company maintains an emergency hospital for treatment of
injured employees^ free of cost. All injuries, no matter how slight, must receive immediate
attention.
B
9. Good conduct is expected; horse-play or fooling will not be tol
erated. 10. Failure to comply with Safety Rules and Regulations may
mean immediate dismissal.
Q, Did the foreman give von other specific rules to follow in regard to
the safety devices in your department? A. He showed me all the workings of the different safety devices in
the department and explained to me how to use them.
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Eighth Safety Congress
Q. Was this particular saw on which you were working at the time
of the accident, provided with a guard?
A. Yes sir, it was. Q. Was the guard lip place at the time the accident happened?
A. Yes, I think it was. Q. You are absolutely positive, Fred, you had this guard in place at
the time the accident happened? A. Yes, X think so. i^L_ Q. Is there anything else you wish to say in regard to thin accident
we have not talked about? A. That is all I know of now. Q. Have you any suggestions that would make conditions around the
saw any safer?
=
A. No, the guard that is installed on that saw is a good one.
KXAMINATION OF J". ROLTZ, CARPENTER.
(WITNESS-----FORKlr.Nf.tt
(J. Tylicki, Interpreter.)
Q. Joe, do you speak_iSnglish?
A. (Shrug of shoulders.)
Q. Have you ever attended a Court of Inquiry?
A. He never did. "V ( Procedure of the Court was here explained to the man by interpeeter. *
Q. Joe, tell us what_you know about this accident.
A. I was working al my bench and heard a loud
be
tween Chase and Koenig. What he had to say I don't know. ** as* I
was coining back I noticed Koenig measuring off a board and he besatn
to rip the board and as"Ue began 1 started to tell him to lower hi* cwrd.
but before I reached him the accident happened.
Q. Who is Chase? "=r A. 1 don't know, buf I know he works there.
. Q. Joe. did you ever use a circular saw?
A. Yes, I did. Q. Did you ever use it with the guard up out of place?
A. I always kept itjflown because I think too much of my luand*.
Q. Joe. as I understflid.it, when you first turned around you noticed a man attempting to explain to this mail, Koenig, that It was dangerous
to saw with the guard up. How do you know that this man was telling
him to put the guard down?
A. I don't understand the English language, but judging from his
motions I thought heJLglil him to lower the guard.
Q. Is there anything else you know about this accident we have not
talked about?
_7
A. That is all I know.
KXXIIIXATIOX OF W. CHASE, "WITNESS
Q. Will, do you work in the Carpenter Shop? A. Yes sir. Q. What do you do?
Met ala Section
tii
A. General carpenter.
^Er
Q. Have you ever attended, a Court of Inquiry?
A. Yes, sir.
--
Q. Did yousee Fred Koenigget hurt?
A. No sir, I didn't see him. I was up there just shortly before he
got hurt and he was runningTthe saw with the guard up and I cautioned
him about this and also tolcLhim to put it down, that it was very dan
gerous and against the rules ^nd saw that he put it down before I left and
he also said he had been doing this kind of work for a long time and had
never been hurt. Q. Where did you go after, you warned him? A. I got the board I was looking for and went back down stairs.
Q. You did not actually sge the accident?
A. No.
.z.
Q. Have you ever used a circular saw?
A. Yes, a good many times. Q. Do you always make'it a practice to use the guard?
A. Yes.
-
Ql Does this .type of sffC guard on that saw -cause you any incon
venience? A. None. Q. Is there anything else^you wish to say?
A. Nothing else I can think of.
It K-KX AMI.VATIOX OF FRKl> KOKNIC, li'JCKKI) MAN
Q. Fred, inyour statement a while ago you said you had this guard
in place.
--
A. Yes, I did.
^
Q. Does this saw-guard cause any inconvenience whatever when you
use it?
--
A. No.
^
Q. Then Fred, why weren't you using it at the time you were injured?
A. Well, I---------------------
^
Q. Now wait a'minute Fred. We are going to be fair with you and expect von to be fair with us. What I can't understand in your statement is this. You know as well as I do that the end of this saw guard pro trudes beyond the teeth orthc saw at least 4 inches and when down rests on face of the board and if you had the guard in place, explain to
me how you could receive that injury. A. Well I don't know, h think if I had the guard down I wouldn't have
got my finger off. Q. Now Fred, .why did you want to tell us you had that guard down
when you knew you didn't? A. I remembered the rules I read and thought that I might be dis
charged for violating them.jr
Q. How many times have you read those rules?
A. When I first got the card and then stuck it in my pocket. Q. What was the length of these boards you were sawing?
772
Eighth Safety Congress
A. Seventeen inchesCL
Q. How were you pOThing them through?
A. I took one board and started It through and took the second to fol
low the first and took the third to follow the second and in that manner
kept my fingers away from the saw.
Q. Do you remember rule No. 5? A. No, I don't remember it.
Q. Take out that card and read it.
A. (Reading the rule.) Safety guards removed for repairs and ad
justment must be replaced before machinery is started.
Q. You understood that rule all right, now read No. 4.
A. (Reading the rul%) Safety devices installed must be used.
Q. Now read the last one.
A. (Reading the rule.) Failure to comply with Safety Rules and Reg
ulations may mean immediate dismissal. Q. Fred, I asked yon" a while ago if you had any suggestion to offer
whereby an accident of: tbis kind could be prevented and you said you
had none. Have you any now? A. None that I know-of but I know if I ever get back to work I won't
use machinery unless the guards are In the proper position.
Q. You know this guard should be kept down all the time. In fact you
remember the rules pretty well. In a case of this kind what do you think
we should do?
---
A. I don't know. I guess I will have to leave it to you gentlemen.
Q. Have you always imade 'it a practice of keeping the guard in place
before?
---
A. Yes, most of theitime. Q. Not always though?
A. No.
~
Q. Just before you were injured, didn't Chase come over to where you
were sawing, when you. happened to be sawing with the guard up? Didn't
he attempt to put the guard down and caution you against the dangerous
practice? A. Yes, he did.
Q. What did you say to him?
A. Oh, I laughed at him and said I thought I understood my busi
ness.
Q. How do you feel about it now?
A. I wish I had taken his advice and I think I would have my finger
yet.
zr=r
Q. You know now just as well as Chas.e that it is very important that
these guards be used, and if used they often prevent suffering. You realize
that?
-z=-
A. Yes.
--
Q. Now Fred, if you are permitted to go back to the work do you think
you will use the guards, that are put there for your protection in the
future?
-
A. I won't use any machine unless the guard is in the proper place.
an
Metals Section
773
Q. .
You _
are
absolutely
su:r_e_
about
tbat,
are
you?
A. I am.
:
COSTd-TrSIONS OF THE BOARD
Mb. Weeks: Gentlemen, this concludes the testimony in this case. We
will now proceed to work up the summary. [The following were the questions and decisions reached by the Board. J
Q. What was the injured man doing?
A. ' Ripping some boards .on a circular saw. Q. How did the accident happen? A. The saw guard was raised out of position. While, in the act of rip ping. the last board, not having a board to follow and push it through, his
hand came in contact with the saw.
Q.i What was the exciting cause?
A. (Mr. Fennell). Mr. Weeks, do I understand that the exciting cause
is the cause leading up to the accident?
A. Yes, exactly.
_
In this case I would say the exciting cause was the man sawing boards
on a circular saw with the guard raised out of position. (Agreed.)
Q. What was the proximate cause? (Which is the near or exact
cause?)
__
A. His hand coming in contact with the saw.
Q. Who is to blame directly?
A. The injured man.
Q. Who is to blame indirectly?
A. No one.
_
Q. What can be done to prevent a similar accident? Do you have any
suggestions to offer, Mr. Phillips? A. Well, the testimony shows that the saw guard is sufficient and the
only thing we can do, I think, is to insist that our men make use of the guards provided. I might say that we have already called together all of
the men who use the machinery and explained to them this accident, impressing upon them the importance of using the guards. Also at our regular departmental safety meeting held each month we review in detail
each accident which happened in the previous month, and this accident
will be taken up at the next meeting. Q. Were there any safetyjyules violated?
A. Yes, rules No. 4 and No. 5. Q. Were any safe guards involved? A. Yes, the saw guard. -- Q. Mr. Smith, getting back to what can be done to prevent, a similar
accident: Do you as Master Mechanic have any suggestions whereby that
guard can be made any safer by adding some mechanical feature to pre
vent raising the guard? A. I think it possible to, put a locking device on the guard so a man
can only raise it to correspond with the thickness of the board he Is work
ing on and lock it in position so it cannot be moved unless the foreman
moves it. Make a key and lock it in position. Q. If I remember that guard correctly, it is provided with a wing
774
Eighth Safety Congress
nut which permits shoving out of place. By removing the not and pro viding a lock as youjay. and giving the foreman the key. this should
remedy the situation. Do you think it can be worked out all right?
A. Yes. Q. Will you try to_work up something right away?
A. Yes.
Q. About how long before you can do this?
A. About ten days tsr two weeks. Q. What discipline, is suggested for the negligent person? A. (Mk. Wai.kkk, Employment Supervisor): I should think in a case of this kind, the--man was properly instructed and cautioned and the
safety devices explained to him, he ought to have at least a week off'
without pay after the doctor releases him. Mu. Piiii.i.irs: I don't quite agree with that. That is rather a primi
tive method. I think we can agree on some other discipline. He will lose three or four weeks now as it is and I happen to know that he has
a large family and really can't afford to lose that time. He has suffered a great deal with his_ finger and realizes it was the result of his own
carelessness and will _be safer and more careful than he was before and that will be a good example to the rest of the department. I believe, however, lie should be_diseiplined In some way, and my suggestion would
be to give him his choice of making a speech to the men in his own
department or takingza week off without pay. Mu. Weeks: Gentlemen. T think Mr. Phillips' suggestion a very good
one. This man has a large family and regardless of the fact that thH
injury was due to his own carelessness, we should not cause any suffering as a result of Ills losing time. He needs tlie money and T hope you will all agree to Mr. Phillips' suggestion. (Agreed.)
(It was suggested that his foreman be delegated to put this proposition up to him In a diplomatic way and try to persuade him to make the
speech rather than take the week off without pay.) Mr. Kirtland, Foreman Carpenter Shop, was called in at this time and
addressed as follows Jiv the chairman: "Mr. Kirtland. fronnuthe testimony we have received in this investiga
tion. we are all agreed that this accident was due wholly to Fred's own carelessness. He seemg to understand the rules tn a general way and with; the Instructions you liad given him previous to the accident at the time he
was employed and also cautioned him a couple of times after that, we can't help but feel that he is entirely responsible for the accident. We therefore feel he should in some way be disciplined and it has been sug gested that we give this man his choice of taking a week off without pay or let him give a safety talk to the men in his department at the next de
partmental safety melting. It is my opinion that Koenig would rather take the week off than give this talk but we want you to try and per suade him to give the talk, and suggest that you put it up to him when
he comes in."
--
Mr. Koenig was then called in and addressed by Mr. Kirtland. hi* fore,
man. as follows:
Metals Section
775
"Well Fred, the Board of Inquiry has investigated this accident very carefully and the testimony of Jlie men in the shop and also your own testimony proves it was gross ^carelessness on your part and no one to blame but yourself. They feel something should be done to discipline you . to bring you to a point of realization that it is your duty to take care of your own person and follow the rules laid down for your protection. They have not entered into this with a spirit of punishment. It is sim ply done to bring you to the point where you will look out for yourself and follow instructions; and they have recommended that you either take a week off without pay or that you give a talk to the men in your depart ment on safety at the next departmental safety meeting. You are a mar ried man of a family, and It sems to me Fred, you have suffered enough, and more-loss of time would bring a hardship on your family. I think under the circumstances if you will give your fellow-workmen a talk on safety it will do them good and won't deprive you of anything and you are certainly in a position nowTwith your Anger tied up, to impress upon them their duty to follow instructions and protect themselves. Mow Fred,
what are you going to do?" _ Mr. Koenig's answer: "Well Gentlemen.'you certainly got me in an awful predicament. I don't
like to lose the week without pay after losing all this time and I have never made a talk In my life..:but I think I had better give mv fellowworkmen a talk, so I will decide^to give them one."
MB. KOK.VIU'S SPEECH
tAudience representing his fellow workmen)
Boys, von have guards on the machines. CSE them. Don't try to skin
out of them the same as I tried. It was my own fault I got hurt.
I tell you, boys, they have a bunch of foremen here in the Works that
will get you if you don't. They got me. It is right up to you and up to
me where you have the safety appliances, to use them. Don't try to have
them sticking up in the air the same as I did, trying to hustle your work.
1 gained, about two minutes, and here I lose three weeks, and suffering
nights,'getting my wife up aplight and her telling me "For God's sake
be quiet." 1 tell you, boys. thtCompany installed these safety appliances
and paid lots of money for them and put them there to keep us from being
crippled.
Mike, you remember when the foreman raised hell with you. You were
grinding at the emery wheel without goggles. Now don't do that any
more, Mike, your eye might have been a goner. Another fellow I saw
ripping boards threw one doqgn with a nail sticking up where lots of
men pass. I'll tell you one thing, boys, right here: I am going to be
for safety Arst, last, and all the time.
Now, boys, another thing:
used to look at the accident board and
laugh at them putting the figures on there, but when it moved from three
to four it was I, and believe me, boys, I didn't laugh then. .1 am going
to see every time that clock moves, and I am going to that department
776 Eighth Safety Congress
and talk to the fellow and see if I can't convert him to be a "safety first" man.
Don't try to get up in front of these fellows who investigate the acci dents and lie like I did, for they will handle you rough. There is no use
trying to sneak away, because they got you. If you try and lie out of it
they get you cornered. You may as well "come clean", because if you
don't you are trapped^ nine times out of ten. I was, and am ashamed to
think how I tried to get out of it.
Now, boys, I want to thank you all for this little attention you have
given, and I want to know that every one of you fellows are going to be
safety first men. I want you all to preach safety first', last, and all the
time.
--
Mb. Pnmr Stkem.x:
Mr. Chairman, if I am In order, I want to
make a motion that we who are present this morning, who have had the
privilege of listening to this Court of Inquiry given so splendidly by these
gentlemen, give them la rising vote of thanks for what they have given
us this morning. (The motion was carried unanimously.)
DISCUSSION .
Chairman Oartri,: We have about five minutes for discussion. If you have any questions you would like to ask Mr. Weeks, I am sure he
will be very glad to answer them:
Mb. R. C. Salisbury1: I would like to ask air. Weeks what accidents are conducted in this Court of Inquiry and how he conducts the Court of Inquiry in regard to hospital cases.
Mb. F. F. Dulse (American Steel and. Wire Company) : I have been conducting Courts of Tnqnirv in the Chicago District for the same com pany. The accidents on which we hold Courts of Inquiry are those in which it is not obvious where the blame should be placed.
In my district we hold Courts of Inquiry when the facts are such that we don't get the information from the regular investigation. We also hold Courts of Inquiry where they serve as an example, also in case of serious injury, fatality, loss of a limb, or accidents of that kind. We hold them because this Court of Inquiry advertises the fact that when accidents happen in a department, foremen and men involved in the acci dent have to come before this Court. In these Courts of Inquiry, we make reference to the safety rules that exist in the department. We ask the witnesses if the foreman in his departmental meeting has taught certain safety rules that are involved in the accident. We get the opinion of the men. Sometimes there are a dozen witnesses. They will come in, one after the other, and they will back the foreman's discipline or they won't. They will sometimes say that they haven't heard of that in a safety meet ing. Years ago we used to hear, "Nobody told me not to do that" or "Nobody told me to da that."
The publicity is the_great advantage of these Courts of Inquiry. The minutes of the inquiry are taken and passed around to the other depart ments. The foremen know that these go to the highest superintendent.
Metals Section
777
the manager of the district, the highest' officials, and that is one of the
greatest' restraining influences in this accident-prevention work. Mu. Lewis: In case of a serious accident, when do you interview the
man?
--
Mr. Weeks: We sometimes wait until he comes back from the hospi
tal. Sometimes we take his deposition and he is asked the same ques
tions that he would be asked at the Court of Inquiry itself. Sometimes
it is best to have the Board of Inquiry immediately after the accident
while there is still so much interest in the accident.
Mr. Lewis: Would you any time later bring the man into the Court
of Inquiry?
Mb. Weeks: No. We wouldTconsider that the effect had been obtained
by the publication of the CourTtrof Inquiry and not do anything further.
Mb. Lewis: Well, providing there was discipline recommended? Mb. Weeks: He would be acquainted with the discipline, and might
be told in a departmental meeting when he came back. Mb. Smith: I just want to ask whether these Courts of Inquiry are
held privately?
^
Mr. Weeks: Ordinarily we bold them privately.
We generally get
more witnesses than are actually required in order to get more men' from the department into the thing and thus let them see what happens when
they break the rules.
-
Mb. Smith: It might be a good idea to hold one publicly. Mr. Weeks: I never thought" of that. We could hold it in the depart
ment. There would be one disadvantage, because some of them would
take up quite a lot of time, and it would hardly he practicable to close a
department down for about two hours to conduct a Court of Inquiry. Chairman Oartei.: Gentlemen,' Mr. Smith of the Inland Steel Company,
who has been very active In the Metals Section since its organization, has
something to say.
--;
Mr. Smith: During all of the time since the Council has been divided
into sections, it has deen a difficult matter for the officers of the iron
and steel section to secure cooperation from the men out in the field, and.
to carry on this work in a manner satisfactory to everybody concerned.
I think every officer will agree with me on that point, and I think that at this Congress some effort should be made to make the activities of the
Metals Section have more value to all members of the Section.
The iron and steel industry is probably the greatest industry of the
United States. It is the backbone of all industries. The men here today
are the representatives of that Industry and while many are not here be
cause of labor conditions at this time, they are as interested as those who
are here.
----
PERMANENT SECRETARY FOR METALS SECTION
Some effort should he made lb arrange that the activities of the Section will be of more value to each and every member during the coming year. I think one of the things that should be done is that a permanent Secre tary should be appointed for=the Metals Section. It is a hard thing for one man to handle all the activity for a Section of this kind. The dues
77S
Eighth
Coiit/rcss
from the membership of this Section should be sufficient so that the Na
tional Safety Council should put some experienced iron and steel Safety
Engineer in charge of the secretarial work, the dissemination of informa
tion, the gathering of information as to how accidents occur, guarding,
special bulletins, anything that may occur in connection with the safety movement. 1 know that each and every one would be benefited by this.
There are accidents occurring in our plants every day. They may occur in Chicago, Cleveland, or Pittsburgh. If we knew exactly how that acci
dent occurred, we would be able to prevent it in our plant. There are a
great many other things that would be of special value in the iron and
steel section.
--
I think this time is the only opportune time for the matter to be dis
cussed and some conclusion reached, and a recommendation made to the
Executive Committee of the National Safety Council.
I would like to have some suggestions on that line. Cii.ur.mas OAKiKi.r Mr. Smith, is it your idea that this permanent Secretary should be financed by the Council without an increase in dues?
Mu. Smith: Absolutely. I think there are enough dues so it should be
done by the National Council. Ciiaikmax Oaktki.: I think the proper- way would be by a motion in
structing your Chairman of the Metals Section to bring it before the Ex
ecutive Committee. Mr. Smith: I will make such a motion.
(The motion was seconded. > Ciiaikmax Oaktki.: The motion is that a paid Secretary, who is a trained Safety Engineer having experience In the Iron and Steel Indus try, be appointed for; tile Metals Section, the salary of said Secretary to be paid by tile Council without an increase of dues to the Metals Section.
Is there any discussion? Mit. P. G. BtixxKTT (Thu Buckeye Steel Castings Company, Columbus,
Ohio) : Would yoiLJ?ant that taken up with the Executive Committee at
once? CitAiKAtAX Oaktki.
1 think it would come at the regular Executive Com
mittee meeting.
t
Mit. Smith: This lias nothing to do with election of officers for this
Section. This inanjwould occupy the same position with the Metals Section as Mr. Price does with the National Safety Council. This man
would not conflict Aylth any officer of this Section. I am not trying to lake care of any election of officers or anything like that.
My idea is that there should be some man (you might call him Execu tive Secretary, Safely Engineer of the Iron and Steel Section, or some thing else) to act as_afety engineer for the entire iron and steel industry of the country, lie should travel all around and study the systems that
are in effect in different plants, then go to the other fellow and tell hint
how the others are doing It. giving advice as to what can be done, what is successfully carried jut in other plants and what gives results. I think
a man experienced_Ln the iron and steel industry will undoubtedly be able to do that and accomplish a good deal.
Metals Section
779
Cjiaibiian Oartee: i would like to postpone the question a little. Mr.
Cuerrant of the National Safety Council staff is here. He has been doing
some work in the Metals Seijftion in the preparation of Safe Practices
pamphlets. I would like to tear from him on what the Mining Section
is doing along this line.
.JE.
Mr. R. H. Gcekraxt: I know that many of the sections want additional
service from the Council. One man of our staff can't give any one section his entire attention. For instance, I have five sections in addition to pre
paring the general Safe PraeHees pamphlets. The Mining Section for three or four years have wanted an experienced
mining engineer to be of the same service to them as the man Mr. Smith
has in mind would be to this Section, and today I think they are taking
up at their meeting the advisability of appointing that man. They have
been authorized, I believe, by~the Executive Committee to take this mat
ter up, but they intend to raise an additional eight thousand dollars a
year. That man will be a mining engineer and will devote all of his time
to the members, in the gathering of bulletin material, writing sectional
pamphlets, visiting properties"3jf the members, and helping them organize for safety. They expect to'raise eight thousand dollars additional (to
their dues) from the members for this service. Mr. Smith: Do you intimate that the Executive Committee have in
formed the Mining Section that they are unable to finance that?
Mr. Guerkant: Yes.
72L
Mr. Smith: If that is truer! don't think there would- be any difficulty
in raising at least ten thousand dollars in the iron and steel industry. Mr. Gtjeurant: The iron and steel is the largest section,'and', of course,
ten thousand dollars divided among the members would not be a great
deal for each one.
;
Mr. Smith: Why wouldn't-it be better to change that motion if that is
the opinion of the Executive Committee and raise' ten thousand dollars?
I move that we raise ten thousand dollars; that bur new officers be given
the authority to raise that amount-among the iron and steel'members and
that they select and employ a trained iron and steel Safety Engineer for this position. This to be done under the auspices of the National Safety
Council.
_
Chairman Oartf.t.: Do vou wish to substitute that?
Mr. Smith: Yes.
-
'
Mr. Samsiitiry: I would like to ask how a plan of this kind will affect
the proposed plan of the' permanent Secretaries that the National Safety
Council have under way?Chairman Oartk*:- What cfo you mean?
Mr. Sai.isuur-y i. 1 -understand the St. Louis
and
Pittsburgh
districts
have a permanent Secretary, 5nd I think there is a'plan of that kind in'
a tentative form now for a pgrmanent Secretary in all big cities if they
can finance it. . : -
- -
Chairman OarTeij-:- I think I can answer that question. I am from
Pittsburgh. I know the St. Louis, the Cleveland, and Rochester plans.
. It means an lncrease-of at least double the amount of d,ues you are paying.
780 Eighth Safety Congress
That is, if you are living in a district, where there is a permanent Local
Secretary and you joined that Local Council. It means yon pay possibly tw ice as much dues. This proposed secretary would be in addition to that.
Mb. Smith: In regard to the permanent Local Secretary, I don't think he would be as valuable to our Section as having a man in the iron and
steel industry for this industry alone. The Local Council Secretaries are
good for the membership, but in so far as taking care of the iron and steel industry, it doesn't answer the purpose.
Mb. SAUSntraT: It would occur to me that one of the two systems
would have to be eliminated to .keep down the cost of dnes in order to
make one of the two plans a success. Mb. Smith; How many members are there in the Section? Mb. G ueiiuxt: There are over two hundred members, I believe. The
dues paid are based upon the number of employees. Suppose your dues are
a hundred dollars a year. You might have to pay twenty-five dollars a year more for a man to give you this service.
Just one more word, r think the plan proposed by the Mining Section, that this man. be associated directly with the Chicago office is a good one. The Council will print all the literature as they do now for the Section, but this man will devote all his time to the Mining Section dnties.
Mb. Smith: The mining'proposition is about like the iron and steel. They have peculiar problems. They really need a man just as we do.
They feel that need and I think we feel it in this Section. I think we
are both following alongthe same line.
Mr. Philip Stbemiibli. I would like to say that so far as we are con-, cerned, I think we would meet with some objection from our company for this reason: We have a tri-city, local council, a Mississippi Valley division of the National Safety Council. We support the tri-city, then we
have the St. Louis, Mississippi Valley division, with a permanent secre
tary, then the National Sheet Association also have a man who is acting * In a similar capacity, solhat taking It altogether, with another additional Secretary, I doubt seriously whether our men would consider it.
Chaihmax Oartel: Are there any other remarks on this very vital
subject? Mr. Lewis:
-- It seems to me it would be observing better form if the
matter is presented as in the original motion, that it be submitted to the
Executive Committee. Chairman Oartel: I think I can answer for the Executive Committee
that the Council would be perfectly agreeable if we could raise the money.
Mr. Salisbury: It seems to me that on account of the small attendance here at this time, it would be better to take this matter up at the meeting tomorrow morning and_then we can get a full expression on it.
Chairman Oartel: There is only one trouble and that is it would in jure our full program. Why not have the Council send out letters saying, "Do you want this service and if so, do yon want to pay for It by paying
more dues?"
^
Mb. Smith: You could in that case advise them about what the dues
would be in each instance.
Metals Section
783
Mk. Philip Stkkm jiel: I think that would be the better plan. Mb. Smith : I have no intention of forcing the issue. This was only an idea of service. I think everybody who has served as an officer of this Section the last four or five years has realized the difficulty in getting out bulletins. The benefit would be worth all the money it cost to any one who has any accident problem at all. But, in a large operation where they are having accidents continuously, there is no question but what the small amount of money it may cost would be many times regained by the service rendered. There is no question about_lt but what the members in this room would like to get about four times .as many bulletins as they do. If we could get real iron and steel bulletins more often, if we could get ideas on statistics, on safety, on rule books, on Courts of Inquiry such as held here this morning,^ and on aTgood many other things, the amount paid by each company would be small in comparison with the benefits derived. '
Mb. Salisbury: I move the matter be laid over until tomorrow. Chairman- Oartel: Do you offer that as an amendment? Mr. Smith: I am satisfied. (Seconded. Carried.) Chairman Oartel: The matter is on the table until tomorrow morning. Adjournment.
SATURDAY" MORNING SESSION
HE meeting convened at 9:30, Mr. J. A. Oartel presiding.
T Chairman Oartel: We have a matter that was held over from yes
terday morning in regard to: a permanent paid Secretary for the Metals
Section. It seems that we don't have a copy of the resolution here. Mr.
Bennett, will you state it? -- Mb. Bennett: That we take up with the Executive Committee of the
National Safety Council the matter of having a paid, permanent Secretary
or Manager for this section._ Chairman Oartel: This matter was laid on the table until today, so
now it is open fcfr discussion: Mr. Smith, who suggested the matter yes terday, went home last night. Do you wish to have any discussion? I wiil make this explanation for the benefit of any who were not here yes
terday.
'--
'
REGARDING A PAID PERMANENT SECRETARY
The idea is to have a man employed by the Council who shall look aiter
and direct the work of the Metals Section. Heretofore the work has been}^
done voluntarily by the elected, officers of the Section. They, as you know,]1!
are employed elsewhere and cannot give much time to this matter.
Jf!
The Section has grown so large, the development has been so greatj-
that we think we have come to the place where a man should be em
ployed to give his entire time to the Metals Section. So, the idea Is that your Chairman, whoever he may be next year, shall bring this matter to the attention of the Executive Committee Of the Council- To employ
7S2 Eighth Safety Congress
such a permanent secretary would necessitate' an increase in dues, or a fund to he made tip in some way to pay his salary. It might run. up as high as ten thousand dollars. Do the members of the Metals Section want to pay more dues?
Yesterday a thouglHTWas brought before us about membership in the Local Councils, which means an increase of dues wherever there is a paid Local Council Secretary^
A sectional paid secretary would mean an increase in addition to that. Do you want to take that step at this time?
I suggested yesterday! that if this matter met the approval of the Execu tive Committee, that the National Council send out a circular letter to all the members to get their opinion about it.
Do yon wish to have^ahy discussion on this matter this morning before we put the motion? We have the motion before us. All we need to do is to vote upon it. Are you ready for the question?
The motion was carried.! Cu.MitMAN O.Mti'Ki.: 'Phe first address will be "The Testing of Goggles for Protection Against Radiant Energy", by Mr. Charles E. Oakes, Asso ciate Electric Kngineer.A'tiited States Bureau of Standards, Washington.
TIIK TENTIXt; OF GOGGLES FOR PROTECTION AGAINST RADIANT ENERGY
CiiAist.rs E. Oakis. A<iath Ei.kctkhai. Enginkkk. 17. S. Bureau of
D.Stsxiiarus. Washington.
C.
The Injurious effectsAb the eye of ultra-violet radiant energy which occur as a result ot many operations in industry, for example electric arc welding, steel making, etc., have been known for many years but in spite of the fact that scientists have studied these phenomena, until recently no <juantitative data, comprehensive in scope, have been avail able in such form that the engineer can use them for the purpose of wiiting speoifictitious foirglass.
Before entering into detailed discussion of the methods of testing glass designed for protection from radiant energy, it might be well to explain the relation of the particular form of radiant energy with which we are concerned to the many other forms of radiant energy which mani fest themselves in many well-known ways, some of which are applied com mercially at the preseiiLtime.
Radiation is a form SSC energy and can therefore be transformed into
other forms of energy. Radiation in general is a transverse wave motion with a speed In space 3x1 u cm. per sec., but with frequencies and wave length varying over an extremely wide range. The form of radiant energy which is most well known to us is light and this subject received the first consideration from scientists years ago. Radiation is visible, as light, only when having jwave-lengtlis of about 76x10 cm. to 39x10cm. Only radiant energy of these frequencies tan be observed by the eye.
Alternating current waves, electric waves used in wireless telegraphy.
Metals Section
783
infra-red, visible and ultra-violet radiant energy, and x-rays are all forms of radiant energy which afe alike in every essenLial except their fre quency and wave-length. In the following diagi-am, Fig. 1, is shown the various phenomena of radiant energy arranged in progressive order ac
cording to frequency. As will be noted, the total range of radiation is extremely great, the
electric waves consuming the greater part of the radiation spectrum and a much greater part than "the visible radiation.
The methods of observing^ the presence, the frequency and the amount of the radiant energy in the various groups are varied- .Many examples can be cited. In the field ~o wireless telegraphy vve measure energy by
FIG. 1. THE VARIOUS PiTEMOMEX'A OF RADIAXT EXERCY ARRANGED IX PROGRESSIVE ORDER, ACCORDING TO FREQUENCY
means of a tuned circuiEwhich. contains inductance and capacity in the proper ratio and connected to a suitable indicating instrument such as a telephone receiver, a thermo galvanometer, a bolometer, etc.
In nearly every case where we want to measure quantitatively energy it is first necessary to change 'its form so that it can be recorded or de tected. I may cite an example. The wireless sending apparatus propa gates through space radiant energy in the form of electric waves. These waves impinging on a receiving circuit properly tuned convert the radiant energy into electrical energy. This electrical energy is dissipated as heat energy and in order to jgjeasure it a part of it is localized in a bolometer or thermocouple or thermo-galvanometer, or telephone receiver. The
784
Eighth Safety Congress
localized heat energy is transformed into electrical energy, "whose mag
netic effect is used to turn a coil of a galvanometer against the resistance
of a mechanical force such as a'spring. The galvanometer visualizes the
result by means of a mirror and a scale or by a pointer passing over a
scale. We thus make use of the visible radiant energy of the sun or an
artificial light to picture for us the relative position of the scale and
pointer. By these few examples it can be seen it is necessary to make
many transformations of energy before the final result can be visualized.
The same general method Is followed in measuring radiation in any part
of the spectrum.
^
However, there is one! important difference between electric radiation
and light radiation. Electric radiation is usually, although not necessarily
of one frequency while light radiations usually are a mixture of waves
of an infinite number of frequencies- The infra-red and ultra-violet ra
diations are always present, although the worker is unconscious of the
fact, and if present in considerable amounts. These invisible radiations
are known to injure various parts of the eye. For these reasons the eyes
must be protected especially where radiation of high power is encountered.
Since light radiation is usually made up of waves of an infinite number .
of frequencies, it becomes necessary to separate them if measurements
on a particular wave length are to be made. These waves do not travel
through media such as glass with the same velocity as they do through space. Not only is the velocity usually decreased but the reduction in
speed depends on the frequency. If the radiant energy of different wave
lengths is passed through a transparent prism--transparent as far as the
wave lengths under consideration are concerned--this difference in veloc
ity results in the direction be'ing changed and this affords a method of
separating the waves. -Bv focusing the radiant energy after passing
through a prism on a screen a spectrum is formed. To the eye there can
be perceived only the colors of the spectrum. That there is radiant ener
gy of other wave lengthslpresent but not visible can be proven by holding
a sensitive heat measurlhg device in the path of radiant energy in the
infra-red portion of the^spectrum. If a photograph be taken of the spec
trum, wave lengths shorjsr than those of the visible spectrum will be re
corded: and we thus have evidences of ultra-violet radiations. A heat
.measuring device will also detect ultra-violet radiation. An ordinary
prism made of a materTal transparent to the radiant energy of those
wave lengths to be studied is all thht is necessary to separate the indi
vidual waves enough to -conduct whatever'experiments are necessary.
In the detection of the presence of radiant energy of different wave
lengths a multiplicity nf methods may be used. The eye can detect the
wave lengths exhibited by the visible spectrum because the eye is particu
larly sensitive to these. ^The photographic plate can be used for the visi
ble spectrum and it will record also radiant energy in the ultra-violet
and beyond, even through the x-ray portion of the spectrum. A stand
ard method of detecting the presence of radiation and obtaining a quan
titative result is by making use of a heat-measuring device. All radiant
energy if intercepted and absorbed disappears as radiation by conversion
Metals Section
785
into another form of energy, usually heat. This gives us a simple and easily applied method of measuring radiant energy over a wide range of
wave lengths. With this general explanation of the methods of measuring radiant en
ergy, which has been given in order to picture the whole field of radiant energy and the relations of the various forms one to the other, we now pass to the particular field in which we are especially interested, the portion
FIG. 2. CURVE SHOWING SENSITIVITY OF THE EYE
of the spectrum covering thei range from the ultra-red through the visible
and the ultra-violet. The safety man is interested in a glass that will transmit as little of
the ultra-violet and infra-red as possible. But why is he interested in the transmission of glass? Because the reduction of the energy in the infra
red and ultra-violet to a degree which will not be injurious will give us
the required safety. -
^
The.lach of sensitivity of the eye to radiations outside the visible is a
7S6
Eighth Safety Congress
secondary reason why the presence of these radiations is dangerous. The man does not realize their presence.
Fig. l!. For the same amount of power expended the physiological effect on the eye. that is the amount of illumination evidenced, is a max imum near the middle of the visible spectrum and decreases on each side from there to zero at the end of the visible range. The ultra-violet and infra-red radiations TJjf entering the eye are transformed into chemical energy or heat energy, and produce harmful effects. This is particularly true of the ultra violet portion of the spectrum, the action on the tissues being chemical whileZthat of the infra-red seems to manifest itself as a heat effect. That there is a permanent injurious effect from the infra red radiation has norbeen proven, hut there is no doubt that it may cause
serious temporary injury. It is. therefore, necessary to absorb as much ns possible of these radiations before they reach the eye.
It becomes necessary to Know the properties of the glass in order to insure adequate protection. This is dune by tests and by buying on specitieations based on tliejQ^ tests, protection is assured.
The apparatus used for testing such glass is simple in principle, al though skill and experience in using it are necessary in order to obtain accurate results. The essential requirements are <11 a spectroscope for dispersing the radiant energy into a spectrum which will extend over the ultra-violet, visible and infra-red: and t i't a radiometer for measuring the spectral imensitifJS of the light transmitted by the glass under test.
In Fig. 3 is shown the sj>ectrosoope with slit 4. S: lenses (or silvered
t Metals Section
18,
mirrors) 5. 7: and prism 6 qEglass fluorite or quartz. The radiometer .
is placed at the narrow exit slit S, through which passes a narrow strip of the spectrum. The radiometer may be a bolometer. a thermopile, a photometer, or a photographic plate. The bolometer or thermopile acts
through a galvanometer.
_
The spectrum is formed at S, and narrow portions pass out through
the slit for measurement .of intensity. The source of light. 1. (and infra
red and ultra-violet rays) is a gas-filled tungsten lamp placed in front of
the spectroscope slit. TherC-is a shutter, 2. to exclude the light when de
sired. The glass under test, 3, is usually placed close in front of the
entrance slit -1. Suppose we wish to determine the transmission of a certain glass, for
KIG. t. TKAXSJUSSIOX CLTRVJSS
the red (or yellow). The spectroscope arm is rotated so that red light passes out through the exit slit. S, and falls upon the bolometer <jr thermo pile (or other radiometer)^ The intensity (galvanometer deflection) of the light Is noted, first with_the glass in front of the slit and second when no glass is in front of tlieZjsilt. The ratio of these intensities gives the per cent transmission. FcEElexample, suppose that, with the glass in place before the slit the light from the lamp warms the thermopile sufficiently to cause a galvanometer scale deflection of 50 mm. and when the glass is removed, the galvanometerjleflectjon is 100 mm. Tle ratio is 50/100 i. e..
the glass transmits 50 per cent of the incident light. In this manner the -whole spectrum is explored step by step and the
transmission of the glasses determined. In order to show the result
788
Eighth Safety Congress
obtained by this test I shall choose two glasses which, have been tested at the Bureau. One is not suitable for electric arc welders' goggles and the other will give full protection.
Curve 1 Is the transmission curve of a blue-green glass and curve 2 of a yellow-green glass. In curve 1 a high transmission in the ultra-violet, an average of about 16 per. cent transmission in the visible which is predominant in the blue and green and a high transmission in the infra red is shown. On the other hand curve 2 shows that the glass transmits no ultra-violet, the transmission in the visible is- about 1 per cent and that in the infra-red about 2 per cent, the transmission being very low in the region of the infra-red adjacent to the visible. The test proves
FIG. 5.5 REI'RIiSENTATlVE CURVES
that the yellow-green glass will give complete protection. Data on a large number of glasses^ the data being given under their trade names) can be found in Bureau of Standards Technologic Papers Nos. 93 by W. W. Coblentz and W. B. Emerson, and 119 by K. S. Gibson and H. T. McNichols.
Tests on a large number of glasses together with a knowledge of the glasses that have given good service in practice should give us sufficient data to construct a practical specification for glasses to be used in differ ent processes. This has been done in the draft-of the Safety Code for the Protection of the Head and Eyes, which has been prepared by the Bureau.
What are the essentials which should enter into a specification for glass for welders, for example? The intensity of the radiant energy from these sources is extremely high and is rich in ultra-violet. It has defi-
Metals Section
789
nitely been proven that ultra-violet radiant energy is harmful. There
fore it should be eliminated. It is, therefore, justifiable to place a limit
on the per cent transmission of wave lengths less than 360 millimicrons,
which is near the beginnings the visible. However, a much more satis
factory test can be made at aZwave length of 406 millimicrons becatise the
spectrum of a mercury lampTshows a sharp and distinct line at this wave length, and hence a test of great accuracy can be made. Further it has
been found by test that all glasses have a transmission curve which either
slopes up or down' beyond this point, Fig. 5. If then a limit is placed on
the transmission at this wave length, an accurate test can be made at
this point and a rough confirmatory test made somewhere in the ultra
violet to show that the trend of the curve is not upward.
Although it has not been ^definitely proven that infra-red rays cause
permanent injury to the eye, the protection against them is so easy of
accomplishment that it should he furnished. However, it is not desirable
to set a fixed limit on the transmission of all wave lengths in the infra
red, but rather to set a maximum total transmission for arc welders'
goggles together with a limitation of the transmission in the visible. The specification for welders' goggle3 as proposed for the Safety Code for
Head and Eye Protection is as follows: Helmet windows shall transmit not more than 1 per cent of the radiant
energy of any wave length leM;s than 406 millimicrons, not moEg^han 1 per cent of the light and not morf than 10 per eent of the total radiant energy from a 200-watt, 110-volt, gas-filled tungsten-filament electric incandescent
lamp operating as commercially rated (approximately 0.86 watt per
spherical candle).
ZT
A . similar specification has-been written for oxy-acetylene welders and
cutters' goggles. The light^source in this work is not as intense as in.
arc*welding and the worker must be able to see his work clearly. These
criteria must be taken care of in writing the specification for these lenses. Ultra-violet"rays are present, however, and, therefore must be dealt with
as in arc-welders' goggles. __ The visible and infra-red are limited by
prescribing a maximum total radiant energy. The rule for oxy-acetylene welders' and furnace workers' goggles is as follows:
Lenses or helmet window? shall transmit not more than 1 per cent of
radiant energy of any wave length less than 406 millimicrons and not
more than 50 per cent of the total radiant energy from a 200-watt, 110-
vol.t, gas-filled tungsten-filament, electric incandescent lamp operating as
commercially rated (approximately 0.S6 watt per spherical candle). Protection may be obtained by the use of a single glass which has the
proper transmission for the various parts of the spectrum or a number of
glasses may be used providing the transmission through the combination
is properly limited.
~g DISCUSSION
Chair-mast Oaktel: Gentlemen, while I will admit this was a little over my head and perhaps overjthe heads of some of .you, yet it is a mighty good thing, this work that the Bureau of Standards has been developing. The practical end is that they are going to tell us just whether a goggle
75)0 Eighth Safety Congress
will injure a man's eye nrTioi. I am very sure Mr. Oakes will be glad to
answer any questions you may have to answer. Mi:. Oakks: Those papers I referred to are part of the regular publi
cation of the Bureau of Standards, and you can get them by writing to
the Bureau. Mu. Humkii .1. Wkkk.s (American
Ohioj: 1 would like tojisk Mr.
Steel and Oakes if
Wire Company, Cleveland, he has run any tests' on
"Crookes' " glass? Mu. C. E. Oakks: I haven't., but the Optical Section has. They have
made a very elaborate test which is described in that iniblication.
.Mit. lloMtuc J. Wkkks: =,Can you tell me what per cent of the light is cut out by this glass and what per cent of the ultra-violet rays?
Mu. C. E. Oakks: I canTBnd it here shortly. (Mr. Oakes referred Mr^ Weeks to the pamphlet he mentioned in his
paper.) Chaiismax Oaktki.: Are there any other questions? M. l\i.vt;si.Kv (Syracuse," N. Y.) : I have taken from what Mr. Oakes
has said that the ordinary^ "Pug" glass will not eliminate very much of
the ultra-violet rays.
---------
We do a lot of meltiiig=Steel electrically. The head of the department
says that in fixing the slag of the furnace, the men do not look at the
arc, they just look at the slag they are fixing. The arc is there and the
rays hit the eyes. I want to know whether looking at the rays will affect
the eye. Mit. Toi.ma.v (National Lead Company): I would like to know what
the unit of area is in testing these lenses for admittance of radiation.
Mb. C. E. Oakks: The unit of area isn't limited at all. You can use a piece of glass an inch in diameter, usually a piece of two inches by two
inches. Mu. Toi.ma.v:
What arelthe specifications in terms of the amount of
light that would pass?
yygy
Mu. Oakks: Just what tlo you mean?
M.k. Toi.ma.v: 1 mean the thickness, the area through which the light
passes. Mu. Oakks: If the lens' represented four square inches and allowed
fifty per cent to go through^tlie intensity would be one-fourth as great. It doesn't make any difference if you have it larger----------
Mit. Toi.ma.v: What I am getting at is that the eye is using at any one
time a certain standard area of that glass and, for example, in exposing to arc welding, there is a Very small area of that glass used at any one
moment, and it is the density of that glass that interests us. It is specific density and not the density of an undetermined area. It seems the area must be defined on the test.
Mu. Oakks: The only tiling that controls it is the thickness and the
quality of the glass itself^^ For instance. I can lake a high intensity source, and as I explained by
the curve, the amount of light as detected by the arc, there is a physiolog
ical effect which varies somewhat with the density of the source, but not
' "Metals Section
>1 791
enough to make -those specifications in it practical, for they are now sub
ject to much alteration. _
Mr. Tolman:. There is: one other thing, the question of lenses of
varied thickness, that is, tt lens with a dense spot in the center, with a
tapering density, reducing" resistance to the rays from that spot out--
that protects the man's eye from the arc itself and yet enables him to see in the area around the dense spot. It avoids introducing a tripping
or falling hazard at the time you are protecting his eyes from the light.
The lense that is dense all the way over is practically so thick that a
man cannot see the moment he turns away from the light, and he is very
likely to trip oyer some hazard on the floor. Has that subject been given
any'attention? Mr. Oakks: The thickness of the glass does have a slight effect on the
transmission but the effect is so small that when you are considering arc
welders' glass, it is almost negligible. We have to reduce it to such a
low minimum transmission that the thickness is almost a negligible
quantity. The ratio of the transmission varies. Chairman Oabtel: If there are no other questions, we will proceed
with the rest of the program. This Is a very valuable subject and it might he a good idea to continue
the subject next year, because there will be more developments by that
time.
-=
T will now call for the ^report of the Nominating Committee.
REPORT-"OF NOMINATING COMMITTEE
Mr. Bennett: Mr. Chairman, the Nominating Committee offers the following nominations: for. Chairman, the present Chairman. Mr. J. A Cartel; for Vice-Chairman, Mr. W. E. Watters, the present Secretary for the Section; and for Secretary, Mr. H. E. Steinmetz of the Midvale Steel
and Ordnance Company.^ (These men were elected.) Chairman Oartei.: ITjrppreciate the confidence you impose in me in
electing me Chairman ofL the Metals Section, one of the largest sections
of the National Safety Council. I have tried to do what I could in the term of my office, which was only
a part of a year, and I want to assure, you that I will do what I can for the promotion of safety in the Metals Section in the great steel and iron
business of the country. Mr. W. E. Watters: I appreciate this honor, and I will give you every
thing I have and be as faithful in the coming year as in the past. It has taken a great 'deal of my time but I have given it with all my heart, and I will do the same the coming year. I thank you.
Mr. H. E._ Steismetz: " r have nothing interesting to offer to the Sec tion. I wish merely tcr^thank the members of the Metals Section- for having elected me to the office of Secretary, and I will try to carry on the work which Mr. Watters has so ably bandied during the past year.
Chairman Oastex: Gentlemen, I take delight in partially returning the compliments a certain gentleman has been paying me for a long time.
UK
792
Eighth Safety Congress
So. without preliminaries, I want to introduce to you a real man. I think that is perhaps the best thing I can say about him. It was my privilege to go to St. Louis Jn April to address the Safety Engineers' School which is being carried on there by the Mississippi Valley Division, and the audience was composed of 330 men--foremen, superintendents, safety engineers, and such people, interested in safety there to learn. That was the impressive thing, and They were there because Mr. Stremmel was at the head of the thing and kept it going. So, Mr. Stremmel has made a big contribution to safety In the Mississippi Valley during the past year, and I am sure his influence is suing to become wider as the days and weeks go by. I take pleasure in^ introducing Mr. Philip Stremmel, who will speak on "Humanizing a Steel Plant."
Mk. Phi tip Streiimk;.: I do not know why this subject was assigned to me. To my mind it is the most important subject before this convention.' it is a subject in which tee are all vitally interested. It seems to me that there are men in attendance at this convention who are far better qualified to handle this most important subject than I am, but it has been assigned to me and I haveJBone the best I could.
HUMANIZING A STEEL PLANT
Pmi.u* Stremmkl. SupeiuStka-dext, Hot Miles, National Enameling and SrAMPifB Company, Granrre City, III.
The World War, through which we have just passed, and the innumer able problems growing out of it, challenge Capital as it has never been challenged in all history. The world, in respect to labor, wages, hours of labor, management, etc., is practically chaotic. No one knows what a day may bring forth. We do know, however, that underneath this seething volcano of unrest there are; certain unmistakable facts. The part Labor has played in the great world struggle has rejuvenated her. The working men are not only awake, hut they are conscious! of exerting a tremendous power. They are also determined that the fruits of the awakening shall not be lost. They look bade on the old days and wonder how they could ever have submitted to that regime, and now Capital and Labor must settle the issues so clearly^raised. The issues being joined, we must candidly and intelligently set them forth and. abide the arbitrament of Reason and the dictates of TQstice.
How. then, can we Humanize the Steel Industry? And how do our share in solving the fearful problems of world reconstruction?
CONTIIiKNCK MUST BE.RESTORED
Pirst: If the steel industry is to be humanized, confidence must be restored between the employer and employee. The whole history of the steel industry has - been oii^of struggle. The employees have believed that their rights could onlylbe secured and maintained by organization. They must organize or they: were helpless. On the other hand the em-
Metals Section
793
ployer fought organization, because he was convinced that it was an invasion of his rights. TheT truth is, both were partly right and both were partly wrong.
The employer and employee must come to a state of mutual under standing, and in the realization of that fact a great step forward shall have been taken. The employer must not limit his interest in his em ployee merely to his power to produce. He must also see his family; their educational, social, and spiritual needs must express themselves in the pay roll. Not merely ah employee is to be dealt with, but his family also. The employer must have vision enough to see that he must not think only in terms of profit and production but he must .also think in terms of his responsibility to the community growing out of his plant.
So when Capital, keeping jrnce with sociological thought as well as with modern methods and machinery, sets itself to see man as a man as well as a worker the old dissatisfaction and distrust will disappear. The basis of confidence, therefore, is self-respect. Without respect, mutual respect between employer and employee, there can only be struggle to the bitter end, which will ruin both.
The employer can no longer camouflage the employee. He can no longer get up in large conventions, make speeches about the rights of the labor ing man, that labor is not a commodity, that labor has the right to organ ize, that wages must not be reduced, that there must be a fair system of collective bargaining, that there shall be no baron and serf, then return to his respective plant and permit the very thing to come to pass that he had spoken against and received much praise and publicity about.
But if we respect the employee's rights, concede that many of his demands are incontrovertiblejust, he, in turn, will come to respect us and the basis of confidence becomes an established fact. This is basic. No enterprise, however great or strong or essential, can abide the trouble some days ahead, that does not seek to build upon the foundation of fundamental social needs. Jfhis matter of self-respect involves the free dom to think and to act o'n one's conviction. The employer cannot have the confidence of his employees if he discharges men because they believe In organization ^>r belong to a radical political party. We have condemned
wanton acts of destruction and did not realize that the employer's methods of repression, lack of fair play, had much to do in making their em ployees the prey of conscienceless agitators. To restore confidence means that the agitator will be a feet of history. In the new order of justice, honorable dealing, respect. There will be no place for tbe agitator who doubtlessly has prejudiced Labor's cause on many a field of battle.
COoPERATIOJN BETWEEN EMPLOYER AlfD EMPLOYEE
Second; If the steel industry is to be humanized there must also be cooperation between the employer and employee. The employer and the employee have certain definite interests in common, and the one lesson that all concerned must learn is cooperation. It means success anywhere. It must always be remembered that the steel plant is only a cog in this great progressive movement, and that our work must be viewed, there-
794
Eighth Safety Congress
fore, from the standpoint tf the world. Cooperation then would mean a united effort in attempting a solution of our present difficulties as well as the matter of increasing^ efficiency and production. If jealousy, sus picion. distrust, covetousness, are permitted to fatten in the minds of the employees, what can the employer expect but war? It will he war, day in and day out. as long as men are moved by such motives. Produc tion will he curtailed: the men will grumble; the atmosphere will become anarchistic, and in the end both Capital and Labor must pay the cost. A way out can be found. It will be found. We have faith in our business and we must acquire faith in man. faith in movements, and look forward to the gradual elimination hT the problems that at first seem insuperable. Cooperation is the outstanding lesson of the great war. As long as England, Prance, Russia. Italy. Belgium, Serbia, fought alone, Germany went from victory to victory. America upon entering the war insisted upon a unified command. General Koch then, became Commander-inchief of the Allied Armies. Xow Prance did not fight as France, nor England as England, nor did any other nation fight alone, but each and all, from then on. fought as_h single Army in a Common cause. Political and racial consideration were left behind, and the splendid cooperation began by the Americans at Chateau Thierry, drove the German back and farther back until finally he begged for Peace. England, alone, would have failed: so would Prance, so any other allied nation. American resources saved the world: not in ourselves alone, but because we saw that the cause was one. and that cooperation on all fronts, all pulling together for the one great purpose of victory would make it an actuality. Labor and Capital must learn this lesson. The way is not clear, but the fog is lifting, and if there be a way out, cooperation will find It. Capital and Labor must seeTthat no lasting victory can come to either side, if it come out of jealousy, envy, hatred, distrust. But all pulling together, a just wage, fair conditions, and shorter:'hours can he had: and all involved enjoy their rights and privileges as men and as citizens as. we march onward to the triuinph of right, of Justice, of truth, or brother hood--the day when dreamreome true.
i:\oi.utiox on rkvoivutiox
In the third place, the steel industry must be humanized to save itself from industrial, revolution. _The old days are gone, and it is no longer a question of returning to pre-war conditions, which is unthinkable: but
it is a question of working Tsut the demands, the ideals of Labor, in an
orderly process. It is either .evolution or revolution; strikes, lockouts, will seem small matters as~we face the deadly struggle of Capital and Labor growing out of the wgcrld upheaval.
Labor is organized, and reorganizing more intensely and determinedly every day. Workmen mean to maintain the new standards of living and they will work out the pressing, if not distressing problems peaceably If properly approached, and in^ time. They have had to fight every inch of the way,' and the laboring man. the world over, is in a fighting mood today and means to win. Labor, then, must be approached in the spirit
Metals Section
795
of the times. Capital will jgmply invite destruction if it attempts to maintain the old order. We must see the world as it now is and deal with the new conditions in a spirit of justice and of utter unselfishness. This does not mean that every demand made by Labor can be granted, but it does mean that in the-granting of some of their demands that we propose thoroughly to face the issues, exhibiting a spirit of fairness, of willingness to do all that is ifithin our power to give Labor her due and also keep our business upon a paying basis. Our profits may not be so large as formerly, but the confidence, the harmony, shall have made our investment trebly secure, because out of the readjustment will come not only respect, but love for law and order. There is no other way that is so full of promise: and in view of the unprecedented economic up heavals shall we not follow the path that leads to peace and security? If we still doubt and hesitate let us turn our eyes toward Russia. Do we want such an economic revolution in our land, and shall we, by sheer resistance, continue to feed the flames of hate between rich and poor, that when the revolution conies a man and his family shall be killed simply because he hasTnoney? The war did not cause Bolshevism, it only gave the Bolshevic-minded a chance to rally the oppressed peasants by promises of economic freedom. To understand Bolshevism we must know the history of Russia, and how the nobility--the class of wealth-- by the abuse of their power, their utter selfishness, the lack of vision and of faith, made possible the most tragic spectacle of the modern world. We have judged Bolshevism by its atrocities, its cruelties, its vices, but we must also see an oppressed Russia--a Russia of economic slaves. They, the masses, have suffered long centuries, and finally maddened by the very inhumanity of theii*^ condition, Trotsky and. Lenine make wealth or its possession the crime of crimes. Death and starvation stallc abroad in that once powerful empire, and the whole world sb.udders as her Bolshevistic doctrine threatens the very heart or civilization itself. Russia, ignorant Russia, is~feared by the whole world. But America is not ignorant, and the American laborer has a leadership today that for brains, for penetration. fooL acuteness, for perspicacity, will compare favorably with leadership of any of the great corporations of the land.
Our Universities have made a scientific study of our social life. Socio logy cries out that these conditions can be changed, that they must be changed, and the conscience: of the country is behind these movements and preachments. Sociology is not socialism. Let us not confuse the issue. Sociologists on the whole are sane and are making an invaluable contribution to our social life. They are not prejudiced usually, but they are the prophets of a better jday. These leaders of thought want the new day to come by. evolutionary processes. They do not plead for confisca tion of property, but they do plead for the admitted rights of men. These are some of the forces thatiare leavening the new order, and the world's greatest Prophet challenges^ Capital by the mightiest words of history, saying: "Whosoever loseth Ills life shall save it; and whosoever saveth his life shall lose it.*' So Capital can only save itself by losing itself, and
in the losing of itself makgglfor Democracy, the brotherhood of the world.
7!*
Eitjlilh Safely Conyress
shall be glad to answer them while I proceed to connect up the regula
tors lo the gas cylinders. The first question is. which regulator to
cylinder. The manufacturers have arranged
connect to each acetylene these so that there can be
no mistake. You will notice that the oxygen regulations are usually
painted red and the acetylene black, and the connections will not fit the
wrong cylinder. The cylinders are made with connections that look as if
they would fit, but generally one has a male connection and the other has
a female connection. The first thing to do is m look in all your valves and see that there is
no dirt or oil. In charging these cylinders, some one may take off the
cap. leave it undone, and some one else may drop oil in there. One drop
of oil would mean that tliejnan would go to the graveyard.
The next thing is connecting up the hose. Hose for oxygen is either white or red and for acetylene black. Both are tested to stand 300 pounds
pressure to the square inch, hut it is a good plan to use hose on one gas only, because in changing about one may take up one hose and connect
it on the other connection _uml cause trouble, especially in acetylene and
hydrogen. It causes had results to change hose. Qi'kstkin: Do you use afTy filler on your thread? Mis. Si iii-hicheb: Xo. sir. There is no filler, oil or grease of any kind
used on the connections. Several government departments specify one quarter inch iron pipe thread connections so that any change of the hose
will fit.
You will notice that ther&Js a clamp supplied with each liose that pre
vents; leaking at the connection. This clamp surrounds the hose com
pletely. In tightening, thej^e is no slipping of the hose to cause a leak.
A spark on the man's clothjng might ignite and cause fire. Qi-kstio.v: Is there any danger of using glycerine? Mr. Sciii.kiciikk: GlycerTne and graphite are the only lubricants safe
to use.
Qckstion : What type torch is that?
Mr. Sciii.icicilkr:
This is manufactured
by
the
Alexander
Milburn
Company. It is designed for cutting, and can be used for emergency
welding. Where a man has found rework or any kind of light work, you use it for
cutting and occasionally, wTien there is a necessity, you may use it for
welding. You can use the same tips that are designed for this welding
torch. You notice that oneutprch is' heavier.
Qnisno.v: Where does^-the mixture take place?
Mr. Sciii.Kinii:u: The mixture takes place in the tip. The mixture in the torch has been done away with, for the simple
reason that the fire from the ignition of gas will always go hack to the
point of mixtu; . and we found this a- good practice: by eliminating the mixture in the torch, overheating is done away with, and the possibility
of burning the operators' hands.
Qi.-kstio.n : Is that torchTguaranteed from backfire?
Mr. Sciii.kiciikk: Yes. -The tips are so designed that there is no back
firing. The gases are mixed after they pass the seat and there is an ex-
Jllcfals Section
TOO
pansicn chamber in the tip. The chances are if the tip did get over
heated, the fire would go back to that expansion chamber, but no farther.
Qrkstiox: What Is your tip made of?
Atic. Sciii.eiciikk: It is made of a special composition of an alloy of
bronze.
.
After connecting up the hose/Tlie next thing is to see that there are no
leaks. On all torches, the oxygen, as a rule, is the top connection, marked
OXV. Seme manufacturers mark them with an "O." All are made with
the gases at the bottom marked "A."' With this torch, on cutting, you
could not use one gas or the pother with improper connections, but in
welding, if you did connect the oxygen on the acetylene connection, it
would make no difference because there are no mixed gases in the torch.
The tips are designed to take ere of either connection.
Xow that we have connected up, the next operation is to turn on the
gas. Don't stand in front of .regulator. The practice has been to stand
in front while opening the valve. That has caused accidents. First see
that the regulating screw is released, no matter what regulator you use.
By having it screwed in with the tension on the spring, and the valve open, there is 1,SOO pounds pressure released from the initial pressure
side to the delivered pressure side of'regulator.
Now, with the regulating screw released, open the valve. This cylinder
has a stuffing box at the top and it is best to open it all the way, if there
should be any leak, it is made tight by the steam inside. There are
other cylinders that do not have the feature, but should there be any
leak, they are arranged to shut off the supply immediately. Take the
cap off and fasten the stuffing box that holds the pressure in. The next thing is to get tlie^pressure desired to the torch. Then it is
well to find if there is any leakage. Shut off gas and try your connec
tions. Now if the indicator Slavs in the position that it is set to. you
know there Is no leak. The acetylene gas is the same thing. Next see that your regulating screws are released and then open up
your torch valve. Always stand back of a regulator when you open up the
valve. Don't stand in front because there may he something inside of the
regulator to cause it to blow out.
The acetylene cylinders are-charged at the stations to three hundred
pounds pressure. They are their allowed to set. and the pressure drops to
about two hundred tiveniy-fiveSr two hundred fifty pounds. This bottle,
and all cylinders of acetylenersre filled with a porous substance- that is saturated wiih acetone to absorb the acetylene gas. Free acetylene gas
in a cylinder, if compressed tet-over eighceen to thirty pounds pressure,
would be dangerous, but compressed into the cylinder charged with
acetone is safe, the acetone acts as a sponge and absorbs the gas and keeps it from exploding from hard knocks. You could fire a bullet into
that cylinder and it would not explode. It is important to handle them carefully, especially oxygen cylinders.
They are tested to 3,000 pounds^ pressure, but If you knocked that cylin
der down, or stood it near heat, it might open up some bad spot not
800
Eighth Safety Congress
shown in tlie test. It should not shatter in fragments but open in seams;
whereas, the'soft plug in the oxygen cylinder is immediately behind the
valve.
.===
Now, if this oxygen cylinder is set out in the sun it would raise the
pressure, and if it gets in the neighborhood of 2,000 or 3,000 pounds, the
soft plug would give way.
Question : What temperature is dangerous in the sun?
Mb. Schleicher: Whenever they are set in the sun, it is a good idea to cover them. I have seen them blow out at less than twenty-six hun
dred pounds.
-==et~
The acetylene cylinders have two safety plugs in the top and two in
the bottom, so if there was any fire in the building, it would release and
the acetylene gas would burn out as at a torch tip. The fire would not
get into the cylinder unless there was a mixture of air. It is mixture of
air that causes explosions.:
Questiox: I have known of two instances where the soft plugs did
not blow out.
=
Mr. Scheeicher: Did the bottle burst?
Question : Both cases -were Identical. There were seventeen tanks in each case--sixteen worked all right and.' the seventeenth failed.
Mr. Schleicker: That was likely due to the oxygen producers or the
bottle may have had a bad defect. They should be tested about every nine months, at any rate within a year.
Question: What is the method of the test, a hydraulic test?
Mr. Schleicher: The ^cylinders are set into water and pressure of three thousand pounds pul into the cylinders. The pressure is regis
tered on a chart. You know that any pressure will make the bottle ex
pand; that raises the water in the register column one quarter of an inch and if it doesn't come back as pressure is released the bottle is
rejected. The working pressure is 1.S00 pounds at seventy degrees Fah
renheit.
Now proceed with acetylene gas. This cylinder now registers 270 pounds. That is a little higher than usual. Probably this bottle `might .have been sitting in the sun and thus the pressure rose.
The ordinary operator may use but one size tip for general work. That is all right in his way of thinking, but it is not all right in th-e
matter of gas saving. Ea33L manufacturer gives a chart of the size tips
to use on special work. Tlfls tip is number four. The chart shows what
size work a number four tip will do. It is designed to cut metal from
one inch up to six, and the pressures are two pounds for the acetylene,
and six for the six inches material, and twenty to fifty for the oxygen.
That Is the correct amount of oxygen to operate this tip normally. You will notice that below two pounds the cutting tip will be ineffec
tive on one inch metal. Now, you can use a pound or so higher, but it
is not necessary. You perhaps have noticed that some operators will
screw the regulator in, getting ten or- fifteen pounds, and try" to cut one inch material. He is not only wasting gas but interfering with the
proper mixture. It doe.- .."Pmatter with the ordinary cutting but it does
where you want a clean cut or want to keep from oxidizing the metal.
Metals Section
801
That is where you get your hard surfaces--by having too leau a mixture
or too fat a mixture.
-
The number two tip will bemused for this half inch material, with two
pounds on the acetylene regulators and five pounds on the oxygen.
Question: Does it make any difference the way you have the tip
placed? Mr. Schleicher: The principle of that is to work in a straight line,
to have your holes one following the other so that the first hole is pre heating the metal at the top surface and the back hole will take care of
the sides, the center doing the cutting. Some men say, "I can do cutting with a welding torch." Some can if
they get the piece hot and are steady enough to hold it and continue to cut by shutting oft the acetylene gas and by using oxygen alone. Any
metal except cast iron, will burn under the action of oxygen. But the
pre-heating is to do away with the lost time in trying to be steady.
Question: Is there any trouble in starting a cut on a round, or cir
cular surface?
'
Mr. Schleicher: In starting a cut on a round shaft, do not try im
mediately on top. I have seen a number of operators do that--try to cut on top and bore through.Jt is bad practice.- It will give a bad cut
and freeze up in the cut.
-
The best practice is to get about one quarter from the bottom of the
round and work up. That keeps the bottom of the cut clear, whereas if you start on the top. it will freeze and cause the oxide to flow around the
shaft, and before you get through, you will be cutting the oxide, also the
iron.
^
That is on shafts up to eight, ten or twelve Inches. In pieces of twenty-
nine or thirty inches or larger, the manufacturers have a straight head
torch. We have a straight head torch but this is the angle head torch.
In making shafts for steamers, they, forge them out in two sections with
a large flange in tne center. (Mr. Schleicher drew a diagram on the blackboard.) They vary from twenty-four to thirty inches in diameter.
The torch
is fastened in a fixed position And the shaft is set on rollers and revolved
toward the torch. This keeps the cut clear. You would cut in,'say eight or ten inches, or as -far as yourcan until the center ranges from twelve to fourteen inches. Then by getting a long tip and bringing in your torch, you can finish the cut through. With a machine held rigid, you can do
that readily. In connecting up the tip, It is always a good principle to make sure,
no matter what seat or torch you are using, that both seating surfaces are
clear. Oftentimes torches lying in a box or somewhere in the shop will get some dirt, oil or partieleL_of iron on either seat which will cause a leak, and a leak is bad both for the operator and torch.
I will set the tip in position to cut a half inch thick on straight cut
ting and adjust the pressures for same, two pounds on the acetylene and ten pounds on the oxygen. Now oxygen in itself will not burn. The
fuel in this case is acetylene. ' If you use a match, do not hold it in your
hand because the flame migh_burn your glove or hand. If you have no
802
"Eighth Safety Congress
lighter, lay match on a surface and then turn the tip to it.
It is much cheaper to buy a friction lighter than to heal a burned
hand. In lighting a torch put your thumb on the turned part of your
lighter and use your friction lighter in the right hand and your torch in
the left hand. Then if the gas does strike your lighter, it will not strike
your hand.
--
Are there any questions you would like to ask? You may have some
thing in mind.
Question: At about what distance are the eyes, not protected by gog gles, subject to injury?
Mb. Schleicher: There is no set distance that would be a good rule for
the simple reason that ohe person could stand there all day and it would
not affect his eyes, and another* may be affected in a few minutes. With
oxy-acetyiene the ill results are not nearly so quick as with electric, if
you look at an electric arc with the naked eye it is sometimes disastrous.
It is always a good principle to see that the goggles you are using
are suited for your eyesr It is not good practice to get just any pair of
goggles. We give all operators three or four pairs of goggles to try. We let them work with them for a. while to see which are suitable. You may
be using a light pair of glasses when a dark.pair would be better for you.
Now, (demonstrating) there is the neutral flame; it is neither in ex
cess of oxygen or acetylene. There is a second cone; there is a particle
of dirt. Now, notice that flame is very blue, indicating an excess of oxy
gen- You .could cut withJthat flame but it would be very much slower than the proper neutral flame. Notice' the difference in color when I turn off
and on. There is the excess of oxygen and there is the neutral flame.
Can you see that extra stream of oxygen through there, in the center? That is what does the cutting--that stream of oxygen, the metal oxidizes
or is cut away.
Now, the principle in cutting is to hold your flame so, (demonstrating
distance from metal), as the greatest heat is at the end of the white cone. The heat there at the apex of that white cone ranges from sixty-
one to sixty-three hundred degrees Fahr. If you hold it down bard on
the metal, you will be smothering it. Then, if you hold it up too high.
It won't cut well. The general rule is about one quarter inch. With this tip a quarter of an inch .would be all right.
The first thing is to get your flame down to the metal which is about a quarter of art inch at tb.e apex of that cone to tip end. The metal heats very readily. Do not turn in your oxygen until you can see the metal in a
molten condition. If ydmflo, you will have the metal thrown up in your
face.
'
In general practice there are frequent calls for cutting holes in metal.
The principle Is to hold torch in right position, touching the metal with
flame to heat it. Be very -slow when you start in such a position and yon
won't have an excess of sparks flying.
If there are any questions you would like to ask, or if you would like to
(Informal discussion Jtollowed.)
try the torches and regulators, you can. Adjournment;'
Milling Section
October 2, 3, and 4, 1919
B- F. TILLSON, Chairman Assistant Superintendent, Sew Jersey Zinc Company, Franklin, N. J.
H. G. DAVIS, Vice-Chairman Lehigh and Willces-Barre Coal Company, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
W. H. SHEARMAN, Secretary New Jersey Zinc Company, New York City
THURSDAY MORNING SESSION
HE meeting was called__to order at 9:45 A. M. by the Chairman, Mr.
B. F. Tillson.
^--
DELEGATES ATTENDING
Arthur, P. at., American Zinc Company of Tenn., Mascot, Tenn. Bach, E. E., Chief, Americanization Bureau, State of Pa., Philadelphia, Pa.
Baker, D. J., "Coal Age," Pittsburgh, Pa. Balck, Carl, Prudential Insurance Company of America, Newark, N. J. Bennett, Charles B., TJ. S. Metals Refining Company, Chrome, N. J.
Betz, John A., Lytle Coal Company, Minersville, Pa.
Boardman, John L., Anaconda Copper Mining Company, Butte, Mont.
Bowyer, C. B., Stonega Coke and Coal Company, Stonega, Va. Brissenden, P. F., U- S. Dept. Labor, Bureau of Statistics, "Washing
ton, D. C.
==
Budelier, William, North. BuTtte Mining Company, Butte,
Carpenter, T. J., Semet-Solvay Company, Ensley, Ala.
Mont.
Chase, W. C., Woodward IronrCompany, Woodward, Ala.
Concannon. John, Anaconda Hopper Mining Co., Butte, Mont.
r
Davis, E. K-, The B. F. Goodrich Company, Akron, Ohio.
Davis, H. G., Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Coal Co., Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
DeBlois, L. A., E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Wilmington, Del.
Dingman, Oscar A., East Butte Copper Mining Co., Butte, Mont.
Durkee, J. O., "The Coal Industry," Pittsburgh, Pa.
Dwight, Arthur S.. American Institute Mining & Metallurgical Engineers,
New York City.
803
S04
-Eight7t Safety Congress
Fay, A. H., U. S. BureaiTof Mines, Washington, D. C. Flyzik, Martin J., State Safety Board, Olympia,'Wash. Gidley, W. W., Phelps-Dodge Corporation, Bisbee, Ariz. Gcodale. C. W,, Anaconda Copper Mining Co., Butte, Mont. Green. C. X... Consolidation Coal Co., Fairmont, W. Va. Guerrant. R. H., National Safety Council, Chicago, 11L Hall, R. Dawson, "Coal Age," New York City. Hamilton. Alice. U. S. Dept. Labor, Bureati of Statistics, Washington, D. CHubbell, N. D,, W. J. Rainey Coal Co., Uniontown, Pa. Hunter. E.'R.. Dr., American Red Cross, Washington. D. C. Kerr, James L,, E. I. diTBont de Nemours & Co., Wilmington, DeL Knoefel. A. F., Dr.. Bureau of alines, Terre Haute, Xnd. Kurtz, R. H., Miller Rubber Company, Akron, Ohio. Lewis, T. D.. Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co., Lansford, Pa. Lockney. I. L.. Chief Safety Engineer, State Safety Board, Olympia, Wash. Luckenbach, G. A., Koehler Safety Co.. Scranton, Pa. Lunt. Horace F.. State Bureau of Mines, Denver, Colo. McLeod. Angus. Butte ^Superior Mining Co., Butte, Mont. McMorris. Ed.. Union Carbide Co., Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. Moore, P. W.. Ohio State Mine-Rescue Car, Columbus, Ohio. Morris, F. F.. American Atmos Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa. Murphy. M. E., P.iekands, Mather & Co-, Cleveland, Ohio. Myers. Fred W., New Jersey Zinc Co., Franklin, N. J. Oda, Fumio, Kyushu Imperial University, Japan. Osborne. Fred, Semet-Solvay Co., Holt, Ala. Purcell, C. A., American Atmos Corporation, Wilkinsburg, Pa. Quayle. S. E-, W. A. Hanna & Co., Virginia, Minn. Randall, W. I., E. I. duTPont de Nemours & Co., Wilmington, Del. Raymond, R. M, Columbia University, New York City. Reed. Joseph. W,, Consolidation Coal Co., Fairmont, W. Va. Retlis. J. F.. Union Carbide Co., Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. Roach, L. R.. Wisconsin Steel Company, Benham, Ky. Roberts. J. C.. Colorado_School of Mines, Golden, Colo. Riggs, George W., Allne Safety Appliances Co., Pittsburgh, Pa. Richards. R. C-. President, National Safety Council, Chicago. Hi. Schofield, W. D., Inspiration Consolidated Copper Co., Miami. Ariz. Seip, R. H.. New JerseWZine Co., Franklin, N. J. Shearman, W. H., New Jersey Zinc Co., New York City. Shove, Byron D., Oliver; Iron Mining Co., Ironwood, Mich. Sinn. F. P-, New Jersey Zinc Co., New York City. Smith, E. W., Deputy, State Mining Dept., Byesville, Ohio. Southward, G. B,, West Virginia Coal & Coke Co., Elkins. W. Va. Sperr, F. W-, MichigarTiCollege of Mines, Houghton, Mich. Sullivan. W. W., Oliver Iron Mining Co., Hibbing, Mich. Swan, George, Davis Daly Copper Co., B\itte, Mont. Tillson, B. F,, New Jersey Zinc Co., Franklin, N. J. Trestrail, A. H., Pickands, Mather & Co., Palatka, Mich. Van Schaack, David, Aetna Life Insurance Co., Hartford, Conn.
Mining Section
805
Watson, Joseph E., Timber Butte Milling Co., Butte, Mont. Williams, S. J., National Safety Council, Chicago, 111, Wilson, C. H., Utah Copper Co., ^Garfield, Utah. Wilson, T. D., American Atmos Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa. Woodburn, Orr, Globe-Miami District First Aid Assn., Globe, Ariz.
Chairman Tiulsox: Gentlemen, it is a pleasure for me to welcome you all to the fifth annual meeting of the Mining Section of the National Safety Council. In view of the fact that your Chairman has a paper at the last session on Saturday morning which, in part, deals with the past activities, as well as proposed new activities, he believes that time can he economized by not burdening you with any historical resume of what has been taking place during the past year, as that will be covered to a general degree in that paper.
Ill addition to the papers we have listed on the program, we have ar ranged. if we have time, to consider several other subjects. The National Safety Council prepared Safe Practices pamphlets on "Manila Rope" and "Mine Car Haulage"; the former is a subject close to the hearts of mining members, which has been discilgsed at times in the past and on which a special comittee has served since the inception of the Mining Section.
A few copies of this pamphlet will he accessible to us, and it is de sirable, if any recommendations are to be made on the points not in cluded in the pamphlet, that those things should he made record of.
Mr. Gnerrant, Safety Engineer, of the National Safety Council, this year made a tour to some of _ the mining properties to start a Safe Practices pamphlet on Mine Cars and Haulage, which was a subject upon which strong opinion was expressed at the last Congress, and recom mended as a subject first to be covei-ed by a Safe Practices pamphlet devoted to the specific needs of the Mining Section alone. We may be well pleased to know that this new departure has been shared by only
two other sections in the National Safety Council. Instead of distributing the pamphlet previous to our meeting, it was
deemed advisable to hold it in mimeographed form until we had the ad vantage of alL the opinions of the members who would meet at this annual Congress in revising the suggestions which were made and giving the benefit of their experience, in adding new information and new cuts which might well illustrate it. ^
There is another paper notion the program which, when the time seems auspicious, will be brought up for discussion in the Section.
In the regular order of business, the reports of our committees 'are in line, and first I believe it is the proper thing for the Chairman to appoint a Nominating Committee to consider the officers of your Section for the coming year, and submit a slate at our final session on Saturday upon which slate you can vote or nominate any other men from the floor for the offices in question. It is ^merely the function of the Nominating Committee to see that at least the procedure is co-ordinated so that there will be seme nominees for the positions. I take great pleasure in re questing Mr. R, Dawson Hall to act as Chairman of the Committee and for him to be assisted by Mr. C. W. Goodale and Mr. J. C. Roberts, to
S06 _ Eighth Safety Congress
gather together as they find time and consider a slate of officers for your Section for the coming year.
The Chairman of the Standardization Committee is absent. Mr. Mitke was Chairman of that Committee and he was called away for some work in Mexico- He has not forwarded any report and in due justice to him, X may say thatHils appointment was late and I know of no particular activities which the Committee has performed this year.
Mr. It. Dawson Hall, the Chairman of the Membership and Publicity Committee, is wittrrus, and I will ask him for his report.
REPORT OF MEMBERSHIP AND PUBLICITY COMMITTEE
Mit. R. Dawsox Hall ("Coal Age") : I am afraid that during the year
I have been obliged to leave much of the work to the headquarters of the
National Safety Council. All the information I have at this time is that
the membership of the two sections, the Metal and Coal Mining sections,
amounts to 253, ofShich 165 are of coal mining companies and 8S metal.
They have paid in^dues $6,532.50 and $7,877, making a total of $14,409.50.
I think we have a pretty good membership and I think the feeling is
good with regard to~our Bulletins and that there is a general feeling of
satisfaction, the only trouble being with those who are particularly anx
ious for more first-aid activity. I feel that Is a matter that will be taken
care of during the coming year, and I think then we shall be able to
overcome all the difficulties which may he in the air.
I believe everybody is very well satisfied with the Mining Section of the
National Safety Council and the prospects are very good for the coming
year.
aa
(The report was accepted.)
CnAmiAS TilcsoX: The Chairman of the Mine Rescue and First-aid
. Contest Committee funfortunately resigned from his office, due to the
stress of work which had kept him from performing his duties. Dr.
Shoudy had first accepted that position, hut he found that he was unable
to continue, as lie was greatly tied up with other duties, and it was not
found possible to replace him with a man of the same caliber, and due to
the late season there is now no active chairman.
The Chairman otihe Accident Statistics Committee is Mr. A. H. Fay.
We will now hear from him.
REPORT OF ACCIDENT STATISTICS COMMITTEE
Mr. A. H. Fay (Statistician. U. S. Bureau of Mines): I am afraid, as Chairman of the Accident Statistics Committee, I have been, rather remiss. We have not had any meeting. About all I have been able to do Is sug gest a number of topics which might be brought up at this meeting. These were acceptedT
I also suggested T:he names of some men who might be able to handle some of the particular subjects.
I might also sayjn connection with my regular work in Washington, I am supplying statistics for all of yon, anyway.
(The report was accepted.)
Mining Section
807
Chaibmak Tjli,t.son: Dr. A. J. Lanza, Chairman of Mine Hygiene and
Sanitation Committee, I do not see present, so I presume he has no re
port.
--
Mr. O. P. Hood, Chairman of the Committee on Ropes and Safety De
vices in Hoisting and Haulage, has sent in no report.
Mr. John Lloyd, Efficiency Engineer, Lehigh Valley Coal Company,
Chairman Mine Fire Prevention, and Fighting Committee, is not here yet.
Lt.-Col. C. H. Connor, Chairman of the Committee on Standardization of First-Aid Methods and Rules for Conducting and Judging First-Aid Con
tests, is not here. I understood that he was going to he represented by Dr.
Hunter. Dr. Hunter is not here, so we will pass his report.
D. J. Parker, Chairman, Standardization of Mine Rescue Training
Committee, is detained at Pittsburgh, and will be here tomorrow, when
he will deliver his paper.
___
The "first paper we have ia that by Mir. A. H. Fay.
`MINE ACCIDENTS: ENGLISH SPEAKING VS. NONENGLISH SPEAKING EMPLOYEES
Ai-bebt H. Fat, Engineer, U. S. Bureau of Mines, WasBkqton, D. C.
The employment of non-English speaking labor in American mines has been brought about by reason of the rapid expansion of the mining indus try, beginning in the early eighties. The Americanization of this great body of labor, and its relation to accidents in the mining industry, are'1 two problems of prime importance,--the first as affecting citizenship and the growth of thl3 Republic, and. the second as an economic problem in mining costs. The former exerts an influence upon the latter, for the former implies education, social welfare, civic pride, and a general uplift to the ideals that America stands for. Ignorance, dirty and filthy living conditions, ill-health, disregard for law and order, discontent and lack of civic interest, lead to Indifference and carelessness, perhaps the greatest of all accident causes. Eliminate carelessness and at least 50 per cent of the accidents will disappear from industries.
IMMIGRATION TO AMERICAN MINES
During the decade previous to the year 18S0 (as well as In earlier years), the greater part of the employees in the coal and metal mines were Americans or representatives of the English, Scotch, Welsh, German, and Irish races. The majority of the men of foreign birth had been in tbis country for some years previous to the great expansion of the mining industry which began about this time. English-speaking miners continued to immigrate and to find employment in the mines In large numbers until about 1890. Since that year comparatively few immigrants from Germany
A large part of the data in this paper was abstracted from "Immigrants In Industries." a report of the Immigration Commission. 1911. Senate document. 663, 61st Congress, Second Session, "Vols. 6, 7 and 16, which are devoted ex clusively to the mining industry, zlt is a report based on an exhaustive study of the question, and should be studied by every one Interested in the American ization of the miner.---A. BC. F. -
S08
Eighth Safety Congress
and Great Britain have entered the industry, although Swedes and other Scandinavians have been constantly employed since the early eighties'.
The employment,=In the mining industry, of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe began about 1880. The Slovaks were the first arrivals and immigrated In considerable numbers. They were followed within a year or two by a few Magyars, and the number of immigrants of this race gradually increased each year. The Polish immigration began about 1890, although individual members of the race had been coming for a period of nine or ten years. After the year 1890 Poles and Slovaks arrived in great numbers. A few Italians were employed before the year 1895, but the' immigration of this race did not begin upon a large scale until about 1900. They were at first engaged in railroad construction and maintenance-ot-way work' and " gradually drifted into the mines. Croatians were employed in some sections before 1S90, and Servians began to arrive in small numbers in the early nineties. The great bulk of all the immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe, however, has occurred within the past eighteen years. Russians, Bulgarians, Rou manians, Ruthenians, Syrians, .Armenians, Macedonians, Croatians, Servians, as well as Poles, Magyars, Slovaks, and Italians, have been among the recent arrivals. The races of Southern and Eastern Europe have continued, up to the time of the war, to find employment in the mines in increasing numbers in almost every important mining district in the Eastern Stales, and the Lake district. Many of these recent immigrants have found their way to the Central and Western states. As a result of the rapid expansion of the mining industry, many mining communities have been founded, the population of which is largely made up of immigrants who have arrived during recent years.
The pioneer American, English, Irish, German, Scotch, and Welsh miners are thus outnumbered and their positions filled by the more recent immigrants.-- It is not difficult to account for this racial change which is still going: on.- The former operatives and their descendants had opportunities to secure more congenial and safer work in other industries. Many ef them advanced in the industrial scale, becoming foremen and attaining other responsible positions. A large number have abandoned the occupation of miner for positions as day or shift men. Many also migrated^and located in the Middle West and Western states. Many of the former: miners who left the industry entirely because of change in miningzgiethods or the employment of immigrants entered mercantile, clerical, mechanical, and more pleasant work of other kinds. Many of the business and professional men in the mining towns were formerly mine workers. Their places were filled without difficulty with recent immigrants who were content with the wages and working condi tions which prevailed in the mines. The wages paid in American mines seem very attractive to the recent arrivals of agricultural laborers from Southern Europe. 7^
FAILURE OF NATIVE-HORN TO ENTER THE INDUSTRY
Another noteworthy tendency is seen in the fact that the racial dis placement has occurred not only through the departure.from the industry
Mining Section
809
of the former employees, but also through the refusal of their children to enter the industry and the attitude of the parents themselves, who frequently discourage it. Of the total native-born, of fathers who were miners, a large percentage enter occupations other than mining. The conclusion from the limited Tiata at hand, therefore, seems to be that while the foreignrborn males of more than 16 years of age, whenever employed, work in the mines, the persons native-born of native father, together with the second-generation immigrants, are entering the mines only to a limited extent. This inference' bears out in a large measure the experience of the mine operators, who state that the native-born and the second-generation immigrants are not entering the mines in the same numbers as formerly and -that the industry is receiving a constantly decreasing number of employees of these classes.
There exists a prejudice against recent immigrants, which also operates to an important extent in tha. displacement of former employees. Many Americans, English, Germans," Scotch, Irish, and Welsh did not and do not desire to be associated in the mines with the recent Immigrant, and the feeling has become prevalent that a sort of reproach attaches to an intimate working relation with the foreigner. The races* of former immigration have, therefore, left the Industry and have entered other work which they feel is morefflignified and congenial.
The relatively small number of American miners who remain in the industry must work side by side with the recent immigrant.' To a greater or less degree the standard of safety in the mine is set by the demands of the ignorant and inexperienced immigrant, not by the more Intelligent American, and the standard djnife is decided, to % larger extent, by those conditions which will be accepted by the same recent immigrant. In short. In order to work in the coal mining industry, the Americans must com pete with the recent immigrast, who, as a rule. Is not very particular as to the living and working conditions. - These conditions, however, are in most cases far better than in factory towns where congestion prevails.
Another effect of recent immigration from Central and Southern Europe has been the preventing of the English, Irish, Scotch, and German immi grant entering the mining industry. As already noted, these Western European races were cominglo the industry in large numbers - prior to the earl3' eighties, but began to decline toward the end of the decade and practically stopped about 1893 or 1894. There can be no question but that the "immigration of the Slovaks. Poles, Magyars, and other races operated to prevent the further coming of these older immigrants to the industry, precisely as it operated to drive out of the industry those already employed together with the native Americans. There is, therefore, no incentive for the English or German miner to migrate to the mining regions and com
pete with the Slovaks, Croatians, and Italians, etc.
A
CITIZENSHIP
A point of general interestjs the tendency on the part of the different races of foreign birth working In the mining industry to acquire citizen ship, and their general interest in public and civic affairs. The recent im-
83 0
Eighth Safety Congress
migrant manifests little real or intelligent civic interest. This may he ascribed to bis ignorance of our political methods, his inability to read or speak English, the social and political aloofness of these races in the more or less remote mining villages, and their desire to avoid taxation. Those who reside in or near the cities seem to exhibit more interest than do those of the isolated communities. It seems that the Bohemians and Mo ravians, 94 per cenfrof whom can read some language, take a much more active part in civic affairs than any other race of recent immigration in the bituminous districts ot Pennsylvania. Among the other Slavic races, the Slovaks (82 per cent read) and Poles (77 per cent read) lead in this regard, while the Crpatians (67 per cent read) make the poorest showing. It is almost the universal statement that this latter race shows but little civic interest, and that very few become naturalized. The Italians (81 per cent read) both North and South, are more active than the Slavic races in their efforts to become citizens, and appear to take a more active part in civic affairs. In_cases where there seems to be encouraging civic ac tivity it is nearly always due, not to their own intelligent efforts to attain citizenship and exercise Its privileges, but to the influence of interested politicians, who in TEany cases may be leaders of their own race; for ex ample, an intelligent banker and steamship ticket agent. It seems true of all the later immigrating races that they take far less Interest in civic affairs than did the German (97 per cent read) and English (98.5 per cent read) immigrants.
The foreigner should be taught that the laws of America were made to protect, and not harass, every good citizen, rich and poor alike, and it is the duty of well-informed Americans to make this understood. If wellmeaning foreigners, the making of good citizens, are left entirely to their own devices, they Call an easy prey to the designing I. W. W. and the Bolsheviki. Somebody who understands their language fully, and in whom they have confidence, should explain to them that they are being deceived so long as they listen to anti-American propaganda.
BEBIdOTTS OSQAXIZATIONS AND THE I3IMIGBANT
The association between the native Americans and the Southern and Eastern European immigrants is limited. The general attitude of many members of the native churches toward the immigrants is one of Indiffer ence and there is a strong inclination in many communities to shun as sociation with the immigrant in religious activities. In many cases where missionary efforts ate made, services for the immigrants are frequently held in barns, stores, or other unattractive places, thereby lessening the interest in them. The races from the Southern European countries, which compose a large portion of the mining population have been reared where there is no social caste in religious organizations, and have worshipped in buildings which are unsurpassed In beauty and grandeur. When these people -are offered services held in stores, barns, and similar buildings, their interest in therservices naturally is less and they become indifferent. Lack of interest in religious affairs tends to decrease activities in civic affairs. The various religious organizations can be important agents In
TABLE No. 1 Foreign-born mlno employees by nationalities, showing agricultural and mining experience prior to entering the United States.
812
Eighth Safety Congress
teaching these immigrants the rudiments of the English language and pointing out to them their duties as American citizens.
I_A'K or MINIXG EXPERIENCE ON THE PART OP ItKCKNT IMMIORANTS
Men of the races of the old immigration (Western Europe) have been employed in the mines of the United States for many years. As a result of their experience both in this country and abroad, they are far better qualified as miners: than are the Southern and Southeastern Europeans.
/9Bt- covr'
/v//uia * rrrxr
sawray
>w9v<7 A'/ewoer ozzi/Mtsensee w/jbbbvw
The older immigrants speak English either as their native tongue, or, as in the case of the Germans and Scandinavians, because of long residence in this country. They may be treated in almost every respect upon the same basis as the American miners.
The employees of the races of the recent Immigration, on the other hand, have been in the United States for so short a period of time that even though it be assumed that they have been employed in mining ever since their arrival, they must have had but a brief experience at most of the mines of this country. -The data further show that very few of their mim-
Mining Section
81:5
ber bad. mining experience abroad. The accompanying chart, based on
Table 1. shows that, tor example, over SO per cent ot the Scotch an:I Eng
lish miners had mining experience in their native country before entering
the American mines, while for the south Italian and Croatian less than 5
per-cent have had mining experience. Most of the latter were form labor
ers in their native countries as indicated by Table 1 and the chart- Upon
coming to the United States Jfhey decided to follow the occupation of min
ing because the work was better paid than any other obtainable, although
many of them had been here only a few months and many more bnt a year
or two. Under these circumstances it is not surprising that they know
little or nothing of rock formations, of fire damp, of the properties of coal
dust, and of the handling of explosives,--matters about which every coal miner should be thoroughly informed. To determine whether a piece of
slate or roof is or is not likely to fall, often requires a considerable de
gree of experience, and the majority of the Slavs, Magyars, and Italians
have not this expedience.
~
IMMIGRATION IN ITS RELATION TO MINING ACCIDENTS
The mines are presumably less safe than they would be with native American, English, Irish, Scotch, Welsh, or German labor, because recent immigrants often accept mOre dangerous working conditions than the first-named employees. Furthermore, the later immigrants are ignorant and untrained, and are a source of danger to themselves and to the other workmen. Among the olderlmine workers the feeling is strong that the employment of nxm-English-speaking races has complicated the problem of safety in the mines. They assert that carelessness on the part of recent immigrants, and the ignorance of those who are suspected of having ob tained their places without having had the required experience as miners, have tended to render the mines less safe and thus increase accidents.
A. large proportion of the: deaths and injuries reported for the coal mines of the United States ^ficur among the non-English speaking miners. The employees consisting of the races of Southern and Eastern Europe, having had little experience in mining either in this country or abroad, are particularly liable to accidents, and as the responsibility for accidents rests in many cases with the men injured, to_ say that they are particu larly liable to accidents is in effect to say that they are responsible for a considerable proportion of all the accidents occurring in the mines.
The mine accidents for which the workmen are themselves responsible fall naturally Into two classes--those due to carelessness and those due to Ignorance. As regards the first of these, it ,is probable that the foreign er is no greater offender than the person of native birth. Many of the Americans and other English-speaking miners are undoubtedly reckless, and a very large- proportion of all the accidents occurring among their number seem ..to be due to this cause. Grave risks arc? often Incurred for the sake of avoiding a little extra labor. Props are left unplaced, open lamps are used instead of closed lamps, cars are driven in a careless man ner, explosives are handled recklessly--all in defiance of the most ele mentary rules prepared byrrnen of long experience In the industry-
Among the recent immigrants, on the other hand, many of the accidents
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SI (5
~Eighth Safet,i/ Congress
are unquestionably due to ignorance, for by reason of their lack of ex
perience, they do not"-see nor realize the dangers that confront them;
nor do they readily comprehend the necessary precautions tliat must he
taken to make their -working places safe.
l.ack of experience in the mines has a marked effect upon the high acci
dent rate as indicated by a study of accidents among the immigrants whose
experience in mines, before coming to this country, -svas known. The fatal,
serious, and non-fatal injury rates in the coal mines of Pennsylvania and
West Virginia are approximately 14.5 per 1,000, for those of whom 10 per
cent had mining experience prior to coming to the United States. The ac
cident rate for those of whom 10 to 20 per cent had mining experience is
about 12 per 1.000, showing a rapid decrease as mining experience in
creases.-. It would seem from this while experience is limited, these im
migrants soon gain sufficient knowledge to use a certain amount of cau
tion thus giving a tleehne in accident rate.
As contrasted with the decrease in accident rates among those of whom
r. to 30 per cent have bad mining experience, the accident rate based on
similar data for those^Of whom 50 to 60 per cent have had mining experi
ence prior to coming ^Eo this country is 10.5, whereas the rate Is 12 for those of whom SO tovHp per cent have had experience in the mines. A
marked increase withTThe extra experience: This is largely due to the
tendency of those with considerable experience to become more or less
careless or reckless and to think that they can slight certain features of
work without an accident. A new man entering the mine would not con
sider for a moment crimping a cap with his teeth, whereas many of the
men who have been In the mines for S to 10 years would not hesitate and
do not hesitate to crimp caps with their teeth. Other fnsaa-ncei* of care
lessness might be cited. The available data, therefore, eema to indicate
that inexperience is r^ponsible for many accidents, and
a tittle ex
perience begets much caution on the part of the recent or new employee.
As indicated above, there is thus a tendency toward a rapid redaction in
accident rates to a point where between 30 to 40 per cent of the employees
have had mining experience. Beyond this percentage, cautios wanes and
is replaced by carelessness with a resultant increase. TS>*- riminer-
may be over cautions but he lacks experience. The e*or>-d miner
has the experience, but too often caution is replaced
c*releanness.
Caution combined with experience will go far toward accident redact ion.
Another element of danger is contributed by the fact that. fw of the re
cent imigrants speak--or understand English tTable - >. while almost
none are able to read or write the English language, and placards of
warning do not reach them. It is probable that the instruct!** of the
mine bosses and inspectors are, because of this fact, irejuctuly misun
derstood. An inspector, for example, tells an immigrant miner, it* Eng
lish, of course, that hiETroof needs propping. The miner seems to under
stand, but does not, and. a fall results. In some mines printed signs are
used to indicate the presence of gas or other peril. These signs are quite
unintelligible to most jafT the foreigners, A common language is absolute
ly necessary in every safety-first campaign. Accident rates are mucb
lower In England, France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, and Japan than in
Mining Section
S17
the United States. In these' countries but few foreigners are employed, a common language being used, in each country. The difference in fatality rates cannot be entirely attributed to the lack of mixed languages, but certainly a large percentage of the accident reduction may be attributed to the "common language" mines.
TABLE NO. 4 Percentage of employees who reaa, by general nativity an4 race.
Michigan Copper Mines
Michigan Iron Mines
General nativity and race:
Num ber
Per
Cent Who Read
Num ber
Per Cent
Who Read
Oil Refining
Num ber
Per
Cent Who Read
Native-born of native father: White ----------------------------------------------------
Native-born of foreign father, by country of birth of father:
England (Includes Canada) Finland -----------------------------------------Germany _________________________ Ireland Slovak Sweden -----------------------------------------
145
485 64
1SS 78
99.3
98.5
100.0
99.5 93.7
51 100.0
37 100.0
56 100.0 46 100.0
113 31
100.0 100.0
Foreign-born, by race:
Canadian^ French---------------------
Canadian, Other---------------------------
Croatian
---------------------------------
English -----------------------------------------------
Finnish German
Italian. North-------------------------------Italian, South..................................... Lithuanian --------------------------------------Magyar ........................................................
Norwegian ............................................... (Polish .... Ruthenian --------------------------------------Slovak. ........................................................ Sloven ian ................................................. Swedish. --------------------------------------------
291 77
485 820 1,509 114
40 53*7
57
81 41 65
156 105
Grand total*
5,557
95.7 82.3 98.7 99.5 39.1 87.5 94.4 89.5
92.6 100.0
90. S
______ 98.7 98.1
95.4
44 156 135 656
529 54
385 123
70 160
2,800
86.4 98.1 99.3 95.5
94.7 90.7
85.2 88.6 98.6 100.0
94.9
108 182
62
271 90
130
1,11
95.4 48.4 88.7
90.0 72.2 88.5
84.2
Total native-born of foreign father --------------------------------------------------
Total native-born ...........................
Total foreign-born ------------------------
927 1.072
4,485
99.0 99.1 94.5
215 268 2.532
99.5 99.6
94.4
214 251
865
100.0 100.0
79.7
This table includes only rgses with 40 or more males reporting. The totals, however, are for all races.
Note: Compiled from "Immlgrrants in Industries/* a report of the Immigra tion Commission, 1911. Senate Document No. 663, 61st Congress, Second. Session, Vols. 6, 7 and 16. ___
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820
Eighth Safety Congress
A comparison of accident rates with the ability of the miner to read some language or to speak the English language, shows that the ability to read, although it may not be English, has a greater influence on acci dent reduction than the ability to speak English. This may be accounted for by the fact that ability to read develops a higher degree of intelli gence and places the employee in a better position to realize dangers more readily than one who^cannot read. Furthermore, if he is able to read, he is more likely to heed danger signs put up in certain places.
The recent immigrant, because of his lack of experience, his inability to speak English, and his keenness for earning money, is often willing to work in places where more experienced or more intelligent men would refuse to work. For the same reasons he will frequently be satisfied with and accept mine equipment too defective for safety.
OCCCPATIOX OS- ESCLISa SPEAKI.VC AXD SfON-EXGLISII SPEAKIXG RACES
TABLE No. 6
Percentage of employees by occupation and English speaking and non-English
speaking races.*
=
Occupations .
Superintendents ........................................ Foremen ....................................................... Bosses ..........................................----------------Inspectors .................................--^_________ Engineers and Moiormen._________ Firemen ................................................................. Electricians and Helpers................ Blacksmiths and Machinists...... Carpenters and Masons...-.............. Track and Roadmen...TM................ Car Runners. Droppers. Etc____ Drivers and TeamstersTM............... Machine Runners and Helpers. Pick Miners........................................................ Loaders and Scrapers______________ Trappers ___________________________________ Pipe and Pumpmen................................ Laborers .............................................................
Americans and 'Western Europeans
jSTumber
Per cent
10 14
76 10 50
29 12
33 46 64 47 124
75 428
45 16 20 176
.78 1.10
5.96 .78
3.92
2.27
,94 2.59 3.61 5.02 3.69 9.73
5.S8
33.57
3.53 1.26 1.57 13.S0
Southeastern Europeans
Number
____.._
6 15 12
10
7 13
9 21 49 67 14S
1,107 3>79 20 7 271
Per cent
......
.2S .70 .56 .47 .33 .61 .42 .97 2.28 3.12 6.90 51.61 17.67 .93 .33 12.S2
Total.................................................________
1,275
100.00
2.141
100.00
Represents ten typical bituminous coal mining companies of Pennsylvania.
Table .6 shows comparative figures by occupations, based on-the pay roll of 10 tj'pical coal-mining companies in Pennsylvania. These figures show that about 33 per cent of tbe English-speaking employees are em ployed as pick miners as compared with about 52 per cent for the South eastern Europeans. As a matter of, fact, from trackman to loader, the English-speaking employees represent about 61 per cent of the total, as compared with 82 pericent for the Southeastern Europeans. These figures, therefore, indicate that the non-English speaking foreigner is employed in the most hazardous of the mine occupations, hence one reason for the higher accident rate.
Mining Section
821
ACCIDENTS BY = NATIONALITY, IN PENNSYLVANIA AND WEST VIRGINIA.
For comparison, of accident rates between the two groups of employees, the figures given in Table 2 are representative. In the Pennsylvania an thracite mines 43 per cent of the employees are English-speaking and this number is charged with only 28.8 per cent of the fatalities, whereas the other 56 per cent (representative of continental Europe) sustained 71 per cent of the fatalities- Likewise in the Pennsylvania bituminous mines the English-speaking employees represent 35 per cent of the total and are charged with 27 per cent of the fatalities, whereas the other 65 per cent (representative of continental Europe) are charged with 73 per cent of the fatalities- As regards the figures for West Virginia the Eng lish speaking employees represent 67 per cent, and notwithstanding the fact that this includes 17 per cent of colored employees, only 53 per cent of the fatalities are charged to the English-speaking employees, whereas the other 33 per cent sustained 47 per cent of the fatalities. Almost the same ratio holds for non-fatal injuries in the three groups of mines cited.
Had the fatality and injury rate for the English-speaking American been maintained throughout^ the three groups of mines, there would have been a saving of 716 fatalities and 900 very serious injuries, a strong argument for Americanization and education of the miner.
Chairman Xu-i-son: Mr, Fay has added a valuable paper to his former valuable contributions to this Section, and I am sure it Is a subject which is of considerable interest to all of us. We will now consider any discussion in regard to Mr. Fay's paper.
DISCUSSION
Mr. N. D.' Hubbeu. (W. 3. Rainey, Uniontown. Pa.) : Mr. Fay touched on one subject that bas hit us in the bituminous coai region so hard that it is stirring up a lot of comment around the region. I don't know whether it will get outside the region" or not. We are, like everybody else, feeling very much tie scarcity of diggers. "We get in the mine the second generation of foreigners. We probably have a higher percentage in the mines than Mr. Fay's figures show, but they do not go in as dig gers. They start as haulers, trackmen, and many of them are taking the examination for fire bosses; and assistants.
The officials of our company have raised this question. Is the state law, which limits the age to eighteen years, turning men away from the occu pation of digging? Theylhave cited many instances of boys who would go in the mine when they are sixteen years old with their fathers and dig, and by the time they are seventeen or eighteen, would probably be as good diggers as their fathers. Some of the officials of our company have made the statement that at that age I was just as good a digger as my Dad. However, if those boys wait until they are eighteen, they get a bigger, broader view oOife and they won't go into the mine at all, and I doubt if two or tbree per cent of tbose who go in are willing to dig.
Would it pe fair to ask for opinions of some one else on the question of whether or not the eighteen-year limit is really affecting our avail
able material for making diggers?
822
Eighth Safety Congress
CirAiEMAx Tillso.n: z2Mr. Hubbell, X think that we can discuss that in
one of our round-table discussions, which will toe open for various
subjects.
Mr. Martin J. Flyziic (Member State Safety Board, Olympia, Wash.):
I would like to ask Mr. Fay a ciuestion. Where does the Bureau of Mines
find the greater percentage of accidents per one thousand men employed
or one hundred thousand tons of coal mined, in the bituminous region
or in the anthracite region of the United States?
*
Mr. Fay: I haven't the figures at my finger's ends. In Pennsylvania,
bituminous is lower than anthracite. I am inclined to think the bitumi nous is lower.
Mr. Fltziiv: For fifteen years we have tried to place on the statute
books in the bituminous region, from Pennsylvania west, extending even
into the Northwest of Wyoming and Washington, laws that would re
quire at least two years of experience before a man could qualify for
mining coal at the face. In all this campaign, we are always met with
the opposition from the management, that we are trying to monopolize
labor.
--
Many years ago I arrived at the conclusion that in order to minimize
accidents in the coal mines of the United States, it will be necessary to
make our laws more stringent, particularly so with the foreign labor in the
mines. I am glad Mr. Fay'has presented a paper on that subject. I have
made a short study of the subject myself and I believe that the reason
for many of our accidents^ in the coal mines in the State of Washington
can be attributed largely to the bringing of foreigners from the factories
and the agricultural fields of Europe right in to the face, permitting them
to dig coal without any experience whatsoever.
Me. Carjt. Balck (Prudential Insurance Company, Newark, X. J.): Our latest chart exhibited^ in the Armory shows the mortality of acci dents, and the curve gradually goes up to age 30 and then goes down.
I would like to know your opinion of the reason for it. I think that the
young fellows do not take care, do not know the business well and also the
foreigners do not know their business well.
Mr. Fay: Part of the answer is that there are more young men em
ployed in the mines than older men, and you will not get the true acci
dents nor will you get a true accident rate until you know how many men
over thirty years of age 5B employed in the mine.
Mr. Bat.ck: This is by age. Mr. Fay: Do you know how many are employed by age?
Mr. Bai.ck: I think so.^L
Me. Fay: Unless you have the number of men employed in a certain age group, thirty to thirty-five, forty to forty-five, fifty to fifty-five. etc.,
and the number of men killed or injured within those groups, you have
no way of measuring accurately the number of accidents.
Suppose you employ one^Italian and he is killed. That will be at the
rate of one thousand per thousand because there was only one man. and
he was killed. If you havdfg. thousand and only one is injured or killed,
it would be one per thousand, although in either case only one man was
Mining Section
823
killed. The figures are net: what they should be. You don't get a true
conception of the hazard.^ JThere are more men employed in mines be
tween twenty and thirty than any other group. Mk. Balck: Don't you think the number killed, according to the fig
ures, would be higher among the younger men? Mk. Fay: I - would suspect it would be lower than among the older
miners. It is only a theory on my part that the extended experience
begets carelessness, and then too, when a man is forty, forty-five or fifty,
he is not so active as he Yvas when younger.
If you insurance people^ian get figures showing the number of men
employed in age groups that are reliable, it will be of great value. I
know you can get the number killed and injured, but it is the employees
you don't get.
-
Mk. John L. Boabdjiaa- (Anaconda Copper Mining Company, Butte,
Mont.) : I would like to discuss some of Mr. Klyzik's remarks in regard
to developing men in the mine. Mr. Flyzik wants the men prohibited from
working at the face until they have had two years' experience. That,
obviously, is not the duty of the state, for the simple reason that the
state can't furnish the men. As soon as the state prohibits the man from working at the face fin til he has had two years' experience, you are
in truth shutting off your source of supply. It is not the duty of the em
ployers undoubtedly. It is up to the employers to keep the mine run
ning. Here is the point:
LAUOR UNION CONTRACTS
The labor unions are demanding this. Then it is up to the labor unions to provide a way fHrlsupplying men to fill the positions. The labor union, when it makes a contract with an employer, should guarantee its service, should guarantee that the contract shall be fufilled, and they have closed shop agreements with almost all mining people in the United States. Therefore, they have the tools by which they can force the issue if they want it forced. All they have to do is to require that a man must have had this experience before he becomes a full-fledged member of their union. They can take care of his education in some way or other, because they have absolutely entire control over the entire business. In some cases, a man can't work for a mining company unless he is a member of the union. All they have to do is to guarantee that the man is qualified.
Mlt. H. G- Davis (D. D.t& W. Coal Co., Wilkes-Barre. Pa.) : Relative to the service clause of the mines, Mr. Fay referred to the stopping of immigration from England, Scotland, Ireland, and such places, and fixed the date at 1890.
In 1SS9 the Pennsylvania Assembly passed a law requiring the service of men in the mines as laborers for two years before they could qualify as miners. I don't knowrrwhether you can notice the connection or not. News of this law soon spread all over the European continent, with the result that the English-speaking men, particularly, stopped immigrating to the northeastern Pennsylvania coal fields. Nobody would come here
824
Eighth Safety Congress
except those who had committed murder, or robbed somebody, and had to get out. The rest stayecT there, for the simple reason that the men -who
were born and brought-up on the top of a coal pit didn't want to come
here and load coal for aTiouple of years. What was the result?
Seme came and immediately returned to their homes or went on to
western Pennsylvania, where no services were required before they could
become qualified miners.
We have for thirty years been trying to have that law repealed or
amended to this extent:^7Put a service clause in, if you please, of three
months.
"
The IX X. & W. CoaLCompany had an Austrian come to us for em ployment. He showed me by a certain series of certificates that he had
qualified in his own country to become a miner, and I want to say this,
that the service rendered by that man proved that he was a miner in
reality. Although he wasn't able to speak the English language, he was able to cut coal and doLit well.
I do think that wlieirm man who is born and brought up in a coal
mining country or state-goes to another state, credit should be given him
for his knowledge. Why_ean't he be a miner in Illinois if he is a miner
in Pennslyvania?
^
I hope that the statesTJf this country will'never pass a law that will
require more than three months' service, if they pass any, if a man can
show that he is from a Titate or country where mining is in vogue and
that he has had experience there. INftt. R. Dawsux H.m.i. C55oat Age") :
I would like to question Mr. Fay's
statement as regards the dangers of mining being so much greater than
other work around minesr There are certain little things like driving,
etc., which do not cause 'as many deaths as mining, hut do in proportion to the number of men engaged in that occupation.
Mr. Fay: The word mining, as I used it, meant everything below the collar of the shaft.
Mr. Ham,: Is the foreigner in a more dangerous occupation?
Mr. Fay: I had SO peF cent of them. I picked five different groups.
I not only took the miners, but the trammer, the muckers (in the metal
mines), or loaders (in coal mines), and the man who Is driving the team and the hauling mari. In the five groups all the occupations go.
and about 75 per cent were foreigners and about 25 per cent Americans.
Mr. T. D. T,k\vis (I.ehign Coal & Navigation Co., Lansford, Pa.): For two or three years we have conducted classes, and have specialized on a
class In Americanization TJT naturalization. Our effort there has been to
cause all these men to Want, to be good Americans, to instill in them a
desire for citizenship, and that has worked out very well. Those men have come in bunches arnf taken a keen interest in attending the school
for one or two years. We have started a great number of them on the road to first and second papers. In that class we made a specialty of
instructing them in things they ought to know in the mine. We don't
teach them the -English language by giving them the A, B, C's. We try
to teach the words and danger signs and the things they need most when
"Mining Section
825
they get into the mine. That has done a good deal to reduce our acci dent ratio among the inen who don't speak English.
' FXrr.fitK TO OltKY i.uvs
.\[k. J. C. Roijkktk (Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colo.) : Mr. Fay spoke of the fact that it was not so much disobedience as misunderstand ing of orders or. instructions that is to blame for the accidents. I believe that a great many of our accidents are due to the fact of disobedience to orders; that is, failure of men themselves to carry out the orders or to obey law and order, and Itris not the fault of a foreigner so much as the
fault of the American. _ A few years ago I was In Chicago with a friend of mine. We were
watching the traffic as it -.went one way and the other. After the traffic cop blew his whistle, a man whipped up his horse and went across the street. This friend of mine remarked, "In London the cop blows his whistle and the people Involuntarily stop. Why? Because he is the law, and as such they respect him. It doesn't matter in what regard they may hold that, man personally, he is the exponent of the law and they respect
him because he is the law^
"In Berlin, on the other hand, the cop blows his whistle, and the people involuntarily stop because he is the law' and they fear him."
I said, "Yes. old man. but we neither fear nor respect that law. Every
man wants to be a law unto himself and do as he pleases." I would say this to my fnen, "If you don't like the law and the rules
and regulations laid down-by the company or the concern for which you
are working, move on. \Ve don't want you. Go some place where they
haven't those laws. As long as those laws are on the statute books, as long as those laws and rules exist in the mine or territory or state and county in which you live.-dbey them."
If the foreigner comes Tanci sees you and me, American citizens, disre garding and disobeying the law, sees us saying, "To --------- with the law," what does he do? Fie goes us one better, and be takes liberty for li cense and does as he pleases. That, I think, -is the cause of a great deal of the trouble in our country.
One other thing: We ^Whre speaking about the loaders. There was a mine in Montana--the Great Northern Coal Company's mine, which is not in existence now--Mr. Pierson was the manager. Several years ago he told me he hadn't had a jatal accident in his mine for over three years and not a serious one for over two years. He did it by regulating bis labor. He only had a few skilled laborers in his mine. He had one class
of men do the timberings another, the track-laying; another to cut the
coal; another to bore the holes: another gang of men to come along and
shoot that coal. Then the loaders came around under a shift boss and
loaded that coal.
__
The coal digger, as we know him. had no responsibility except to shovel
that coal and leave the result of his brawn and muscle.
That man produced cheaper coal than any mine in Montana and had
fewer accidents
826 Eighth Safety Congress
Chairman Tili.sox : Gentlemen, if we can find the time, and if the
rest of you desire to continue some of this discussion in blanket towards
the end, we will do so.
feel that I must call for the next paper, "The
Management and Training of Men," by W. W. Gidley.
Mr. YV. W. Gidi.cv (Phelps-Dodge Corporation, Bisbee) : I was asked
by Mr. Price to write aripaper to be presented before this body on the
"Organization of Committees as Conducted by the Phelps-Dodge Corpora
tion in Its Operations,"' but owing to the fact that I was absent the entire
summer, I was unable to get this paper together. However, I have had
for some time some ideas which I should like to present to you. They
have come from my own experience. I have had quite a varied experi
ence in the handling ofTpien and it is unquestionably true that today
the training of men in safety, efficiency, economy, and in all the various
phases of industry, stands vividly foremost in the present trend of affairs
along industrial lines.
I believe that up to the present time we have failed to give the great
faculty, human nature, the proper attention, and so I have written a brief
paper along those lines and I trust that I have brought out, or will bring out, sbme features that will prove of interest to you.
THE MANAGEMENT AND TRAINING OP }IEN
W. W. Gidlev, Saheet Inspector, Phelps Dodge Corporation CorrER Queen Branch, Bisbee, Ariz.
No factor in the industrial world today presents to the employer a prob
lem of such extreme complexity as the training and managing of men.
It has been proven repeatedly that wholesale discharging by those In
authority, in order to procure the right man for the place, is a dismal
failure. It is therefore expedient that a system be developed whereby this
weakness may be properly analyzed and a correct solution applied.
The time has arrived ^when men who supervise labor must know the meaning of morale and how it is developed. The heads of various de
partments in any industry must be interested in safety, efficiency, and
democracy, and understand how these features may be linked together
with- proper discipline. ^f=~
There are three fundamentals in our subject which we will endeavor
to discuss in their relative importance:
training.
"
design, management, and
DESIGN
I^et us look at Humanity's general design and then consider it under
the aspects of managemenEand training,-defining its province, explaining
its duties, and pointing out some errors prevalent in these several depart
ments of its action.
"
The simple preservation and continuance of the race is a fundamental
design of Humanity. In Tils Infancy, man is the most helpless of all
creatures, the most narrowly endowed with instinct, and the most feebly
furnished with strength; rand hence demanding the most untiring atten-
Joining Section
827
tloa to develop his physical system to a healthy maturity. It is to meet
this early necessity that the family has been designed and Instituted; and
like all arrangements of this kind, it is self-acting and self-adjusting,
working out 'its ends with, a simplicity and perfection unknown to any
human Institution.
_
One of the great difficulties experienced with labor in industry today Is
dne to the abandonment of training, as the young man reaches the age
of maturity, in the several essentials designed to meet the necessities
of manhood. We see ` thousands of young men growing op with no pro
vision to meet later requirements of life. It is this class who usually
become an easy prey for those filled with skeptical and socialistic philos
ophy; they begin to see only those things which are pessimistic and so
many manifestations that vex and disgust them, that they eventually
become Incased In Ideas un-American, with tendencies that remove the
finer sensibilities. It is here that a counteracting agency Is needed to
oppose these influences in order to keep the better emotions in play. This
is found by following up the early design of training, with changes neces
sarily expedient to prepare for the later callings in life. The individual who has received vocational training at the proper period is not apt to
be susceptible to skeptical influences. He naturally becomes imbued
with a desire to improve: and perfect various methods connected with
his vocation, has a broader vision and develops the faculty of perceiving
a future.
Another design is the social culture and consequent happiness in life.
It is in this fact that we probably find a reason for the protracted in fancy of man. "Were lie designed, like the lower animal, he would be
earlier fitted to shift for himself. But the continuity of training in
fluences are essential to mould and perpetuate certain human elements
requisite for social betterment. Many of the larger corporations through
out the country have proven to their own satisfaction that provision for
social culture among their employees is a profitable investment.
MANAGEMENT
The management or government of men in industry Is a problem re quiring utmost scrutiny in working out its details. Human nature in its mature development of reason and experience demands the restraint of government of'state; so it is in industry. Hence, right reason unites with reiterated declaration that successful industrial organizations must em body good government. "Let us look at the points involved in this aspect of it. The governing power of industry is lodged in Its executives. The authority of a department head is usually restricted to the sphere of certain rights and duties. Although the authority of the executives is not co-equal, yet it should always be co-ineident, especially in the enact ment and execution of the rules of the organization.
Every Industrial organization should have its rules. These rules should be formed with utmost care and consultation. As there may be too much legislation In the state, so there, may be in any industrial organization; but in both the greater danger consists, not as much in
823
Eighth Safety Congress
undue as in unsteady legislation. A few plain rules steadily enforced will be worth more than the most minute attention to trivial details. These rules should be the expression of the united will of the industrial executives. They should, however, as far as possible, be such as would commend themselves to the employee and convince him that they are based on fairness and mutual principles. The moment the employee suspects deception on the part of the foreman, the authority of the latter is weakened and the respect of the worker is impaired. It Is absolutely necessary that in every case the worker should thoroughly understand the reason for the rules governing the conditions under which he is employed: thus confidence in decisions by those in authority will be greatly strengthened by perceiving the propriety of these rules. This will enlist both reason and conscience on both sides and create mutual understanding.
The execution of rules is another problem. It is here that failures are most frequent and disastrous. The cause of these failures will be more fully presented when we speak of the mistakes usually committed In management. The rules of industry should be enforced gently and yet with inflexible firmness. ^Here there should be an absolute oneness in the governing organization. If the foreman, of any department shield employees under his supervision from certain penalties for violating the rules of the organization, be creates a tendency that will be surely prac ticed on himself with redoubled effect. The grand agent in executing rules is mutuality. This.-to be properly effective, should manifest itself in words and actions. The boss whose repulsive attitude represses all interest of the worker notr only misrepresents his employer, but builds a wall between himself and his men which cannot he penetrated." One great mistake in management of men is that the boss is prone to cen sure but fails to commeal them when work well-performed merits ap proval. As long as the nature of man remains what it is, it will demand reward for faithful service-- It is not necessary or proper to show favorit ism to any particular employee, but simply to enable him to feel that the path of his daily vocation is not entirely obstructed with dissension. The want of proper management is the greatest defect in industry: It acts at the very root of the_prganization and is felt in all its departments. The growing amount of idelinquency among employees is. in a great measure, due to lack of proper discipline and control. Why are- there so many complaints about inefficiency and such difficulty in securing improvement? Chiefly because of the neglect by those in atithority to exercise good managemeritby precept and example. The perception of unscientific management may be easier than the- discovery or application of the remedy. That remedy will he found by correcting the errors into which the executives fall and training the employee in efficient methods.
I-et us then consider in brief terms some common mistakes in man agement. Partiality is ajrery great error in the management of men and one that deserves specially to be guarded against, for it injures alike the favored and the slighted employee and the former more often than the latter. nut to treat all dispositions alike is equally erroneous. There are marked differences of character in manhood. Some
Mining Section
829
natures are constitutionally tractable, others the reverse, and to treat both alike would be like trying to work wax and iron in the same man ner. The first duty of the boss then is to study the character of the man and adapt his discipline to that character, in order that he may receive the training- his respective nature demands- Again, it is wrong to raise an issue with an employee when it can possibly be avoided. This will seldom occur if men are properly trained. But if an issue, is distinctly made obedience to the rules of the organization must necessarily be the point obtained. Bxtremercare should here be exercised, the employee must be convinced, not by criticism or ridicule, or by argument with tendencies to belittle his opinion, but by calm deliberation and per suasion in order to retain his respect and perpetuate mutual interests, thus avoiding disastrous after-effects.
Constant fault-finding is another common error and is pernicious. There are many minor faults in nm that are like the branches and sprays of a large bough, all of which will be removed by the removal of the main stem. To be continually carping at these secondary faults, while the pri mary causes a^e neglected, only tends to disorganize and disinterest the employee. Instruction demands many words, management but a few; and these few closely connected with prompt, decisive acts, or they will be mere empty air.
It is often difficult in managing men, especially those of variable tem perament, to preserve that uniform bearing that is requisite. But special efTort should be made to do so. To allow certain working rules of the or ganization to be violated today, when tomorrow, because of a change of humor, we rebuke the sameTTiberties, is to injure all good management. Unirorm governing of men will do more to secure efficiency than the most strict severity" alternated with seasons of laxity.
TRAILING
The philosophy of liuman^atiire is not only a most engaging study, as belonging to the highest department "of knowledge, but is a most practical and necessary attainment.
All persons engaged in thensupervision of labor should he familiar with it, at least with its general principles, just as an agriculturist ought to possess a general knowledge of the laws of vegetation, the order of nature in the seasons, and the powers of the soil with which he is called to labor.
Vocational training is a real science. We cannot easily over-estimate it. Surely a science which embodies the necessary attainment to develop the aptitude whereby a man's earning power is designated should take the highest rank.
The present phase of industrial development demands that the super vision of men requires the faculty of training ability, consequently all executives, regardless of the magnitude of their sphere of duties, .are called to study and practice this important science. Like all other sciences, the science of vocational training rests on truths and facts. Most of these are now understood and established. A wise executive cannot safely overlook them.
832
-- Eighth F&rffty Congress
dispositions and habit** will ?-<n*rc *niccs9 in life against many disadvan
tages; -while the want-** them win neutralize the most important advan
tages in external eirrtjtnstanees.
To be successful in t iaraiine the employee, the teacher must of necessity be a student himst lf.7 -r1- may possess all the qualifications to direct and
promote efficient methods hut must reckon with the human element. He
must assume the task of patiently seeking to develop all the faculties
which requires constant study of the master-faculty, "Human Nature."
Chairman Tii.imott Mr Cidlcy. in thanking you for this presentation.
I wonder whether it would rm to you suitable, if your voice isn't tired,
to take up. before d]'scu>siotj. Mr. Willis' paper, which Is on a kindred
subject.
.....
IXDrsTRIAL RKI.,\TloNS IN Till*: MIXING INDUSTRY
Cjiari.es F. Wixj.js, OoNst i.TiNc SvrKRvisor, Department of Industrial Relations, Pnurs Dnurn: Oirtoration, Bisbee, Arizona
Industrial relationship problems involve the more or less intangible recognition of labor as a group of men and women and not as a com modity; it recognizes--then and women employed In Industry as human beings subject to precisely the same desires, the same longings, and the same ambitions as the employers. The practical side of the problem, however, has been the creating of conditions which will give the em ployees the same opportunities in the enjoyment and pursuit of happi ness as those employing them. It has come then to mean concrete things, industrial democracy- designed lo give workers a voice in the con ditions under which they work, housing plans which will give them an opportunity to betterTlieir standard of living, educational plans which will open a road to ^-nmotion. health insurance plans proposed to re move the loss to labor due to ill health, and so on through innumerable so-called welfare activities.
CONDITIONS IN MINING INDUSTRY PECULIAR
The major part of industry is factory industry, many employees under one roof, living closerby their work, in communities where there are other factories. Industry has naturally gathered itself into groups, those manufacturing similarzproducts being segregated in districts. While the solution of industrial relationship problems are with each business, there is a good deal of similarity in conditions which render the experiments of one place valuable to another, but mining stands apart on account of great differences; even individual mines cannot solve the same problems in the same manner.
The individuality and phychology of the worker in a mine is no different from that of' the worker in any other industry, but the natural conditions under which a mine ^operates are so different from those of factory op eration that the things which, have proven successful and efficient in
Milting Section
833
smoothing the difficulties between, the employee and the employer in other industry often cannot possibly be applied to mining, and other solutions can be applied only with difficulty.
The fact is well known and appreciated that both factory and mine workers are restless, that there is industrial unrest which causes a gen eral dissatisfaction with everything, but few of the workers have given any considerable thought as to the cause of this restlessness. Without giving any deep thought to the mental agitation in industry today, its causes, effects, and remedies, workers as a whole are prone to grasp any thing new as a possible solution. The growth of Bolshevism is not due to the fact that so many men^believe in the wanton destruction of capi tal and in the various other destructive doctrines of the sect, but rather that they believe that something is wrong and are grasping upon that in the hope that it may be thelsolution of their difficulties.
PSYCHOLOGY OF TIIK MINSK
It is a fallacy to assume that the psychology of the worker is different
from the psychology of any other human being. Without a doubt, much
difficulty is caused by the fact that capital and management have often
assumed that the worker has a. different mental state than their own. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., in an "issue of the Atlantic Monthly in 3 916 said
"In spite of the development of big business, human nature has re
mained the same, with all its cravings and with all of its tendencies
toward sympathy when it has knowledge, and all of its prejudice when
it does not understand. The -fact is that the growth of organization
in industry has proceeded faster than the adjustment of the interrela
tions of men engaged in. industry."
More and more in the devQopment of big business organizations has
the worker gone to routine work, without expression of individuality
and without recognition, or distinction, and these are the normal desires
of all men. Human nature is made up of fundamental instincts, and
every' man, whether mucker or capitalist, has the same desires. Indus
trial relationship work todayTMconsists in supplying concrete physical
outlets for these natural cravings; each part of the work is in some
way related to the expression, ^n the part of the worker, of those primary
desires.
-*
There is first the instinct ot_sel-preservation, that desire to keep and
retain health, to provide satisfaetorilj' for himself and family, and to
prevent accidents. There is normally in every man an instinct of work
manship, a real desire to do the best he can in every Job that he under takes and, if that desire is not smothered by a "what"s-the-use" attitude
on the part of the man, it wULcome to the front. The lack of opportu
nity for self-expression and initiative often suppresses the normal desires
cf a riian to do his best in a Job. Self-respect is present in every man,
the desire to do, think, and act so that he may feel the equal of any
man. The balanced life and the instinct of play demand recreation,
to provide a safety valve for the inevitably repressed instincts--not fri
volity or dissipation hut wholesome recreation.
S34
_ Eighth Safety Congress
While theTe are many other normal instincts, they are of little conse quence in this discussion except the natural desire of- a normal man for a satisfactory and happy family life. The inability of the worker to use and develop his normal instincts are the real causes of unrest, and an analysis by^the worker will often cause him to seek and find the remedy without groping in the dark for some industrial revolutionary change, which will not in the least change his desires or cravings. Psychologists call these cravings repressed desires or balked disposi tions, and while all persons have some which are not satisfied, it Is only an accumulation that causes unrest.
XIO\V THE INDUSTRY ^TREATS THE WORKER'S DESIRE FOR SELF-DEVEROPMENT
Let us see then how mining has promoted or defeated the desires of the workman for individuality, recognition or distinction, self preser vation. workmanship, self-expression, recreation, and home loving. It Is not so many years since mines were comparatively small affairs, when a miner knew mining, when he could drill as well as use a shovel, when he could timber, lay.pipe lines, dress steel, and perform all of the func tions that a miner is called upon to do -in a small organization. The growth of large organizations, however, has limited him to an individual task, shoveling, car ^pushing, or drifting. It has segregated different types of drilling and has differentiated stopes, shafts, raises, and drifts. Tool sharpening has been further segregated, so that it now takes several men to sharpen steel where formerly one did the whole operation. The result has been a depreciation in the skill necessary to perform the various functions of mining and a natural depreciation of the knowledge of the men filling the ^positions. The old-time all-round miner is almost obsolete now, and heZresents the lack of skill necessary to be a miner today.
In spite of the standardization of work around a large mine today, however, there is still the work for the all-round man. Miscellaneous jobs are constantly coming up which require real mining skill, and which, in most cases, involve additional hazards, and it is the old-time miner who is called upon to do them. Because of this he feels that he Is penalized, thatrTie is required to do difficult and dangerous jobs, jobs that any man coiild have done at the time he learned mining.
While at no time^has the miner been able to do the whole of the work of producing rn^al, in small organizations he was often able to see each part, realize the_dependence placed upon his work, and appreciate' that the work and Jivelihood of other men depended upon his work. Today, however, the absence at work of fifteen, twenty or even a hundred men makes little difference in the progress of the industry. A few years ago a man expressed himself directly to the boss and would often see the results of his self-expression; today there is a multiplicity of steps to reach the boss, and even though he may ultimately see the x-esults of his suggestion, the workman has had his desire for selfexpression curbed. ZZ
Recognition is always difficult to give in large organizations, for it is
Mining Section
835
hard to measure a man's right to It. In the routine or a day's work,
a man does little to distinguish his work from that of thousands of
others. The opportunity for distinction is small, and promotion as an evidence of recognition of services can only come to a few, as compared
with the day3 of small organizations. The saying "there Is always room
at the top" is hardly true in the growth of large organizations, for there
are getting to be fewer and fewer top places, and a lessened opportunity
for recognition.
__
While there is as much, if not more, opportunity for recreation in
the communities of large organizations, it is of a different nature. The
recreation of a small mining camp was not ready-made recreation,
obtained only for the admission fee; it was initiated by the worker him
self, developed and carried out by him. If it was a show, he was with
it all the way through its ^rehearsals and performances, not merely
seeing the finished product. `Where the worker used to receive hours
of diversion In self-made recreation in small mining camps, he now
receives minutes. It Is true that there are many more opportunities
for recreation today, but it needs much more to make tip for the loss of the community Initiative and development which marked the recrea
tion of small mining camps of a few years ago. The tendency of the
recreation of today is toward frivolity, which does not tend toward the
balanced life, as it does not u3e the facilities of a man that are dormant
during his daily work. While mining operations have gone to extremes to get safe and
healthful conditions, the instinct of self-preservation has been repressed,
due to the decreased lack of skill of the individual miner. Progress in
safety work in mines has been such as to decrease the total accident
roll by a large percentage, but the decreased skill of the Individual miner has made him less able to take care of himself and recognize
unsafe conditions. In no other industry does the safety of a man. so
depend npon his fellow workers as in mining. While this does not show
up prominently in the accident statistics, the feeling exists among the
men--particularly the feeling of dependency upon the fellow worker
as a factor over which the workman himself has no control.
The opportunity for the development of home life has been the one -
instinct' that has been promoted by the growth of large organizations.
Mining was formerly done by single men, men with a roving disposi
tion, who made up for a lack of recreational facilities by moving often and getting a variety of them. Housing plans, home building associa
tions, good schools, etc., have made it possible for the miner to -have a
family and stay In one place. More important than this is the fact that
large organizations have stabilized the Industry; It has gotten away
from the conditions of working today and shutting down tomorrow, and
provides a security of employment which was formerly lacking. The
miner used to feel that he could not have a home and family because
of his uncertain livelihood,^but tbat condition has entirely changed.
I.arge mining organizationsjlre not only continuous, hut a man half
way trying to do the right thing can remain in employment year In. and
S3S _ Eighth Safety Congress
happen. Men and houses axe needed. Everything is needed at once. The bosses are so engrossed with production possibilities that they have no time for civic problems, for the equal and consistent development -of the community along with the mine. Everything is needed quickly; In stead of houses, shacks are built: instead of streets one finds alleys and trails: instead of sewers, there are latrines; and instead of decent and civilized recreation, the red light district and the saloon.
In many instances, community problems are given some consideration and thought, but the: operators are at a loss to know what to do. They cannot know at that time that the camp is to be a permanent and paying one; they know nothing as to the size and extent of the community neces sary, they know nothing of the possible life for which the community must he built. As a rule, they do not realize that money spent in the development of the:town is in any way related to the success of the mine. It is not untiLsome pressure is brought to bear that the operator begins to understand; that he is not only developing a mine but a city as well, and somewhat reluctantly, he begins to provide a few of the things necessary to a well-organized community.
It is usually during this period that labor troubles have their incep tion. Living conditions as a rule are had, and working conditions not as good as they might he. The camp `is unhealthful. Then, too, the mine is not yet on a paying basis; money is all going out and nothing coming in; wages arg low and the management Is slow to spend money not directly related to immediate production. Troubles are consequently frequent, grievances ^numerous and often real, and from this time on the feeling grows that the camp is operated for the company only. Workmen become disgusted and leave; often, they do not return but continue to spread stories of the treatment of labor at this camp and in this way the community gets a bad reputation in the mining world which is difficult torrcwercome.
It matters little Whether or not these grievances are later corrected. The reputation remains and often will remain for a generation. Tradi tions are hard to Jive down. Even in the present day, one hears occasionally in camps of the West: "Don't go there, they have typhoid epidemics regularly." This is in spite of the fact that the conditions causing typhoid have been removed for many years, and that the disease is now almost unknown, in the camp. It may he one of the cleanest, most healthful camps in the country, and yet occasionally this feeling against it, which is purely a traditional one, remains.
STABILITY OF_PRODUCTION CONDUCIVE TO CIVIC lAEPBOVESIENT
The next stage in the life of a mine is that of stable production and consistent profits. Mining operators have now become so systemar tized that attention ^may be given to town problems. Many times the sudden realization of the needs, accompanied by the fact that the mine is now in position to supply them, brings about a bad condition of hastilythought-out and poorly-devised remedies, wbicb in some cases are worse than the original conditions. The normal procedure is' the slow and
Mining Section
S3D
laborious development of the community, a process often much more
costly than if It had been done^ simultaneously with the mine develop
ment, but always behind the needs. Inanity living, social, recreational,
and civic conditions are changed, one by one, as the operating heads
bave the time to devise correct methods.
The feeling of the miner has not changed, however, for in the short
time spent in a place he .has not seen enough of the corrections to be
convinced that the company really does desire to make conditions good
and to improve his lot. A miner seldom witnesses the entire develop
ment of a camp. As a rule, he works a few years here and a few years
there. He hears disagreeable rthlngs and often goes to a camp with a
prejudice against it, and he is the type with whom the company has to
deal.
I
The last stage of development comes with old age, the deposit worked
out, the camp moribund and the community likewise. Even here some
development may be going on, and the satisfaction of the men during
this period is dependent upon the conditions that have existed in the
previous stages.
It might be entirely possible, to make classification of mining com
munities based upon the relation between the progress of the develop
ment of the mine and the start and progress of the community develop
ment, and thereby measure .the comparatively harmonious condition of
the community and its relative freedom from social dissatisfaction and
labor disturbances. There are cases when a mine comes into a com
munity - already organized, or when a new company buys a mine already
developed. It must be remembered, when a mining company is sinking shafts,
driving drives, etc., that it is building a plant for the production of
ore, that it is continually building that plant, and that parts of its
plant are continually becoming^obsolete and useless. Therefore, in any
way to compare factory industrial relationship activities with those of
a mine, it is necessary to study the betterment activities taking place while the factory is being builtjind terminating when the factory build*
ing is completed. The welfare activities taking place during factory
construction are usually nil. --
NEED FOB INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS MANAGER
By virtue of the fact that mining operations are necessarily retarded in starting industrial relationship activities because of the different fundamental factor under which a mining organization is operating, it is necessary to make far greater speed to catch up with the procession. While undue haste means mistakes, it is impossible to get any great speed of development when the industrial relationship problems are studied solely by tbe operator, who must give his major time and thought to production problems. Hen no industry needs a man whose sole duty it is to study -and supervise industrial relationship problems more than does the mining industry. It is backward to start, and even with the best of conditions it Is hard to catch up.
840
Eighth Safety Congress
Good physical conditions within a plant are probably the most funda
mental factors inysound industrial relationships, and here a mine has
inherent difficulties. Safety, sanitation, and lighting can be designed
in a factory but a mine is built as it goes along, and to make a place safe it is necessary to work men in an unsafe place. Sanitation and
lighting of underground workings have obstacles that can be readily
understood and appreciated.
When one realizes that the temperature underground increases one
degree for every fifty-three feet, and that practically all mines are
operating below the ground water level, the discomforts due to heat
and water are considerable and inherent in the industry. This added
to the fact that oxidation of sulphide ore produces a good deal of heat,
often enough to cause spontaneous combustion, makes the problem of
ventilation, coolingr and fire protection of vital importance in maintain
ing good physical conditions. Also, it is impossible to create the better
conditions xintil the poor conditions are encountered which makes it necessary to endure the heat and water until the necessary equipment can be provided and Installed.
In the mining industry men are scattered through miles of workings
doing their workJn small groups, and they are under the eye of the boss but a small ^part of the time. They are therefore far more on
their own responsibility than in a factory where a whole floor or room
may be under the eye of a foreman. The 1919 type of foreman, who is a teacher and leader rather than a driver, has less opportunity in a mine
to supervise continuously and correct work as a teacher should.
The roving nature of the population of a mining camp often means
the continual changing of schools for the children of the miners, each change being accompanied by a loss of time and of school standing.
This results in the average age of students being higher in mining camps,
and before sufficient education has been acquired, many are at legal
age where school ^attendance can not be forced. This condition makes necessary strong inducements on the parts of the school, and special
educational facilities to get the older boys and girls to remain with
their school work.=^ The ordinary typography of a mining camp adds greatly to the hous
ing difficulties. Often, playground space Is not available, athletics is
something to be read about on the sporting page, and the mountainous
rocky hillsides offer few opportunities for the development of home
gardens.
y^-
rEXSIOKS AKD PROFIT SKARIIfO
While it is appreciated by the mining industry as well as other indus tries that a man who has given the best part of his life to an industry is entitled to some; consideration in his old age, pension plans are fre quently remote from the thoughts of the mine management. This is be cause a mine has a life, that life being shorter and seldom longer than the usual twenty or twenty-five years of service that places this social obligation upon the industry. When the ore is gone, the money ceases to come in and unless very large funds are set aside to be used for
Mining Section
S41
pension payments after the miner is through, it is impossible to fulfill the
obligation.
-
Profit and loss comes very much nearer being a mathematical problem
in ordinary industry than in'^mining. Mining has natural risks that
are large. The plant may be equipped, and then produce nothing. The
inherent risks in mining are solely risks of capital, and this naturally
requires larger profits from the mine that does make good to pay losses
of those that do not. If mining could be assured of only eight or even ten per cent, profit on the investment from the mines that become
profitable, capital would never risk its money in the development of
new mines. Mining profits should go to capital that takes the risk, and this makes the question of profit-sharing in the mining industry
one presenting many difficulties. Sometimes it is possible to show profits
which are the product of increased effort on the part of the worker, and
it is believed that such profit^ should be shared with the employees. This plan is being worked out in many mines today, but it is entirely
separate from the larger question of profit sharing. In spite of its inherent difficulties in the solution of industrial rela
tionship problems, mining is in no way backward. Practically every device known to produce better feeling and equitable treatment is in
use in the mines of the WestT^ These often cost many times the sum
necessary to install them into factories. Some operators show practi cally all methods used within^ the same operation. These statements
apply largely to the profitable and successful operators and It does not
require a very clear, vision to see why smaller operators with mines in the development stage are slow in pushing personal relations work;
they do not know whether their work terminates tomorrow, next week,
or next year. Mining operators lare thoroughly alive to the problems and their necessity for solution, and are operating strictly on a square-deal policy. The realization of the difficulty of the problems has made the
study more acute but has not diminished the speed. Chairman Tiiix>\: We certainly appreciate Mr. Gidley's presentation
cf nor only his own subject, but the allied paper of Mr. Willis on a kin dred subject. In opening the discussion of that paper, I made one note
which I would call to the attention of those present if you wish to con
sider it_ In the attempt to correlata$&pme of Mr. Willis' suggestions with those of Mr. Gldley. It will be note*?' that Mr. Willis indicates that the
attraction of women into mining camps and the performance of some industrial functions there which will hold them is highly desirable which brings up the inducement of various factories employing women to take part in the mining life.
' DISCUSSION
Prof. K. M. Raynio>-i fColumbia University, New York City): I wish Mr. Gidl'ey would give some account of the good work being done by the Copper Queen, and an example of the training being given by that insti tution and some other good kindred institutions.
842
--Eighth. Safety Congress
Ml Gidlev : In answer to that question, I am very glad to state that for the last year the PEelps-Dodge Corporation has conducted a vocational school at Bisbee. This school is absolutely free to all employees and is very highly patronized.1 They are taught there practical methods, of min ing. Papers by the various department heads, all the mine foremen, many of the shift bosses, are^prepared and presented to this school and are dis cussed. The papers, of all the various operations in the mine, are written by the different department heads for the benefit of this school.
One boss may write a paper on drifting; another on one method of sloping; one may take top slicing, and one may take the cut and fill method; one man. car setting, etc. These are all presented to this mining school and are studied by the pupils. The pupils are required to pass a certain examination, tfhd after passing this examination, the company issues a certificate, which signifies their attendance at the school and enhances their chances for promotion.
They require an examination from this school now before a man can be eligible to advancement in the mining industry. This school has been carried on for one year, and is continually going on. Arrangements have been made to conduct This school throughout the .year 1920. The school is open to everybody on The job, absolutely free.
Mi A. H. Thkstkaie. (Pickands, Mather & Co., Palatka, Mich.): There was something in the remarks that have been made about the miner being taught to recognize safe and modern methods and be subject to rules laid down by the organization. I would like to ask in reference to these rules laid down, whom do you term the organization?
Mr. Gn>r_KY: When T speak of the organization, I mean the entire gov erning organization of the mine, and rules laid down by the organization, of course, must be respected if we are going to get anywhere.
In the management and training of men, we have a great many different kinds of men to deal with, hut absolutely the greatest problem is dealing with the pessimist. I have an idea that perhaps you may have had some experience with that class of men. By the pessimist, I mean the fault finder. the man who is looking on the dark side of everything; the man whom nothing suits; the man who is continually finding fault with his partner, and the man who thinks he has the worst boss on earth. As a rule. I believe that pessimism is absolutely the worst factor of human nature with which we have to deal.
There are several ways in which a man can be made to realize the im portance of the rules of the organization. The attitude of the boss, right then and there, is the most important factor. Right there it shows whether the boss is aru asset or a liability to his company. If the boss has the ability to use moraLsuasion, get right down on the level with his men, he is all right. He cafft get up on a bench and look down; neither can he get down in the cellar and look up. He must get on a level with the man. It is strictly a man-to-man proposition. When the boss is willing and broad-minded enojjgh to get right down on the level with his men and talk these things-uver and use moral suasion in convincing the man that these rules are for his personal benefit, his care and protection, he
Mining Section
S43
will experience absolutely no difficulty in persuading the man to live up
to his organization.
~
Mr. Trestkaii.: When I spoke of the organization that lays down these
rules. I meant does the management do it, or do the employees have any
thing to say about the matter bl forming the rules? JIr. Gidlev: Every organization has different methods of framing their
rules. I recently framed a bunch of rules for governing our steam-shovel
operations. I believe I sent ar"copy of those rules to you, didn't I, Mr. Sullivan? I submitted those rules to the management for their approval.
After they had received the approval of the management, I called a rep
resentative body of the workmen, one man for every sixty men employed,
and we went over the rules thoroughly. I told the men I wanted their
criticism. I told the men I wanted to find if there were any weak points
or any rules they could nor conscientiously obey. The matter was
threshed out for the mutual benefit of all.
arixE nur.ES ix kestdcky
Mr. J. W. Reed (Consolidation Coal Co., Fairmont, Va.): In speaking
of framing of rules, I think that the present system of mine rules as laid
out in the State of Kentucky is about as good as any. In that state, the
mine rules are gotten up .by the company and they have to be gotten up with considerable care because after getting them up, they go to the
Department of Mines, and the head of the Department of Mines goes
over them and makes such alterations as are necessary to see that the
rules do not conflict with the state laws and also sometimes takes them to
the Attorney-General to see that they are of such a nature that they are capable of being applied as laws. After that is done, he approves the
rules and by an act of the State Legislature of the State of Kentucky,
his approval of those mine rules causes them to become laws and they
are enforceable through court. Mr. Gidlev: The only objectionable feature I see to that Is that new
conditions are continually demanding new rules. As we mine, take for
the last few years, there have been many new methods introduced ill
the mines, and occasionally we find a problem in mining that requires absolutely new rules to govern, so our rules must be framed so they
are subject to quick amendment:
Of course, it depends a grefQTdeal on whether or not your men at the
head of the Bureau of Mines are qualified to pass on those rules. The
large per cent of them are college graduates, you know. Many men who
have had the technical education are not qualified to go into the detail
end of the work until they have gotten down and obtained the practical
experience.
^
Mr. Reed: I don't know whether you took the wrong impression of
what I said or not, hut I might have specified a little more clearly that
those rules only apply to theiompany that they are got out for. They
do not become state laws, but apply only to that company, and according
to the desire of the chief inspector, those rules can be changed.
844
Eighth Safety Congress
Mb. Tkkstkail: Providing these rules were violated, would the com pany be liable to prosdfeution by law?
Mr. Reed: The rules are made up for the safe operation of the mine and ordinarily do not cover things for which the company would be sub ject to prosecution, but rather, the rules for which the men have to have consideration in working in the mines in safe ways and by safe methods. Your state laws cover the rules for which the operator would be prosecuted if he did not live up to them.
Chaibmas Tillson: Mr. Reed, what happens in the case of violation of these rules? What~prosecution develops?
Mr. Reeu: The mam can be taken before a magistrate, or county court and prosecuted for misdemeanor and fined according to the county court's verdict. I can't say right now what the Kentucky law specifies, but I believe It Is from $lCTrfo $100 fine.
Mr. J. O. Durkee ("The Coal Industry," Pittsburgh): It appears to me that we are apparently crossing our wires in regard to the special teach ing of men. Mr. Roberts, if I remember accurately, stated that a certain man in Montana, by having special men for the different vocations, had acquired great efficiency, not only in the matter of securing greater pro duction. but with greater safety.
We are led to believe from the paper, quoting from it, that the day of the old miner is passing, who was driller, miner, and all the other accomplishments that go to make up a mine. That has been divested in a number of different men. Is it our impression, or are we led to believe, then, that the specializing of the different occupations of men, in a mine, is going to lessen the efficiency of men, or make them more dangerous, or what are we led to believe concerning that?
Chairman Tillson : ;sMr- Durkee, I can give my impressions as X have read these papers in the past. It seems to me that Mr. Willis' intent was to indicate that the Increased specialization of all of our industry left an aching void which most of us had not as yet filled, and due to that the standards of Interest 3Jf our men in the industry had been lessened in the particular application of their minds to their jobs.
It seems as though_it came down to a point where we realized that what was very largely required in this present-day unrest and inefficient production was the development of the interest of the workman in his workmanship. Tn dayTFgone by, when the school of apprenticeship was in vogue, and a man actually had to pay in years of labor and his sup port for learning a trade, he was a skilled worker who had considerable pride in the work which .he did and, therefore, performed it with ability, completeness, and at the same time with safety to himself, as far as means permitted.
Sl'KCIA I.IZATION TENDS TO LESSEN INTEREST IN WORK
Now, by a tendency, with the specialization of certain fields, to limit the horizon of a man's1 viewpoint in regard to the work in which he is engaged, we have takenjaway his interest to a certain degree, by reason of
Mining Section
S45
the fact that he becomes a machine-like automaton In his labors. The
reason these two papers come before you now is due to the realization that the problem of mutual interest between the executive side of business
and the more manual side otJiusiness had a correlation with the intense
consideration of the subject orsafety to the workmen, and io the public at
large, because a man who is satisfied, contented, and really interested in
his work and in what he is doing, will also be interested in the way in
which he does his work, and will, furthermore, appreciate that the best
way is the safest way. Therefore, the subjects are before you, with, a
desire for complete discussion, in the hope that those methods, which we can adopt toward developirij.gr all men in industry to take a broader In
terest and a more concentrated interest in their own industry, in their
own work, will be brought forward. The possibilities are greatjf any concern more openly indicating to
its muckers or trammers the necessity for their making production on a
proper basis, in order that they support allied departments, the coal
breaker, or the concentrating mill, and ultimately the smelters and the
consumers, who are so vitally dependent on his Individual efforts that
really a worker is performing a function toward the world at large in
doing his mechanical share oCXabor.
As a homely illustration in the zinc industry, it seems to me that the
very fact that things come so close to home to a man when he realizes
that this shovelful of ore that he Is placing in a car is needed in order
that he ultimately may benefit by having a zinc sheet beneath his stove
In his own home or his wife may have eyelets of zinc in her corsets
would bring to him a realization that his productivity Is necessary for
the welfare of himself in many indirect ways, and his neighbors at large, and he will feel then that he Js one unit in partnership with industry in
according the good things which are enjoyed by himself and others.
I hope there will be discussion as to how we can best stimulate pride
in workmanship In our workers, shift foremen and everybody else, giving them a breadth of horizon in which they feel their responsibility to the
world at large.
- -
Mb. R. D. Hai.r. ("Coal Age51!: It appears to me very much as if we lay
too much stress upon preparing mine foremen, shift bosses, etc., for their
work, and too little on the varied forms of occupation in the mines of possibly a lower order, but ijx which a great deal of intelligence can be
used. We lay too much emphasis on the bossing of the other fellow, and too little on the man being an efficient boss of his own work.
As I go around the mines, =1-have come to the conclusion that our min
ers today, while they are specialists, doing nothing else but a certain
kind of labor, day after day. are doing it worse than ever they did it before. I have seen heading! that were driven away back. I think, in about the year I860 that were very much better than any I have seen
today, and there is a general disposition today to slight work because
there doesn't seem to be an intense interest in the way in which it is done and I really believe whaLwe need is education, not applying directly
846
Eighth Safety Congress
to the directing forceslof the mine, but to apply to positions which we are likely to regard SW inferior.
I don't think they are inferior, because they pay good wages, sometimes
better than the foremen of the mine. We have gotten into the habit of
thinking that it doesn't require much intelligence to dig coal, but that the
man who is to show him and who is to watch him do the work should re
quire all the intelligence. I think we have overlooked the fact that the
men who perform the work are intelligent artisans. We don't have schools
for motonnen, miners, drivers; we don't have schools for dumpers, and
we don't have schools tor mining except for some man -who wants to bet
ter his position.
^
I think if we would TpSt the idea that the man who performs his duties
around the mine is a~man really worth while, no matter whether he
is dumping rock, loading coal, or whether he is shooting it down, that it
is something worth while that he should be taught to perform properly, I
think we would find an entirely different aspect would be given to the
work around the mine. L
EltPLOTMEST OF WOJfES
As to women, I was?Sbry much interested to find that in Colorado in nearly every office there was one woman employed as a clerk. Strange io say, we have gottercground to using nothing but male help in mines for clerical work. Stenographers are almost unknown in these little mine offices. In the larger offices, they appear in larger numbers, but in the small local offices, it is very rarely that you see any women. I think it would be better if there were. I think the order and general ap pearances of the officeS^Would be improved. It i3 very disgusting to go around to the average mine office and see how dirty they are and how dirty the men go about. Of course, they have some very dirty work. Many of them have to go out and crawl over the cars. We know that, but they seem to delight in having that mine office as gloomy and dirty and unattractive as it can possibly be.
In. Colorado they hadiiTf given, the matter much attention, hut they had managed to get a few woman workers around the mine office. Of course, in Pennsylvania it is customary to have a lot of women around the mines. That could only be donejin places where there is an idea that mine work will be permanent. There are many other industries that could be intro duced in a mine ragiorr in which women are employed, the making of overalls, etc. I don't see, however, how isolated camps, which only have a limited time to operate, could do that. I think our camps are altogether too mannish. There are too many single men and too little settling down to the business of life, tChd it would be very much better for our whole mining life and organization if we could change that condition.
Chairman Tii.i.sox: The final paper on this session's program is on "Labor Turnover and Its Relation to Mine Accidents," by Mr. EL EL Bach. Mr. Bach is now^Director of the Americanization Bureau. State of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia. I expected Mr. Bach here. Since he is not here. I will read the paper.
Mining Section
847
LABOR TURNOVER AND ITS RELATION TO MINE ACCIDENTS
ES. E. Bach, Director, Americasizatiox Bureau, State of Pesssitvasia, Fixaxce Building, Philadelphia, Pa.
This is a subject of great Importance to the mining industry and one worthy of most careful consideration, and deserving of a most exhaustive investigation. To arrive at shy reliable conclusion in this matter, it is necessary that every step in The process of reasoning should be fortified by ample records obtained first hand from reliable sources in the mining Industry. I know no industry^ which has less reliable records than this one in which we are so greatly interested. I know that the United States Bureau of Mines has been trying for many years, to standardize mine acci dent records. It has sent to theyarious collieries, printed forms upon which have been itemized the specific accidents which are most commonly used in the compilation of records, immediately following a National Safety Con gress, new records are begun and are religiously kept for a short time and then the ardor languishes and the records die. The purpose of hav-
ALL MIXIXO COM PASIES SHOULD USE SAME ACCIDENT FORMS
ing all mining companies use the same accident forms is very com
mendable for the reason that comparisons can then be made between companies with some degree of intelligence. I personally know that these forms have been compiled after a most careful examination of the best accident records available and can be had without cost to any company. Although they have been distributed for a number of years, I will venture the assertion that there are not one dozen mining com panies in the whole "United States which are using this form from the Bureau of Mines. As long a such conditions prevail, there can be no reliable mining statistics; there can be no basis of comparison as be tween companies, and there can be no concerted effort toward the elim ination of even a common accident.
Since the compensation laws of Pennsylvania^ have become effective, there have been some few -earmarks of reliability as to the various ac cident records in industry. Tet, those of you who have to do with the accident records of a miningrcompany, where competition between vari ous sections has been keen And where bonuses have been given for re duction in number of mine Accidents, know how easy it is to camou flage records.
You are aware that the labor turnover side of the proposition is re plete -with "voluminous fund--of information and available records along these lines." It would seem to me that a large industry, ranking as does mining in this great country of ours, should take some steps to ward compiling adequate records along all practicable lines. I am quite sure that from the purely * selfish side of hard dollar economy, such a course would be highly justifiable.
By labor turnover is meant the employment of too many poor men
S4S
- Eighth Scifety Congress
to get a standard organization. There was a time in the history of
mining when the employment of a great number of men seemed to hare
no meaning whatever. New men appeared at the pit very morning for a
job and were hired. Others who had worked in the pit appeared with
the same mathematical regularity at the pay window for their money
because they were going to leave their job. No one seemed to think
there was anything in this process which might be translated into dollars
and cents upon the debit side of the ledger.
i
Since the advent df the efficiency engineer, there has been created in
all the large industries, what is known as the employment department.
Its purpose is the selection and the keeping of the right man in the right
place. No more "sqiHEre pegs in round holes." No more bright boys en
tering a "blind alley"^ occupation. It is a proven fact that ninety-seven
out of every hundred boys stick to the trade or occupation which they
elect at the onset and in the final analysis it is discovered that this is the trade which they are best fitted to follow. There is no better field for
an ambitious boy than mining, because it contains thirty-five trades and
occupations. One oflThe most effective methods for reducing the labor turnover in any industry is to give vocational training, through the public
schools, to the boys in mining towns. Industry might well invest a few
thousand dollars in mecessary equipment and place it in charge of the schools.
TIIK J-Kom.CM of STAUIUtlNC [.ABOR IX INDUSTRY
It is a commonly accepted fact that every time one man replaces anoth er, it is at a cost ot"reai dollars and cents to any company, no matter how seemingly nieniaL the job. Personnel, welfare, industrial relation ship, and all other departments in industry, under whatever name, which have to do with tlie human factor in industry, have for their objective the reduction of labor turnover. The greatest problem which confronts
industry today is that of the reduction of labor turnover or the stabilis
ing of labor in industry.
.This is especially applicable to the mining industry because of the great percentage of foreign-born miners. Where no effort is made to give them an intelligent understanding and a working conception of their job, a decent place in which to live, adequate recreation for themselves and children, places to worship- God in the manner which they choose, facili
ties for self improvement and for the education of their children, you will find that the labor turnover is enormous and a most costly proposition. Immigration has practically ceased, and the mining industry now faces the problem of holding the men which it has and having those men so efficiently trained and so well contented that the depletion in the number of men employed must not effect the.volume in production.
The process for the accomplishment of this seemingly impossible task will very much resemble the process of "making two blades of grass grow where formerly but ontr blade grew." It will require a most stringent con servation of the health and strength of the workman, accentuated by the
improvement of his working, living, and social conditions. He must as-
Mining Section
849
one. fn return for this consideration, a loyal and interested attitude to ward bis work which will guarantee to his employer a staple and regular
production at a reasonable cost. Industrial unrest, whether it be due to anarchistic doctrine, Bolshevist
propaganda, bombastic utterances by organizers of labor, unreasonable attitude of the captains of industry, uncertainty of governmental policies, undue influence of other countries, or any one of a thousand or more other reasons, must be allayed or this seething, boiling caldron will over flow and will submerge all reason, in which case it might invite the call ing forth of those brute forces which hark back to the time when battle grounds were staged for the survival of the Attest.
A satisfactory reduction of labor turnover will be accomplished when a more general practice is made of the teaching of the lowly Nazarene. as comprehended in the Golden Rule.
An accident is something jshich should not happen. A successful in vestigation of an accident proves an individual a liar who says that it should happen. We are coming to have a different conception of the meaning of an accident in -industry. It is no longer possible to write after the name of a killed workman the common sentence of death,'name ly, "Killed as a resul^of"his own carelessness." Accidents are no longer considered "Acts of^God." Safety men who have made a careful study of all accidents, have come to the conclusion that 75 per cent of all accidents are preventable. Seventy-five thousand (75,000) men are annually killed in the United States through accident. Thirty-five thousand (35,000) of these deaths are charged to industry. In round numbers, there are annually two million (2,000,000) non-fatal accidents in the United States. There are one hundred sixty thousand (160,000) accidents to the eye annually. Of one hundred thousand (100^000) persons that are blind in this country, ten thousand (10,000) have lost their sight as a result of accidents in in dustry. Loss of time due to accidents represents four million, eight hun dred thousand (4,800,000) hours per annum. Aside from the loss to industry from accidents, there is a loss of $2.00 per day through illness and $1.00 per day from medical attention in the United States to thirty million (30,000,000) workers. Of the fourteen million (14,000,000) deaths in the United States due toTlisease and accidents, it is estimated that three hundred fifty thousandZT350,000) could be prevented.
ACCIDENTS DUE TO INABILITY TO READ AND UNDERSTAND ENGLISH
To be specific as to one of.4ke real causes of accident, 1 desire to state that there are three million (3,000,000) workmen in Industry In the United States who are unable to speak or understand English. There are in Pennsylvania, alone, five hundred thousand (500,000) who cannot speak English. The mining-industry of Pennsylvania contained in 1916, three hundred twenty-eight thousand, five hundred and five (328,505) coal miners comprising thirty-five nationalities. Of the total number of one hundred eighty-four thousand, eight hundred forty-four (184,844) acci dents reported in the State of Pennsylvania, the mining industry is
850 ^Eighth Safety Congress
credited with fifty-one thousand, eight hundred eighty-three (61,883). Of the total number of sixty-nine thousand, nine hundred twenty (69,920) compensation accidents! in Pennsylvania, the mining industry is credited with twenty-three thousand, one hundred sixty-one (23,161). Of the $11,639,915 compensation paid in Pennsylvania to all industries, the min ing Industry received $5,125,749. Incidentally the wages lost to the miners because of accidents amounted to $3,040,304. This is out of proportion to all other Industries and there seems to be but one explanation that the predominating numbetlof foreign-bom workman is responsible for this undue number of accidents. The most illuminating information to carry out this statement is the following recently authorized by Director Van. H. Manning, of the United States Bureau of Mines:
"That the inability ter read and understand English places the foreignbom in danger of his life, is the striking fact brought out in his last monthly statement of mine fatalities by Van. H. Manning, Director of the United States Bureau of Mines.
'"The rate of accidents among the non-English speaking miners is not only greater in all the great mining districts of the country, but the increased ratio is uniform in all districts. This demonstrates clearly that the Inability to read warning signs, to comprehend fully the company's instructions, and to understand their foremen, places an unnecessary hazard upon the foreign-born.
"The figures show the difference in the rate of serious accidents in the mines among the English speaking and those from the countries of continental Europe, almost entirely non-English speaking-
KIGURES FOR PENNSYLVANIA
"In the Pennsylvania anthracite mines, 43 per cent of the employees are English speaking and this number is charged with only 28.8 per cent of the fatalities, whereas the other 56 per cent sustained 71 per cent of the fatalities. This is a comparative ratio of 699 to 1,268 against the non-English speaking. =
"In the Pennsylvania bituminous mines the ratio is 771 to 1,123 and in the West Virginia district, 790 to 1,424.
"Mr. Manning concludes his report with this striking statement: `Had the fatality and injury rate for the English-speaking American been main tained throughout the three groups, there would have been a saving of 716 fatalities and 900 very serious injuries, a strong argument for Amer icanization and education of the miner.' "
From the personal Investigations that I had the privilege of making covering a period of sevTlH years, I feel perfectly justified In stating with out fear of successful contradiction that the accidents in the mining industry are in direct ratio to the labor turnover; reduce the labor turn over and you lessen tbe number of accidents.
DiscussroN-
Mr. C. W. Goodat.k (Anaconda Copper Mining Co., Butte) : Mr. Chair man, with the help of Mr, BgardrpatJ, we started to prepare some curves
Mining Section
851
showing; the relation of accidents in the Anaconda Mine in Butte, and we didn't find quite what we expected.
We have among the men employed in Butte, 53 per cent from non-Eng lish speaking countries. ThJ doesn't imply that 53 per cent of the men cannot speak English at all, but they are from non-English speaking coun tries, and I think a very interesting line of thought has been suggested by Mr. Fay's paper, as to the number of accidents occurring among the men who could not speak English, but the Operating Department is al ways making an excuse or^explanation of high accident rate as our safety measures are not bringing about results. Their assertion is that it is due to the great labor turnover.
STANDARDIZATION OF ACCIDENT RECORDS
Mr. Gidley: The standardization of accident records depends a great
deal upon the care exercised by each individual company in making those
records. For instance, some-companies are very careful in going into
every detail regarding all accidents. Some companies require an accident
report completely filled outJifor some very slight scratch, while other
companies give an accident of that character absolutely no consideration.
Until such time as those things can be gone into and properly adjusted so
that all accidents will receivelthe same consideration from all employers,
why it seems to me it is beyond the range of all possibility to get any
where in standardizing accident statistics.
You take a man who occupies a position like Mr. Fay, for instance.
Those things would have a tendency to benefit a person in his posi
tion wonderfully. If the very character of the accident could be gone
into thoroughly, requiring a report, so that every operating company
would have a standard to go by. then the records gotten out by Mr. Fay
would be of material benefit to the entire mining industry throughout
the country. I have endeavored on several occasions to compare mine accidents of
various operating companies with the Phelps-Dodge Corporation, but due
to the fact that accidents which require a report from some companies
are paid absolutely no attention by other operating companies, renders
it Impossible to get anywhere near a comparative statement.
Chairman Tit-i.sox: I can't second too strongly these comments regard
ing the comparative value of accident statistics, as I have long felt that
if you are going to spend money In doing what you should do, you had
better get busy and make your-records so that you can compare with every
other line, so you can.see whether you are getting anywhere or not. You
had better change your methods and do things right. It seems to me it
is like a man attempting to nm a business without taking an inventory.
If he has a big fund of wealth,, he may think he Is making money, though
he may be losing, and not know it. If you don't get busy, those of you
who are not keeping your accident statistics in refined form so that you
won't have to worry in future years, you are wasting that much money.
It is not business to keep your accident records in any other than a re
fined form.
-
S52
Eighth Safety Congress
ilr. Fay, from my conversations with him, would desire a greater re finement than he is able to get. He has felt that there is so much diffi culty in getting a trutT report on a general basis that it was foolhardy to ask for anything further, and it is quite a derogatory thing that we have accredited to ourselves^ that we are in this condition. We have had an Accident Statistics Committee of the Mining Section for the five years since it has been in operation, but there, hasn't been the support of in dustries in taking the trouble to get the information and get it to the Accident Statistics Committee, and Mr. Fay gets them anyway in his offi cial capacity. He has been the Chairman all along. He is the best posted of any man inTthe country on mining accidents, and he finds It difficult with all the official Federal backing he has.
I think we have a function to perform as disciples so that people get information, so that we can realize whether it would profit us to get sys tems that are good when we compare the relative value of life and prop erty with the accidents of some plants.
niFKrcttr.rnc.s ik staxdardizwg
M. F.w: May I interject a word on standardization? I have worked
on this proposition for the past six or seven years until I am both bald
and gray. There are forty-eight states in the Union and those that have
metal mining have metal-mining laws, and those that have coal mining
have coal-mining laws and each state tries to lay out what shall be re
ported. what companies shall report, and what not.
There are some five-thousand coal-mining companies in the United
States, and each \vants_io be a law unto himself and use his own judgment.
There are three thousand metal-mining companies, and it Is just about
the same with them. There are five thousand quarries, operators, etc., and
each acts according to7fijs own mind. When it comes to standardizing, it
is rather visionary. IirTs almost an impossibility and I feel a little dis
couraged myself. I have worked hard at it. I suppose some good work
can be done. I have distributed, some of those tabulation sheets, and I
can vouch for about one hundred metal-mining companies, who are using
them-
--
Ciiairm.v.v Tiu.son: , How many coal-mining companies?
-Mr. F.w; About ten ~or fifteen. The metal mines, however, keep writ
ing in asking us to setfd twenty-five, thirty, or forty sheets at a time,
and those companies are sending in the reports. All of the larger com
panies are sending in A-l records and I feel that for the larger companies,
we are getting representative figures, even in the metal-fnining industry.
We have no data on the coal mining. We attempted tile work on coal
mine accidents and we have worked, out fairly well on the reporting
fatalities.
--^
I am contemplating to' stick to the monthly statement for coal-mining
industries. I hope we can get a clerk to work in the different states and
dig out of the slate records something which they already have, and
which are complete records in the state, but until I can do that. I can't
see much hope of real standardization.
Mining Section
853
Chairman Tillson: I don't know but what it would be in order for
this body to show its liveness by the formulation and passing; of a reso
lution urging the value of ^sufficient funds being expended to give the
mining industry records which the states themselves have not been able
to compile. If this meets the approval of the body, let's do it.
Aik. Pay: If I can get fTB.OOO for the accident work at Washington,
that would help. AIr. John L. Boakdman (Anaconda Copper Alining Co., Butte): I
think Mr. Pay or the Federal Government wouldn't have much difficulty
in getting standardization- of accident reports if they didn't have such a
complicated notion of what in accident really is. They want us to report, a number of accidents for the number of men employed. We might have
two thousand men employed. I think it is the province of the Federal Gov
ernment to standardize this thing, but I think it ought to be reported on the basis of actual risk run, which means so many accidents per so many
shifts run, and not men employed, and I think if it were worked on a
basis of that kind, everybody"would be willing to report on that basis.
Chairman Tir-t-sox: if he can.
I think Mr. Fay's intention is to get it that way .
Mr. Fay: In the coal-mining industry, it is difficult to get the hours of
labor, or the days, or shifts, because so much of the work is done by con tract by ton, yard, foot, fathom, etc. To get the actual hours performed in the coal mine is almost impossible. In some phases of metal mining, it
Is equally as bad, especiallyijjn contract work. If it is possible for us to
get the actual number of days' labor, it can then be worked out on any
other unit having the eightdiour shift previously. That is the basis on
which they ought all to belreported to get comparative figures. That takes in the actual time supposed to he put in on the industry. If we can get on that basis, we can ge better results.
Mr. W. D. Schopiri.ii (Safety Engineer. Inspiration Consolidated Cop
per 'Co., Aliami Ariz.) : Wouldn't it be as well to put it on a basis
of per thousand tons mined? If you put it cn the per thousand tons
mined basis, wouldn't that get away from the amount of time your men are underground. Wouldn't it standardize it?
Mr. Fay: Not necessarily. I am handling it both "ways. Mr. ScnoPiKi.n: So are ffE
Chairman Tii.i-Son: Of eoErse. the viewpoint is very common that the
hazard is dependent chiefly upon the length of time the man spends under
unsafe conditions. He might be standing still, but he would be under that hazard for that length_pf time.
RESOLUTION FOR APPROPRIATION OK Pt-NDS FOR DETAII.RD MINE ACCIDENT STATISTICS
Mr. R. H. Skip (New Jersey- Zinc Co.. Franklin, N. J.) : I will make that motion as you stated it, or as you suggested: That the Alining Sec tion of the National Safety"Council recommend to the director of the Bureau of Mines that sufficient money be appropriated to provide means
854
Eighth Safety Congress
for securing from all the states more detailed mine-accident statistics, for tbe benefit of the mining profession and industry.
Mr. Pay: May I add to that, utilization of standardization? (The motion was seconded by Mr. Gidley and unanimously carried, and Mr.- Shearman, the Secretary, was instructed to see that a notification of the above motion be sent to Mr. Manning, Director of tlie Bureau of Mines.) Adjournment.
FRIDAY MORNING SESSION
HE meeting was
Xpresiding. Chairman Tiixson:
enied to order at 9:30 A. M., Mr. B. F. Tillson Mr. M. W. Price is on the program for the first
paper. He is not present, so I thought it might be wise for us to ask Dr.
Ivnoefel, who is to present Mr. D. J. Parker's paper, to present that first,
although in some ways it is unwise to vary from the program. I haven't
had any word as to whether or not Mr. Price is coming.
Db. August F. Ka-okfei. (U. S. Bureau of Mines, Terre Haute, Xnd.) : Mr. Parker asked me to presfnt his regrets at his inability to be here. As
you all know, there has this week been held a dedication of the Bureau
of Mines, and as there are some two hundred Mine Bureau men in the field, situated throughout the country, these various men, mining engi
neers, car foremen, etc., have been called in for the dedication, and now
that they are in, they are holding their annual conference. It was im possible for Mr. Parker to get away, as he is the mining engineer at the head of safety. He asked me to represent the IT. S. Bureau of Mines and present this paper. _ .
THE DESIRABILITY! FOR STANDARDIZING MINE RES CUE TRAINING AND PLAN FOR STANDARDIZATION
D. J. Parker, Mine Safett Engineek, U. S. Bureau of Mixes Experiment Station, Pittsburgh:, Pa.
The modern mine rescue~breathing apparatus is a self-contained device, the function of which is to permit the wearer to penetrate irrespirable gases formed fay mine firesTJr mine explosions.
There are several types of breathing apparatus,'one of which depends on liquid air for the breathing^upply, a second depends upon the generation of oxygen from a chemical compound, a third depends upon normal air under pressure, and a fourth, which is most widely known, in America, depends upon pure oxygenjnder high pressure for its air supply.
The history of breathing^ apparatus dates from the year 1868, when a device was used similar to the submarine diver's helmet. Practically all succeeding forms were bviilt along similar lines until IS96, when the present portable self-contained type was devised and used abroad. The first self-containe.d apparatus to be used in tbe United States were four
Alining Section
855
seta imported in 1907 by th'e^Anaconda Copper Mining Company oC Butte,
Montana. In September, ISO'S, breathing apparatus was purchased by the
Technologic Branch of the United States Geological Survey, for use in
mine rescue and recovery work, which at that time was in charge of that
branch.
Today the'Bureau of Mines has ten rescue cars, five rescue trucks, and
eight safety stations distributed throughout the mining regions of the
United States, equipped with some 300 complete sets of such apparatus,
while several thousand sets are owned by State mining departments and
mining companies having rescue crews trained in their use.
Breathing apparatus may be divided into two types as regards the length
of time the apparatus will furnish pure air on one charging; these are
the half-hour type, principally used on vessels or where men are only
exposed to dangerous atmospheres for short periods of time, and the two-
hour type which is the kind used in mines. In mine rescue and recovery
work the apparatus wearer may have to travel considerable distances from his base and two hours has been adopted as the maximum period of
service compatible with lightness and convenience of portability. Only
the two-hour type is considered in this paper. In the United States there has been a steady growth in the use of
breathing apparatus by the mining industry. As with many other new
devices when they first appear mine operators and owners were at first
decidedly skeptical as to the merits of the apparatus. However, owing to
the progressive spirit of numerous operators, both coal and metal, the
ingenuity of apparatus manufacturers, and persistent effort or the Bureau
of Mines, a more intelligent ^understanding of the use and limitations of
the apparatus has been attained.
As a result of the combined efforts of those appreciating the necessity for such a device for safely penetrating noxious atmospheres, a tremendous
impetus has been given to Itsjuse In the mining industry, especially within
the last three or four years.
I believe that all of you will agree that the apparatus occupies an
essential and permanent position in the mining industry, so It does not
seem necessary at this timezto point out instances where lives have been saved directly by the use of the apparatus, or to give even approximately
the figures showing the value; of the vast amount of property saved to the
nation annually.
z-
Today there is not a mining district In. the United States that cannot
on short notice in time of disaster obtain the services of trained men equipped with apparatus either from State or privately owned rescue
stations or from the BureauTbf Mines. Most of the larger companies also
have rescue equipment and organized safety crews.
STANDARDIZATION OF TRAINING METHODS
On account of the constantly increasing demand for apparatus training, the Bureau of Mines has for some time appreciated the necessity for a standardized course of such training.
Thorough and systematic^ training are essential to Insure the safe
856
Eighth Safety Congress
and economic use of tlie^ apparatus- Such training can best be insured through standardization"nef training methods. As a result of a stand* ardized course, it is believed that more attention will be paid to the selection of the proper ~type of men for rescue crews, efficiency will be increased, and higher appreciation of the value of the apparatus will result.
Tlie reasons for standardization are, in fact, so obvious that it hardly seems necessary to dwelT further on this phase of the subject. It might be mentioned, however, that there are two essential reasons, in addition to those already menticflJed, for such standardization.
(1) it is the policy of the Bureau of Mines, upon request, to give a thorough examination to? men trained either at privately or State-owned rescue stations, with a view of qualifying them for mine rescue certificated* issued by the Federal Government. A standard course of training would most assuredly be tremendously advantageous to both the examiner and the examined.
(2) Trained men going from one mine to another mine would be decidedly at a disadvantage when called upon to wear apparatus, assuming that the men at each, mine had received a different course of instraetSon. This would hold true even though their training had been with the same type of apparatus. As an illustration. It has -been known to occur that where one instructor would require the evacuation of the apparatus of an normal air, another woulcT require the inflation of the breathing **Tg wtn exhaled air, while another would permit the wearer to don the same type of apparatus containingTvormal air. Such diversity of instruction may result in serious difficulty;for the wearer.
THE PLAN
It is believed that a coarse similar to that pursued by the Bureau of Mines in the standardization of 'first-aid instruction should be followed in this case, i. e.. by tlie wide dissemination of a publication on the subject.
1 will now attempt, without going into details, to give a few of the fundamental principles that might form a basis for such a publication.
On account of the extremely hazardous work of wearing rescue ap paratus in deadly atmospheres, too much attention cannot be given to the selection of an apparatus and the training of the wearer.
Many of us are inelinedJto think of a course in apparatus training as so many hours under oxygen in an irrespirable atmosphere. In reality, this phase of the course, though essential, is second in importance to a thor ough and scientific knowledge of the use and the mechanical and physio logical limitations of the apparatus.
No one should be accepted for training without first receiving a thor ough physical examinationTby a competent physician or surgeon.
The length of the course' should not be less than five periods of four hours each. At least eight hours should be spent under oxygen and in an irrespirable atmosphere. Wherever possible the apparatus work should be given underground. The course should include standard lectures on each of the several types ^ol apparatus now in use in this country. Such
Mining Section
857
lectures should dwell at length on. the various tests of the apparatus, in order that the wearer may know to a certainty that his apparatus is functioning properly before entering a zone of poisonous gases. A person to be skilled in the use of apparatus should not only have a thorough knowledge of the use and care of the apparatus and oxygen pump, but he must also have a working knowledge of mine gases, that is, he should be familiar with their methods of occurrence, physical properties, effects on man, and methods of testing for their presence, particularly those gases encountered after mine Area and explosions. Knowledge of at least two types of (lame safety lamps is desirable on the part of the apparatus man trained for work In coal mines. This is not so essential in the training of metal miners. The standardized course shonld specify the pnrity and method of manufacture of oxygen to be used in the apparatus. Oxygen mannfactnred by the electrolytic process may contafn a certain percentage of hydrogen. The Bureau of Mines has. therefore, tentatively specified to manufacturers who supply oxygen for ie in mine rescue apparatus, that the oxygen shall not contain more than 2.5 per cent nitrogen nor more than 0.2 per cent hydrogen. Also the purity of the regenerating material should be specified.
Tn addition, the course should deal at some length with the method of procedure following mine fires and explosions, including the duties of the captain of the rescue squad.
Publication regarding such course of standardization is now contem plated by the Bureau of Mines.
The necessity for such standardization is now. I believe, universally recognized among the manufacturers and users of Breathing apparatus: by the whole-hearted cooperation of apparatus manufactnrers. safety engineers, and the mining public such standardized training will be established and oxygen-breathing apparatus made a safer and more effi cient agent for the help of mine owner and miner in times of trouble and disaster.
Chairman Tir.r.sox: Gentlemen, we are indebted to Dr. Knoefel for presenting this paper, and we shad be pleased to have active discussion of the points raised in it. orany other points which come to your mind in regard to the method of rescue contest which yon saw take place at Pitts burgh. which probably would bring to mind any features which it might be advisable to try to improve upon, if such were possible.
DISCUSSION
Prof. R. 3vr. Raymond (Columbia University. New York City): I would
like to know if any here have used or heard of some one wbo has made use of the Gibbs apparatus.^ This has been found very- valuable by the Bureau of Mines.
(Some one suggested that John L. Boardman. of Butte, was familiar with all the different kinds :bt apparatus. Mr. Boardman was not present at this time, but was sent foE)
Mjb. G. B. Southward (West Virginia Coke & Coal Co., Elkins, W. Va.) : While we are waiting for Mr, Boardman, there is just one point that Mr.
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Eighth Safety Congress
Parker's paper did not bring out. It seems to me tbat it is very important in mine-rescue training to have a recurrence of training possibly every six months. I took the training two years ago. and haven't had on a hel
met since. If I had toTTse one today, I wouldn't know how. I think it is a very important point to be considered.
:Chairman Tillson XT think your point is very well taken, Mr. South ward. I have heard it expressed before.
Mr. Oscar A. DingmAit^ (East Butte Copper Mining Co., Butte, Mont.) ; I might say, before Mr. Boardman gets here, that he is in charge of the party and he does most of the mine-rescue work and first-aid work in Butte. It is handled through the A. C. M., and all of the other com panies follow what the A. C. M. does. This paper given here has been car ried out practically to the letter.
(Mr. Boardman entered the room.) Chafemax Tir.LSON: 'Mr. Boardman, I don't know whether you have had a chance to read Mr. Parker's paper or not, but it seems as if every body wants to hear from you in regard to Gibbs vs. Draeger apparatus. Mr. N. D. Hubbell (\y. J. Rainey, Uniontown, Pa.) : e started out with the Pleuss, not the Draeger apparatus. . We first picked the Pleuss as superior to the Draeger. Now we have taken the Gibbs on account of the fact that the oxygen supply is automatic. In the second place, all the apparatus is on the man's back, and in crawling over a fall of slate,, get ting through a comparatively small opening, it is desirable that the man have nothing on his chesE that could in any way compress or shut off his breathing. You take a soft breathing bag on his chest and it is quite likely to become compressed so he is not getting a proper supply through it. The Gibbs has everything on the back and for that reason we chose the Gibbs. It is true that the Pleuss and the Draeger have a continuous flow of oxygen that has to be adjusted by the wearer. We figured that the wearer had enough ojr his mind without worrying about whether his oxygen supply was used J0p or not.
TYRES OF MINE RESCUE APPARATUS
MR. Joiix L. Boardman (Anaconda Copper Mining Company, Butte): Unfortunately, I did notlliear the paper, but Mr. Dingman informed me
of some of the points in.:lthe paper.
In regard to the question just brought up with reference to the Gibbs as against the Draeger,: think that there is no comparison at all be
tween the new type Gihhs and Paul and the Draeger machines, all
the points being in favor of the Gibbs and Paul types for the reason
that such types of machines as Draeger, Pleuss, Westphalia, and the socalled constant-feed machines are now' rapidly becoming obsolete. The reason for that is that this type of apparatus gives a constant feed of
from two to three or four liters of oxygen per minute. We have records
of cases where a man might use as high as six liters of oxygen under
certain circumstances.
--
The machines are now provided with a by-pass, but the by-pass always
makes it necessary for the man to manipulate the machine in addition
Mining Section
859
to the work he is doing. As opposed to that machine, we have the Gibbs
and Paul types, which feed the oxygen only as the man requires it. These machines have a reducing valve which reduces the oxygen pressure so that it can be easily handled by means of an admission valve.
This admission valve is controlled by the voinrne of oxygen In the
breathing bag, so that when the breathing bag becomes partially empty, the valve admits more oxygen into the bag. This type of machine will
undoubtedly take the place of all constant-feed machines within the next
few months, depending, of course, upon the desire of different companies
to change over from one type to another.
We have found in Butte that it Is absolutely necessary that a man
should take a physician's examination before he is even admitted to
take mine-rescue training. ^rJTolIowing this line of procedure, we have done more actual work with breathing apparatus in Butte in the last
three years than has been done in all the rest of the United States put
together, and we have lost Tmt one man wearing breathing apparatus.
We have saved quite a number of lives by taking men out of places Im
prisoned by gas.
In the case of the one man that was lost, since be is not here to tell us what happened, we don't know exactly, but here is what I suspect: The man was wearing a half-hour Draeger machine. He had been trained to
wear both the half-hour and the two-hour Draeger types. In the two-
hour Draeger type, our menzare taught to inflate the breathing bag be
fore they enter the gas. That, of course, is to give them a residual air
which permits them to go immediately to work. This man knew better
than to inflate the bag of the half-hour machine, bnt It is just presumed
that he mechanically inflated: the bag of the half-bour as he would the
two-hour machine, and the result was that his bag was full of oxygen.
He had been taught not to open the oxygen valve until the bag,became
flat.
^
You understand, in the half-hour machine, the valve must be manipu
lated by hand. It appears, from investigation of the accident, that this man went in alone, contrary" to the orders of the boss, and walked
perfectly straight for about 200 feet into the drift. He did about five
minutes' work and he had used about five minutes of oxygen out of his
cylinder.
7^
He evidently then got weak! or nervous and started to retrace his steps.
He walked perfectly straight until he got within twenty feet of the fresh
air and then fell and died. We found the man lying face down with nose clip in place, the oxygen feed turned off and no gas of any kind- in the breathing hag. Death was due to lack of oxygen.
The theory that hears this supposition out Is that a man inhaling and
exhaling his own breath through a regenerating can, as a caustic soda can, has no desire to breathe. Respiration is caused by the irritation of carbon, dioxide on the nervous system of the lungs, the respiratory nerves,
and the air that this man wag breathing was going in and out of the bag
through the regenerator and there was no carbon dioxide, no irritation on the lung nerves. The man had no Indication of distress at all. He felt
soo
-Eighth Safety Congress
perfectly normal untlF the oxygen became so low that he simply col lapsed. and then didnit even have strength enough to take off the nose clip. Had this man done a similar amount of work without an oxygen apparatus he never would have become unconscious.
We are making that statement from analysis of gas later which was not very strong, non-pdisonous, and had enough oxygen to keep him alive for considerable longer time than he was in there.
.STAXIUltlJIZIXG TltAIMXK OK THK M EM
In regard to standardizing training. I mentioned the doctor's examina tion. That is the moslt necessary thing in beginning to train a man in mine-rescue work. We^flnd in giving mine-rescue training that it is neces sary to train about three hundred men to get from sixty to eighty good mine rescuers. The mine-rescue man has to have a mixture of several very good qualifications.
First, he must not be too large. He shouldn't weigh over ISO pounds, although (here are some heavy men who are good men. He shouldn't weigh less than 130. He should be given at least a six-day course in the use and care of the machine, as a preliminary course only, and. If possi ble. three days of these: six should be spent in actual mine-rescue work with a trained crew. We find that we get better results by giving a man three days' training in fresh air or in a smoke room and then send ing him down with the regular crew to do regular mine work. We have a larger percentage of our men turn out to be good rescue men than by giving the six-day course of training without actual work, and then let ting them go for a while.
The mine-rescue man has to have considerable nerve at times, although he will acquire this quality if he has a good crew with him. By all means a mine-rescue man should be almost absolutely unexcitable. under any circumstances, because there are exciting circumstances which will come up front time to-time and if he is of excitable nature, he Is likely to cause the crew someTdifficuIty.
Unless a mine-rescueZman. after he has received the six-day training, is put in service, he should be given one-half day or two full hours at least in the smoke room and two hours" instruction at least every three months. I should say that the longer period of inactivity would not do.
If I understand the paper correctly, the intent is to standardize minerescue training throughout the United States. I think that is a remark ably good idea. At the time of our North Butte fire, T presume we had twenty-five or thirty men apply at the gate for service as helmet men who had Bureau of Mines .certificates. To nty personal knowledge, in the early days of the Bureau of Mines, men have received certificates with one day's training, others with two days' and so on up to six. This is not a criticism on the BureffQ of Mines, but more or less criticism on the im possibility of doing the-work properly at that time. These men had the same certificates as men. trained later by the bureau who had the foil six-day course, and we had no way of telling how fit the man was.
Mining Section
861
The result was that we hired a number ot men who worked two or three hours and backed out.
Personally, I believe it would be a good idea to train every man in'the United States who takes up this work with exactly the same hours of training and make this ample, so that when the man leaves one camp and goes to another, this certificate would mean that that man could be relied on as a good mine-rescue man. Otherwise, we are going to have a good deal of trouble.
If a man comes out and applies for mine-rescue work in a time of dis aster. it is necessary that we hire him. If he is not what his certificate represents him to be, there is a chance that he will be killed, or cause the death of some one else by being inefficient. In Butte, we are willing to cooperate with the Bureau'5f Mines in giving any standard course of training that they may prescribe, reserving, of course, the right to add other training to fit the man Tor our own peculiar needs.
I think that is about all the discussion I can give on the paper, since I haven't read it. If there are any questions about what we are doing in Butte, I should be glad toSfiswer them.
Chairma.v Ticlsox: We appreciate your discussion and interest, and later in the session this morning you may have a chance to glance through that paper and any further comments that come up may be brought up later.
MIXE-RESCUE BONUSES
Mr. -I'T. D. Huiirku. (W. J. Rainey. Uniontown, Pa.): There Is one ques
tion I would like to ask Mr. RcSardman. We are rather new in mine-rescue
upwork. We are using it for coal mines and the question has come
as to
whether or not we will pay our men a set bonus or a percentage bonus of their wages, just on account of the fact that they are qualified mine-
rescue men. Our men are doing other work all the time. Some are minor
officials. The question comes up whether we shall pay them extra for
doing their regular work merely because they are qualified as mine-rescue
men, the idea being, of course, that if they did not report for mine-rescue
drill once in three months or once a month on first aid, they would likely
not be fit.
--
Mr. Boaruniax : All I can do is to tell you what we do in Butte. Dur
ing the war we had twenty-eight operating mines and some of the fore
men were very lax in their Interest in mine-rescue work, so I asked the
general superintendent to attempt to systematize the work, and we got
it done in this way: All mins employing 100 men or less are required
to keep a trained crew of five men working in that mine. They may work
at anything that the mine affords for them to do. Mines employing over
100 men" maintain a crew of ten men or more. Some of them have as
high as sixty, but ten are required. These men are paid their regular
wages for the time occupied injEaking mine-rescue training. They are not
supposed to be paid for takings first-aid training.
As soon as a man completes his training, he is given an additional duty
which we call a "fire bug." He might be a repair man in 'the mine or
work at any regular work. The other men might go to work at 8 in the
862
-- Eighth Safety Congress
morning while he goes to work at 9. Then he acts as "fire bug" from
4 to 5. He goes through the mine on regular beats and looks for fire. He
works eight hours, coming in an hour later and going home an hour later,
but he is paid 50 cents extra. That has been recently raised to 75 cents.
We recognize our helmet men in that way, by giving them an eight-hour
shift with 75 cents extra pay, and the station men are to report a man to
the regular timekeeper when he shows up for regular mine-rescue train
ing.
-~
We have about three hundred men drawing such mine-rescue bonuses
and we have an additional three hundred, approximately, waiting for po
sitions on the fire-hug crew. You see it will operate in this way: A man
desiring that extra money will ask the foreman if he can take mine-
rescue training, so ha can fill in. Chairman Tiilsox: Mr. Boardman, there is one question that came
to my mind and thatris as to what number of rescue apparatus in your
experience you consider the minimum which should be on hand for use.
the number of outfits?
MINIMU1L NUMBER OF SETS OF RESCUE APPARATUS
Mr. Boardman: I shouldn't have any equipment with less than four
sets, and that is a very small number. The reason for that is that in
any mine-rescue crew, working in a tunnel or mine filled with smoke or
gas, a man is likely to stub his toe and fall down a hole, or a rock may
fail on him and temporarily put him out of commission. That leaves
only three to get him out to fresh air and if any of you men have had any
experience in taking-a man out of a mine, 'you will agree that three is
about the minimum JJiat can be used, especially if the man is delirious. Mb. Seip: I think, Mr. Boardman, what Mr. Tillson means is where you
don't have any otlierrequipment available at short notice. I know that is
the way we are situated and we would have to depend entirely, probably
the first day, on our otvn equipment, and therefore I believe it is desirable
to have enough for two crews of a minimum of four men, and preferably
five. Mr. Orr Woodburn (Globe-Miami District, Globe, Arlz.) :
It is rather
terrifying to have to wait for one crew to go in and wait for possibly two
hours, even though von have a crew waiting at the fresh-air base. We
have taken care of ILby pooling our equipment. The various companies
of the district had twenty sets of equipment, so we have now pooled our
interests on mine rescue and first aid, thereby giving each company
three times the equipment available. Where there are several companies
near each other, I Think arrangements should be made to pool their
equipment.
Mr. Boardman: IT reply to the first question, I stated that four ma
chines would be the. absolute minimum in any installation. I agree with
you if you are goingTo put any equipment in a remote place (and by all
means get a power-driven pump, don't depend on the hand pump) you
should have more equipment.
In regard to Mr. Woodburn's statement, I think he has touched upon a
Mining Section
863
very vital point. Recently, T was called upon to leave Butte and take
some mine-rescue men with me and put out a fire in another mine in
Idaho, a distance of about 200 or 300 miles from Butte. When we got
over there we found them with nine sets of apparatus. Two of these were purchased in 1916 and had never been taken out of the packing cases. Their experience was something like this:
They put seven sets of machines on seven men, of course, and asked
these men to go 1,200 feet through the gas In a drift to play a hose on a fire at the bottom of a raise. These men got in varying distances of 100
feet to 400 feet from the fire and were overcome. Other men rushed in
and helped them out, put them to bed and took the apparatus, re-tested
and recharged it--or thought^ they did--and sent In five other men.
Three of these five succeeded in getting the hose to the fire, hut the
others dropped along the way. They didn't get the nozzle of the hose
pointed right, and two more became unconscious. The man remaining
conscious dragged them 1,000 feet before he fell. Fortunately, they got
them all out.
_
When we got down there, we found by using the bags we took from
Butte, and tearing down all_ their apparatus, we were able to get two
good machines out of their nine. Taking the three we brought from
Butte with us, we had five good machines. I am only telling you this
as an illustration of what might happen if you put in four sets instead
of twenty, or don't keep in gffld condition the apparatus installed.
Up in Butte, we have 65 machines in condition to operate at all
times. We have a total of about 70 machines, or 72, I think. Of course,
we are figuring on 5 or 6 of these being in the shop. That gives us a
constant equipment of about 65 machines. That is just the one com pany. The Butte Superior Black Rock mine has 12; Bast Butte has 6;
North Butte has 8. You seCwe have over 100 machines in- Butte.
In Butte the A. C. M. has two rescue stations and we have a man at
each of the stations on each of the eight-hour shifts who does nothing else
but repair machines and give, them out and take them in when being
used. It is criminal to put in. mine-rescue equipment without making it
the duty of some one to keep it in shape.
The machines should be inspected and .reported on every week. Bach
machine we have goes on this report once a week.
Chairman Tillson : Mr. Boardman, may I ask whether a copy of such
a report can be included in the minutes? I think it would be of value as
a matter of public interest. See page 864. j
Mr. Woodbtjbn: Mr. Boardman. says to make it somebody's duty to in spect the apparatus'. I happen to be one of those men whose duty it was
to inspect apparatus. Of course, I had other duties and most of my time
was being spent on these other duties. It is very easy to neglect this In
spection. You may go in and look over the equipment, but unless you
get out the things and wrestle with them and wear them, you won't be
able to discover the trouble that may develop. I have had machines that
would hold up fine on the weekly test, and the first time we would go
out. something would go wrong.
Mining Section
867
respect-to the condition of apparatus as sent out by the manufacturer.
The development of mine-rescue work in the United States, as you all
know, has been a development first of importation up until the war
broke out, and practically all of the apparatus that was used in the
United States prior to the war was made either in England or in Ger
many. The manufacturers, or rather the distributor, in those days had to
depend very largely upon the exigencies of transportation from foreign
countries to obtain rubber parts and they were, therefore, not able to
know how long such equipment had been in stock prior to shipment.
There were' times, possibly, when parts that were distributed by the
particular company with which I was affiliated at that time were in
stock six months. I doubt if there were any of the parts that remained in
stock longer than that in our own warerooms, but that does not say how
long they might have remained-Ih stock before they were shipped to us. In the early days of manufacture in the United States, it was largely
a matter of necessity, due to the conditions brought about by the war
(at least so far as that company in which I am interested is concerned)
to depend upon other companies to manufacture some of the parts and to
have'them assembled in our own plant. During those days it was almost
impossible quickly to equip a manufacturing company for a work so
entirely new in the United States, because it was a new industry and no
one in the United States knew a great deal about the manufacturing
of such apparatus.
The time has now come, however, when the manufacturers--I think
it can safely be said--are getting their organizations more perfected;
they are making the parts themselves--at least our company is. We
manufacture practically all of the parts, buy the raw rubber in sheets, make the breathing bags and such, other material needed in the con
struction of the' apparatus, the same being true of many metal parts.
Gauges and castings are purchased, and small stocks of parts are kept
to meet the immediate requirements of the users of the apparatus.
I believe that within a very short time the condition that Mr. Heed has
mentioned will largely be overcome. I think the. suggestion he has
made in regard to the dating ot the parts when manufactured is an ex
cellent one and'I want to say that I will put.that into effect within a
very short time, practically immediately. I think the idea is an excel
lent one and I am thoroughly in accord with it.
\
CENTBAt.RESCUE STATIONS
I would like to make a_ comment on a subject that was brought up a few minutes ago by Mr. Woodburn. I think it is one worthy of consideration. As distributors of apparatus, our company has at times run across the situation that small coal companies or mining companies of any kind find the investment in a rescue station a somewhat large one for the one company and occasionally a pooling of the interests of several companies in a certain district has resulted in a central rescue station. There are, I think, possibly a half dozen, so far as my knowledge carries me, that have been entirely successful in installing central rescue stations.
mining Section
867
respect-to the condition of apparatus as sent out by the manufacturer.
The development of mine-rescue work in the United States, as you all
know, has been a development first of importation, up until the war
broke out, and practically all^df the apparatus that was used in the
United States prior to the war^was made either in England or in Ger
many. The manufacturers, or rather the distributor. In those days had to
depend very largely upon the exigencies of transportation from foreign
countries to obtain rubber parts and they were, therefore, not able to
know how long such equipment had been in stock prior to shipment.
There were ` times, possibly, when parts that were distributed by the
particular company with which I was affiliated at that time were in
stock six months. I doubt if there were any of the parts that remained in
stock longer than that in our own warerooms, but that does not say how
long they might have remained in stock before they were shipped to us.
In the early days of manufacture In the United States, it was largely
a matter of necessity, due to 'the conditions brought about by the war
(at least so far as that company in which I am interested is concerned)
to depend upon other companies to manufacture some of the parts and to
have' them assembled in our own"plant. During those days it was almost
impossible quickly to equip a manufacturing company for a work so
entirely new in the United States, because it was a new industry and no
one in the United States knew" a great deal about the manufacturing
of such apparatus.
^
The time has now come, however, when the manufacturers--I think
it can safely be said--are getting their organizations more perfected;
they are making the parts themselves--at least our company is. We
manufacture practically all of the parts, buy the raw rubber in sheets, make the breathing bags and such other material needed in the con
struction of the' apparatus, the same being true of many metal parts.
Gauges and castings are purchased, and small stocks of parts are kept
to meet the immediate requirements of the users of the apparatus.
I believe that within a very short time the condition that Mr. Reed has
mentioned will largely be overcome. I tbink the. suggestion he has
made in regard to the dating oLthe parts when manufactured is ah ex
cellent one and I want to say that I will put.that into effect within a
very short time, practically Immediately. I think the idea is an excel
lent one and I am thoroughly An accord with it.
\
CENTAL RESCUE STATIONS
I would like to make a. comment on a subject that was brought up a few minutes ago by Mr. Woodburn. I think it is one worthy of consideration. As distributors of apparatus, our company has at times run across the situation that small coal companies or mining companies of any kind find the investment in a rescue station a somewhat large one for the one company and occasionally a pooling of the interests of several companies in a certain district has resulted in a central rescue station. There are, I think, possibly a half dozen, so far as my knowledge carries me, that have been entirely successful in installing central rescue stations.
Mining Section
867
respect-to the condition of apparatus as sent out by the manufacturer.
The development of mine-rescue work in the United States, as you all
know, has been a development first of importation up until the war
broke out, and practically all jof the apparatus that was used in the
United States prior to the warlwas made either in England or in Ger
many. The manufacturers, or rather the distributor, in those days had to
depend very largely upon the exigencies of transportation from foreign
countries to obtain rubber parts and they were, therefore, not able to
know how long such equipment had been in stock prior to shipment.
There were' times, possibly, when parts that were distributed by the
particular company with which I was affiliated at that time were in
stock six months. I doubt if there were any of the parts that remained in
stock longer than that in our own warerooms, but that does not say how
long they might have remained in stock before they were shipped to us.
In the early days of manufacture in the United States, it was largely
a matter of necessity, due to the conditions brought about by the war
(at least so far as that company in which I am interested is concerned)
to depend upon other companies to manufacture some of the parts and to
have'them assembled In our own^plaut. During those days it was almost
impossible quickly to equip a manufacturing company for a work so
entirely new in the United States, because it was a new industry and no
one in the United States knew^a great deal about the manufacturing
of such apparatus.
--
The time has now come, however, when the manufacturers--I think
it can safely be said--are getting their organizations more perfected;
they are making the parts themselves--at least our company is. We
manufacture practically all of the parts, buy the raw rubber in sheets, make the breathing bags and such other material needed in the con
struction of the' apparatus, the same being true of many metal parts.
Gauges and castings are purchased, and small stocks of parts are kept
to meet the immediate requirements of the users of the apparatus.
I believe that within a very short time the condition that Mr. Reed has
mentioned will largely be overcome. I think the. suggestion he has
made in regard to the dating of the parts when manufactured Is an ex
cellent one and'I want to say that I will put.that into effect within a
very short time, practically immediately. I think the idea is an excel
lent one and I am thoroughly in accord with it.
,
CENTRAL RESCUE STATIONS
I would like to make a_ comment on a subject that was brought up a few minutes ago by Mr. Woodburn. I tbink it is one worthy of consideration. A.s distributors of apparatus, our company has at times run across the situation that small coal companies or mining companies of any kind find the investment in a rescue station a somewhat large one for the one company and occasionally a pooling of the interests of several companies in a certain district has resulted in a central rescue station. There are, I think, possibly a half dozen, so far as my knowledge carries me, that have been entirely successful iu installing central rescue stations.
866
Eighth Safety Congress
stations is one that Jhas been put up by a few small independent opera tors who have pooled, their interests and although we haven't any definite agreement so far as pooling goes, still there is the ordinary courtesy, and if anybody is in trouble, we all turn out with all of our apparatus. Three of the companies are equipped with Gibbs and we would have a fairly uni form set of apparatus if each station were to turn out the full set of ten apparatuses, and there would be at least twenty-five trained men, the idea being that you could-get your own team in and have a crew of five on the outside until more arrive. We are going along that line, keeping one man on the outside with a helmet on for every man who is inside.
DATE OF 3IA>'T7FACrtJKE
J. W. Reed (Consolidated Coal Company, Fairmont, W. Va.) : In re gard to repairs of rubber portions, I think we overlook one point. We are all considering proper care of the apparatus after we receive it, and I think there is a very big point to he made in the care of the apparatus on the part of the company from whom you purchase it. I feel that they also should use the same precautions to see that the rubber portions that are furnished to the various companies on their orders are in good con dition and comparatively new. Along that line I feel that It is going to be necessary at some time to require of manufacturers of breathing apparatus that the june shall be stamped and marked, with the date of manufacture. Then when you purchase a thing you will have some idea of the age of it when you get it. In other words, if you purchase a breathing hag and expect to get twelve months' service out of it, and it has been in stock six months, you are purchasing defective material.
The system that we are working out is not to purchase in large quan tities, but to arrange a schedule whereby all the apparatus we have on hand will have the^ rubber portions renewed on a certain schedule
which will be approximately the same length as the life of the rubber
portions and to stretch that out over the number of sets of apparatus. In other words, where there are a half dozen sets of apparatus in a small station, the rubber portions would be ordered every six months or every two months, so that in a year's time we would have new rubber portions for each of those sets of apparatus, and the other rubber parts would be thrown out after the length of service which we consider would be safe
for a breathing bag. We haven't as yet arrived at exact figures on that, but we feel from
ordinary experiencesround laboratories, etc., on rubber, that it never has a life of over two years. Safe life on that will probably not he over a maximum of fifteen months, but I feel that we should know something about the material when we purchase it, and I would like the opinion of some of the others as to whether they should he required to date the rubber parts on manufacture. I believe that the companies perhaps would install a system of that kind if it was suggested by most of the users of the apparatus or practically demanded by them.
Mr. F. F. Morris (American Atmos Corporation, Pittsburgh) : I assume that it might be apropos for me to add a word to Mr. Reed's comment in
866
Eighth Safety Congress
stations is one, that has been put up by a few small independent opera tors who have pooled their interests and although we haven't any definite agreement so far asjpooling goes, still there is the ordinary courtesy, and If anybody is in trouble, we all turn out with all of our apparatus. Three of the companies are equipped with Gibbs and we would have a fairly uni form set of apparatus if each station were to turn out the full set of ten apparatuses, and there would be at least twenty-five trained men, the idea being that you could get your own team in and have a crew of five on the outside until more arrive. "We are going along that line, keeping one man on the outside with a helmet on for every man who is inside.
DATE OF MANUFACTURE
J. W. Reed (Consolidated Coal Company, Fairmont, W. Va.) : In re gard to repairs of rubber portions, I think we overlook one. point. We are all considering proper care of the apparatus after we receive it, and I think there is a very big point to be made in the care of the apparatus on the part of the company from whom you purchase it. I feel that they also should use the name precautions to see that the rubber portions that are furnished to the various companies on their orders are in good con dition and comparatively new. Along that line I feel that it is going to be necessary at some time to require of manufacturers of breathing apparatus that the same shall be stamped and marked, with the date of manufacture. Then when you purchase a thing you will have some idea of the age of it when yoti get it. In other words, if you purchase a breathing bag andjxpect to get twelve months' service out of it, and it has been In stock six months, you are purchasing defective material.
The system that We are working out is not to purchase in large quan tities, but to arrange a schedule whereby all the apparatus we have on hand will have the rubber portions renewed on a certain schedule which will be approximately the same length as the life of the rubber portions and to stretch that out over the number of sets of apparatus. In other words, whereZthere are a half dozen sets of apparatus In a small station, the rubber portions would be ordered every six months or every two months, so that in a year's time we would have new rubber portions for each of those sets of apparatus, and the other rubber parts would be thrown out after the length of service which we consider would be safe for a breathing bag.
We haven't as yet arrived at exact figures on that, but we feel from ordinary experience around laboratories, etc., on rubber, that it never has a life of over two wears. Safe life on that will probably not be over a maximum of fifteen! months, but I feel that we should know something about the material when we purchase it, and I would like the opinion of some of the others as to whether they should he required to date the rubber parts on manufacture. I believe that the companies perhaps would install a system of that kind if it was suggested by most of the users of the apparatus or practically demanded by them.
Mr. F. F. Morris (American Atmos Corporation, Pittsburgh) : I assume that it might be apropos for me to add a word to Mr. Reed's comment in
866
Eighth Safety Congress
stations is one.that has been put up by a few small independent opera tors who have pooled their interests and although we haven't any definite agreement so far as pooling goes, still there is the ordinary courtesy, and if anybody is in trouble, we all turn out with all of our apparatus. Three of the companies are equipped with Gibbs and we would have a fairly uni form set of apparatus if each station were to turn out the full set of ten apparatuses, and there would be at least twenty-five trained men, the idea being that you could get your own team in and have a crew of five on the outside until more arrive. We are going along that line, keeping one man on the outside with a helmet on for every man who is inside.
DATE OF 31AFACTTJRE
J. W. Reed (Consolidated Coal Company, Fairmont, W. Va.): In re gard to repairs of rubber portions, I think we overlook one point. We are all considering proper care of the apparatus after we receive it, and I think there is a very big point to be made in the care of the apparatus on the part of the company from whom you purchase it. I feel that they also should use ther^ame precautions to see that the rubber portions that are furnished to the various companies on their orders are in good con dition and comparatively new. Along that line I feel that it is going to be necessary at some time to require of manufacturers of breathing apparatus that the same shall be stamped and marked, with the date of manufacture. Then--when you purchase a thing you will have some idea of the age of it when you get it. In other words, if you purchase a breathing bag and expect to get twelve months' service out of it, and it has been in stock six months, you are purchasing defective material.
The system that we are working out is not to purchase in large quan tities, but to arrange a schedule whereby all the apparatus we have on hand will have the rubber portions renewed on a certain, schedule which will be approximately the same length as the life of the rubber portions and to stretch that out over the number of sets of apparatus. In other words, wheretthere are a half dozen sets of apparatus in a small station, the rubber portions would be ordered every six months or every two months, so that in a year's time we would have new rubber portions for each of those sets of apparatus, and the other rubber parts would be thrown out after the length of service which we consider would be safe for a breathing bag.
We haven't as yet arrived at exact figures on that, but we feel from ordinary experience jaround laboratories, etc., on rubber, that it never has a life of over two years. Safe life on that will prohably not be over a maximum of fifteen--months, but I feel that we should know something about the material when we purchase it, and I would like the opinion of some of the others^ as to whether they should he required to date the rubber parts on manufacture. I believe that the companies perhaps would install a system of that kind if it was suggested by most of the users of the apparatus or practically demanded by them.
Ms. F. F. Morris (American Atmos Corporation, Pittsburgh) : I assume thajt it might he apropos for me to add a word to Mr. Reed's comment in
n
866
_j Eighth Safety Congress
stations is one that lias been put up by a few small independent opera tors who have pooled their interests and although we haven't any definite agreement so far as pooling goes, still there is the ordinary courtesy, and. if anybody is in trouble, we all turn out with all of our apparatus. Three of the companies are equipped with Gibbs and we would have a fairly uni form set of apparatus if each station were to turn out the full set of ten apparatuses, and there would be at least twenty-five trained men, the idea being that you could get your own team in and have a crew of five on the outside until more arrive. We are going along that line, keeping one man on the outside with a helmet on for every man who is inside.
DATE OF 3rA>~UFACTUKE
J. W. Reed (Consolidated Coal Company, Fairmont, W. Va.): In re gard to repairs of rubber portions, I think we overlook one. point- We are all considering proper care of the apparatus after we receive it, and I think there is a very big point to be made in the care of the apparatus on the part of the company from whom you purchase it. I feel that they also should use the same precautions to see that the rubber portions that are furnished to the various companies on their orders are in good con dition and comparatively new. Along that line I feel that it is going to be necessary at some time to require of manufacturers of breathing apparatus that the jiame shall be stamped and marked, with the date of manufacture. Then when you purchase a thing you will have some idea of the age of it when you get it. In other words, if you purchase a breathing bag and expect to get twelve months' service out of it, and it has been in stock six months, you are purchasing defective material.
The system that we are working out is not to purchase in large quan tities, but to arrange a schedule whereby all the apparatus we have on hand will have the rubber portions renewed on a certain schedule which will be approximately the same length as the life of the rubber portions and to stretch that out over the number of sets of apparatus. In other words, where there are a half dozen sets of apparatus in a small station, the rubber portions would be ordered every six months or every two months, so that in a year's time we would have new rubber portions for each of those sets of apparatus, and the other rubber parts would he thrown out after the length of service which we consider would be safe for a breathing bag^
We haven't as yet arrived at exact figures on that, hut we feel from ordinary experience around laboratories, etc., on rubber, that it never has a life of over two years. Safe life on that will probably not be over a maximum of fifteen months, but I feel that we should know something about the material when we purchase it, and I would like the opinion of some of the others as to whether they should be required to date the rubber parts on manufacture. I believe that the companies perhaps would install a system of that kind if it was suggested by most of the users of the apparatus or practically demanded by them.
Mr. F. F. Morris (American Atmos Corporation, Pittsburgh) : I assume that it might he apropos for me to add a word to Mr. Reed's comment in
866
r- Eighth Safety Congress
stations is one . that has been put up by a few small independent opera tors who have pooled their interests and although we haven't any definite agreement so far as pooling goes, still there is the ordinary courtesy, and if anybody is in trouble, we all turn out with all of our apparatus. Three of the companies are equipped with Gibbs and we would have a fairly uni form set of apparatus if each station were to turn out the full set of ten apparatuses, and there would be at least twenty-five trained men, the idea being that you couldLget your own team in and have a crew of five on the outside until more arrive. We are going along that line, keeping one man on the outside with a helmet on for every man who is inside.
DATE OF irAXTjFACT'DRE
J. W. Reed (ConSSIidated Coal Company, Fairmont, W. Va.) : In re gard to repairs of rubber portions. I think we overlook one. point. We are all considering ^proper care of the apparatus after we receive it, and I think there is a very big point to be made in the care of the apparatus on the part of the company from whom you purchase it. I feel that they also should use the_aame precautions to see that the rubber portions that are furnished to the various companies on their orders are in good con dition and comparaQvely new. Along that line I feel that it is going to be necessary at some time to require of manufacturers of breathing apparatus that the same shall be stamped and marked, with the date of manufacture. ThehZwhen you purchase a thing you will have some idea of the age of it when you get it. In other words, if you purchase a breathing bag and expect to get twelve months' service out of it, and it has been In stock six months, you are purchasing defective material.
The system that we are working out is not to purchase in large quan tities, but to arrange a schedule whereby all the apparatus we have on hand will have the rubber portions renewed on a certain schedule which will be approximately the same length as the life of the rubber portions and to stretch that out over the number of sets of apparatus. In other words, wherethere are a half dozen sets of apparatus in a small station, the rubber portions would be ordered every six months or every two months, so that in a year's time we would have new rubber portions for each of those siSEs of apparatus, and the other rubber parts would be thrown out after the length of service which we consider would be safe for a breathing bag.
We haven't as yet arrived at exact figures on that, but we feel from ordinary experience-ground laboratories, etc., on rubber, that it never has a life of over two .years. Safe life on that will probably not be over a maximum of fifteen months, but I feel that we should know something about the material When we purchase it, and I would like the opinion of some of the others^as to whether they should be required to date the rubber parts on manufacture. I believe that the companies perhaps would install a system of that kind if it was suggested by most of the users of the apparatus or practically demanded by them.
Mb. F. F. Morris ( American Atmos Corporation, Pittsburgh) : I assume that it might be apropos for me to add a word to Mr. Reed's comment in
Mining Section
865
Mr. Joseph E. Watsox (Timber Butte Milling Company, Butte) : Speak
ing of standardizing methods for the training of mine-rescue men, why not
get down to some standard method for the care of apparatus? I know of
one case where two sets of Draeger apparatus hung in a mine office over
two years without being taken off the nail. One of those two sets of
.apparatus happened to be included in the nine that Mr. Boardman men
tioned In the Idaho fire. If you are going to standardize the training of
men for the preservation of their lives and the preservation of property,
I believe really we should make=some efforts to standardize the care of
machines and see that the machines on hand are properly cared for.
Mr. George W. Riggs (Mine Safety Appliance Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.):
It was my duty in the State oT' Nevada as safety engineer during the
six months that I was there to take care of 64 sets of breathing apparatus. We had three kinds, Draeger, Westphalia, and Fleuss. It is a high, dry
climate. When I went out there we had to buy considerable repairs. We
made a dugout, where we had twenty-four sets. We kept rubber beltings,
spare rubber parts for breathingApparatus, etc., in this underground dug-
out and also gave them a bath in lukewarm water about once a week. In that way we kept the rubber parts up in better shape than before.
Mb. Hcbbexl: Our idea may not' be worth very much--we can't tell how
it has worked out, but this is a tentative scheme as to how we are going
to handle that particular problem. The room, of course, will have to be
kept at living heat and we were afraid that steam heating was going
to force some of the humidity out of the air. We have arranged for a
metal locker which is air-tight, and we are going to do a little experi
mental work with some of the rubber parts to arrive at a definite humid-
ity point and keep the locker at that point. I don't know what that will
be. We haven't completed our work on it, but are working on it now.
That includes just the rubber parts of the apparatus. The other will be
stored.
--
Mb. H- G. Davis (D. L- & W. Coal Co., Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) : The railroad company coal department at their mines in Wyoming Valley in the
early part* of 1910, if I remember, equipped all their mines with four
sets of Draeger apparatus, and also equipped a car called the rescue car with eight more sets, and I founds in my experience that the rubber goods on those machines deteriorated very quickly, particularly where steam
beat was used for keeping the rescue rooms and other rooms in good
condition. We did away with steam heat and equipped the rescue car and stations with stoves, with the result that the rubber goods lasted much longer.
I agree with these gentlemen that four sets of apparatus is not suf ficient for any place where thererare not four more available. We started
out with thirty-two sets. All the parties had four sets each and were
within a short distance of each other. The rescue car conld be brought
into any of the mines in about an hour. I think It Is important to have a sufficient number of sets, at least eight; more if possible.
Mb. Httbbelt. ; Along that point, we have ten, but there are four other rescue stations within a radius of twelve or fifteen miles. One of those
Mining Section
865
Mu. JosKi'H E. Watso.v (Timber Butte Milling Company, Butte) : Speak
ing of standardizing methods forThe training of mine-rescue men, why not
get down to some standard method for the care of apparatus? I know of
one case where two sets of Draper apparatus hung in a mine office over
two years without being taken^off the nail. One of those two sets of
apparatus happened to be included in the nine that Mr. Boardman men
tioned in the Idaho fire. If youare going to standardize the training of
men for the preservation of their lives and the preservation of property.
I believe really we should make some efforts to standardize the care of
machines and see that the machines on band are properly cared for. Ma. George W. Riggs (Mine TBatety Appliance Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.):
It was my duty in the State dfTNevada as safety engineer during the
six months that I Was there to take care of 64 sets of breathing apparatus. We had three kinds, Draeger, Westphalia, and Fleuss. It is a high, dry
climate. When I went out there we had to buy considerable repairs. We
made a dugout, where we had twenty-four sets. We kept rubber beltings,
spare rubber parts for breathing apparatus, etc., in this underground dug-
out and also gave them a bath in lukewarm water about once a week. In
that way we kept the rubber parts up in better shape than before. Mb. Hubbeix: Our idea may not be worth very much--we can't tell how
it has worked out, but this is a tentative scheme as to how we are going to handle that particular problem. The room, of course, will have to be
kept at living heat and we were afraid that steam heating was going
to force some of the humidity out of the air. We have arranged for a
metal locker which is air-tight, and we are going to do a little experi
mental work with some of the rubber parts to arrive at a definite humid-
ity point and keep the locker at that point. I don't know what that will
be. We haven't completed our work on it, but are working on it now. That includes Just the rubber parts of the apparatus. The other will be stored.
Mb. H- G. Davis (D. L. & W. Coal Co., Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) : The railroad
company coal department at their mines in Wyoming Valley in the
early part- of 1910, if I remember, equipped all their mines with four
sets of Draeger apparatus, and also equipped a car called the rescue car with eight more sets, and I found in. my experience that the rubber goods
on those machines deteriorated very quickly, particularly where steam
beat was used for keeping the rescue rooms and other rooms in good
condition. We did away with steam heat and equipped the rescue car and
stations with stoves, with the result that the rubber goods lasted much
longer.
-
I agree with these gentlemen that four sets of apparatus is not suf ficient for any place where there are not four more available. We started
out with thirty-two sets. All the parties had four sets each and were
within a short distance of each other. The rescue car could be brought
into any of the mines in about an hour. I think it is important to have
a sufficient number of sets, at least eight; more if possible.
Mb. Hubbeli : Along that point, we have ten, but there are four other
rescue stations within a radius of twelve or fifteen miles. One of those
Mining Section
865
Mh. Joseph E. Watsox (Timber Butte Milling: Company, Butte) : Speak ing ot standardizing methods for the training of mine-rescue men, why not
get down to some standard method for the care of apparatus? I know of
one case where two sets of Draeger apparatus hung in a mine office over two years without being taken off the nail. One ot those two sets of
apparatus happened to be included in the nine that Mr. Boardman men
tioned in the Idaho fire. If you are going to standardize the training of
men for the preservation of their lives and the preservation of property. I believe really we should make7-some efforts to standardize the care of
machines and see that the machines on band are properly cared for. Mb. George W. Riggs (Mine Safety Appliance Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.):
It was my duty in the State of Nevada as safety engineer during the
six months that I was there to take care of 64 sets of breathing apparatus. "We had three kinds, Draeger, Westphalia, and Fleuss. It Is a high, dry
climate- When I went out theretwe had to buy considerable repairs. We
made a dugout, where we had twenty-four sets. We kept rubber beltings,
spare rubber parts for breathing apparatus, etc., in this underground dug-
out and also gave them a bath in lukewarm water about once a week. In that way we kept the rubber parts up in better shape than before.
Mb. Hernbell: Our idea may not be worth very much--we can't tell how
it has worked out, but this is a tentative scheme as to how we are going to handle that particular problem. The room, of course, will have to be kept at living heat and we were afraid that steam heating was going
to force some of the humidity out of the air. We have arranged for a
metal locker which is air-tight, and we are going to do' a little experi
mental work with some of the rubber parts to arrive at a definite humid-
ity point and keep the locker at that point. I don't know what that will be. We haven't completed our work on it, but are working on it now. That includes just the rubber parts of the apparatus. The other will be stored.
Mil H. G. Davis (D. L. & W. Coal Co., Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) : The railroad company coal department at their mines in Wyoming Valley in the
early part- of 1910, if I remember, equipped all their mines with four
sets of Draeger apparatus, and also equipped a car called the rescue car with eight more sets, and I foundrin my experience that the rubber goods on those machines deteriorated Very quickly, particularly where steam
beat was used for keeping the rescue rooms and other rooms in good
condition. We did away with steam heat and equipped the rescue car and
stations with stoves, with the result that the rubber goods lasted much
longer.
---
I agree with these gentlemen that four sets of apparatus is not suf ficient for any place where there are not four more available. We started
out with thirty-two sets. All the parties had four sets each and were
within a short distance of each other. The rescue car could be bronght
into any of the mines in about an hour. I think it is important to have a sufficient number of sets, at least eight; more if possible.
Mb. Httbbell : Along that point, we have ten, but there are four other
rescue stations within a radius of twelve or fifteen miles. One of those
Mining Section
865
JIii. Josiit'H E. Watsox (Timber Butte Milling Company, Butte) : Speak ing of standardizing methods for the training of mine-rescue men, why not
get down to some standard method for the care of apparatus? I know of
one case where two sets of Draeger apparatus hung in a mine office over
two years without being taken off the nail. One of those two sets of
apparatus happened to be included in the nine that Air. Boardman men
tioned in the Idaho fire. If you are going to standardize the training of
men for the preservation of their lives and the preservation of property, I believe really we should make some efforts to standardize the care of
machines and see that the machines on hand are properly cared for. Ms. George W. Rigcs (Mine ^Safety Appliance Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.):
It was my duty in the State otTNevada as safety engineer during the
six months that I was there to take care of 64 sets of breathing apparatus. We had three kinds, Draeger, `Westphalia, and Fleuss. It Is a high, dry-
climate. When I went out there we had to buy considerable repairs. We made a dugout, where we had twenty-four sets. We kept rubber beltings,
spare rubber parts for breathing Apparatus, etc., in this underground dug-
out and also gave them a bath in lukewarm water about once a week. In that way we kept the rubber parts up in better shape than before.
Mb. Hubbell: Our idea may not he worth very much--we can't tell how
it has worked out, but this is a tentative scheme as to bow we are going to handle that particular problem. The room, of course, will have to be kept at living heat and we were afraid that steam heating was going
to force some of the humidity out of the air. We have arranged for a
metal locker which is air-tight, and we are going to do' a little experi mental work with some of the rubber parts to arrive at a definite humid ity point and keep the locker at that point. I don't know what that will be. We haven't completed our work on it, but are working on it now. That includes Just the rubber parts of the apparatus. The other will be stored.
Mb. H. G. Davis (D. L. W. Coal Co., Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) : The railroad company coal department at their mines in Wyoming Valley in the
early part- of 1910, If I remember, equipped all their mines with four
sets of Draeger apparatus, and also equipped a car called the rescue car
with eight more sets, and I found in my experience that the rubber goods on those machines deteriorated very quickly, particularly where steam
beat was used for keeping the rescue rooms and other rooms in good
condition. We did away with steam heat and equipped the rescue car and
stations with stoves, with the result that the rubber goods lasted much
longer.
-
I agree with these gentlemen that four sets of apparatus is not suf ficient for any place where there are not four more available. We started out with thirty-two sets. All the parties had four sets each and were within a short distance of each other. The rescue car could be brought into any of the mines in about an hour. I think It is important to have a sufficient number of sets, at least eight; more if possible.
Mb. Httbbeix: Along that point, we have ten, but there are four other
rescue stations within a radius of twelve or fifteen miles. One of those
Mining Section
865
Mu. Joseph E. Watsox (Timber Butte Milling Company, Butte) : Speaking of standardizing methods for the training of mine-rescue men, why not get down to some standard method for the care of apparatus? I know of
one case where two sets of Draeger apparatus hung in a mine office over
two years without being taken off the nail. One of those two sets of .apparatus happened to be included in the nine that Mr. Boardman men
tioned In the Idaho fire. If you are going to standardize the training of men for the preservation of their lives and the preservation of property, I believe really we should make some efforts to standardize the care of machines and see that the machines on band are properly cared for.
MB. George W. Rices (Mine Safety Appliance Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.): It was my duty in the State oCJNevada as safety engineer during the six months that I was there to take care of 64 sets of breathing apparatus. We had three kinds, Draeger, Westphalia, and Fleuss. It is a high, dryclimate. When I went out there we had to buy considerable repairs. We made a dugout, where we had twenty-four sets. We kept rubber beltings, spare rubber parts for breathing apparatus, etc., in this underground dugout and also gave them a bath in lukewarm water about once a week. In that way we kept the rubber parts up in better shape than before.
Mb. Hcbbexl: Our idea may not be worth very much--we can't tell how it has worked out, but this is a tentative scheme as to how we are going to handle that particular problem. The room, of course, will have to he
kept at living heat and we were afraid that steam heating was going
to force some of the humidity out of the air. We have arranged for a metal locker which is air-tight, and we are going to do a little experi mental work with some of the rubber parts to arrive at a definite humid ity point and keep the locker at that point. I don't know what that will be. We haven't completed our work on it, but are working on It now. That Includes just the rubber parts of the apparatus. The other will be stored.
Mr. H. G. Davis (D. L. & W. Coal Co., Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) : The railroad company coal department at their mines in Wyoming Valley in the
early part- of 1910, If I remember, equipped all their mines with four sets of Draeger apparatus, and also equipped a car called the rescue car with eight more sets, and I found in my experience that the rubber goods on those machines deteriorated very quickly, particularly where steam
heat was used for keeping the fcue rooms and other rooms in good
condition. We did away with steam heat and equipped the rescue car and
stations with stoves, with the result that the rubber goods lasted much
longer.
--
I agree with these gentlemen That four sets of apparatus is not suf ficient for any place where there are not four more available. We started out with thirty-two sets. All the parties had four sets each and were within a short distance of each other. The rescue car could be brought into any of the mines in about an hour. I think it Is important to have a sufficient number of sets, at least eight; more if possible.
Mb. Htjbbelt.: Along that point, we have ten, but there are four other rescue stations within a radius of twelve or fifteen miles. One of those
864
^Eighth Safety Congress
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864
---Eighth, Safety Congress
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Mr. Board man-: In rSply to Mr. Woodburn. I would say that the mini mum period I would let the machine go would be one week. In our country we have a very low humidity and rubber goods are hard to keep. We overcome that in a measure by scalding rubber parts. When ever the machine becomes rigid from not being used, we simply throwall the rubber parts in a hot bath once a week and that keeps them in good shape. They arealso kept in lockers.
864
--^Eighth Safety Congress
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864
Eighth Safety Congress
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Mu. Board max: In "reply to Mr. Woodburn. I would say that the mini mum period I would let the machine go would be one week. In our country we have a very low humidity and rubber goods are hard to keep. We overcome that in a measure by scalding rubber parts. When ever the machine becomes rigid from not being used, we simply throw all the rubber parts in-a hot bath once a week and that keeps them in good shape. They are Jflso kept in lockers.
864
^Eighth Safety Congress
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..--
Ms. Board man: In reply to Mr. Woodburn. I would say that the mini mum period I would let the machine go would be one week. In our country we have a very low humidity and rubber goods are hard to keep. We overcome that in a measure by scalding rubber parts. When ever the machine becomes rigid from not being used, we simply throw all the rubber parts in a hot bath once a week and that keeps them in good shape. They are also kept in lockers.
884:
Eighth, Safety Congress
Mb. Boahdaiak: We had one case 130.
Mb. Mobbis: I would like to emphasize the point 1 made at first in
regard to the contributing conditions that exist in the use of rescue
apparatus as limiting the - distance that a man may go or a group of
men may go and the importance of taking those conditions Into con
sideration, that I believe it is an unfortunate thing to attempt to make
any estimate of distances that a man may go into fire areas with rescue
apparatus on. Those conditions vary so widely, in respect to the con
ditions of the entries, the temperature and the humidity, and the prog
ress of the work, that it must be left entirely to the judgment--and
it must be good judgment--of the mail in charge of the crew.
'
Vice-Chairman Davis: I wish to state that, having bad charge of this
rescue work, I arbitrarily fixed the distances that those men should
travel, knowing the ground over which they did travel. I would say,
"Now, you go to such and such a place. We will give you so much time
and if you are not back by that time, there will be a crew looking foi
you."
I think that can be done if you know the ground. Of course, it cannot be done in a strange country. In a country with which I aTTt familiar,
I would fix the crew's distances, and, of course, keep moving your base
forward as much as possible at all times. . *
Jin. WooniiURN: My question as to whether or not it is advisable to
carry the stretcher at all times has not been answered.
Mb. Riggs: There is a stretcher on the market now, the Wind-flex,
that weighs three and a half pounds. You fold it up until It Is three
feet in length and fronY~the experience I have had, I would not go in
without some stretcher,^or an improvised stretcher, whether that be a
piece of pipe that we can thread together and put a canvas over, or
something else. Mr. BtSardman has a very good rescue stretcher. Mr. Wooduurx: It wasn't so much the Kind of stretcher that I am
interested in, but the question as to whether we shall carry one. I have
always instructed my men to pick up empty cars, and desert those as
soon as others are found. They can always put anything heavy on
this car, pushing it ahead, and then, anyway, a car is better than a
stretcher. It is much easier to transport a man that is down on a car
than on a stretcher.
SHOULD A STRETCHER BE CARRIED?
Mr. Riug-s: Prom my experience, I would take a stretcher. Mr. Boabdman : We expect to train our crews so they can take care of themselves. When we send- a crew into the mine we have no reason to expect that anything is going to happen. It sometimes happens. It is true, but our men are instructed to watch their crew sufficiently to be able to get a man out to fresh air before he Is unable to walk. Of course. It might happen that the man might not be able to walk. I wouldn't send a stretcher with a crew unless it is definitely known that you are going after men. Mr. WoounuB'N: Men sometimes go down when they are working in a
Mining Section
885
hazardous place, where they are liable to injury, outside of the use of
their equipment. I was wondering whether or not it would be advisable
to carry the stretcher. Mb. Boabbitan : I don't think it is necessary for the rescue crew to take
a stretcher when going on- ordinary work.
Mb. WooDBtrBN: Do you think it advisable to carry an extra piece of
equipment (a half-hour machine) for the protection of your crew? Mb. Boardman: We usually carry an extra two-hour machine and hang
it up near where the work is going on. Mb. Woodbdks : I take exception to carrying equipment any great dis
tance. J'ust three weeks ago tonight, we had a fire and I helped carry in extra equipment. We had plenty of helmets. We were simply carrying
in the machines. I carried^ two, and, of course, it was an emergency and
we went at practically a dog-trot, but vou dog-trot half a mile with St>
pounds and the next morning you will know that you've been somewhere.
Mb. Watsos : I might say for the benefit of the members present that
Mr. Boardman's statements are accurate. He is fighting fires day in and
day out. In the coal-mining districts you have a fire every few years,
but Mr. Boardman's crews are fighting fires day in and day out. Chairman' Tillsox: Gentlemen, we have one more fire to fight this
morning, and we are getting along .well, too. I mean we are having lots
of good discussion, and I want to compliment you. Somebody said that the Mining Section was the livest bunch- in the whole convention.
There is one other thing on the program. We had hoped to tackle it
this morning. That is a Safe Practices pamphlet which has been pre
pared and was retained from distribution awaiting discussion by this
Section. This pamphlet is in regard to Mine Car Haulage and there are
copies here for distribution- I am open to the opinion of those of us assembled as to when we want to tackle this, whether you want to post
pone your lunch to a later hour, or whether you would really like to
hold a later session and cccaie back after lunch.
We have one more paper on the program, "Fire Prevention in Anthra
cite Coal Mines and Necessary Equipment for Fighting Mine Fires," Mr.
M. W. Price.
--
(Mr. Price was absent,Wo Mr. Tillson read his paper.)
FIRE PREVENTION XNT ANTHRACITE COAL MINES AND NECESSARY EQUIPMENT FOR FIGHTING MINE FIRES
M. W. Price, Efficiency Engineer, G. B. Marki.e Company, Ji:r>no. Pa.
. The prevention of'-fires, The necessarj fighting equipment, and the best ways of extinguishing mine fires, on account of the various conditions under which they occur said the hazardous work connected with them, together with the loss of life and destruction to property, furnish a topic for discussion among mining men, which, it seems to me, is not sur passed by any other subject in mining.
The prevention of mine fires necessitates a careful and constant exam ination of some sections in the Anthracite mines due to physical condi-
<SS(>
Kit/hth Soffit/ Congress
tions over which do control can be had. The elimination of wooden
structures in the mines has been the means of preventing numerous fires,
and permits more time^Snd thought to be spent in trying to prevent fires
in heavily timbered sections and in sections where the "robbing of pillars" is being done. Workmen engaged in timbering should not be permitted to use the common oil lamp on account of sparks and the careless manner
in which old wick (cotton) Is thrown around when it becomes necessary
to put a new wick (cotton) in lamp. The careless manner of handling
oil which is used in lamps quite often causes timber to become saturated,
and is the means of causing disastrous fires. Again, I have seen night patrolmen using the common oil lamp while making their examinations.
This seems to me, a grave mistake. They should be furnished with an
improved electric lamp and also have a safety lamp of the modern type;
thus equipped, they wili"be prepared to perform, their duties in a proper
manner.
'
The "robbing of pillars," especially in the Mammoth Vein, on account
of its great thickness atrd by its continuous crushing, generates a heat
which causes everything to become so dry that a very disastrous fire will develop in a short time. Added to this risk is the possibility of encountering methane (marsh gas) while driving up chutes In the pillars. In sections like this, where the fire risk is so great, I have seen careless
workmen engaged in timbering add to this risk by permitting a trolley wire to touch. tl\e timber instead of having the wire hangers properly
support the wire. In sedETons of this nature a water line on the gangway
with branch connections'Tarranged about 200 feet apart with a 50-foot section of fire hose placed at each branch, will enable a person discover
ing a fire to apply watery on it in a very short time. This method of "fire lines," as it is called, tvill be of vital importance to the patrolman by night who, upon his examinations, discovers a fire and is forced by lack of system to travel a considerable distance for equipment and help.
*
OliOA.V IZK -MKX you FJOUTIXG FIRE
Various methods have been advanced for extinguishing a mine fire, set ting forth good results obtained such as flooding and smothering sections plfected. depending upon conditions; and while numerous discussions have taken place describing ifT detail the methods used at various fires, and carefully noting the results, there seems to be very little said about having men properly organized for this particular kind of work. The results of poor organizations have been demonstrated where the work at small mine fires, improperly directed in the beginning, has been the cause of large disastrous fires. The importance of the mine foreman in some instances is not properly realized or appreciated. His thorough knowledge of the mine, fcTr instance, the circulation of air currents and the quickest way and place in which they can l>e changed to bring about results, together with the exact conditions of each working place--whether or not it happens to be a^place which is giving off gas or a place with, a dangerous roof--makes him the most valuable man available. The delay which will be caused by an accident happening to the foreman under such
3lining Section
887
circumstances does not seem to be realized, since,.invariably, be is the one man who can always be found in the most dangerous place. Then again, it is no uncommon sight to see the Superintendent right in the most dangerous place. I fully_fealize the anxiety which is caused by a mine fire, but nevertheless I maintain that the proper place for the directing heads is a safe distance back from tbe scene of the Are, where they can think and properly direct the work, for there is nothing which spells disaster at such times like losing the directing heads.
The extinguishing of a mine fire today in the older, mines of the Anthracite region requires keen thought and especially prompt action. The virgin mining being_finished, the reclaim or "pillar robbing'' being done very rapidly, makes'it difficult for even the most efficient mining men to control the air currents. Air being a predominating factor in performing work at a mine fire, it can, therefore, he readily understood that the conditions of a ifiine govern the method which can best be used.
I have had the opportunity to assist in the work of extinguishing quite a number of mine fires, some of which were of an exceptionally serious natttre, and have seen various methods used with very good results. Owing to "pillar robbing," causing in some places the strata to be crushed and broken, it becomes a very difficult proposition to flood or smother a fire in some sections without seriously affecting several sections, which is
quite different from what-it was in former years, in the Anthracite region. In seams where the coal Is of a soft and shelly nature and fire occurs,
which causes caves to develop, thus preventing direct work, good results
have been obtained by taking a piece of 2-inch or 2%-inch wrought iron pipe and closing the one?gHd in the form of a pick point after which the pipe is drilled with %-inch holes in a spiral manner the entire length of the pipe. This drilling ja continued until the entire pipe is reasonably filled with holes. The pipe is then forced through, the caved or loose ground after which a hose is attached to the open end of the pipe. -In this manner water can be forced onto the fire thereby extinguishing it and cooling
the material so that it can be loaded into cars. This spray method can
also be used in and around burning timber to very good advantage. Bore holes are sometimes drilled for the purpose of running water down
on to fires, and while this will he the means of extinguishing some fire, still it does not accomplish very great results due to the fact that the water takes a natural course and by not being able to increase the original supply through, .the hole the results are not what is expected. Good results were obtained at a large fire, which had burned up into a caved section where "pillar robbing" had been done by placing on the surface a large tanlj which had a capacity of about 60,000 gallons. Two large mine pumps discharged their water into the tank and the gate was opened by a mine locomotive pulling on a tackle which had been properly
arranged. This large quantity of water was run into the caves and on
account of the measures_being all broken permitted the water to pass down over the fire. In^fliis manner considerable fire was extinguished which, on account of caved conditions, would have been very difficult to reach from the inside.
88S
Eighth Safety Congress
V.ll.VK OF MISE RESCUE APPARATUS
Mine rescue apparatus that is available today permits men to
penetrate fire zones and lay water lines from which hose can. be used, to
apply fire extinguishers directly on the fire, and to build air brattices for
the establishment of necessary ventilation, and to do various other under
ground work. Thus we are able to perform what might be termed direct
fire fighting which seems Jo be the right procedure, in that you are in a
position to note the progress and changes which are constantly taking
place at a mine fire.
"S
This brings out the importance of a mine rescue equipment and the
vital necessity for the proper training of men to use it, since the work
performed by a well-trained corps of men in the' use of the apparatus at
the beginning of a fire will prevent both the possible loss of life and the
great destruction of property.
The establishing of a fire equipment to consist of fittings, pipe, hose,
nails, brattice cloth, boards, tools, telephone, and a fire pump, which
should be kept intact at an times. Is a valuable asset to all mining prop
erties; and again quite often steam and air lines, coming from the surface
into the mines, can be converted into water lines in a very short time.
By taking advantage of such conditions and thus securing a supply of
water quickly has been the prevention of what might have been very
disastrous fires. Available lines of this description are sometimes over
looked due to the excitement caused by a fire and the lack of a proper
organization.
In conclusion. I would say that the organization should be such, that
when a mine fire does occnr. each man will fully understand his duties
thereby preventing dangerous delays in making up an organization at the beginning of a fire.
DISCUSSION
Vkk-Cjiairaiax Davis: X want to take exception to some of the things
Mr. Price has said. He refers to putting cut a fire by the use of a tank
and flushing from that tank, filling the tank full of 60,000 gallons and let
ting that go down the mines.
In 1010. I had an experience of that kind in Wyoming Valley, and I
found the plan adopted had carried the fire down 1500 feet, and before
we got down to the point where it had been carried by these floods, it
had extended about 900 feel. You can't fight a fire down here in Cleve
land. You have got to be on the ground. Maybe that worked when Mr.
Price used it. but in the particular case to which I referred, it was a
failure.
^
I think Mr. Price touched upon some very good points in connection
with fighting mine fires. Jn the anthracite coal regions we get one fire
in six months, perhaps, but J want to tell you that fires in the Wyoming
Valley are of almost daily-occurrence, particularly, where coal is being
blasted by black powder. Since the companies have used permissible
powder, the fires have been less frequent.
I notice that Mr. Price didn't touch on the effect and use of chemical
Mining Section
889
extinguishers. The D. L. & W. has an additional chemical engine. This
is on a truck. It has two "tanks of about SO gallons capacity each. At
tached, there are three lengths of hose, 50 feet long. This engine lias
been used in putting out Gres in their Incipiency.
We can't say that that apparatus is the proper thing for fighting mine
fires, but when your fire lines are back, we are positive that there are fire
lines on all the gangways. "We have a fire car which contains pipe, hose,
canvas, and every conceivable thing that you would need to fight a mine
fire. This is brought to the mine just as soon as the fire is first an
nounced.
_-F-
(Mr. Tillson resumed the Chair.) Mr. Roberts: I want tortake exception to what was said a while ago
in regard to having no firef in coal mines. I want to state that in the
northern fields of coal, I will venture to say that there isn't a single place
where there isn't a fire existing continuously.
USE OF rORT.VIJBE FANS IX FIGIIT1XG KIKE
Mr. Woodbukx: There is one point in that paper that I was watching for that was not mentioned---the use of portable fans in connection with
fighting fires. I should like to have the experiences of some of you men in
regard to the matter. We are purchasing a portable disk fan to be con
nected to the electric wirings in the mine, where we want to use it, where
the wire is already strung, -yMr. Davis; I want to say I have used electric fans in connection with
mine fires, but I wouldn't want to recommend them.
Mr. Woodrurx: I mean temporarily.
Mh. Davis: I was very much surprised at one place, to see a foreman
connect a fan where the discharge end was only a six-inch pipe. I found
that it gave a splendid current of air and helped us materially.
Have any of you gentlemen ever used inert gases in putting out fires?
I saw an article in the "Coal Industry"--the September number--on that
written by Mine Inspector Joseph J. Walsh of Wilkes-Barre. Professor F. W. Sperr (Michigan College of Mines, Houghton, Mich.):
I think the Calumet and Hecla Company used' carbon dioxide quite ex
tensively in attempting to put out a fire about twenty-five or thirty years
ago, before I went up there, and part of the apparatus was still there on
the shaft a short time agd--when I happened to pass there. I have no
doubt that their experience: has been published, but I can't recall now
what the results were.
-
Mr. Roberts: I have known of a number of people who have tried
carbon dioxide or sulphur dioxide, hut I never knew of a case where fire was put out with it. If you could keep It tight, so that the carbon diox
ide would get Into contact with the fire, it would do It, but there are
always leakages, and It is impossible to hold the gases in contact with the
fire long enough to put it _out.
Mr. Woodburx: Isn't that what we are trying to do with our sealings?
I had occasion at a recent mine fire to get to a raise that was off of a
sub-level and it was on fire; We couldn't remain there long, and It was
890
Eighth. Safety Congress
connected up with the sub-lev below. That was where we believed the
main part of the fire to be, scfjust for good measure, we did take down
five gallons of Pyrene (carboiTtetra chloride). We dumped it in the top
of this raise and three weeks after, we were able to get to the top of that
raise and the timbers had just burned about half way through. Why it
went ont, I can't see any reason except the Pyrene. That was just an
experiment.
--:
Mr. Boardmas: The title of the paper seems to be "Prevention of
Fires" but 1 see the author digresses to organization and training for
fires. A little over-zealonsnesFon the part of a foreman of ours, one time nearly caused trouble. We had a fire in the West Calusa Mine. (I don't want the impression to get ourthat Butte is such a fire-trap. We have had
two or three fires there that were started by leasers and a few from the Heinze quarrel that has been more or less continued for a number of
years. Our new fires are very scarce. 1
We had twelve fires in 191S Bnd eight were new fires and seven of these
were caused by poor electric installations. In 1919 we have had only five new fires and they were all extinguished within the first few minutes after they were discovered, some by the use of breathing apparatus, and
some without. The time to fight a fire is within the first three minutes after the fire starts and if youTCan get there, of course, you have done well.
In this instance, two young; mining engineers went into a part of a
mine which they believed to Jbe free from gas. The foreman discovered that part of the mine was not free from gas, and told them that they should lay off and not go liu. However, they went in, contrary to in
structions. They went on the ten-hundred level, where they felt tile
effects of gas. One of themvThe boss of the crew, crawled through to the ninth, and the others started hack. This man who got through to the ninth, was just able to crawl un the shaft and there gave the alarm be fore he became completely unconscious.
The mine foreman made thejnistake of rushing ill to do this-work. He
summoned six men, I believe, and with waste over their noses, they rushed over the ninth level and attempted to climb where the man went back. They got down two floors when the man ahead became unconscious.
The next two men succeeded on placing a chain about his chest and tying the chain to the rope in the timber slide, and then they came back to the
ninth level again, and were so nearly overcome that they all had to
navigate on their- hands and knees. A hurry call was sent to the rescue
station for some apparatus. The foreman had gathered^ up four shift bosses and a couple of other
men and had rushed in to try~to get this man out before he died, leaving
everybody outside without any supervision. They succeeded in getting
the man out, also the rest of the crew. The foreman should never take
his organization and rush in^tro do a thing with his own hands that he
has equipment for doing otherwise.
T.-SKS OK CUKMKWr. KXTIMIUISIlKIi.S
In regard to the use of CheHlcai extinguishers: We had a lire in Flem ing, Kansas. The fire was in the face of the drift, and the fan was deliv-
Mining Section
S91
ering S,000 feet of air through the drift, twenty feet back from the face
of the drift.
Sr
The over-lying strata there is of such a nature that steam or high hu midity will cause it to slack, a sort of fire-clay. Where fires of this kind
have been fought with water, this sloughing of the roof has caused trou
ble. Realising this, we used Pyrene. The thing was very hot: in fact, about ten feet of that entry was incandescent, and so hot that one of the
men had blisters all over his face when he got out. We used ten gallons of Pyrene at intervals of five minutes. We suc
ceeded in charring the face^f this burning coal to such an extent that when we got the fire out the reef! did not slack enough to cave. We had only a small fall. It did notrV-irt any one. The Pyrene gas filled the
mine so full that it very nearly killed a mule that they kept to use In hauling In water. They just "barely got him out in time.
In using a chemical extinguisher, care must be taken, if there is im proper ventilation, that the fumes do not overcome the crew.
ilit. WoonuuKx: About your smoking underground, the Miami Mine prohibits smoking underground. In the Old Dominion Mine, they permit smoking underground. It is my opinion that it is safe to smoke where you use open lights. The Miami has had several fires that have started presumably from smoking on the sly, and giving a flip to the cigarette or match when they saw somebody coming.
I would say that the chemical extinguisher is the most valuable thing we have in our metal mines^and I would like to see one in everybody's reach. If you can get action on your fire immediately, you can put it out.
There is no deterioration and if you should want to dismantle your mine, you have sdmething to sell. We have had a great deal of success with it.
In one of our mines we were a little slow in providing these extinguish ers. Finally, we had ninetemi put In. That was done on Thursday and
on Sunday, we put out whafTmight have been a very terrible fire.
There is another thing that I would urge particularly in the metal mines, and that is, that yourget an inspection after every shift comes off. We had an eight-day fire inTOur district due to lack of proper inspection following the men's coming out. The fire was not discovered until nine
o'clock at night. At 11 much harm had been done, at 12, the men threw
up their hands. It was 1:30" before we were, called, and bad men on the ground, and it was morning before we had the fire under control.
The Miami Mine is very careful to work three shifts so that you always have a shift relieving another shift. I don't believe it is too strong to
recommend that that be done as it is the best investment you can make. Mb. Skip: I would, like to ask Mr. McLeod about their sprinkler sys
tem.
Mr. Asgus McLiKOb (Butte: & Superior Mining Co., Butte) : The shafts are both equipped with rings of pipe about every two or three hundred feet--the metal open-head sprinkler. The control valve is on the surface.
Every four hundred feet going through the shaft--eight, twelve, and six
teen hundred. There is a shut-off valve for the purpose of being used in case of fires. You can go t.o twelve and. shut off the valve and yon get the
892
~Eighth Safety Congress
force of your water to the twelfth, and the water going on down the shaft would keep the rest of the shaft in. shape.
ItKAl) ENDS Fort PROTECTION OK MEN
There is another thing that I haven't" heard much about here. In the
metal mines, whenever we have a fire, it seems that a bunch of men are
lost before we can get down to the first level. The gas spreads so quickly
that no matter what the opportunity is to get out, they don't seem to get
away. We have established a rule to put in dead ends on every side and
level.
These dead ends are 23 feet. There is a cement door 10x10 by 30 inches
thick. Then there is a metal lathing over that and that makes a solid
steel door. It can be chinked in a minute's time through that bulkhead
above. There is a water barrel and in case of a fire, your men can flock
in to those dead ends. ^
There have been firesjn which from three to one hundred twenty-one
men have been lost, when if there bad been dead ends to get into, the majority would have been saved. We have provided these dead ends
and have used the flash system for flashing danger signals. We have
signs posted, stating that so many flashes, following the flash of a level,
indicates a fire in a certain place, telling the men just where the fire is,
whether they will have to hurry to get to the dead ends.
We also have inter-communicating telephone systems so that you can
throw a switch and communicate to different parts of the mine. There are
so many places in a metal mine that you want to send warnings to where
the signals don't extend to your workings.
We have another signal, although we have never had occasion to use it.
We took a common oil cup. going into the air line. We took valeric acid
Inand put It in the oil cup^ind in forty seconds after we turned It
they
have had the smell of the acid, very noticeable, on the eighteen hundred
level. Inside of two minutes after the acid has been turned loose In
the air receiver, it penetrates every corner of the mine. That is printed
on the signs to make everybody in the mine acquainted with the warning.
Several fires have been caused by fires going down the shaft. We
have made iron casingsT used a little sheet iron, something medium heavy, and we have the wires go down through this sheet iron because
it burns out there and does not come into contact with the timber.
Those are some of the things that we are working on. None of them
are completed, but we know they are going to be successful. The value of having these dead ends is very great. It is in the first few hours of a
fire that we lose our men.
Mr. George Swan (Davis Daly Copper Mining Co.. Butte): Have "you had any actual fire experience since yon have put In these dead ends?
Mr. McLeod: No. we haven't had any actual experience. We have ex
perimented by going in and polling the doers shut. We have fans- in
stalled on trucks either as blowers or suction--it can be used either way
--and we have pulled those up and blown gases in. and not a thing ever
went through.
il
Professor Sperr: ThejUfficulty They have had in the mines In some of
mining Section
893
our districts, is that where they have put in the same kind of bulk heads,
when they got a fire, the smoke went around through the rock.
Ms. McLeod: We have never had that experience. We haven't had aS
door yet, up to the time I left, through which the gas penetrated, and we
had tested seventeen. One W5S tested six months after installation. IVe
turned the fan on and the men inside couldn't notice a thing.
doors close as solid as this wall.
These
Chaiemax Tillson: If there is no more discussion on this paper. Major
Arthur S. Dwight, who is attending the Mining Section meeting as the
direct representative of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgi
cal Engineers, has a discussion of the proposed Safe Practices pamphlet
on "Underground Mine Cars, and Haulage."
(Major Dwight read the comments of Mr. Hugh Archbald, of Scranton,
Pa-, on the proposed pamphlet and these were referred to the Safe Prac
tices Committee for consideration.)
CiiAiRMAir Tillson: While^ listening to Major Dwight, the thought struck me that if you are agreeable, it might be wise if you would all
take the time between now and tomorrow morning to go over this paper
and jot down your comments ^opposite each paragraph, sign your name to
it, and if we get crowded tomorrow morning, you will be prepared to
leave your copy of the paperTwith the signed comments for the use of
the National Safety Council. In making your revisions, I trust you will '
take notice of the attached papers, which are the criticisms and sugges
tions of some of those to whom the pamphlet was sent before this meeting.
At least. Indicate whether you agree or not with their comments.
If you can cite some illustration or say you can furnish some illustra
tion that would indicate a better practice or design of equipment, why note that, and then reply to the request for that information when it comes
from headquarters.
I don't think I am asking too much of you. T think that this will
possibly be one of the first pamphlets as a direct technical function, and
1 trust it will be something that we will be able to hold, as a standard.
You will find attached, at mf request, a Safe Practices pamphlet, which
was issued by the National Safety Council, covering the subject of manila
and wire rope. I asked that this be done. If any of you whose interests
are so vitally correlated with the use of rope find something in this
Safe Practices pamphlet withlwhich you differ, now is a good time for us
to get your views, either orally or written, so that whenever this pam
phlet is to be revised, it may be revised with those views under considera tion.
Adjournment.
'
_Z
- SATURDAY MORNING SESSION
s-w aHB meeting convened aTT9:45 A. M., Mr. B. F. Tillson, Chairman, I presiding.
Chairman Tillson: Gentlemen, even though we are not all assembled, I think we had better start in with our program, as we will have plenty to do. Mr. Mitke not being present, I will read his paper at this time.
b`94
E ighth Safety Congress
A COMPILATION OF CHUTE TYPES FOR LOADING ORE INTO TEAM: CARS IN METAL MINES
Cu.vui.Kd
A.
.Mitkk,
Mtxixc Excixeer, Phelps-Douge Bis bee, Ariz.
Corporation,-
CHUTES
Chutes are used principally for passing ore and waste to different levels in a mine. They are also used for storage, and frequently, when not necessary for ore or waste, are kept open entirely for ventilation.
In general, chutes are 100 feet high (the usual distance between levels). Some exceptional chutes are much longer,'while others are shorter than this figure. AY hen a raise is driven, it is customarily divided into two compartments, one for the manway and timber-way, and the other (the chute) for the passage of ore or waste.
The various types o raises which are commonly used are as follows:
TWO-COMPAItTMENT RAISES (one for chute ana the other for men, ana
timber).
______
0-post, square set raise, generally used in square set stopes in medium
ground.
^
4-post, square set raise, occasionally used in caving methods. -This
raise is similarAo the 6-post raise, with the exception that the
compartments are much smaller.
Crib raise, used inr^quare set, top-slice, cut and fill, and shrinkage
stopes in heavy, or broken ground. Raw chute, usually oblong in shape, about 4 feet x 7 feet, witb no timber
except a partition between the chute and manway. Used only in
hard ground mined by cut and fill, shrinkage, and to some extent
by caving methods.
ONE-COMPARTMENTRAISEE (Chute only)
4-post, raise, used in "Swing methods in medium ground. Crib raise, used in heavy ground mined by caving methods. In rare
cases angle iron, is used in Its construction to prevent excessive
wear.
~
Kaw chute, or "finger raise," circular, about 3 feet in diameter, no
timber employed in its construction. Used only in medium or
fairly hard ground. Rock built chute. CBhstructed in the shape of a well, generally about
6 feet in diameter. This class of chute is built in loose ground.
Concrete chute. For Jheavy ground. Usually circular. Used where there
is a great deal otwear in a chute.
requisites for a standard chute
The requisites for a standard chute are: SafetjTin location and operation. Efficiency in handling-ore and waste.
- . Economical construction and upkeep.
Mining Section
S95
BAFEIS
Formerly, chutes were located in the center of drifts, so as to facilitate the dumping arrangements and permit the use of end-dump cars. While this was a great convenience from the haulage point of view, it carried with it the constant danger Ijf men falling into the chute. Boards were to be laid over these openings and to be removed when cars were dumped. Frequently, however, miners .would forget to replace them when the cars were empty and many a mao has lost his life by falling into an opening of this character. In some states this practice is now prohibited, the law stipulating that the chute shall come up at the side instead of in the center of the drift.
\The manway, adjacent to a chute, should be located far enough from the haulage track so that the men climbing up and down the ladderway will not step directly in front of a moving train.
One of the principal things to be avoided is the "hanging up" of a chute. It is usually a dangerous pEhcedure for a runner to bring down a chute which has been choked or "hung up." Should this occur some distance up, for instance SO to 100 feet, it may cause an air blast, which would break the chute and injure the trammer.
Clearance for cars. The chute mouth should be high enough so that a man will not have his fingers caught between chute and car. This is very difficult at present as there are mines where five different kinds and sizfes of cars are used, all Jbeihg loaded from the same chute. Such a diversity in sizes of cars naturally results in insufficient clearance for the larger ones and too great a clearance for the small cars. This latter con dition, in. itself, creates a danger, as, when small cars are used, the ore, dropping from a distance at high speed may injure the runner, especially when the car is about full and it is necessary for him to close the chute gate immediately.
Trolley wire. In all average drifts having electric haulage, the trolley wire is immediately above the mouth of the chute. The larger drifts have the advantage of an extra set above the trolley wire, upon which the chute runner works, there being a flooring between him and the wire, thus preventing his coming in contact with the electric current.
Some provision must always be made in the smaller drifts to protect the runner from the trolley wire. In some instances, the live wire is insulated and carried along^the opposite side of the drift, the overhead wire being dead for a distance of about ten feet and acting merely as a guide for the trolley wheel. In other cases, the overhead live wire is boxed in witb boards on thA-sides and has a hinged door beneath, which can be pulled up and hboked, in this way completely isolating the trolley wire. Another practice is to have a switch near the chute so that the current in this section of the wire can be turned off and on at will. In exceptional cases the trolley wire is cut about five feet on each side of the chute mouth, and may be detached and moved away bodily. This, however, involves considerable trouble.
Clearance for chute runner. A by-pass is frequently made by taking out a half set of ground immediately opposite the chute and a bench Is
896
Eighth Safety Congress
provided upon which the runner stands. This should be high enough to enable him to reach across and tap the chute and also to use a pickypoke to advantage in loosening the large boulders which frequently clog up the mouth. The bv-pass is a great safety provision in that it gives the operator an opportunity to step ovit of the way in case there is an unexpected rush of ore out of the chute. In caving methods, where there, are lines of chutes on both sides of the drift, a by-pass Is impossible and the runner must load his cars by standing at the side of the particular chute which he is drawing.
EFFICIESTCT
It is important that all chutes be properly located with respect to the levels above and beneath the stope through which they pass. Upon the location of the chute depends the convenience of the stoping arrangement as well as the tramming distance.
A chute should be adapted to the particular needs of the ore body In question. In certain classes of ore large chutes are necessary, while in others smaller ones may be used to advantage. In some cases a great many thousand tons ofjore must pass' through before the chute Is finally abandoned, and the tonnage grades down from this to but a few tons in other cases, consequently, the construction of the chute in the first Instance * must be stronger, more lasting, and naturally more expensive than the type of chute which would do In the second place.
The construction of aT chute should also be such that the ore will flow readily into the cars. jOne of the difficulties with chutes that ha3 not yet been overcome is the fact that all ore has a tendency to "hang up''-, or stick in the chute. "A suggestion which has been made and tried out is to have a breaker staggered on each set right down the chute. The ore, on being dumped Into the chute on the level above, strikes the first breaker and is thrown across onto the breaker on the other side, and. ironTthere zig-zags down thq entire length without stopping until it gets near the chute mouth. These- breakers impede the progress of the ore and prevent it from packing solid in the bottom of the chute. Naturally, the chute is less liable to "hang up." Very good results were obtained from a trial of this chute, the only objection being the extra cost of construction in placing the breakers^pn the sides.
The inclination of the chute mouth has a great deal to do with its efficient operation, as certain classes of ore run much more readily than others. The character of the ore, therefore, must be taken Into account before adopting a standard chute and mouth.
ECONOMY
The cost of constructing chutes should be kept at a minimum. It would be a waste of money tg_.liave a cbute constructed to last far longer than the life of the stope. i=While, on the other hand, it would also be poor economy to have a chute so lightly constructed that it will need constant repairs long before that section of the stope has been abandoned.
Formerly, chutes were made having a wooden bottom and the ore taken
Mining Section
897
out immediately beneath the chute mouth. As a consequence, the ore
dropping down; the chute soon wqft out the bottom and then filled in the
sides of the drift. As a matter of lact, this is still practiced in a number of districts, even though it involves an unnecessary expense to the com
pany for upkeep and repairs. This practice is obsolete in the most up-to-
date mines.
Wherever possible, the bottom of the chute should be in the solid ore
or rock, so as to decrease the cost^of upkeep, as ore striking on a-wooden
bottom would soon cut through. When the size and character ot_ the chute, with due reference to the
class of ore, has been worked out and decided upon, it is then economical
to have the timbers selected and cut to measure on surface, so that the
total number of pieces necessary for its construction can be sent down at
any time and the chute mouth 'installed without any additional cutting
underground.
^7
.VARIOUS KINDS OF CHUTES, DOORS, ETC., IN USE AT PRESENT {With a critical HMcussion of each type) hand TBASnrixG imrrrs
Figures 1 and la represent a chute mouth used for loading small cars from stopes containing high grade^ ore which are operated by the square set method, or in stopes mined by paving methods where frequent blasting is done.
The chute mouth is made of\3?Inch boards, having the proper Inclina-
CHUTE MOUTH AND LOCATION OK CAU
Post cut away to show
loading platform
tion and a clearance of approximately 4 inches should be allowed between the chute mouth and car. The door which controls the flow, consists of three boards, operating in slots which are parallel to each other. The mouth of the chute is about 414 feet long and the ore dropping down the raise strikes on the hard rock which has been left there for the purpose, and then runs toward the ear as the chute is drawn off.
Figure 1 shows the front view of the chute mouth, location of car, etc., while Fig. la gives the side viewTof chute and end view of car.
SOS
Eighth Safety Congress
This type of chute mouth is generally used in small drifts ranging from
3 feet x 6 feet up to 5 feet x 7 feet in the clear.
In drifts, where ore is drawn from square set stopes, the chute runner
usually loads his ear by standing oh a bench opposite the chute mouth.
Sufficient ground Jhehind him has been taken out beyond the regular
drift set so as to allow a certain amount of room, for him to step aside In
case of an unexpected run of ore from the chute. In caving methods, however, he loads his car by standing at the side
of the chute instead of in front as, owing to the chutes being so numer
ous, they are generally placed opposite each other and there is no room
for a bench.
^--
In loading, he-uses a 5-foot iron bar to pry up the three boards and
allow the ore to run into the cars. In case a boulder should get fast in
the chute and hold up the ore, he uses his bar to dislodge it. Should he
be unsuccessful, be must then get powder, tie it to the end of a stick; and
put it near the boulder. After the shot is fired, the boulder is usually
broken and the ore continues to run down the chute. When the car is'
full he uses the bar to strike each board in succession and cause them,
to drop; thus cutting off the flowing ore. In the event of one of the boards
sticking fast and refusing to drop, enough of the chute mouth will be
covered by the other two to stop the ore from, running.
Another type of door is that shown in Fig. 2, which has an iron gate
bolted to the sidesrof the chute. This iron gate operates similarly to the
boards, with the exception that it has a handle so that it may he raised
Fro
FIG. 3.
by the man getting up on the car and taking hold of the hancfte, or by standing on thejtfack and using the bar to pry it up. This gate has a bolt on each end and operates on hinges, as shown in the drawing.
iUJI-E, ELECTRIC, AND AIR HAULAGE
In drifts of this character larger cars are used, the area of the drifts are larger than those of hand tramming, and the chutes are either operated from the -drift or from the extra pony set above the drift. The chute
Mining Section
S99
and chute. mouth shown in Fig. 1 are frequently used in drifts of this character, being, of course, built In proportion to the size of the drift.
Fig. 3 is the same kind of ajshute and chute mouth as those shown in the preceding Illustrations, but has a different type of door. This door is built in the form of a sector, made of iron, and has a handle. A. piece of iron pipe may be used on the handle in order to give the operator greater power. Built to a smaller scale, this chute mouth and gate is occasionally used in hand tramming drifts in square set stopes, but more frequently in the larger drifts with, of course, proportionately greater dimensions. This door may be operated either from the level, in a hand tramming drift, or from the floor above in a motor haulage drift. In the latter case, the chute door is, of course, high enough so that the operator can open it by standing in the pony set and also punch the chute from that floor. This class of door is in common use on main haulage drifts where block caving is the mining method employed. However, the chutes lead ing directly on to the main haulage level are usually located in ground that is not very heavy and will therefore not be subject to change.
Fig. 4 represents an iron door "which is operated with a slide and small gear wheels on the ends with a larger wheel to give'the operator more power. By turning th`e larger wheel the small gears run up a geared track
and raise the iron slide. When.operating this wheel the operator stands to
one side of the chute.
--
Fig. 5. The construction of this door is similar to that shown in Fig.
4 with the difference that it is operated by a compressed air cylinder.
The operator merely turns a compressed air lever, which raises the slide and allows the ore to run. .When the car is full and he desires to close the chute, he turns off the compressed air by reversing this lever, and
turns on a second (lever) which forces air into the rear end of the cylin
der and closes the door. If a boulder should get caught it may then be necessary for him to open and close this door several times in order to
dislodge it.
i:r
COMMENTS
The principle in the fconstruction and operation of both the chutes shown in Figs. 1 and 2, for use In hancbtramming drifts, is practically the same.
900
Eighth Safety Congress
Both have rock bottoms and the raises (which include chute and manway)
are not Immediately over the drift, but off at the side. Sufficient ground
has been taken out under the manway compartment so that the ladderway
will be far enough Trom the drift to prevent a man from stepping out In
front or a car. The door In one chute is of boards, while the other is of
iron. Fig. 1 Illustrates the chute and door in use at most of the mines
where block caving^methods are used, while Fig. 2 is used principally in
top-slice stopes and not so frequently in other caving methods, the reason
being that the drifts in which Fig. 1 is used become very heavy, the
cbutes soon go out-of shape and require a change made in the size of the
door, which can easily be done by cutting the wooden gates to suit the
changes caused by crushing, whereas an iron door could not be so readily
adapted.
TM
These represent two of the best types of chute mouths and gates for use
in band tramming drifts. They are economical; durable, and. If the bar
Is employed and the men use care, they are comparatively safe.
It is often found advisable to use the wooden door, shown in Fig. 1, in large chutes on mule, electric, or air haulage drifts, where the ground
is heavy and the chutes are apt to lose their shape, because as mentioned
previously, the boards can be cut down to meet the circumstances, whereas
the iron doors are not so adaptable. Of the three Iron doors shown In Figs. 3, 4, and 5, the last Is far su
perior to the other two and can he used in every instance where these
other doors are used. Il is absolutely safe in operation and requires very
little repairing. JThe amount of compressed air. \ised is also small. Its
cost, as compared^to the other doors, is, of course, somewhat higher, but is Justified in places where a large amount of ore must be handled.
The matter of clearance for safety depends entirely on the type and
height of car. Ai. stated before, in one of the most up-to-date mines five
different types and heights of cars are used, all loading from the same
chute. In this instance it would be very difficult to specify what amount
of clearance between the chute and the car should he adopted as standard.
Therefore, before a standard clearance can be decided upon, first of all It
is necessary to decide upon the standard size and height of car which is
to be used on that particular level.
The clearance between cars should he sufficient to permit of a man's passing between them.
The discussion of a standard car raises at once the question of a stand
ard gauge. TheTl8-incli to 22-inch is still the practice and a standard
gauge of about 20 inches should he maintained in practically all metal
mines. In deciding on a standard gauge, the main point to be borne in
mind is that it rSust be suitable for the size of drift or tunnel which has
been found to be the most practicable and economical for prospect work.
The larger gavigif of 24 inches to 30 inches is of course - used on main haulage drifts, where the ore has already been proved up and the ex
pense of driving the large tunnel for the haulage train Is absolutely justi
fied. It would, however, be entirely out of the question to ask operators
to .drive large tunnels of this character for prospect work merely to stand
ardize on the gauge.
Mining Section
901
In general, a large number of companies nse two gauges, the 20-Inch for all prospect and ordinary working drifts, and a larger gauge, -about 30-inch, for the main extraction tunnels only. At the present time there are mines in the Southwest which have already standardized on the gauge and type of car. In one rparticular mine, the 18-inch gauge is used throughout the entire mine, with only two types of cars, both being the same height, which simplifies the matter of chutes and chute doors, the chute mouth shown in Fig. l being used throughout. It might well be said that this company has standardized on gauge, cars, chute, chute door, and clearance.
Standardization of methods =df haulage Is therefore a very Important consideration in metal minings where the prime requisites are safe and efficient operation coupled with economical construction and maintenance.
Chaibmam- Tirxsox: Discussion on the paper is now open, I would call your attention to illustrated dump covering door and also to a system
FIG. 6.
SCHEME FOR OrE-VITO DOOR COVERING DUMP IX CENTER OF TRAVELING WAY
of timbering to keep-travel of man away from, electric haulage.
and 7.}-
_
DISCUSSION
(Figs. 6
Mb. A. H. Tkestbah. (Fickands Mather, Palatka, Mich.) : In the paper the statement was made that state laws required the opening to raises to be put on the side of the drift or sub-level, and it says that previously the opening was made in the center of the drift, In order to allow the use of end dump cars. In our ^property we place our raises at the side of drifts, and we use the end dump car. Simply have the car run right into the little cut-out, and we ate able to dump right down the chute.
It is pretty bard underground to have all the room you want, especially if the ground is of a nature that breaks readily, but I think one way that that will help. Is instead of having the ladder come down directly on track, have it placed sideways, then In order to get on the track a man
904
-- Eighth Safety Congress
be almost, by deliberately pushing his bar in between this small opening.
Chairman Tn.i.so.x: In answering Mr. Boardman about the relative
size of the chunks ofjore to the size of chute, I may say in the ore with
which I am familiar in New Jersey, the grizzlies have an opening of
twelve by fifteen inches. Our experience in the past has been there is a
strong tendency to use for chutes, raises that are too small for the pur
pose, and we drive the small raises first and strip them up to larger size
and save a whole lot of money in the course of a few years.
Mr. R. D. H.\r.i. ("Coal Age," New York City) : Would you please give
the size of those raises?
Cm airman Tir.i_.so:2 Eight by eight feet. Prof. F. W. Sff.kr (Michigan College of alines, Houghton, Mich.) : That
would have to he worked out for each separate ore--the relative sizes
as between the pieces and the chute.
Chairman Tii-i.-sox : Well, I don't know that you need any refinement.
I believe if you had an eight by eight chute in most ores, that you'd have
comparatively little trouble unless you have an ore with distinctly ce
menting qualities or^ mixed with clay and had lain there for about six
months.
-
Prof. Sferii: Are you considering inclined or vertical?
Chairman Tii.i-Son : Ours are all inclined. The flattest which we deem
it advisable to operate is SO degrees, and we believe that somewhere about
">0 degrees works out the best. In other words, the flatter you can run
your raise, the less trouble you will have of blocking. The steeper it is.
you get the jamming and arching effect in your raises.
Mr. A. H. Trestbau. (Pickands Mather, Palatka, Mich.): 1 want to ask Professor Sperr in regard to breakers in the raise. How are they put
In?
--
Prof. Si'KRit: Make offsets.
Mr. Boa hum an: In regard to inclined raises, don't you think in prop
erties where the ore has a tendency to cleave and slip off, you have to
have the offsets more prominent?
(The Chairman and Mr. Boardman at the blackboard.)
Chairman Tir.LSON: You probably see Mr. Boardman's sketch of the
common way on the left, and the way he suggested on the right.
Mr. Boardman: This (indicating common way, Fig. Sa) Is the ordinary
(roller boxing in which the wire is straignt up between the hoards. On
this side we have the right angle trolley boxing (Fig. 8b.). This is what
we sometimes call the hack or timber across here. Now, "the trolley pole
is simply swung in^ there, and the wheel put in contact with the trolley
wire.
--
In case this is oil the side of the drift opposite the chute, the man has
his back against this board here. For instance, if I were loading a chute
here, the chute would be on this side, and this board would be at my
back, so it would be impossible to push a bar in there. On the other
hand, should the trolley wire be on the same side as the chute, or under or above the chute, which is very uncommon, you might possibly get the
Mining Section
905
chute bar in that slot but it is almost a deliberate act if you do so. Mr. A. H. Trestrail (Pickands Mather, Falatka, Mich.) : In regard to
this right angle arrangement, is not the trolley wheel and the arm on the
swivel, so you could have one chute on one side and another on the other
in many levels?
-
Mr. Boardmas: The swivel is here in connection with the pole. That
is right at the head.
Mr. Thesthaii.: Do your miners wear heavy rubber boots? Mr. Boabdjiax: Some of them do, hut not very many.
Mr. J. W. "Reed (Consolidated Coal Co., Fairmont, W. Va.): "Would that
F~ia sc.
srr>Por:T of trollee wiiiii i;.\der a chute as USEDUY Ns'. JT. ZIKC CO.
type of pole give any trouble in keeping tbe trolley wheel on the wire
when you are going over a trolley frog? Mr. Boardman' : Doesn't give any trouble ai all. Mr. Reed; It looks to me like it would have a tendency to pull the
wheel, back.
Chairman Tiecson: You have a swivel up here on the goose-neck, haven't you, Mr. Boardman? -E. imagine there is a swivel here as well as
here.
'-
Mr. Boardman': Yes. you are right; the sketch isn't very plain there.
I Just got the information from Mr. Concannon here that the kind cf
joints used on the trolley wheels are the hall joints--a small ball joint on
a pin under the wheel, and then the swivel on the pole. Chairman Tit.U'OS: I want to call your attention to a plan for the
chute mouth. I think all of you have seen the plan In Mr. Mitke's paper.
He mentioned different types of chutes in which there were boards fitted
906
Kighth Safety Congress
in slots between the two chute sides, and which required to be barred up. It seems to me that that type of chute is very awkward, inefficient, and a very dangerous typo of chute to use. If you have a chute mouth with cleats and a board fitting between you can readily see that in barring that up you would have^ffne side tending to jam. You are In. continual dif
ficulty with that type of door. Your next step is to make the corners of those boards slightly rounded
in. order to try and avoid that, but still you have the tendency for jam ming, for a man wijdr his bar doesn't always get in the dead center, or the friction of a shunk gainst it will hold it back at one point and the other side is free, and theTFe is always considerable difficulty in shutting off the flow of ore when you want to, and there is also the tendency for the ore to flow over and drop on somebody's foot.
Now, the other type of chute which Mr. Mitke mentioned; namely, an arc gate swinging down this way from below, has some difficulties too, be cause if there is a big chunk of ore and a small chunk of ore, when that gate comes down on the big chunk it is blocked and the rest of the mate rial runs out on your car and overflows on the track.
For that reason I want to call your attention to a type of chute gate which we not duly know is practically correct, but it seems
FIG. 0. CHUT1-: GATKS
RT X. J. ZINC CO. WITH EIU2CTRIC
11 AI'I.tCK
to be theoretically^ correct. That is an arc gate which is un derslung. it being ~ supported from some point above or at the side of the chute. {Fig. 9.1 Now. the effect of that gate is, in opening the gate it swings down and lets the ore gradually flow over the top of the gate. In other words, the ore in the chute has come up to its angle of
repose, in which the fraction upon it does not permit it to flow any longer. The moment you drop that gate, you come below that angle, and it starts to run outjlowly.
When you are raising that mass of ore up to its angle of repose there is nothing in the world that can block the delivery and control at the chute's mouth. SoTSr as the control of the chute gate is concerned, it
Jfining Section
907
seems both, practically and theoretically correct, and I would highly com
mend it to your attention for any installations which would be in service
long enough to warrant the installation of metal chutes. "We have found
that it is possible to so proportion the weight of those parts that as you operate you raise the center of gravity and then upon releasing it you get
very prompt and immediate action. It swings down to position possibly
two-thirds closed and requires ithen a few turns to bring it up to the
closed position. So you get very prompt effect in controlling the delivery
of your ore. Mr. W. D. Schofield (Inspiration Consolidated Copper Co., Inspiration,
Ariz.) : What is to prevent your stuff from bouncing over? Chairman Tillsox: Actually the top comes in here a little further.
From that point out here is flatter than the angle of repose, and it won't
flow over. Mr. Schofield:
It doesn't now, but if your chute is empty you have a
tendency of bouncing over. Chairman- Tilison: You should never empty your chute.
Any empty
chute will cause you trouble. -- Prof. Sfbrr: The trouble with this chute here is that you are using it
the wrong way. Now, Mr. William Kelly described that chute and its use
in the . report of the Lake Superior' Mining Institute about twenty-five
years ago. (The chairman rearranged the. sketch.)
Prof. Si-ebk:: Now you've got it. By closing the door down, as in Fig. 11, a lump of ore is liable to catch under the door and prevent it from closing the chute entirely. In Fig. 10 the door closes upward so no lump of ore can prevent its closing. We use that type of chute, and when the handles go down it comes up just as he illustrates it there.
Chairman Tillson; That is the very' common way of using it, but I maintain that is the wrong way.
Prof. Spekr: Well, the reason we do that is because we want every thing above the car and nothingjbelow, so the car goes under the lip.. In. order to get it above we sacrifice the ease with which you work the chute.
908
Eighth Safety Congress
Mb. W. W. Gidi.ey (Phelps Dodge Corporation, Bisbee, Ariz.) : I think we have all entirely the wrong idea of Mr. Mitke's illustration here. This illustration is taken from the standard door that is used now by the Phelps Dodge people^ It is taken right from the mines In Bisbee, and is the type of chute door adopted as a standard. It works very successfully.
In regard to what the Chairman said a few moments ago, it doesn't project down below tie chute lip at all.
In addition to the door there is also a little board that is commonly known as the tail board, used in case of a run of ore, and in studying out the different types of doors in .order to arrive at a standard, many different designs were tried and considerable time devoted to it. The re sult was that this iron door was adopted as a standard, and is now being used in every chute in the Phelps Dodge works in Bisbee. We found it to be the most practical chute door in use.
Another feature about the door, as you will notice, is the handles on the side, which practically compels the man to stand at one side of his car in order to work the lever. In case he is required to use the tail board, he uses it with his right hand. All of us who are interested in safety know that our most frequent accidents occur from loading. Men get their hands bruised or fingers smashed, especially those who haven't had a great deal of experience in loading. You may have all the side boards or pro tection you wish, but it is almost impossible to get the ordinary loader to use them. So by having this door with a handle on the side, it practically compels the loader tp stand at one side of the car.
We had a very serious accident in Bisbee caused by a bowlder striking a man, and we are working on an arrangement to have a baffle down in front of the chute made of steel, so that the loader will be compelled to stand behind it. It is an experiment, and we haven't thoroughly tried it out yet, but I arnmonvinced from the experience I have had that that is a very practical ltlnd of chute door.
Another word in regard to the trolley wire. . All of our trolley wires on main haulage chutes are by-passed. We have no overhead trolley, no live wire at all over the chute when the loader is loading. We have a block signal system established in the main haulage drifts. All our ore on the
Phelps Dodge properties in Bisbee is hoisted through one shaft over con veyor belts automatically, and when the motor leaves this particular shaft on the main line hack through the main drift, it automatically turns on the red light. _ll_
There is a red light at every junction of all the lateral drifts through out the line, and asTsoon as they see this red light they know that the motor on the main line is approaching. It works very satisfactorily.
Chairman TiLLSOyT Do you consider that first type of trolley guarding unsafe? How is a man going to get his bar against it?
Mr. Gioley : We use that a great deal. We have many very heavv drifts, and drifts that require a great deal of timber, and which are con stantly settling. We use those guards wherever our trolley wires are at all low. But I do believe it is much safer and more practical to have the trolley wires by-passed.
Mining Section
909
Prof. Spebh: (Michigan College of Mines, Houghton, Mich.) : Let us again refer to the method of stopping the flow of ore from, chutes. 'It is a common practice, in many mines to use boards which fit in slots in the chute.
In regard to this method of sloping the chute boards, I wonder whether the people who use it never thought of cutting off their chute right there (illustrating byjsketch), and dropping the boards in here, and letting them stick through.
Chairman Tir.r.sox: I was going to draw a sketch of that. (Pigs. 12a,
Position of Studdlei
FIO. 12a. XSKTAU-S OF STOPE SETS
12b, and 12c.) That hasn't any of the objections I mentioned for the
other chute door.
~
Prof. Sperr: And you can either have one hook here or a succession
of hooks for each hoard to hold the boards one on top of the other.
Chairman Ttr.r.soA-: They may be hooked separately on the side, or
placed one on top of the other. That brings up the other question that is
mentioned in the paper, where in certain instances the chutes are fixed so
that men will load from the :slde--from the end of the car or side of the
chute--and the question I want to ask Mr. Gidley, who is acquainted
with that practice, is why that isn't required in all instances. Isn't that the safest way to load a car--"from the side of the chute or end of the
car?
--
Mr. Giiilev: I don't quite un derstand your question. You mean
that a loader should always stand at the end of the car?
Chairman Tiu.sos: IVhengver the chute loads from the side of the
car. Mr. Gidi.ky:
It Is almost impossible for a loader to do that if he is
loading out of an ordinary wooden door. He practically has to stand In
front of a chute, particularly Jf he has ore that is inclined to be sticky.
910
Eighth Safety Congress
to Lartre Timber
- - to Plank Orate
FIG. 12b. TVPKS OF CHUTE HOOKS
Cii-MitMax TiLr.soxr In order to raise these hoards? Mr. Ginr.Ev: No, in order to take his bar and have free access of the
chute. He practically has to stand right in front of the door in order to load with' the old type of wooden doors.
Chairmax Tiu-sox: If you made the wooden doors of that type with
Mining Section
911
planks sticking out of the side of tlie Jciiute and cut your planks down a
little at each, end so he couldn't pinch-'his fingers; one plank rests on an
other one heneath it. The side of the chute comes down to here, and the loader stands on the side and csST handle those planks without prying up his boards. The men can stand at the end of the car here, and reach over the end or around back here and bar up the planks, and if anything hap pens, if the bar sticks, leave it there; and all they have to do is to step back out of the way of the flow of ore, and there is no difficulty in han dling the material or barring the chute.
I speak by virtue of the fact that we have operated entirely that way for a great many years. And I have noticed in the past there have been many illustrations. I have seen some western mining practice, in which they have made all sorts Of arrangements permitting the man to stand in front of his chute and bar it out, 'and the only condition in which we have to practice standing in front of a chute is where it happens to be a dead end drift due to the slope of the ore. The chute comes in the end of the drift and has. to be loaded from the end of the car. Then if that is cramped too much, he may have to be in front.
Mr. Gidiei: Wherever a main, haulage chute is built in the Phelps Dodge properties our safety rules compel them to have six feet in front of every chute. In the past we have had serious, and in fact, fatal acci dents, from men being buried by chutes running- away, and if there is not sufficient room behind a cafLwhy, it is more or less difficult for him to make his escape should the chute start suddenly to run, but if he has plenty of room it is almost certain he will get out of the way.
Of course, in loading a car in_the end of a drift conditions very often demand that chutes be built that way. In the end of the drift perhaps they may be following a string of ore or something that wouldn't justify a great deal of expense in building the regular type of chute, and in that case some small chute, commonly termed a "joke chute" is erected in the
end of the drift, and loading is done in the end of the car. But there is one thing Mr. Mitke speaks of--that is when the chute
bangs up the loader would have ho take powder and blast it out. I want to say that he would practice that about once in a mine of mine. The thing of allowing the loader or any green man to handle powder to blast the chute is absolutely out of the question in these days of safety. If it Is necessary to blast a cbute, why, we have rules governing that. The loader notifies the nearest miner, who comes, and if necessary does the blasting--but not the loader. It would never do to have a loader blast a chute.
M*. Boaibmax: One thing in regard to loading the chute I'd like to bring out here. Up in our- mines we have a number of accidents caused by men loading from the opposite, side of the car. They lean over the car in this manner, and the car catches them right where it shouldn't. In teaming over the car they sometimes forget to put their hoard in between tbeir body and the car, and of course the fleshy part of the thighs and soone other things get across the top of the car, and the ore spills down aad catches them. We have had some very serious accidents in that manner, and I think in that case it is necessary to load from the side of
!112
Eighth Safety Congress
the car, but there should be very stringent rules requiring men to place
boards between them and the car.
Mu. A. H. Trestkatt: (Pickands Mather, Palatka. Mich): We have both
those installations Professor Sperr spoke about, where you have a bar on
the outside of each chute and boarding across, and we also have the ar
rangement where thenman stands in fTont and blocks the chute from the
front. If you have chunks, then I think it is pretty nearly impossible to
work a chute withouEThaving a man in front with a bar, or at least on
one side of the front, to pry down the dirt, and keep it running.
I think the paper spoke about the building of a platform on the side of
a car so the men could get up and have plenty of room, and a chance to
jump to one side in case of a run of ore.
Sometimes in our dirt there will be fine stuff and rocks mixed, and it Is
necessary if It starts to run to bring that board down pretty fast. So
the fellows used to grasp the board on the top and get their fingers
caught. So we IriedTto experiment by putting the handles on the outside
of the chute board, and then he wouldn't have to put his fingers over the
top. First we put them this way. and that didn't give them any leverage,
so we turned it a round so he could grasp it at a side angle and save his
fingers.
~~
Chairman Ti i.i.son: Couldn't they stop the flow of (he ore with boards
on cliute-hooks in the front?
Mu. Xm:sTU.\it.: We have that installation, but I stopped at that par
ticular property just-before I came down here, and watched them load
several cars, and they still had to get around In front with their pryers
and lcosen it. tip. They used bars, standing hack to one side, to pry it
up. If it doesn't run. they have to get powder. And in regard to a loader
blasting a chute, X agree with Mr. Gidley that that is out of the question. They have an experienced man to look after that part of the work.
Prof. Sferr: With that type of a chute hoard, when jrou have to bar
your chute you will always have at least one board over the top where you
are barring, and if a "rush starts you drop it quickly and there Is abso
lutely no danger. even if standing in front of the chute. Mit. Trksthaii.: As a rule they generally leave tile cross bar on top. Prof. Si'kku: Yes."She board, and another is up at the top to stop It.
Then instead of ha\"Itfg one hook for all the chutes, X have seen a suc cession of hooks used_ The first hook, you see, stops the rush, and then
there will be hooks inside that you can drop boards into lightly.
Mb. Tbestbah.: Instead of the hoards we use the cleat. Prof. Si'fkr: But, first of all, will be a hook.
Mb. Tbestbaw.: Yes.
Mu. W. W. Gmr.KY: During the Spanish-American War, in 1898, I was
employed in Butte, and in speaking, of the hanging of chutes, there was
a method in vogue there at that time--it wasn't used at all of the chutes,
but it was in occasional use in various places--where we used to have
a chain strung through the chute from the collar top of the chute to the
door. The ore, whileaoften it was wet, was not sticky, hut the hanging of the cliute was usually caused by the arching of boulders. If you'd take
held of that chain at jthe bottom and give it a little shake, invariably it
=JMinmg Section
913
would start' the chute to running'. It worked very successfully. I don't
know whether they are still Using it in Butte or not. Mr. J". C. Con'cansox (Anaconda Copper Mining Co., Butte, Mont.) : I
think the talks we have heard this morning are something very enlight
ening. Now, I have been a loader for the A. C. M. Company for quite a
while, and this is my idea of a perfect chute--where I think I would get
the greatest returns without going into great risks to the men. This is
how I would do it: A chute of a hundred feet should have three setoffs,
but not too wide for the chute to hang up on.
o
This chute shoxild have an angle of 45 degrees. Now. when it comes
to the loading, what I would advocate is this: Have a controlling door for each of those three offsets. This controlling door is about half an
inch thick and covers the entire breadth of the chute. That is worked by
a lever from the man who! stands on the platform at the side of the
chute.
~~
I would also say that a man should never stand in front of a car, or
sit down on it and put his legs across the car, because he is liable to be
hit below the belt If he ever did that. Mr. R. D. Har.r. ("Coal Age," New York City) : As a coal miner, I hesi-'
tate to get into the discussion at all, but it seems to me when we come to
talk about wires, it miglitfbe a good suggestion to leave them out al together. It seems pretty :bard to induce anything in the way of a stor
age battery locomotive, but it does seem to .me tbat will be the ultimate
result, and of course it might be a combination of both trolley and
storage battery: the storage batteries being used where tliere are chutes,
and the trolley being used where there are no chutes.
It seems to me that matter ought to be looked into because it offers a
great possibility of getting jQiLof the wires. I also think that hardly any matter would be more prolific of good than a bulletin issued by the National Safety Council on chute doors. It seems to me when you have
solved that matter of mining cars as best you can, with the present state
of knowledge, then you might take up the matter of chute doors to great advantage. Being used inJ:tlie anthracite region, it really is a matter
which interests the coal-mine man just as it does the metal-mine man. However, the former fias the"advantage of knowing just about what he is
after, and making his installations without any question about the prob ability of their being useclrto a large or small extent.
Mi*. R. H. Gcerraxt (National Safety Council, Chicago) : In regard to
chutes becoming blocked, I picked up an idea from' the Oliver Iron Mining Company. They provide a room at the side of each chute for barring
down the ore if it gets blocked over the chute entrance. I wilt make a
sketch of the arrangement. X(Fig. 13.)
In their main haulage ways they have some trouble in loosening the
ore, so their general manager conceived this idea: At the bottom of the. chute they have dug out a room ten feet long. A man can climb up into
this room and loosen the ore^with a bar. and he is not in danger of being
crushed. Where they recently loosened It through, the chute, they ex perienced much trouble. They claim this is an Ideal way of loosening
914
Eighth Safety Congress
ore. The floor of the room is on a level with the bottom of the chute. Mr. A. H. Trestrail: U the man can get in there to work there must
be an opening. Mr. Guerrant: He goes up at the ladder at the far end of the room. CiuiRMAK Tillson : We could spend the whole day on chutes,' but I
will ask for the paper on "The Importance of Safety Measures to the Miner," which is to be presented by Major Arthur S. Dwight, who comes to us, we are very much pleased to say, as a representative of the Amer ican Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers. This is the first
ORE IN CHUTES
time the Board of Directors of the American Institute of Mining and
Metallurgical Engineers has officially sent a delegate to address the Min
ing Section of the National Safety Council. We hope it is an omen of the
closer cooperation to take place between those two famous bodies. Major
Dwight.
; .
THE IMPORTANCE OF SAFETY MEASURES TO THE -- MINER
Major Arthur S. Dwight Chairman, Industrial Organization Commitike, American Institute jof' Mining Engineers, New York
Crrr.
There is - no calling that is more vitally interested in safety measures than that of the miner. He faces continually the perils of falling rock.
.. -Jlining Section '
915
caving ground, high, explosives, poisoned air, gas explosions, fire, flood,
high tension electrical currents, besides all the ordinary dangers of
machinery made doubly perilous by the darkness and the discomfort In which he offen works. The calling has always been a perilous one and
necessarily, in. order to exist at all, the miner had a safety code, the proper understanding of which was a very important part of the skilled
miner's equipment. In the old world, mining was from ancient times an
hereditary occupation whiclL developed its own traditional methods and rules to suit the' special conditions found in the several mining districts,
and these rules were handed down from father to son. As the New World began to open up its mineral treasures, skilled
miners from these old mining communities of Europe were attracted, and
brought with them their old country methods, and their unwritten rules
of safety underground which had been developed in the centuries of ex perience in the mines of Cornwall, Devon, Saxony, and Bohemia. These ancient unwritten rules are still the basis of underground practice to day, though obscured somewhat by the multitude of "don'ts" that have come in as modern engineering has replaced the simpler implements of th.e ancient miner with power drills, high explosives and powerful hoist ing, pumping, ventilating and ^transportation machinery. Moreover, the
old breed of miner has mostly disappeared, and the unwritten laws of
safety underground have been largely forgotten, because unwritten. With us, the miner is seldom born to the business; he has to be shown.
It is my purpose to discus's here only metal mining. The coal miner
was early confronted by certain hazardous conditions peculiarly his own, explosive gas and fire danger, and was long ago forced to adopt safety measures on a large scale, and not only to codify his safety rules, but to
establish a system of rigid inspection to enforce them. The metal miner is perhaps the one that now most needs enligbtment and cooperation. It is: necessary that the unwritten law of safety underground be written, and
incidentally written in all' languages under the sun to reach our present
complex mining population, and then backed up by a good Anglo-Saxon
punch:
1
COMSUTTEE APPOINTED TO DRAFT SAFETY COPE'FOB METAL 3X.ZXEBS
The need for a safety code for metal miners to meet this situation of increased occupational complexities with diminished skill in the miner, came to a head at the 1906 meeting of the American Mining Congress, at Denver, Colorado, and a committee of five eminent mining engineers was appointed to study the situation and draft "a modern law governing quarrying and metalliferous mining," which could be recommended to the several states for adoption, in the hope that the passage of a uniform law by the mining states would tend to lower the number of fatal and serious accidents. The engineers composing the committee were Walter R. In galls (chairman), the late James Douglas. James R. Finlay, J. Parke
Channing, and John Hays Hammond. Much valuable preliminary work was done and- discussion in the technical press awakened, and in 1909, the American Institute .of Mining Engineers, and the Mining and Metal lurgical Society of America became interested, and asked to participate in
5)18
Eighth Safety Congress
but they are certainly on the :r'ight track, and Mr. Fay's statistics will doubtless show steady Improvement year by year.
The next thing is to reach the proprietors of the small mines, and in duce them to adopt safe methods. The work of the big companies will in time have its effect on the smaller operators, but other steps should be taken. The most effective, of course, is the adoption of well-drawn state laws, adequately backed up by generous appropriations for adequate inspection of the workings, and prosecution of those who violate the law. That may come in time, but meantime it is believed that the principles of safety should be inculcated not only from the top down, but from the bottom up; in other words, some form of educational campaign might be started that would appealTin the first place to the small mine proprietor who employs only a handful of miners, and in the second place to the itinerant miners who largely make up this class of employees. I shall not attempt to suggest the means of doing this, realizing that the ex perience already gained by the National Safety Council along this line is worth xnore than any ideas of mine. The records of the TJ. S. Bureau of Mines would doubtless furnish a valuable mailing list for reaching these small operators.
AMDI1CAX IXSTirtrTE OF MINING AXD SCEXAjLX.TJBGXCAX. ENG INEEBS
The American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers is glad to cooperate with the National Safety Council in promoting safety methods in the mining industry."Perhaps we have been slow in giving official recognition to the movement. Except for the work of the Committee on Mining Safety Law, already mentioned, which began in 1906, and was formally endorsed by the Institute in 1909, practically nothing was done in the way of safety activities until 1914, when the Museum of Safety was officially recognized by the appointment of a Consultation Committee. In 191S. a Committee on Industrial Organization was appointed with nine sub-committees, one being the sub-committee on safety, for cooperation with the National Safety Council, and it is to be hoped that this com munity of interest may result in lasting good to the mining industry.
The American Institute held a meeting in Chicago last week. There was an attendance of 70d at the Banquet, and it Is significant of the present trend of thought itLthe profession, that every one of the speakers that evening, each in his "Own way, led up to the one all-absorbing topic which Mr. Charles M. Schwab, one of the speakers, aptly referred to as "Human Engineering." The subject is presented to us now as never be fore, and the conservation of human life is the first element in that plan. That is the noble purpose' for which you are striving, and you may be assured of the sympathy and cooperation of the mining profession.
CjBCA4BM-A.x Xjtisox: We are greatly indebted, to Major Dwight for liis
paper, and discussion on the subject is now very welcome.
DISCUSSION
Ms. A. H. TsESTKAir. (Pieanda Mather, Palatka, Mich.) : In regard to the statement about the itinerant miners of small mining companies not
Mining Section
919
using- safety standards, does not that seem to indicate that the itinerant miner is a dangerous man, and from the fact that he works, as a rule, for these small companies, why, the small mines would haTe a larger dis ability or fatality rate-on account of the kind of help that naturally goes there for employment? The company that employs the safety standards as a rule has a steadier force of men, because men knowing the dangers of the occupation prefer to work in a mine where things are well regu lated.
COMPARISON OF EUROPEAN: FATALITIES WITH THIS COCSTBT
In ..regard to the comparison of European fatalities with this country, is It not a fact that in this country the stress has been laid upon the number of tons p.er man, and I believe in one of our previous conventions it was shown the production'in this country was very much greater per man than in the European countries, in Duluth that point was brought out by a practical man from Europe who stated the production In this country per man was greater than in Europe.
COMPARISON OF LARGER WITH SMALLER COMPANIES
Mr. M. J. Fltzik (State Safety Board, Olympia, Wash.): Our experi
ence in Washington has been somewhat different relating to the small
companies. The Medical Department of the Industrial Commission has
tabulated the last five years* contribution to their Department, and we
find that the larger companies in the state are contributing more to the Medical Department, as a result of a greater percentage of accidents, than the smaller companies. For instance, there Is a' mine employing
about seven hundred men. They have injured for the year 1916, 33 per
cent of their total force. Another and smaller mine employing hut one-
half the number of men only injured about 26 per cent of their total daily force. What is true of the coal mines, I am informed, is also true
of the shingle mills of that state. Our experience shows that the smaller
plants, operating with smaller numbers of men, are far ahead of the
larger employers, so far as the Medical Department is concerned.
Now, in that state the workmen contribute on^-half, and the employer
one-half of the actual day's work for medical treatment. We only have
a seven-day waiting period, which perhaps knocks off about 10 to 12 per
cent of our trivial acciddhts. But we get our figures very accurately
from injuries that go over this seven-day duration. I am only speaking
from our experience in the state of Washington.
Chairman Tjcllson: Mr. Flyzik, do both the large and small plants
have the same number of working days in each year? Mr. Fltzik: Practically so. In fact, we find that the smaller plants
operate more days than the larger ones, due to the fact that the railroads
purchase their coal.
--
Mr. Trestrail: I know it is a fact if you take the small property for
or six years?
--
Mr. Fltzik: I am speaking for that one year, hut at the end of Decem ber. 1919, we expect to have complete data for the five years. ,
Mr. A. H. Trestrail: How long a period was that comparison---five
020
Eighth Safety Congress
one year it may run along with, a very nice percentage for that one year, but in the next year if they have one accident of maybe fifty to a hundred days' disability, that property's record is ruined for the year. The small accidents in a big property mean a very trivial thing, whereas in small properties as affecting their percentage, why, it runs up. For instance, in one case a small property had a percentage c-2 .2 of a day in every hundred days' work, andlt large property had a percentage' of .4 in every hundred days' work. But in the succeeding year the small property, through one accident that was calculated a thirty-day disability period based on a hundred days, why, its percentage ran away up.
Mr. Flyzik: If you take your figures on a percentage basis, based on the number of men employed and the actual days worked each year, that shouldn't vary with a thousand or a hundred men--as long as you have based your statistics^ on that principle.
Mr. Tricsthail: The only variance would be in which mine operated the more safely. The statement has been made in this paper that the small mine was the more dangerous mine to work in, and the only difference in the figures would be as tcTwhich mine had the safest schedule of figures. That is the proper way, according to my notion, to figure it out. If the small mine is more unsafe to work in than a large one, the small one is going to have the larger" percentage of disability. That is what I was getting at.
Mu. J. W. Rked (Consolidated Coal Co., Fairmont, W. Va.): I believe the gentlemen are all right, but I think the figures, if compounded on a few small mines, will beTvery misleading. It is about the same proposi tion I am up against in Working out individual records for single mines as compared with the total records for our company as a whole.
Now. as regards the small mines and the large mines, I am in a position to say something, havingsbeen a state mining inspector for some time and having had about a hundred and some mines under my inspection at one time. I find that the small mine and the small organization is in some instances a great deal safer from the fact that perhaps the presi dent of the company or the owners are directly in touch with the interior of the mine and get in jhere. Then if there is something that comes tip which must have attention, why. the man who owns the pocketbook and has charge of the purse strings is able to open it up and go ahead and do it or not do it: while in your larger organization you continually get further and further away from the man who holds the purse strings, and improvements have to. go through a number of different channels to reach him. and you have'"a. longer length of time elapsing.
But when your large organization becomes interested In safety, and makes it its business to gor down through the mines and improve the con ditions. I believe it is a hard thing for. the small mine to equal the con ditions for safety that tlieularger organization can produce. That In gen eral, was my experience lit Kentucky. We had a number of small mines under small ownership, and I don't think I ever in my life saw mines which were kept in better^shape and were safer than those small opera tions. We also had larger companies, and their mines were in equally good condition, but we had in-between companies where the conditions
Mining Section
921
would vary from good to bad^ So that when you come to a final summing
up of the thing, I believe that your small intermediate organization will
be equally as good, depending on the man in actual charge of the work. There isn't any line which can be drawn to say the small man works
under dangerous conditions,; and I don't think you can say that the larger operator always has gbod conditions. He may want to have them,
but perhaps the man he puts in charge, of the mine is not getting the
service he thinks he is.
^
EDUCATION OF THE MBS A XU TIIEIR FACTJI.T1ES OF IMAGINATION
Mb. J. E. Watson (Timber Milling Co., Butte, Mont.) : A great many
of the companies throughout the country today are publishing and editing
papers that are distributed among men on safety work, and safety meas ures are being put into use at the different mines. We have a paper out
in Butte, that got to almost all the employees a short time back, in which
was an article that dealt with imagination and its bearing upon safety
work. If you have a man, no matter how many safeguards you throw around
him, or no matter how many" installations you may make to take care of
his health and welfare, if lie doesn't have his imagination educated so
he can see what might happen to him if he does a certain thing, your
safeguards are not going to work out very well. If you have a man with
a vivid imagination, who knows he is doing something that may result In
a broken arm if he 'continues that thing, he -will try to take care of him
self, and you will have a great deal less danger from him than from the
one with little imagination as to- his welfare hut with numbers of safe
guards about him.
__
I think the education in safety of the men working in the plant is one of the important issues--not only the installation of safety - devices, but
education of the.men and their faculties of imagination.
Mb. A. H. Trestrail: Along the line of education of the men, a great
many of the mining companies have found it a reasonable thing to go even a little farther and try to educate that man's family. That is, they
realize the mental condition of the working man is largely affected by the
home conditions, such as the kind of food he eats, the sanitary condition
of his home--and as a reiTOt of that7 they have a visiting nurse who
calls regularly at those homes, which they find is an important part of
their safety work. As a consequence, they endeavor to make that part
of his life brighter because if it is so he is a much more efficient' man
when on the job.
-
THE GIVING OF PRIZES -
Mb. C. W. Goodale (Anaconda Copper Mining Co., Butte, Mont.) : Sev eral years ago the company put up a considerable bonus for the foremen who went through the yean with the least number of accidents. One thousand dollars was given by the company--$750 to the foreman showing the best record, and $250 toflihe foreman showing the next best. Now, the mines on our properties vary considerably. Some of them are large, with
1)22
Eighth Safety Congress
perhaps 20,000 shifts in aTmonth, and others are small with not over five thousand shifts in a month.
We soon found that the larger mines, regarding each man as a risk, were not drawing any of the prizes at all. In one certain case one of the larger crew drew a second prize, but in ho case did one of the larger draw a first prize. That led to some dissatisfaction, and the foremen of the larger mines said, "What's the use? We've got 20,000 risks against 5.000.'' So the company gave up that plan of offering the foremen a bonus or reward for a good accident record.
But some little evil crept in. For instance, the accident rate was based upon the State Compensaton Law, which allowed fourteen days. If a man was injured, perhaps seriously, we found in some instances where the foreman had practically chased him out of the hospital in order to get him back within the fourteen days, which was rather a serious objection to it. Sometimes they were unfit to go to work after the fourteen-day period, and then should they go on the job they would he liable to another accident or to infection.
FEAN OF MERITS GIVEN TO FOREMEN
I don't know whether any of the members of the Mining Section have
given attention to the paper written by Mr. Evanson of the U. S. Coal
and Coke Company of West Virginia, but he had a very thorough paper
about five years ago in the transaction of the American Institute of Min
ing, outlining a plan of merits given to foremen with good records. It
was based on the system that if a foreman got through a month without
an accident he was awarded $5.00 added to his pay for that month. After
he had gone six months without an accident he got $10.00 a month in addi
tion to the $5.00 as long ds he kept that record up. In one case I saw a record of a foremanvwho had gone thirty months without a serious acci
dent under his supervision. In that case for twenty-four months he had
been drawing $15.00 a month in addition to his regular pay. In that case
it was perhaps somewhat easy because the number of his men was not
less than twenty nor more than twenty-five. However, this was true of
the other foremen competing with him at that time. In the case of our Butte mines in many instances one shift boss can
look after fifty or sixty men at a time, so we found it rather difficult to
apply that system of awards or merits or additional compensation- Mr.
Evanson had a record there before he started this system of |M,$M tons
of coal mined per fatal accident. In the course of five years
><
increased to 500,000 tons 'per fatal accident, and he attributed ft largely
to the system he had inaugurated.
Any one can see that the effect of that would be this: If a foreman
sees something that is not quite safe, Instead of merely standing there
and telling the man to dothus and so, he will stay there until it is done
that way. He knows his pay is going to he increased it he get* through
the month without accident. But when you do have an accident, it is
sometimes very difficult tor run down the responsibility.
in the case
of the U. S. Coal and Coke Company there were many accidents where
the foreman simply had ter say, "Well, that's my bad luck.**
=Mining Section
923
I'd like . to inquire if that system has ever been applied, or is now
used in any other coal or metal mines.
Mb. N. D. HrrBBEr-r, (W. J. Rainey, Uniontown, Pa.): I might give you
a few facts. I am sorry I haven't the figures here. Such things as that
I usually carry around in a bag instead of my head. For the past three
and a half years, almost four years, there has been considerable interest
on the part of our company Jn safety work and reducing accidents.
We have nine mines operating. Four of them are comparatively large
bituminous coal- mines, and the other five are comparatively small. The
situation is a little bit different from the small mine as we speak of it
out West- As a matter of Tact, they were large mines in the beginning,
but we mined out on the retreating system, and along toward the end of
the mine it begins to get in nearer the pit mouth, and as a general rule
you have a class of employees in the small mines who are the old timers,
who have been there for some time. Now, these miners know the work, and have had, some of them, twenty-five and thirty years* of experience
in this same mine. So there is an element entering into the safety
factor there that would be a little different.
- We started out with a first, second, and third prize for lowest compen
sation liability, and we ran into all sorts of trouble, as you would readily
realize. That was based on the compensation liability for a six-month
period. The second period it was based on a small factor of the number
of weeks' liability incurred, but we divided it into two classes. We gave
first and second prizes for rectangular or larger plants, and a first and
second prize for the beehive.
Now, the most interesting thing in connection with the effect on accidents
was this: We had five curves along for the same period; one represent
ing the fatal accidents, one representing non-fatal accidents, another representing compensatable accidents, that is, accidents in which the lost
time was more than fourteen days called, for by the Pennsylvania State
Law, and one for time lost but not compensatable, lost time, but less
than fourteen days, and still another representing no lost time.
The two curves that worried us most--the fatal accidents, and the com
pensatable accidents--showed a slight decrease in 1917 compared with the
1916 figures. Nineteen eighteen showed a slight decrease compared with
the 1917 figures, and 1919 so far seems to be running neck and neck with
1918.
On the other hand, the two curves--lost time, but non-compensatable,
and no lost time accidents---showed a decided decrease. I dare say our
figures for 1919 will be lesa than 20 per cent of the 1916 accidents in those two classes.
Just what we are going to base the prizes on next year X don't know.
We are going to. change the basis, and try to involve new factors: One,
the number of days lost on account of accidents in proportion to the
total number of days' work; and the other, the number of day3 lost on
account of accidents in proportion to the total number of tons of coal
mined. I am trying to work out a scheme that will work in these two,
to give us some kind of an average representing the two factors we-are
most interested in.
~~
924
Eighth Safety Congress
Mit. A. H. Fay (Bureau of Mines, Washington, IX C.) : The small mines Mr, Goodale referred to X- don't think are a good comparison to the small mines to which Major Dwight referred in his paper, for the former have all the advantages of modern equipment and engineering experience and hospitals and doctors that are available for his largest mine. These small mines to which Major Dwight refers are those small gold mines, lead, tungsten, etc., in the far West, fifty miles from a hospital; some of them have no mine doctor, and their equipment is not what Mr. Goodale referred to in case of his small mines. Mr. Goodale represents twentyfive or thirty mines in the Butte district, but in my tabulation it is called one--the Anaconda Copper Mining Company. I have kept all records from what you might call the standpoint of management instead of mines. So when Major Dwight referred to some two hun dred mines, employing some eighty or ninety men in each, it is very different from the small mine in the Western states employing ten or fifteen men, which Is about the average for the majority of the gold mines. Some of them are simply prospects out in the hills with half a dozen men, and every one of those men handle the powder. They all do the blacksmithing work. Every one is an all-around man, and there is no specialist there on the job. The hoisting equipment is.sometimes of the very poorest. Sometimes there are no cages, and perhaps no guides on the cages, if they do have any.
This is shown very plainly in the Joplin district. There are very few cages in the Joplin district, and not only few cages but few guides to take care of the buckets going down a two-hundred-fifty-foot shaft.
SAFETY IX THE SHALE HIKE
In 1911 1 picked out those companies on our tabulations employing ten men or less. I counted up the fatalities on that group as compared with
the ones employing more than ten men. I found in that bunch of the
small mines, twenty-five fatalities, which represented a fatality rate of
almost S per cent of the men employed, as compared with about 4 per cent for the other group. The fatality rate for the United States that
year was 4.41 per cent of the men employed. I am inclined to think that
the small mine, as a rule, is more dangerous than the larger mine, but
there are conditions in the small mine which may he considered safer than in the larger operations. For instance, take a small gold mine with a vein two, three, or four feet thick--there is not as much chance of dan
ger for a body of ore to come down as there is In some of these Michi gan iron mines and large copper mines In the West, where they are fifty or a hundred feet wide, and give room for a large fall or a roof cave-in of
the entire mine.
=
Another condition which also tends toward safety in the small mine, is
that if the superintendent has any scruples at all he is there on the
job. and he can look after it and follow up. But from my experience
around the mines, they have not dona this as well as they do In the
larger propertic In my work, for the last four years, T have been able to pick out com-
--Mining Section
925
panies and tabulate their accidents by mining methods, and in each of my reports for the last four years there are details given of the caving method, overhand stoping, rSom and pillar, and door mining, and if any one is interested in those, they need only to send for a copy of the re ports. I can't keep all thole figures in my head, but I do remember In those companies I have tabulated (about 250 or 75 each year) in the four methods of mining operations there were about 330 non-fatals per year: while the records for those_small mines to which Mr. Dwight referred show about 150, or approximately half.
I have a reason for believing that the accident rate as tabulated under the mining methods group is about complete, because these companies are rendering complete reports!-and X applied that to the official returns I got from the state of California, and I find that the returns of these re turns of the larger companies as compared with the actual returns from the state of California check up about even. I found when tbe figures of California did come in they checked to within 13 out of 6,000 accidents. So that we can feel pretty safe that 330 is not far wrong on non-fatal In juries of duration of one day or more.
Majob A. S. Dwight (American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, New York City) : It io very gratifying that Mr. Pay did not entirely repudiate the conclusions which I drew from his figures in his annual report, -which were made up entirely on my own interpretation of his figures, and which were not intended to show that the small mine per se was more dangerous than the large one, because the reverse Is true, generally on account ^f conditions prevailing, and the ability of the proprietor himself to give personal attention to the safety of his mine. But my purpose was to call attention to the fact that in spite of that ad vantage which the small mine has, the statistics show it Is more dan gerous to work in the small ^ than the large mine, and thereby to express the hope that the National Safety Council in its efforts to carry on a campaign of education would give attention to these small mines which are not directly reached as are the large mines.
Now, most of the representatives in the Mining Section in this room are representatives of those large mines that have had the broad vision and have seen the business necessity for taking extraordinary measures to study and devise plans for=consIdering the life of their operators. But the small mines In out-of-the-way places are up to the present time almost forgotten. They will be reached in course of time by the state laws, which perhaps will be gradually improved and brought to bear more and more from time to time to control the operations in those cases, but at present they are almost out of reach of the campaign of education which has done so much to improve the conditions for safety In the large mines, where the dangers are really greater than in the small mines.
Chairman Trixsosr: Major Dwight has fittingly led up to a subject mentioned in the paper which is to follow and which has been delayed on the program, so if it meets with your approval the Chair will rule that we proceed with our program and consider the subject, "The Need for a Definite Technical Service in the Mining Section of the National Safety
926 VEighth Safety Congress
Council." Major Dwight's comments referred to the need of develop ment of interest of the small mines in safety -work.
This subject now in hand, I may say for the benefit of some of the mining members, is rather close to the hearts of some of the other sec tions, and to the Executive Committee of the National Safety Council. The consideration of this in the various activities of the National Safety Council as it applies to these other sections is a problem which is now calling for some attention.
NEED FOR A DEFINITE TECHNICAL SERVICE IN THE MINING SECTIONDF THE NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL
Benjamin- P. Tillsok, Chairman
Mining Section, National
Council.; Assistant Superintendent, New Jerset Zinc
Company, Franklin, New Jersey.
Safety
To attain real efficiency in safety work we must Jcecp our men. inter ested, and this requires.persistent work and ingenuity in sustaining their support and enthusiasm. No one safety engineer can think of enough "stunts" to last 365 days' in the year and the realization of this has drawn us together from many different industries to one central coopera tive organization--the ; National Safety Council. "We whose Interests lie within the field of one of the most important industrial groups of this country--Mining--were desirous of concentrating our attention upon our specific problems at the same time we profited by the broadening influence of the experience of the other Industries and we therefore formed the Mining Section as a part of the National Safety Council.
What has it profited us? What are our future needs, and how may they best be met?
A resum & of the service rendered by the National Safety Council at large and the Alining Section in particular in the past should indicate the lines along which an analysis of our own advance in safety work would show a profit frSm thi3 association.
bulletins
The National Safety Council as a whole has provided a weekly ser vice of bulletins of which about 840 have been on general topics of safety, welfare, and health and suitable for our plant bulletin boards; in addi tion there have been about 160 Mining Bulletins dealing with both coal and metal practices. Even the largest of us would not have felt we could devote the time, money, and- attention to have produced this bulletin service for direct appeal to our workmen. Only one other section, the Electric Railway, can compare in specific sectional bulletin service. It has issued about 20 more bulletins, but the rest of the sections have only from 15 per cent to 75 per cent of the number which has been received by mBmbers of the Mining Section. However, if our interests are so. ramified as to make the activities of other particular
927
sections of service we hav< tins issued by nine other sections.
l some 700 additional bulle
WEEKLY LETTERS AND EXECUTIVES' BULLETINS
"We, as executives and safety engineers, have further profited by having
our attention called each week to the experiences and successes of other's
in Safety Work; and this stimulation to our interest and enthusiasm
is vital but incalculable."'* This has been accomplished by some 300
"weekly letters" and 150 "Executive Series Bulletins which have come
to ns without the asking or any effort on our part. These have also
kept us in touch with the times in regard to labor relations, employ
ment problems, and welfare work. How else could we have obtained
this service?
--
SAVE PRACTICES PAMPHLETS
Some 27 different pamphlets have already been printed to give us the
authoritative information we needed in regard to the safe construction and operation of different elements common to most of our plants, such as ladders, stairs, boiler rooms, cranes, belts, shafting, engine guard
ing, oiling devices, knots TSnd slings, floors, scafTolds, grinding wheels,
goggles, etc.; and two pamphlets produced have been very pertinent to
mining, namely--Ropes, and Mine Car Haulage. Only one other section
has had a safe practices pamphlet prepared for it. In tbese pamphlets we have the collaboration of some of the best engineers of the country
who have thought along Safety lines, and nowhere else Is similar
information available.
. '--
ANNUAL CONGRESS AND ITS PROCEEDINGS
Finally, we had the privilege of associating with each other at the Annual Congress, and we have thus rubbed shoulders, compared notes, and argued our mutual problems in Safety, Health, and Welfare with men in whose veins flows the virile blood of the day--men whose dutihs have brought them in contact with' problems similar to ours and whose viewpoints vary from that of the workman .to that of the foreman, safety engineer, executive, insurance agent, doctor, teacher, lawyer, or other professional man. Not only have we been able to concentrate our discussions upon our peculiar problems by reason of our grouping together as the Mining Section but our programs have also been arranged so that we might join in more general discussions with repre sentatives of other industries and furthermore could attend, the ses sions^ of other sections (such as the Health Section) whose interests would supplement our ownT
He who has never attended one of these Congresses may wrongly think of it in terms of the occasional engineering or business conven tion where there Is but little tendency for the attendants to speak freely and fully of their experiences, where formal, innocuous, boresome papers are written in so historical a manner as to produce no discus sion, and where questions from the floor elicit no satisfactory replies. If such an impression exists it may readily he refuted to the satlsfac-
iI
928 Eighth Safety Congress
(.ion of even a stranger to the meetings of the Mining Section, for the extensive printed transactions record that over one third of, the informa
tion presented during the last three congresses vas developed in the
discussions. Perhaps the Round Table is a new idea to some of us. If so, it must
be experienced to be appreciated--unless we think in terms of the
exciting conferences we have held with our confreres at which we have
participated In informal discussions of ways and means for accomplish
ing some object of mutual interest and have defended our views and
"hobbies." A Round Table Session is like that, "only more so", for the
Chairman with watch imhand is forced to limit an individual's remarks
to three minutes in order to give an equal opportunity to all, and his gavel may fall In the midst of our "one last thought". Such a session
Is provocative of clear, concise thinking and produces that nervous ten
sion so necessary to stimulate the enthusiasm which makes us tenacious
of our ideal plans and smoothes the rough drudgery necessary for their
consummation. These Round Table Sessions are held not only as a
part of the Mining Section meetings but also in the general meetings
of the National Safety Council, and we all enjoy the privilege of profit
ing by the experiences of others and gratifying our own modesty by proclaiming our successes or seeking the solutions for our unsolved
problems.
~
However, if business or other conditions prevent our attendance at
the Annual Gongress we still may profit by its Proceedings. Nowhere
else is there so encyclopedic a source of authoritative information in regard to the problems of Safety, Health, and Welfare as is presented in
the published proceedings of the National Safety Council since its incep tion In 1912. They comprise over 5800 pages, 6x9 inches in size, of
which about 6S0 pages are devoted particularly to the mining industry.
Perhaps the summation of the last three year's proceedings is more
indicative of the amounTof information now annually being made avail able for reference. The total for these years was about 4200 pages of
which 550 pages were fhg proceedings of the Mining Section. It should
furthermore be born inT mind that this literature is the cooperative effort of individuals, representatives of both large and small Industrial
organizations. Federal and State agencies, and engineering and other
societies.
--
Perhaps it has not been amiss to enumerate thus the activities of the
National Safety CounefLand its Mining Section; for Its benefits are
dispensed so continuously that we may have come to receive them
thoughtlessly and so have lost the perspective which is given us when
we ponder upon the subject as a whole; and we should not fail to add
as a benefit the opportunity which exists any day for us to present our special problem to the competent engineering and executive staff of
safety specialists at National Safety Council headquarters, who have at
their convenience an exhaustive library and file of information and who
stand ready to share it with us. So much for what we' have or should
have received if we had sought it.
Mining Section
929
TVHAT ABE Ot7B I'UTUHE NEEDS?
Our work and our life is yearly becoming more technical and general information must be supplemented with specific knowledge .in order that it may be practically applied. We are living in an era when specialists are a necessity and we ail require the services of a Mining Safety Engineer if we intend to make any considerable progress in the reduc tion of accidents. Compensation laws, insurance ratings, and general safety propaganda have made it plain to us that safety pays, both for employer and employee, but both are prone to forgetfulness in the mat ter and require continual reminders.
EDUCATIONAL SEBVICE
With some concerns the size -bf their operations makes an extensive safety organization feasible, and they may therefore feel that they can "go it alone" as they would have more'to give to such an organization as the National Safety Council than they would receive in return. It would be wise for them, however, to consider several things. Are not their safety engineers so tied down to plant details that they find it difficult to get away and have the entree to other plants for. observa tion of the problems and solutions of others; and would not many of these other plants be so remote -that they could not spare sufficient time or money to visit them? Does mot the continual educational compaign which it is necessary to have for the workmen, whether by bulletins, lectures, courses of study, or moving pictures, require resources out side of those available in the operations of any one company, in order that the reiteration of advised safe practices may be made attractive by their novelty of presentation? Does not the giving ont of information devoid of trade secrets pay, both by reason of our own analysis and more thorough understanding of that which we desire to make clear to others, and also because our generosity begets a similar attitude in others and we receive* much value from the cooperative effort produced? If so, no company is too large to receive ^adequate benefit from their cooperative support of a skilled technical man who could put at their disposal, in proper shape for them to use, the information, bulletins, etc., which he had gleaned from others, and who also would make it possible for them to reciprocate with the least effort. Let the doubting Thomas try but one experiment, namely to plan a program for 100 meetings of his safety committees which will so bold the interest of his men as to induce them to attend without pay and which will also show value in accident reduction. It will destroy any feeling of self-sufficiency and indicate that his safety engineer who may he responsible for many more of such meetings deserves^ all of the outside aid that he can obtain and that the efficiency of his plants is well worthy of such help. Remember, we are considering Definite TeohnicaX Services--for general information might here be an entirely different story.
On the other hand there are thousands of small plants who can not see where their operations could stand the expense of a man devoting
930
Eighth Safety Congress
all his time to safety work. "W]ith some the Safety Spirit may be present and with others lacking. The former may not require the general information but they both will need specific help, not only In regard to the proper practices in design and operation to overcome their hazards, but also with respect to prepared educational matter for inaugurating and maintaining a^safety campaign.
Even more for these small companies than the larger and wealthier ones is it imperative for them to receive the intensive technical service which will show immediate marked results in accident reduction and correspondingly lower costs in production and insurance ratings, for they cannot afford to make a "long swing" investment In Safety with faith In the ultimate profit, as their resources might be dissipated before the time fotjreaping the profits.
REPORTORIAL SERVICE
Most of us desire^ to respond generously to appeals from others as to how they can better conserve human life and endeavor, but the urgency of our duties and ^pleasures mightily interferes with our preparation of complete and technical descriptions and illustrations of the methods we have used and the results we have produced. No, it is not because of a lack of willingness that we have not helped each other more in the safety movement; it is because of the lack of a suitable agency. Writing or dictation is laborious because it requires the logical correlation of our ideas with much data which is not carried in our memories, and because it is performed in an office or home environment where we cannot reap the benefit of contact with physical conditions in stimulating our memories by the association of ideas. If a trained safety engineer should visit ns. look around the plant, and consult our records and drawings, he would acquire a vastly greater fund of Information from our casual and disconnected conversation as elicited by his inquiries, or our obser vations if we should happen personally to show him about, than we should probably ever attempt to write down even though we did take time from our otheF activities with the intent of presenting the subject In the form of a'letter or address. Why? Because he would make it his business to do this one thing and it alone, while we could not avoid the distractions of other duties. Also, we should have become so familiar with many of our old practices that we should not appreciate the novelty and interest they might have for others and so we should neglect to mentionthem unless they were called to our attention by a stranger.
Is it not clear that if no other purpose were accomplished than to send a capable man around to various mining properties, to dig out information for them and for others as to what they are doing that would Increase safety, it would warrant a considerable expenditure by each of us?
PUBLICITY AND MEMBERSHIP SOLICITATION
When can we expect the greatest potential returns from our member-
Mining Section
931
ship in the Mining .Section? .Is It not when we have every mine in the country an ardent supporter? Then let us increase the value of membership through the service we render to such a degree that no company will fail to realize that they can't afford to neglect the oppor tunity for joining our ranks. Wiill not the travelling of a keen and technical executive secretary oh his visits to various mining camps and his personal contact with representatives of various mining companies give us greater and more valuable publicity than could be obtained li any other way? Should not his conversation and presence be more effec tive than any solicitation by correspondence? If so, the benefits accruing
from increased and more representative membership would warrant our making an additional investment for such a worthy object.
Fosinnaiiox or standabds
We are in an era of diverse and profuse legislation--so much so that
it seems as though almost every one else knew more about how we should conduct our affairs than, we do, and desired to make us follow their beliefs or fancies. Foolish as this may sound; it seems to be a reality; and if by chance we do not know how to conduct our business with greatest economy in material and human factors, we should make haste in learning If we hope to survive industrially; while if we do know, we should so formulate our practices as plainly to demonstrate that fact, or else we may suffer from ignorant or mischievous legislation. The princi pal ingredient for a cure of either alternative is a complete code of safety standards in respect to mining. The apparent object of most of the mine laws and regulations upon the statute books of various states is the protection of the lives and unimpaired health of the work
men and the public at large. The Mining Section has the same objects
in view--but what are we accomplishing in that direction? True, we are originating and assembling much valuable information and recom mendations, but are we doing it in a systematic, painstaking, and final
manner--let us be honest and properly say technical manner? No, not
as we should. Then what is wrong? It seems astonishing for a chair man of a section so to flaunt his incompetency, if he is truly responsible for thi3 state of affairs. Generously grant that the chairman and his executive associates have not failed in the duties which could be expected of them, and consider the organization as a whole in order to see whether anything else might be responsible for this) deficiency.' You find a section more highly @ganized than any other of the National Safety Council, with Its officers and committeemen well representing the different phases of the mining Industry both geographically and Indus* trially. You note an extensive -organization of committees--Executive, Membership, and Publicity. Standardization, Accident Statistics, Ropes and Safety Devices In Hoisting and Haulage, Mine Hygiene and Sanita tion. Mine Fire Prevention and Fighting, Mine Rescue and First Aid Contests, Program and Publication. You also find that their functions and activities have been thoroughly outlined and correlated. Then what'
932
Eighth Safety Congress
is lacking? Naturally and properly the- members of these committees are widely separated geographically and are men of affairs with absorb ing business interests. If their time was not of considerable value to their industries their ^opinions would not be worth so much to the Mining Section or to you as a participating member. Such time as they can devote to the interests of the Mining Section should be utilized with the greatest economy ami this would be accomplished by removing from them all routine labor. This is no more than your company's practice towards its own executive?. Would you not feel more tempted to serve on- these committees if you knew that your knowledge and ability would be drawn upon in an advisory capacity without your being expected to steal extra time for petty details and drudgery? That situation can be met only by the employment of an Executive Secretary for the Min ing Section, who will -make it his business to reduce the amount of correspondence between officers and committeemen and prepare inquiries
in such form as to permit their knowledge and experience to be avail
able-with the least expenditure of time and effort on their part. He would outline the general features of Safe Practices pamphlets, which would ultimately become a code of Standards, and would utilize these committees in an advisory capacity to fill in the essential details which could be obtained in m other way than from the store of such varied experience; and the seal of approval of such advisory committeemen would he a respected guarantee of the recommendations made. That is why we have not achieved more in these essentials--because we had no funds to pay for such Technical Executive Secretary.
Other expenses also Will naturally be involved in the production of such Safe Practices pamphlets or standards. From time to ' time the settlement of a question-will involve research work, and while this prob ably could be "farmed out" to some industry whose interests would parallel ours, yet we should be in a position to assume any contingent expenses or in some cases all of the expenses. A technical man as. secretary would also be required in the follow-up of such work.
COorRHATXpN WITH EXGIXEEKIKG SOCIETIES
The profession of mining is an extremely broad one as it requires knowledge not only in .the specific field of mining engineering but also' in other engineering fields, such as, mechanical, electrical, civil, and sanitary engineering. -The problems of safety, health, and welfare in mining require coordination with the activities'in'these other branches of engineering. In the national engineering societies representing all of these branches considerable attention is naturally devoted to the same or kindred subjects which are before us in the mining section of the' National Safety Council, and standards committees In these other societies will also consider standards to meet the needs we will strive to meet. It is therefore highly important that there should be close.' cooperation between all of these agencies; and to be efficient, this serv-' ice 'should be- performed by one who is devoting all his time to the'
Mimnsj Suction
93:5
activities of tit* Mining Section. Again we find need for a Technical Executive Secretary.
co*ncs or i5s> laccrios
Oar present forems and mines, as welt as the present and coining
generation of
engineers, need definite and concrete courses of
Instruction, in the "bows" and "whys" of safe mining practices. But
how are they going to get this information? 'There are no schools and
colleges prepared to teach It, nor books from which they can find a
thorough or able presentation of this Information. Must they all learn
in the rough and expensive school of experience, or shall we aid them
by preparing such courses. of jnstruction which may be used in the
schools and by classes at our plants? If we do we are engaging in ,a
task which we could never hope to .complete properly through the sole
agency of volunteered services. We must be prepared to pay for the
outlining, editing, writing, and publication of such a work and wait and wait for our returns at a 'later date from its sale and use. Again
we find a need for definite paid technical service.
To the writer the reasons for this need seem legion. If the few he
has presented do not demonstrate the fact incontrovertibly, it would
be useless for him to attempt further to demonstrate a theory which
seems to him axiomatic, and he^will rest his case with the observation
that no engineering society of prominence, including the National Safety
Council, attempts to operate without a paid, technical, executive secre
tary. When we consider that the wealth involved in the mining industry
exceeds $5,000,000,000 and the labor involved exceeds 2,000,000 persons, it appears that the Alining Section of the National Safety Council has been
given responsibilities in assuming a prominent position in the promotion
of safety, health, and welfare measures in the conduct of this industry.
Are we going to meet our obligations? If so we must render more and
more service and to be true service it must be technical.
JTIXAXCIAX, BESOtJECES
How can we finance the demdSds made by a more technical service? The answer is extremely simple--by increasing the dues of mining mem bers, and we might well call the Increase a surtax if that term had not achieved unpopularity from its association with our income taxes.
For the conservative growth represented by the engagement of an experienced mining .and safety Engineer as our technical and executive secretary in the Mining Section, for his travelling expenses, and for other expenses contingent to his work and that of the volunteering officers and committeemen we should have an additional yearly income of about $10,000. The necessary^ office and clerical assistance might pro perly be expected from the National Safety Council Headquarters, with the same bulletin, printing, and other service which we have been receiving, in return for tbe regular dues which we are now' paying.
934
Eighth Safety Congress
Although the Mining Section and the Metals Section stand on a par as the two largest sections of the National Safety Council yet the member ship and dues for each amount to only 7 or 8 per cent of the whole Council. Our membership on August 1, 1919 was 253, of which 165 were coal mining and 88 metal mining companies, and paying in dues respec tively $6,532.50 and $3,S77.50, or a total of $10,410. The largest amount paid by any company is $157.50 per year and the average is $41. Of course more than half of the membership pays less than this average.
In view of the fact that the maximum amount Involved for any one company seems to me slight compared with 'the benefits which should accrue, and the average amount involved for each company is so small, I strongly urge the members of the Mining Section to increase their dues to double those they are now paying to the National Council, with the understanding jtbat the excess above their present dues be devoted to the specific activities of the Mining Section.
I trust that there will be a free expression of opinion as to the need and advisability ot this step, and an authoritative communication from the various individuals and companies who are members, as to whether
they would approve and support such action. Gentlemen, this paper was sent out at a late date, owing to the fact that
it took time to get it printed. Up to date there have been a few replies which arrived at my office, before I had to come to this conference. AH of those replies--some of them coming from coal-milling companies rang
ing from "West Virginia to Pennsylvania, and some from metal-mining companies--were strong endorsements of this policy. The members stated their complete^willingness to pay double their dues for such definite service, providing that was the desire of the other members of the Alining Section. Some comments were made in these letters. One, from one of the large companies, paying dues nearly the maximum limit paid by any
member of the Mining Section, was to the effect, in short, "Pay enough to make it worth while or don't pay anything.''
Another large coalmining company in the anthracite district stated they considered it of vital importance that a practical mining man should visit the various plants; and a metal-mining company stated they highly ap proved of the plan, and that committees in that section should be ad visory, that the plan of safety pamphlets would require a man, and fur thermore, they strongly endorsed that policy. One of the bituminous coal companies in the Pittsburgh district stated this feature was much needed.
I may further say that before leaving Pittsburgh I had discussion with Mr. George S. Rice, the Chief Engineer of the Bureau of Mines. In regard to his opinion in this matter, and asked his presence at this meeting in order that we should have bis advice and cooperation of the United States Bureau of Mines in any steps which might he decided upon. Before leaving, Mr. Rice gave me a letter which I will read to you, and I might state I had the opportunity of presenting this letter to Mr. Manning, the Director of the United States Bureau of Mines, who, upon reading it, said he most heartily endorsed the views as expressed therein. So that this letter means.the opinion of our federal agency along mining lines.
Mining Section
935
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF MIXES
EXPERIMENT STATION, PITTSBURGH, PA.
October 1, 1919.
"Mr. B. F. Tillson,
"New Jersey Zinc Company,
"National Safety Council,
"Cleveland, Ohio.
"Dear Mr. Tillson: "I much regret my inability to attend the National Safety Council
meeting at Cleveland. As I mentioned to you the Bureau has assembled
all of its mining engineers from various parts of the country in Pitts
burgh for the First-aid and Rescue Competition, also to attend a business conference regarding plans for the present fiscal year. As the head of the
Mining Division, I cannot therefore be absent from the Bureau confer
ence. "As concerns the proposition that you expected particularly to discuss--
To increase the usefulness of the mining section of the Safety Council-- I feel very sympathetic toward anything that can be done in that matter.
It is evident that a great field of usefulness can be accomplished by con
centrating the attention on the specific needs of the mines and the safety
problems connected therewith and the standardization of safe practices.
While the work is parallel to part of the work of the Bureau of Mines,
the National Safety Council is jnot limited in its recommendations of
specific things in the way that The Bureau is often limited; that is the Bureau of Mines says what should not be done but it-is not always able to say what is the best thing to do where there are a number of ways
which might be held to be permissible. "I heartily hope you will meet with success in your endeavors to in-
' crease the usefulness of the Mining Section.
--
. "Yours very truly, "(Signed) Geo. S. Rice, "Chief Mining Engineer."
Chairman Tillson: Gentlemen, this paper is open for discussion. I
trust you will all give your viewpoints very freely and openly.
DISCUSSION
Mr. S. J. Williams (Secretary and Chief Engineer, National Safety
Council, Chicago) : May I ask as a matter of Information how many re
plies you succeeded in getting to your Inquiry? I know how difficult it
is to get replies from that sort of thing.
Chairman Tillson: I have had. eleven replies so far.
Mr. Williams: Have you anything on which to base an opinion as to
the sentiment of the remaining hundred and fifty?
Chairman Tillson: I hope we shall have that from the representatives
here at this meeting.
.in
Mr. John Boabdman (Anaconda Copper Mining Co., Butte, Mont.) : I
938
Eighth Safety Congress
of the National Safety Connell and affiliate if possible this First-aid
Society, already in existence, with it. Now, if the Mining Section of the
National Safety Council would consent to become a governing head for
such a Society, and the cooperation of the Bureau of Mines could be se
cured. I think by combining all of these organizations under the head of
the Mining Section of the National Safely Council we could make con
siderable progress, and the value received from that would be to get the
miners themselves interested in safety work.
Safety engineers. f coarse, are necessary, and most of them are very
efficient, but an lartutijartlwi of conditions prevailing will show yon that
most safety devices and mag safety ideas--that is. most of the safety
ideas that result in good. originated with the miner himself. The reason
for that is that althOogh the safety engineer might be efficient and in telligent, and bin kk w nsoalty good, they are looked upon with more
or less skepticism by the operating beads. They think he is a sort of
dreamer, while, on the ether hand, the practical miner will develop an
idea and put it inte practice before he says anything to anybody about
it. and the operating official then comes along, sees this thing, and says.
"That's a fine thing. J*w look what I did!"
In that way. by getting theme miners to belong to tbe Mining Section
of the National Safety Cnondl as Individual members, through the locals
of course, we will get them to present their ideas to the Mining Section
of the National Safety Council, and we will be able to do a great deal of
good in having those ideas adopted and keeping the interest of the
miners.
_
mscrssiftN i* rx n;m skckbtabv fou mixing sectiox
Mr. Vax S<ha.<~k: Mr. Chairman, without attempting to suggest the
course which this meeting should follow. I would like to say if the Mining
Section decides upon employing a permanent secretary, or sectional en
gineer, or whatever be may be called, the Aetna Life Insurance Company
will do its full share of financial support.
Mr. J. W. Rkk (Consolidated Coal Co., Fairmont, W. Va. i :
I feel
that specialized service for the Alining Section is necessary. In fact, we
have to have It If we are going to get anywhere with it. However. I feel
the means adopted to finance and get the specialized service are some
thing which require zyery careful consideration as to the future effect
upon the growth of the Mining Section. If we double the dues in the
Mining Section, and^dten establish miuing locals in the various com
munities. which are to be supported--if they are supported in the same
way as the Pittsburgh local chapter is at the present time--by the pay
ment of dues equivalent to your original dues; that will mean the mem
bers of the Mining Section will be paying three times the dues of the
ordinary member.
Now. as far as any present member of the Mining Section is concerned.
I don't believe it wlU make tbe least difference to him if be pays the
present dues or two or three times tbe present dues, but I do feel it may
make a considerable difference in getting in new members, especially tbe
Mining Section
939
smaller man who was mentioned earlier in the day as being a very im
portant portion of our membership we should go after.
I -feel a great deal of good can be done in mining communities by local
councils in their neighborhood, and I am going to assist as far as I am
able towards organizing some locals of that sort in the region where our
mines operate. At the present time we intend to affiliate with, the Pitts
burgh Chapter, which will take care of about twenty of our mines in
Pennsylvania. In fact, we have already had a little experience in con
nection -with the secretary of-the Pittsburgh Chapter, who has assisted us
in some very live safety work in one of our mining camps, and while
the mining members may think that a safety rally around a mining camp
must be limited to the number of men around that camp, I will say that
in a certain part of Pennsylvania where there are no railroads'or trolley
cars, we held a rally- at a mine which employs about two hundred men,
which is rather centralized in a mining group within ten or twenty miles
of other mines surrounding it, and from fifteen hundred to two thousand
men attended. So it shows that regardless of there being but a small
number of men at the mine, you can get other men to come, and all you
have to do is interest the people by letting them know you have some
thing there that will be interesting and of benefit to them, and the coal
miner of today is fortunate inTthat he has his own means of transporta
tion, or his neighbor has, and he will get there some way, even if he has
to walk.
'
--
So I think a great deal of good can be done by the section of a local
chapter; a great deal more than we anticipate, because you will not have
to limit the" service to' the community but will be able to figure on men
from a circle of perhaps twenty or thirty miles coming to take part in
such an affair.
._
I am especially interested in the increased technical service, and I hope
that some means will be worked out whereby we can get it. I don't feel
--I am not speaking only from" the opinion of my own company, but I
mean from the Mining Sectionals a whole--I don't feel that the Increased
dues will cover the thing. I believe that such technical service should
not only he in the section, but should be extended to all sections of the
National Safety Council wherever it can be, and th'at body should give as much service as possible, and if it is simply a matter of dollars and
cents I believe the body as a whole will see its way clear to divide with
the bunch to produce the technical service in all branches. In other
words, I would approve a raise-of dues from the entire association until
adequate service along all lines_ can be given to all sections, but if we
can't get that, why, I guess we'll have to take what we can get.
AVe will have to take the leadTin this movement, even though it is going
to make membership a -little harder, and should increase our own mem
bership dues until we can take care of the work as we think it should he
done, and perhaps by that time we can convince the rest of the sections we are on the right track and they will fall in line and bring the dues
of the entire body up to a sufficient amount to give everybody adequate
safety service.
Mr. Boardm-ax: I am afraid we have digressed from the subject under
940
Eighth Safety Congress
discussion. But I think the easiest way in which the Mining Section
could give this technical service, and the way In which it could, do the
most good, would be the organization of locals of mining sections, requir ing each of those locals to" pay at least as much dues as the individual
corporation pays. I believe should an organization of this kind be formed
in Butte, that we could pay a hundred dollars a year dues to this sec
tion, and if you had, say, two or three of those locals over the mining
Country, your financial support would be there. I know we have no diffi culty whatever in getting $3,000 a year to spend on the miners* picnic,
`and the First-aid Society has no trouble in getting $200 or $300 for a
dance whenever it wants it. I feel that the mining communities through
out the country are able to pay the amount which would be required for
those things.
=.
CnAiitMAN Tjmsosrr Mr. Boardman, I feel that that is a coming thing,
and will come one of these days. The object is to sell the idea from the executives down to the miners in the various sections of our country in
order to have the material with which to build up those locals. Mr. Boabdjun: The experience of the First-aid Society has been this:
\Ve had no finances to start with, either, but wre have initiated a large
number of members who are continually writing back to get copies of rules and by-laws to organize similar societies in other mining camps, and X think all we havelSTdo is to start. *
Mr. R. D. Hall ("Coal Age," New XJork City): Mr. Boardman's sugges
tion is an extremely unjust one. Mr. Boardman's company is very will ing. possibly, to accept that injustice as against a company, but because they have a local section they are going to contribute to the Mining Sec
tion of the National Safety Council in support of its work. If they didn't have a local they would escape entirely that obligation. Now, it seems to me there are lots of us not going to have the benefit of that local and we are going to escape paying anything to the Mining Section of the
National Safety Council beyond our regular dues.
It seems to me it should go all over the country. If a man belongs to a local, he shouldn't have to pay additional to the Mining Section just simply because he isrin the local. Of course it wouldn't come in direct,
but through the local. It would seem highly unjust that they should pay such a contribution. ^ It seems to me we should pay it as members of the
whole Mining Section of -the National Safety Council. It is unjust for those in the locals to pay for the dues of those who do not have local
councils. They are doing more for the safety movement than anybody else, and it seems to. me they shouldn't be called upon to pay for the deficiency of the other people.
Mr. Boardxiax: The reason we want local sections is because we want
our men to be tied to some national body; keeping them interested in
their work, and the purpose in paying these dues is to pay for a technical
secretary, it would-be up to the locals to use up the time of that tech
nical secretary, andJwe'd certainly see that we used up our share of his
time.
.tt.
*
.Mb. C. W. Good ale (Anaconda Copper Mining Co., Butte, Mont.) : It
Mining Section
941
occurs to me that for the first year the local section, would get some sup
port from the National Council fund, and that we might attempt to or ganize a local that would include not only the mining people, hut public
utilities and other concerns that are really interested in the matter, and
at least we can try it out for one year and see how it works. For the first year we might undertake to have our expenses nominal and
try to get enough enthusiasm to start it up and then let the secretary try
to finance it in some other way. As I understand it, 20 per cent of the
first year's dues go to the local section. Chairman Tiixson: What would be your ofiicial vote In regard to the
Anaconda Companjfs paying double dues for the proposition?
Me. Goodat-e: I am quite sure they will be willing to pay itMr. R. D. Hall ("Coal Age," New York-City): 1 think Mr. Goodale
has made it even plainer that there is an injustice, because the public service corporations would be paying additional dues-to the Mining Sec
tion, and they would feel that their money was given to some specific
object and the Mining Section would be getting more out of It than they
themselves. Mb. O. A. Dixgiiax (East Butte Copper Co., Butte, Mont.):
Why, I
think. If I understand correctly, that the Mining Section sees the need of
a technical secretary in order to stimulate membership and to give bet
ter service to the association.: Now, the plan is offered that in order to
pay this man and pay bis expenses they donble tbe dues, and that is a
means toward that end. If they want to go ahead and form these local sections to create local interest, that will offer a place for this secretary to go and begin his work. It seems to me that what they want in this paper, is the secretary, and if we want to go ahead and form these local societies, well and good, but What the Section wants to know is whether
or not we want the secretary. Isn't that it? Chairman- Tiexson: That Is the question.
Mr. Dinoman: So it seems to me we ought to decide whether or not we want the secretary. If we do want^him, have that increase in dues as a means to pay him, and the locals then can form as they see fit.
Mr. C. H. Wilson (Utah Copper Co., Gai'field, Utah) ; Do I understand
we have sent communications out to all of the members of the Mining Section--that is, the companies themselves?
Chairman Tjllson : Yes. Mr. Wilson: Soliciting their support in the appointment of a secre
tary?
Chairman Tillson: That is right, Mr. Wilson.
Mr. Wilson: The point I- want to make is this: Probably there are
very few of us here that can pledge the companies we represent as to how
far they will go. Now, the company I represent pays perhaps one of the
maximum amounts in the National Safety Council, and no doubt the man
agement will be influenced
governed by the recommendations of their
representatives who have come to this meeting, and I think we could
well have some time set for shaking a report to the Mining Section as to
what the attitude of the companies would be.
942
Eighth Safety Cangress
Personally, I would have to go back and make a report on tlie recom
mendations that have been brought up here, and make a further recom
mendation as to whether or not we should be in favor of that. As for
myself, I assure you I will do everything possible to get our company to
go as far as any one-will, and up to this time we have never had any difficulty in getting appropriations for any of this work. .1 feel satisfied
that the Utah Copper Company will go the limit, but perhaps that is what
we are all up against, more or less. There are very few of us here who
can pledge our company and say that we will do so-and-so without having
the approval of the management. I couldn't do that, although I feel
positive there will be no difficulty in getting that appropriation. The
company appreciates the service we are getting, and the increased bene
fits we will get surely will be worth the increased amount of dues.
Ms. J. O. Dchkee ("The Coal Industry," Pittsburgh) : In case a min
ing section is established with the dues increased it may be possible in
some of our locals forT members still to retain their membership in the
Mining Section and still not support this technical service. I don't say
that It will be done,-but it may be done where members belong to the
National Council without reference to whether they have paid for a sec
retary, and they also get service from this paid secretary without sup
porting him if that could be the case.
Will it be the definite plan of the National Safety Council to bare all
members come In on the same rate? If they do. then some persons will be receiving this technical service without paying the pro rata share.
Chairman Tixjlson: I don't see how any scheme ooeld he satisfactory
which did not require alt to come in on the same bonds. There could he
no discrimination. Itjvould require a corps of clerics to decide whether
i hey received any more service than another man. It
have to be a
sound basis of everybody in this section iofatine en <3w support of it.
MS. Van Soiiaack: Might I make a su rvftnflin to five meeting, that
probably a great many men here can state now whether they jrfe Su favor
of this idea of a technical executive secretary. Now. would It he possible
for the Chair to receive assurances from thewn that they would go back
and do their best to act the companies to agree to this, and then either the Cbairman or some committee cronismkwfj? w*fa the mow who actively rep
resent the members of "this section, who eowfld sfo to the evocative officers
and see what their attitude was? Jr iwbm to sw*> that would facilitate
matters.
I take it that from the failure of hut three W S<W of us to depress our
views it is because they are not in a position to maike any pledge, while if
this meeting knew that the men here were ta favor of it themselves, and would go back with the assurance in petting their executive officers
actually to say they would agree to it. we could then get the final pledge
by correspondence with the representatives. I think we could get a
general expression of opinion as to their support or non-support at this
time.
5S=
Mk. Ob Woomicax (Globe-Miami District, First Aid Association, Globe,
Ariz.) : Just to bring this thing to some head. I would like to make a
motion that we go on record--those of us present--as being heartily in
Mining Section
943
favor of your plan as. outlined^ Mr. Chairman, and would be willing to
give it our backing when we return to our respective companies.
(The motion was duly seconded.)
Mr. F. P. SiifK (New Jersey Zinc Co., New York City): Just before a
vote is taken, I want to say that work which a local does is the work of
stimulating personal interest and getting the different men in the com
munity to go to work on the safety problem. It doesn't seem to me it
will be economical in the long-run for any local to give technical serv
ice--real technical service--which is to be for the benefit for all members
interested, which in this particular case would be all members of the Min
ing Section. In voting on this Question it seems to me it is a question of
giving all the mining members technical service, and Mr. Goodale made a
very strong point, I think, antTthat is when you form a local it is much
better to form a local of the whole National Safety Council to cover all or
the National Safety Council's interests in that community.
Mr. H. G. Davis (D. L. & W. Coal Co., Wilkesbarre. Pa.): While this
association is essentially an employers' organization, yet I have been a
member of it for several years, and I would gladly vote today my per
sonal vote for the employment of a technical secretary, but the com
pany I represent here today has only been a member of the Connell for
the past three months or so. I can't pledge their support and vote for the
matter. For that reason I think It would be advisable from my viewpoint
to lay this matter on the table until nr next meet fair, and that every
body in the meantime use their teJhkftef to
ibMtt thin increase in
dues.
As I said before. I am wtiltep tw pay ifetiTMT' tfie awviif t'att now pay
ing, which would be S15.W* rar-tea'd of gf so.
vmt
t. personally, am con
cerned.
--
Mr. WooimcB.N: My Idea is
wwTfejg- uy- ytvwfc we don't have
the power to pledge eer <tipouinr.
Wfr** "><< rBWsit w ran do is to
offer our influence and te
twgfrja TWWWt'.C at
oC the
plan, and then It rxmwt-isw tm !*> !' o it >Th wite *r
wnv fnmpaflto wilt
sanction it. If they do
ft *lntn
m&bm ttefiSr rsrtvoga and
it will have to lay for anwWfw rwer Nw* per
n* reewrd aw being
heartily in favor of mdtwyaag tH*e iHwwt
Mr. C. H. Wmwy t fta*
t'e nntinthaim- *"
W eeeSMt to me
it would be a mistake t* 1tev ** ***** r tw* Swe**fHy hx favor of
the paid secretary. I Thank yaw &**> em*-. a*## tsSw F"ien are- so- many
that there shouldn't ee wn |jta utpop mfrowf V*. f m'odfW ISfee to see some
date set. if possible, that we *-o**3d an-apfe** a *
t* dee
report in to
the Mining Section as tw tbw art^wde C nwr eempaniee, Personally. I
can't help but feel that ewry company sbwuMt be Very sswch in favor Of it.
Mr. Van- Sciiaack: It seems to me the nwtttjo made by the gentleman
does not propose laying this on the table at all. but it simply suggests.-one
means of finding out whether it is going ro become an active thing or not
at the earliest possible moment, and having found that ont. a meeting
cap be called to approve or disapprove such, plans as may be made for
carrying out the proposition in regard to this technical secretary. It
944
Kiyhih Safety Congress
seems to me that TriUl facilitate matters, rather than laying it on the table.
Da. A. F*. Ksoekfj. CU. S. Bureau of Mines, Terre Haute, Ind.): This
matter may be settled by January 1, giving them two months and a half.
Chairman Tillson: Dr. Knoefel, don't you think anybody can make
up his mind before two and a half months?
11k. Knoefei.: I was trying to bring, a happy medium between Lehigh and Utah. (Laughter).
Ckairmax Tnmsojc: Here is an extract of the letter sent out to all of
the companies:
=
"On the mornings of October 2, 3, and 4, the Mining Section of the
National Safety Council will hold its meetings, as a part of the Annual
Congress of its parent body, in the Hotel Statler, Cleveland, Ohio, and it Is hoped that your company will have a representative present to par
ticipate in the varied--discussions pertinent to mining practices, and
qualified to advise in regard -to the attitude of your company when the
subject, `The need for a Definite Technical Service in the Mining Section
of the National Safety Council,' is presented on the morning of Satur
day, October 4. You of course realize the desirability of a presentation of the replies to this, canvass at that time."
Another paragraph of tliat letter states:
"Where there is insufficient time for the transmission of word by mail,
a- telegraphic response would be greatly appreciated."
.: The replies were requested to be in prior to September 24, but unfor
tunately there have been only eleven that' have reached my office. I was
supposed to have received, a telegram from my office giving the synopsis of
a -number of replies received and votes "Yes" and "No," but I fear that
the telegraphic service nr Hotel Statler service, which X would be quite
willing to suspect of inefficiency, has made that telegram entirely lacking
at this .time.
=
This letter was sent out on September 19.
.'Mu. Vast Scrcaack: companies?
To whom was the letter addressed in the various
Chairman Titasox: The opening paragraph is this:
"It is to be hoped that this communication will be brought to the at
tention of the safety engineer for his comments and recommendations, and
that as a result the managing executive will take definite action and will advise the writer at the .earliest date practicable, and at the latest, prior
to September 24, of the decision reached, together with any approved sug
gestions or recommendatfBns."
Ms. Van Schaack: .If. th'e executives haven't brought it to the atten
tion of their safety men, let's get the safety men to bring it to the atten tion of their executives___
Chairman Tihsox: That was my idea--if we didn't get It one way we'd get it the other.
' Is there any further discussion on the motion? If not, will those in favor of the motion signify by saying "Aye"?
(The motion was unanimously carried.)
Mining Section
945
Ohaiumav Tiu^os: Is there any choice In the time at which we
should expect the letter ballot to be returnable for definite action by the
Executive Committee of the National Safety Council?
Mb. C. H. Wilson (Utah ICopper Co., Bingham, Utah): Say the fif
teenth of November--surely that would give everybody plenty of time. I
make a motion that we set the date for having the replies in as Novem
ber 15. Chairman Tillson:
-fr I think it might be wise to include something
about definite action being taken as a result of the proportion of replies
for or against the proposition.
Mb. Wilson : I will include that the majority of the members you have
heard from at that time will be the governing factor.
Mb. R. I). Hall: ("Coal Age," New York City): That might better
be in the form of a ballot than, anything else. Why not send them a
ballot?
Chairman Tillson: Would you care to amend that by having another
copy of this paper sent with that ballot, as a reminder? Mb. Woodburx : It is myTopinlon that we are doing a lot of worrying
about - this. I don't think uny of the companies are going to block
this thing. If it requires double the fee, I feel sure there isn't a company
in our district but what would be glad to make that contribution. I
think we arq worrying about something that is unnecessary.
Mb. Reed: There isn't any doubt as to what the Consolidated Coal
'Company will do. As I stated before, I don't think any company will
refuse' to come across. They 'will all pay. I think the only place there
is any question at all is to'what effect the increase will have on future
members. And if the present members will get out and explain to the
other fellow and bring him in, we won't have any trouble there, but
if we get a little careless about telling our neighbors what the benefits
to be derived are, your secretary will probably have a little bit of
trouble in increased dues. That is the reason I am not so much in favor
of it. I would sooner see that extra amount of money come by getting fives times the present membership, and then saying to the National,
"Now that we have gotten all of these new members, won't you kindly
pay our secretary?"
Mr. Williams: Every new member that comes in gets back more than
half of his membership dues just in stationery, stamps, etc., let alone
anything else, and there is not much surplus left.
Mb. Ree: Well, I made a-suggestion that If your dues are not sufficient,
put them up.
Mb. Williams : You have- outlined the very course I think will have
to come. This section will get the pace and then other sections will un-
auestionably see the. advantages and take it up. Mb. Woodbttbn : This isn't going to interfere with future membership.
If we are going to provide a definite, positive and first class service,
it is going to tend to. bring in the members. Our service now is more
or less questionable, so if we provide tbe best service ,it certainly will
bring in new members.
^
946
Eighth Safety Congress
Dk. A. F. Kxoefel (U. S. Bureau of Mines, Terre Haute, Ind.):
Some of you may know, or if you don't know you ought to, that there has
been a bolshevik! movement to revive the American Mine Safety Asso
ciation (and I am not guilty, or I wouldn't have mentioned it) and the
reason given is lack of service. Now, if these men--bolshevists--want
service, why, they will expect to pay for it, because I have an indistinct
memory that this American Mine Safety service could have been very
much Improved upon. _
Chairmax Tillsox: May I not ask if you weren't the past president
of the American Mine Safety Association?
Dr. Ksoefel: I was. (Laughter).
Mr. H. G. Davis (D. L: & W. Coal Co., Wilkesbarre, Pa.):
Mr. Chair
man, I am sorry it is getting so late. This subject ought to have been
taken up and discussed before. As a rule, the bolshevists and the likes
of them are generally kept out of such movements, but in this particular
case they seem to be highly honored. I am the only one here who was present at their meeting, and I think it was an outrage.
Cii.mrmax Tillsox: We have a motion before the house, and If there is
no further discussion I will ask the question. The motion was that a
ballot vote' be taken, sending a copy of this present paper to all of the
members again, and making our decision on the majority vote at that
time as to the Increase of the dues. What is your pleasure In regard to
the motion?
(The motion was unanimously carried.)
The election of officers is next. I will ask Mr. Hall, the chairman of the Nominating Committee, to kindly report the suggestions that they
have to make in regard, to officers of your section for the coming year.
Tn doing so, I will call your attention to the fact that nominations from
the floor will be equally well received. The Nominating Committee's
function is merely to see that somebody is nominated.
REPORT OF NOMINATING COMMITTEE
Mr. R. D. Hall (`"Coal Age," New York City): The nominations have been somewhat equally balanced. While the suggestion for chairman is a metal-mining man, the first vice-chairman is a coal-mining man, the second vice-chairman is a coal-mining man, and the third vice-chairman is a metal-mining man. _THo I think it has been pretty well divided.
Your Nominating Committee respectfully submits the following for the officers of the Mining Section of the National Safety Council for the en suing year: For Chairman, B. F. Tillson, Franklin, N. J.; first Vicechairman, H. G. Davis, Wilkesbarre, Pa.; A. F. Knoefel, Terre Haute, Ind., second Vice-chairman; G. A. Mitke, Blsbee, Ariz., third Vice-chairman; and W. H. Shearman, New York City, Secretary.
Ciiatkmax Tillsox: Gentlemen, This is a situation which makes it incumbent on your Chairman to express his great appreciation of the honor which your Nominating Committee has done him in suggesting that his tenure of office-khould not be ended, and in view of'the fact 1 consider it an honor because of dhe unsatisfactory nature that the service of the Mining Section has been to all of us. It is only natural that the
Mining Section
947
present Chairman who has served several years should appreciate being
relieved of the responsibilities of further service. It is furthermore only natural that he should also take considerable interest in seeing the Sec tion progress along these advocated lines of technical service which has been his hobby, and .which he has felt it necessary to have discussed
during the past three years. He would much rather some one else would take up the reins of govern
ment and instill new blood and life into the organization, so as to dispose of any criticism to the effect it was a life job for one man. I would there
fore strongly urge upon you to nominate some one else for that position. Of course, if no other names are offered, why, your present Chairman has the interests of the mining safety movement sufficiently at heart not only to appreciate the honor, but to see that the void is filled.
I now request further nominations from the floor in addition to the slate as suggested by your Nominating Committee.
Mr. A. H. Fat (Bureau Sf Mines, Washington, D. C.) : Mr. Chairman, I think our present Chairman is making a mistake when he says the Section has not progressed^ I think the Section has progressed, and wonderfully! I therefore move that the recommendation of the Nominat ing Committee be adopted.
(Prof. Sperr seconded the motion.)' (Vice-Chairman Davis took the chair.) Vice-Chairman Davis: Gentlemen, you have heard the motion that the report be adopted. What is your pleasure? (The motion was unanimously carried.) Vice-Chairman Davis : Dwant to say I appreciate the honor of being recommended for the Vice-chairmanship, but I would prefer to see some other younger fellow in that position. I am getting old now, and I'd like to see some one else nominated to fill that place. Mr." Van Schaack: I move the nominations for first Vice-chairman he
closed, and the Secretary cast a unanimous ballot for Mr. Davis. (Mr. Wilson seconded the motion, and it was unanimously carried.) Mr. WoowrtrjtN: Just to prevent any further speaking in apologetic
tones on the part of any of the recommended officers, and in appreciation of their efforts of those who have served us so well, I would suggest that
our Nominating Committee has used very good judgment, and I would
like to make a motion that we accept their nominations, and they stand closed as they are.
(Mr. Reed seconded the motion and it was unanimously carried.) . Chairman Tiixson: Gentlemen, there is little I can say, except that this is your Section. It dsn't belong to your Chairman or any of its Executive Committee. They are merely your servants, and this Section is not what they make it, but what you make it--and "Inasmuch as ye give, so shall ye also receive." If you will take that to your hearts and remember It three hundred and sixty-five days In the year, and give and do nothing but, give, your Executive Committee will do Its best to corre late your giving so that it will be of greatest value not only to you but to the others In your profusion. In such a manner may we hope to grow
948
Eighth Safety Congress
into the true importance which the mining industry is properly deserv
ing of.
--
In that respect, I would calt your attention to the fact that the income
tax returns for the year 1917 showed that the mining industry was re
sponsible, next to the railroad Industry, for paying the largest income
returns to the government. And the only reason that the railroad indus
try partly surpassed the/ mining industry was that the mining Industry
shipped four million tons of its product daily over the railroads, and that
amount was twice the total amount of freight- from every other industry.
So you see you have a responsibility on your hands, although the group is small, in pushing it on to a successful conclusion.
"C-NDEROBOUSD MINE CABS AND HATJtAGE"
Mb. Goodale: In regard to your suggestion about the discussion on
this paper or pamphlet on "Underground Mine Cars and Haulage," I
think that all of us perhaps are a little tired or don't care to attend an
afternoon session, so I would suggest that this having now been sub-
mitted, it be requested that the comments be put in writing and sent
in to the Secretary.
Chairman Tiixson: There is one other thing we should think of at
this time. A former member of the Executive Committee of the Mining
Section, and Chairman of the Program and Publications Committee has
passed into the new world of greater joy. I refer to Mr._ John P. Reese,
of the Superior Coal Company, Gillespie, Illinois. I think it would be
highly fitting for this body here assembled to send a properly written
tribute to Sir. Reese's family, expressing the sorrow which we all feel
at losing so strong and ardent a supporter of not only the Mining Section
but of the Safety Movement in general as it applied to mining.
Mb. H. G. Davis: I mtSSe you that the Secretary send to the bereaved family of Mr. Reese an appropriate expression of sympathy.
(The motion was duly seconded and unanimously carried.)
Chairman Tillson: Is there any new business?
Dr. A. F. Kxoefel (U. S. Bureau of Mines, Terre Haute, Ind.): I don't know whether any of youTgentlemen have attended any of the other sec
tions, But this morning I cavorted over to the Health Section, and was
rather discouraged. I heard two excellent papers, hut on the first paper
there was one discussion, ^and on the second there were two discussions, and I want to express my gratitude to the Mining Section for the ex
cellent discussion that prevails at your meetings.
Mr. Davis: I want to say that the papers read here on the first day
have not as yet been discussed. We could discuss these questions for
another week.
--
Chairman Tillson: . In that respect, I may say there has been con
siderable expression of opinion in that the men from the:mining districts
come a long distance to attend these sections, and that is the reason why
we are small in number, and although we have representatives here from
Montana, Washington, Utah, Nevada, and over to the Eastern shores of our
country, New Jersey, but the desire is very strong that we spend more
time than we have for discussion. We should like to devote three long
Mining Section
949
-ball days to our discussions, and if that can be arranged In the future Congresses, I think it will have a strong appeal to and have, the support of the companies that are paying considerable, to send delegates to get down into the really practical subjects which we need.
PROGRAM FOB SIXTH AWNtTAI. CONGRESS
President Richards : "Well, I'd like to say, if I may have the privilege, that it seems to me that before the program for the Ninth Annual Con
gress has been prepared there ought to be a meeting of the chairmen of
the various sections for the express purpose of outlining a program and flnding out how much time each section wants. Then when we find out
how much time each section waists, to arrange to give them that time
regardless of other meetings, bepause really we come here as mining
men, or steel men, or railroad men, and what we want to hear more than anything else is something about our own industry that is going to help
us in carrying on our work.
C
I think there ought to be time given for that purpose regardless of
whether or not it may interfere with a general session. That, it seems
to me, is a question that can he well decided by the chairmen of the va-_ rious sections when they get together for that purpose.
(The motion was unanimously carried.) If I may he allowed to make' the suggestion, if such a meeting as that
is not decided upon favorably by the Executive Committee, as I am only
one of that Committee, it seems to me that here is one thing we ought
to impress upon everybody, and that is there ought to be a limit to the
time any man should have to read a paper. I think of what Mr. Brown
said last night, that "No souls are saved after twenty minutes," and
that Is very apropos. While most of us exceeded twenty minutes last night, it seems to me any paper that takes more than -twenty minutes
Is taking too much time of the section in which it is read, and that the
real thing we get at these meetings is not what may he said in the paper,
but the discussion that the paper brings out. So we ought to have more time for discussion and less time for papers.
If all the chairmen of the various sections feel that way about It per
haps we can arrange some: standard plan by which the chairman will be
excused from feeling he Is being put in a difficult position by saying
merely that it is the general rule. Mr. WirxiAais: Mr. Chairman, in sending out the invitations this year
we specified definitely that every speaker was to he limited to twenty min
utes, with the exception of one or two cases in the general sections. My only excuse for getting up' now is that I don't get to meet In this section
very often, and. I want to say that you'd he absolutely In line with the
policy of the headquarters office if you strictly cut the people off after
twenty minutes. We have been told in some cases that men could not
say what they wanted to'in that time. Of coarse they conld have more space in the proceedings, but when it came to reading the paper, they were simply to leave out some of the details and limit the actual presen
tation to twenty minutes. We tried to do it this year, Mr. Richards, and
950
Eighth Safety Congress
with your help and the help of the chairmen, of the sections, we vrili do it
a little better next year.
Chaieman Tillson : FoF the information of those present, I may say
that your Chairman has kept time on every paper presented during this
section's sessions this year, and there whs only one paper that exceeded
twenty minutes in its presentation. The discussions have been long, but
the Chairman has permitted the discussions to run over a long period of
time because he felt that that Is what we have come here for. and that
it was only by free discussion and an interchanging of ideas and sugges
tions that we develop.
^
SUBJECTS FOR DISCUSSION
Xow, it would be in accordance with our action last year to make sug gestions as to what subjects are of most vital interest for consideration in the preparation for safe practices pamphlets during this coming year.
Your Chairman calls your attention to the fact that this year we had with us in our second meeting probably one of the most representative groups of experienced mining men who have dealt with the problem of mine fires and their prevention and recovery. I would therefore suggest that that topic might well be covered in the safe practices pamphlet. An other subject has been suggested, I think at this meeting. In regard to
the arrangement and loading of ore into cars from chutes. Mb. Goodale: It would seem to me as a matter of logical sequence
that that perhaps would be n very natural topic to take up the next time. We would have the transportation of mine car haulage in this pamphlet, and it looks to me as if the matter of chutes would come next. Another topic Is that of mine signals underground. That is a very important matter.
Mr. F*.\y: In the coal mines about 45 to 48 per cent of the fatalities are due to falls of roof; in the metal mines, about 35 per cent. I think there is a chance to reduce accidents, by attacking the largest item In the whole series or causes. That might be well to lay on the slate for con sideration. Possibly somebody might be able to prepare a good paper on that particular thing.
Mb. Woodbcbs: The falls of roots are undoubtedly constituting the greater number of our accidents, but at the same time of great importance is the prevention of fire and such disaster, and the recovery of the wounded, burned, etc. Personally, I would say there are several of us
here who make a specialty of mine rescue and recovery, and while we are interested in all of the other phases, we'd like especially to pick up all the data we can along thole lines. I have talked with several members about the feasibility of providing a little more time; either that, or say we had a special session for this, and those who are interested in it could attend in an afternoon, period when- there was something of a gen eral session that we didn't care so much about. I would like very much to see papers brought out on that line because it concerns everybody to more or less degree, and many of us especially.
Chairman Th.lson: I think the questionnaire sent out on mine fires
Mining Section
951
will receive a very cordial support from' those who are present at this
meeting.
--
Jig. Reed: In regard, to Subjects, I would like to remind the members
at the present time that the subject of explosives, their handling and
transportation and uses, is rather vividly before the mining industry, es
pecially In the Eastern portion of the United States, and It is a subject
upon which there is a great deal of argument as to what are safe prac
tices and what are permissible in the way of handling explosives. I
think that subject might profitably be given some consideration by this
body.
--
Secbctabv Shearman: I would like to suggest that the men here send
in any suggestions for our next annual meeting as soon as possible so we
can line up some papers, and also with the suggestion of a subject, also suggest the name of the person you think best qualified to present the
paper.
Chairman Tii.lsox:
Before closing the meeting, I want to request that
Major Dwight do what he can--which I know he will be glad to do--to bring some definite results in seeing that the size of these meetings will
be increased considerably T>y the attendance of many other engineersof the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers.
Major Dwight: I can assure the Chairman I will consider myself as
an enthusiastic convert to the new principles and will do all I can to spread the doctrine throughout the Institute.
Mb. Goodai.e: We haven't come to any decision in regard to this paper on "Underground Mine Cars and Haulage."
Chairman Tii.eson: Does any one wish to remain for an afternoon ses
sion?
____
A motion was made, seconded and carried to adjourn, it being decided
that those to whom a copy of the proposed pamphlet was given should
review It and send it in to the National Safety Council headquarters
with any comments.
Adjournment.
____
. LIST OP MEDALS FOR "FIRST-AID CONTEST". 1919
Kansas State Contest.........--..........................................................................................June 7, 1910 State Wide First-Aid Contest.................................................................................July 26, 1919 Bertha Coal Company First-Aid Meet.-------------------------------------September 1, 1919 Plkesville, Kentucky, Contest----------------------------------------------------------------------July 4, 1919 Pond Creek First-Aid ContestAugust 10, 1919 National Contest in PittsburghSeptember 30, 1910 Norton, Virginia, First-Aid Contest------------------------------------------------------July 26, 1919
Meat Packers* Section
October 2 and 3, 1919
A. B. DRUMMOND, Chairman Wilson and Company, Union Stock Yards, Chicago
G. L. MALLERY, Secretary
Swift and Company, Chicago
MINUTES
THURSDAY MORNING SESSION
HE permanent organization of the Meat Packer's Section was com pleted at the National Safety Congress at Cleveland, October X
to 4, 1919, and if the interest shown by the several delegates present indi cates the manner in which the idea .is being absorbed, surely this or ganization will be a power for good, and reflect much credit upon Itself, its individual members, the firms they represent, and the National Safety Council.
The meeting was called to order at 9:30 A, AL Thursday, October 2,
by the temporary Chairman A, B. Drummond of Wilson & Co., Chicago, with Mr. G. L. Mallery, Swift & Co., Chicago, acting as temporary Secre
tary. The Chairman opened the meeting with a. very brief resume of the organization meeting which was held in Chicago in July of 1919. As the need of a section of this kind was thoroughly understood by the dele gates no time was lost in ^explaining the purposes of the organization.
The Chairman appointed Mr. T. K. Lowry of Armour Mechanical Co..
Chicago, Mr. Schuler, Swift & Co., of East St. Louis, and Air. Faulkner of Morris & Co., Chicago, to act as the Nominating Committee.- The
meeting then swung into a round-table discussion of the many accident problems peculiar to the racking Industry.
ROUND-TABLE DISCUSSION
KNIFE CUTS AND THEIB PREVENTION
The first subject for discussion was Knife Cuts and their Prevention. Manv interesting and ingenious means of overcoming this most common
953
954
Etyhth Safety Congress
accident cost were brought out. .Mr. W. F. McClellan of Armour & Com
pany, Chicago, exhibited^ number of knives, showing- the guards -which they had installed as a result of their experience. Mr. Mallery of Swift and Company spoke on the knife question. The discussion brought out that about 30 per cent of the accidents occurring in the packing industry were knife cuts, and that about every sixth knife cut resulted in a permanent injury. Mr. Mallery stated that they have been very successful in getting the men in their plants So use the type of guards exhibited by Mr. Mc Clellan. He also spoke of a method of guarding the handle of sharpen ing steels by means of a leather disc slipped over the handle, and stated that they were using this guard on most of the cutting floors throughout the plant.
JU.'It.WS AND SCAI.D.S
Burns and scalds was the next subject for discussion. The experiences of different firms were related. It was agreed that the Injuries for the most part, were caused by repair jobs and emergency work, as the plant is usually well protected-^The development of an automatic ice puller by Morris and Company, was reported to have eliminated the hazards of burns and scalds in thawing ice cans. Mr. Schuler reported that at the East St. Eouis Plant. Swift and Company, they' have developed an auto matic door-closing devicgli which eliminates any possible danger of the operator falling into the=lhaw box. It was agreed that the hazard of scalds and burns was that which is usual to other industries and could be overcome by closer supervision and mechanical changes.
FREIGHT Kf.EVATOR HAZARDS
Mr. Faulkner, Morris & Co.. Chicago, gave a talk on freight elevator
hazards which was very interesting. The doorS- and vestibules of the St, Paul Plant of Armour and Company came in for quite a bit of praise. Swift and Company said that thej1- test their elevators by cutting the ropes, allowing the elevator to drop about eigbt inches. Morris and Company are using an elevator inspection form which is filled out weekly by the elevator operator and an Inspector from the mechanical department. They also stated that they liavea triple inspection of cables. Swift and Com pany claim they have eliminated the wood-guide strip and substituted a steel type of guide rail. -
The following recommendations were referred to the Standardization Committee: That all wire cable ends be shackled and babbitted and that all counter balance weights^ be-equipped with a double eye bolt draw bar. That steps should be taken to discontinue the practice of giving elevator operator jobs to old and crippled employees, as a recognition of long and loyal service, and make the elevator man's job one requiring young men of an intelligent and efficient class, having the job graded on a higher wage basis than the ordinary laborer's job. That elevator gates be auto matic in closing.
A representative of tv Government Bureau of Standardization gave
Meat Packers' Section
955
an Interesting discussion on the value of inter-locks. He quoted some statistics showing the value of those already installed.
At 12:30 P. XL the meeting adjourned until 9:30 A. M. Friday.
FRIDAY MORNING SESSION
HE meeting called to order by Chairman Drummond who asked for
X the report of the Nominating Committee. as follows:
Mr. Faulkner reported
REPORT OF NOMINATING COMMITTEE
For Chairman, 1919-1920, ~A. B. Drummond, Wilson and Company: Vice-
chairman, W. W. Pierce, Morris and Company: Secretary, G. L. Mallery.
Swift and Company.
--
No other nominations were made and upon motion duly made and
seconded it was carried, that the officers selected by the Nominating Com
mittee, were elected unanimously.
The Chair appointed Mr. G. L. Raymer of Cudahy Company, Chicago,
Chairman of the Membership Committee: Mr. A. D. Russell, Cudahy
Company, Kansas' City, Chairman of the Bulletin Committee: Mr. H. G.
Ellerd, Armour and Company, Chicago, Chairman of the Standardization
Committee; Mr. J. M. Eaton, Libby, McNeill and Libby. Chicago, Chair
man of the Educational and Publicity Committee: and Mr. F. L. Faulk
ner, Morris and Company, Chicago, Chairman of the Program Committee
SAFE-GUARDl ,VO PACKING IIOtTSK MACIIIXKRV
The round-table begun at the first session was resumed. The first subject considered was The Hazards of the Machinery Peculiar to the Packing Industry. After much discussion, it was agreed that most of the hazards of this class of machinery were common to machinery in gen
eral, but the subject was go big that no definite action could be taken
at this meeting and that a special Standardized Committee be appointed to prepare a Safe Practices^ pamphlet, that should be distributed to all members of the Section covering the mechanical safe guarding and the elimination of unsafe operations.
LOADING AND TRUCKING HAZARDS
The Hazards- in connection with Loading and Trucking. While much interesting data was given as to past experiences, it was decided that much better progress eould_be made by turning the subject over to the Standardization Committee for full supervision.
SLIPPING AND TRIPPING HAZARDS
The Unusual Number and Results of the Accidents due to Slipping and Tripping on Floors and Stairways of Packing Houses were discussed, but nothing of much value was brought out. The consensus of opinion
966
Eighth Safety Co-ngress
seemed to be that a cenieBt or concrete floor with a roughened surface
would show better results In point of service and efficiency than the brick
or wooden floors commonly used. A great deal of discussion took place
regarding foremen who were lax in allowing the men to do work in
their own way, without .seeing that all possible safe guards had been
placed around the operation. Chairman Drummond stated that any dis
cipline would have to come from the top, and that Superintendents and
General Superintendents must be behind the safety men at all times when
questions of safety arise. ^ He also suggested that perhaps a system of
charging the cost of medical care and the cost of compensation directly
to the department, would probably make the foreman take more notice of
safety matters. He quoted the results of the "Mo Accident Week" in the
Wilson and Company plants, showing that eight plants came through the
"Mo Accident W<ik" without a single lost-time accident.
Safety Commit Lee plans were discussed freely and all present agreed
that a Plant Safety Committee to consist of the Superintendent, Master
Mechanic, Fire Marshal, and other men of authority, should act as a Clearing House for the -"consideration of all matters affecting safety
conditions.
=
The meeting adjourned At 12:30 P. M.
The delegation left feeling amply rewarded for their trip on account of
the great educational advantages accruing to those present at the meet
ing, and with a determination to do everything in their power to impress
the Safety thought upon the minds of those responsible for the operation
of their several plants, and to interest those not yet affiliated with the
National Safety Council with a view to a larger representation at the
next Packers' Sectional Meeting.
Paper and Pulp Section October 2 and 3, 1919
A. P. COSTIGANE, Chairman Ontario Pulp and Paper Makers' Safety Association, Toronto, Canada
C. E. JACKSON,1 Vice Chairman Consolidated Water Power and Paper Company, Grand Rapids, Wis.
C. B. MILNER, Secretary Hammermill Paper Company, Erie, Pa.
THURSDAY MORNING SESSION
HE meeting was called to order at 9:30 A. M. by the Chairman, Mr.
T A. P. Costigane, Ontario Pulp and Paper Makers' Safety Associa
tion, Toronto, Canada.
Z:
DELEGATES ATTENDING SESSION
N. S. Stone, Wausau Sulphate Fibre Co., Mosinee, Wis. Thos. Frost, Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, N .Y. G. E. Morgan, Employers' Mutual Insurance Co.', of New York, Buffalo,
N. Y. H. H. Matthieson, Crown Willamette Paper Co., Portland, Ore. E. C. Glldenzopf, York Haven Paper Co., York Haven, Fa. David Miller, York Haven Paper Co., York Haven, Pa. H. J. Myers, York Haven Paper Co., York Haven, Pg. C. B; Milner, Hammermill Paper Co., Erie, Pa. H. St. J. Jarvis, Don Valley Paper Co., Toronto, Ont. C. Nelson Gain, Don Valley! Paper Co., Toronto, Ont. A_ P. Costigane, Ontario Pulp & Paper Makers' Safety Association,
Toronto, Ont. Erllng Riis, Wausau Sulphate Fibre Co., Mosinee, Wis. John F. McEIgin, Carthage Sulphite Pulp & Paper Co., Carthage, N. Y. Ira Wyman, Strathmore Paper Co., Mittineague, Mass.
957
958
,Eighth Safety Congress
Clarence E. Jackson, Consolidated Water Power and Paper Co., Grand
Rapids, Wis.
F. P. Young. Interlake Pulp & Paper Co., Appleton, Wis.
M. J. Foster, Consolidated Water Power & Paper Co., Stevens Point, Wis.
F. H. Eberliardt. Consolidated Water Power and Paper Co., Grand
Rapids. Wis.
r
Charles Fangfisli. York Haven Paper Co.. York Co., Pa.
J. C. Youmans. Employers' Mutual Liability Ins. Co., Wausau, Wis.
G. A. Umberham, Korthem Paper Mills, Green Bay, Wis.
A. T. Buckhout, American Writing Paper Co., Holyoke, Mass.
Al. Kroes, Employers* Mutual Liability Ins. Co., Wausau, Wis.
Xesta C. Edwards, Consultant Industrial Service Work, Chicago, 111.
R. B. Woolson, General Casualty & Surety Co., Detroit, Mich.
Fred A. Felier, Employers' Mutual Liability Ins. Co., Milwaukee, Wis.
W. S. Brown, General Casualty & Surety Co., Detroit, Mich. G. li. Huggins. Finch Pruyn Co., Inc., Glens Falls, 3NT. Y.
A. G. Richardson, LaurefTtide Co., Ltd., Grand Mere, Quebec.
I. L. Lockney, Chief Safety Engineer, State Safety Board, Olympia.
Wash.
G. W. Dickson. Riordan Pulp & Paper Co.. Hawkesbury, Ont.
Robert M. Altman. Marathon Paper Mills Co., Wausau, Wis.
S. F. Shattuck. Kimberly-Clark Co., Neenah, Wis.
James L. Kerr. E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Wilmington, Del.
Wm. Powell. International Harvester Co., Chicago, III.
Carl E. Gebhardt. Champion Coated Paper.Co., Hamilton, Ont.
M. G. Hoyman. Kimberly-Clark Co.. Neenah, Wis.
Virginia H. Evans. Kimberly-Clark Co., Neenah, Wis.
Paul M. Bowen. StandardlAccIdent Ins. Co., Detroit, Mich.
O. F. Behm, Standard Accident Ins. Co., Detroit, Mich.
E. S. Willis. Safety First-Supply Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.
REPORT OF CHAIRMAN
Chaikmax C'oriri.\3fK: Ihlopening the sessions of the Paper and Pulp Section. It. gives me great pleasure to extend to you all on behalf of the National Safety Council, a warm and sincere welcome. To those of you who have attended these conventions during the last two or three years I need say nothing of the benefits to be derived--the fact that you have come back is proof of a consciousness on your part that such conventions are of great value.- To those of you who are here for the first time we hope that all you see and hear and all that you learn will so entliuse you that you will return home with such a glowing report that the companies you represent will realize they cannot afford to allow any future conven tion to pass without having-a representative present. On behalf of the National Safety Council, it is my privilege to convey to you all a very hearty greeting.
Your Chairman during the last twelve months has kept in as close touch as possible with the activities of the section by attending whenever possible meetings, of the .Executive Committee of the Council. As soon as possible after the CongrSli last year at St. Louis, the chairmen of the
Paper and Pulp Section
959
various committees were appointed and the detail work ot the Section
was entered upon with enthusiasm. The chairmen, and members of the committees I desire to thank sincerely for their support and advice and also for the earnest way they have carried on the committee work. The reports of these committees will be submitted to the meeting later and you will have an opportunity of judging- of the extent and excellence of the work done.
The Paper and^ Pulp industry of the United States and Canada is one of the largest, wealthiest, and most influential Industries of the countries mentioned, and the Paper and Pulp Section of the National Safety Council should, therefore, take a correspondingly important place in the Council. Unfortunately this is not the case. What is the cause of this condition of affairs? Does the fault lie with us? We are all disciples in this hu manitarian movement. Are we individually doing all we can to carry the gospel far afield? We all know of some one in the industry who has not come into the fold. Do"we tackle such people in a determined but friendly way, and do not rest content until we have made a convert? Numerous letters have been sent out by the Council in connection with membership drives, with a certain amount of success, but far greater re sults can be obtained by interested members pointing out to friends who have not yet become members, the benefits, not only moral, btit financial., to be derived therefrom. ___
If every one of us present today makes a resolution to secure at least one new member during the year, enthusiasm will develop which will soon place the Paper and Pulp Section in the position of importance in the Council which it should occupy.
I am sure the Executive Officers of the Section will have the coopera tion and support of every member in bringing to a successful issue our program for increased membership.
We will now have the report of the Secretary. Mr. Milner.
REPORT OP THE SECRETARY
During the past year the membership of this section has been increased to one hundred eighty four. 3 However, our membership has not Increased to the extent it should have this year for this section has a very extensive field to work representing large and progressive industries.
I have been informed by^he National Safety Council that they have appointed two assistant Field Secretaries, who will divide the territory, probably East of the Mississippi River, between them, and both of these men will he actually in the field all the time.
I would like to suggest that a mid-year meeting he held in some central location so as to enable the_ Chairman, Secretary and the Chairman of the various committees to get together to discuss various plans for their work. I am sure in this way we would be able to outline some very valuable ideas which would "materially assist this section.
Respectfully submitted, ^ C. B. Milner, Secretary. (On motion the report was adopted.)
AGO
Eighth Safety Congress
Chairman Costiuane:___We should like to have the report of the Chair man of the Program Committee, Mr. -Tiickson.
REPORT OF PROGRAM COMMITTEE
Mr. C. E. Jackson: 1 have no written report. I do have, however, some voluminous correspondence in my files that will perhaps serve as a
permanent monument to my efforts during the past year. My heart goes out in sympathy to the former chairmen of the various Program Com mittees that have acted in years gone hy and I can more than appreciate the trials and tribulations under which they worked.
1 am gratified, however, to say that the men that I have succeeded
in placing upon this program are not only widely known but have the confidence of every member of this Section. I wrote about thirty letters, asking men If they coujSL appear on the program. I extended no definite invitation, but I merely ^wanted to take an inventory of the situation. I
received fourteen replies out of which there were four or five that were favorable and the men whom I did acquire are the ones I really wanted in the first place.
That brings to mind, three years ago I was invited to read a paper at a Congress, which was held at the Statler Hofei In Detroit. Being three years younger at that time and at my first meeting I felt a distinct honor had been given me. I feel now, however, that I was the last resort and. the feeling I had for myself has diminished.
We should have at least seventy-five men in this room. Perhaps* the reason we haven't seventy-five is that there isn't room, but next year we should, by all means, at least double our. membership.
The absent ones don't realize that the ideas exchanged are valuable not only to themselvesjn their work, but valuable to the men whose work they are directing, and to those whose welfare and safety they have at heart. It has been shown by statistics that between 75 and 85 per cent of all accidentsTajre due to personal carelessness of the workmen, so the Safety EngineerI3has rested on his .oars somewhat and he has passed the buck to iheMyorkmen. In a discussion this morning at the
"Round-Table" Session.~tt was contended that 75 to 85 per cent of all
accidents are not due t_o_the personal carelessness of the workmen, but are due primarily to thgz management.
If an accident is due To carelessness on the part of the workman, we might very legitimately ask ourselves, "Why is that workman careless? Isn't it because he wagrxnade careless by his own negligence?" So, I think any Safety Engineer or any person whose function it is in any in dustry to look after the lives of the workmen are neglecting their duty by not attending the Safety Congress if they can possibly come.
You know if you giveJSe a dollar, you don't have the dollar any more, but if you give me an idea, you still have it. We can give things without losing them and we can fake things without talcing them away from any body else. So. we mayfeiome to this meeting where there are sixty men present with one idea each, and go away sixty times as well educated in safety as we were when we came here.
Paper aiul Pulp Section
061
This safety business is not a spasmodic proposition. It is continuous
or there -wouldn't be any results at all. This session is merely a breath
ing spell, an exchange of Ideas so that we can go back to our work: with
renewed vigor and enthusiasm. I wish to urge the members here to fol
low out the Section's suggestions and not forget next year's Congress,
and make an extreme effort to get others interested and get new members
for the Council, because we must make a better showing than we have in
the past.
,--
(The report was accepted.) j
Chairmaxt Costigaxe: In the absence of Mr. Phillips, Chairman of the
Bulletin Committee, we will ask Mr. Altman, Chairman of the Safe Prac
tices Committee, for the report of his committee:
REPORT OF SAFE PRACTICES COMMITTEE
R. M. AmiAs: Immediately upon my appointment as Chairman of the Safe Practices Committee, I s@tr about the task of selecting a working
committee, .and due to good fortune rather than good judgment on my part, I met with success. The members of the 1919 committee were workers and it is their energy, desire for cooperation, and willingness to work that has helped make my association with them this past year most pleasant
and interesting.
_
The committee as originally chosen consisted of C. E. Jackson, Con
solidated Water Power and Paper Company, of Grand Rapids, Wis., F. H.
Rosebush, Nekoosa-Edwards Fgper Company, of Port Edwards, Wis.,
Erling Riis, Wausau Sulphate Fibre Company, Wausau, Wis., Mr. Wood
Champion Fibre Company, Canton, N. C., and your chairman. Due to the inability of Mr. Wood to attend meetings or to give us any other help, Mr. Eberhardt, of Grand Rapids, Wis., was selected to take his place.
The first meeting of this jgammittee was held at the office of the Marathon Paper Mills Co. at Rothschild, Wis., March 24, 1919. Three week3 earlier I mailed to each, copies of outlines of the work to be cov ered so that when the committee met each member had an inkling of what was required. The outline was thoroughly discussed, and the
various subjects to be covered^ were selected and assigned to members.
The meeting was held in confiection with the -Wisconsin River Valley Readjustment Convention which was in session at Wausau. Since the subjects discussed at this convention were readjustment subjects most interesting to the safety worker, the committee members were well repaid
for their time and trouble In coming to Wausau. On April 4, lists of mills members of the National Safety Council,
were furnished the committee and numerous letters were written request ing material for the proposed pamphlet, but with one or two exceptions
these letters were not even answered. On April 28, the Second Annual Industrial Conference was held at
Milwaukee under the auspices of the Industrial Commission of Wiscon sin, and your committee took this opportunity of meeting with the State's
deputies, and safety engineers and thoroughly discussing safety problems in paper mills that had coma, to the notice of the deputies. The dis-
1)64
Eighth Safety Congress
eated by a green cross. -There are certain restrictions as to the use of
the red cross, so it is well to be familiar with them before adopting this
sign. Ordinary signs or notices giving such information as "Office,"
"Stores," "Exit." etc., "may be carried out in white. letters on a blue
aground. These suggestions will serve to illustrate the basis on which
system of signs may be built up, and may be amplified to suit the condi
tions.
--
By adopting some such standards as these we are but carrying out the
same idea as is used in advertising. Many a successful business is built
up about a striking design or slogan. It is identified with the product
and advertised in every magazine that you pick tip. It makes no con
scious effect on ns when--we see it, so we think, but when we need a cer
tain article the advertisement of a certain brand immediately. presents
itself to our minds. Whatever be the psychology of this, let us apply
it to our danger signs. Every day we may pass a red sign lettered In
white. "Fire Hose" or "Hydrant." Now if-our danger sign system is cor
rect. the first thing you will do when you hear the fire alarm will be to
"beat it" for that sign. The color or design of that sign was impressing
itself on your sub-conscious mind every tim-e you walked past it. So,
I would say keep to standards, have a design or a color or both to ex
press one idea.
_
SIC NS FOR 1'KOTIiCrlUX OK KMPLOYKR
There is another class of sign to be considered--the ones placed for
the employer's protection. Take two examples, a railroad right-of-way is
generally protected at crossings by a "No Trespassing" sign. Or again,
there Is a sign mounted! on a cei-tain machine "It is forbidden to oil
this machine or to throw belts on or off while it is in motion." Now there
always will be a certain group of venturesome citizens, and they are usu
ally of an energetic disposition, who conclude that these signs are out of
date and tlie methods rgcommended are too slow. They are willing to
take a chance, generally realizing that they are taking the full responsi
bility on their own shoulders. Unless we are prepared to carry out the
above signs to the letter, that is, fine or imprison trespassers on the rail
road track, and discharge the man who oils his machine while it is run
ning. might we not better ptit these signs in more truthful form? We
might say "All persons walking on the railroad property do so entirely at
their own risk." And tbe same thing might be addressed to the machine
operator--he is doing it entirely at his own risk. He probably knows
this when he sees the sign forbidding him oiling the machine while it is running. The question i3: which sign will affect him most directly,
to be forbidden to do a^ithing, or permitted to do it at his own peril. It
is to be hoped iliat the discussion will bring out some opinions on this
point.
---
--tol-KOlAt. "PANGKit" SIGNS
Another group of danger signs are only displayed at certain times. When a man goes into- a boiler for repairs he hangs a "Danger, Man in
Paper and Pulp Section
965
Boiler" sign on the steam- and blow-off-valves. A lineman goes to work
on a circuit protecting himself with a "Danger, Working on 'Line"- sign
hung on the open switch- This should be warning enough to fellow-em-
ployees Ol ordinary intelligence, but the protection, may he made complete
by locking the valve or switch with a padlock and chain.
A handy method of keeping such danger signs ready for immediate
use is to have a pocket holding, the sign set np at the point fn question. When required, the sign is taken, from the pocket and bong with a wire
loop or hook on the valve wheel or switch handle. This is shown by
accompanying slides.
-
"When the hazard is great, and absolute security Is demanded, as, for
example, when men are charging acid towers, it is well. In addition, to the danger sign, for the man in charge to lock the switch of the gas fan,
and carry the key until the towers are again closed. A home-made lock is shown, as applied to a Gen. ^31ec. K-20 switch.
As to the materials used for danger signs--it seldom pays to paint a
few words on a piece of tin orjm a board- Permanent signs, enamelled
on steel plate, are a good investment. They can always be cleaned to look like- new, and are more likely to attract attention than a faded, poorly lettered, home-made sign. Makers now carry signs In stock with
almost any wording and in almost any language, so that it is seldom necessary to go to the expense of having special signs made up. For
electrical work the fiber signals preferable to the enamelled steel sign,
as it is not liable to form a short if inadvertently placed across switch
terminals. Slide 1 shows an ordinary ^starting panel for a mill motor with a
danger sign in bracket for use of men who may open switches. (Showing Slide 2) That is the second position. The switch Js open
and the "Danger" sign is hung on the switch, handle.
(Showing Slide 3} The K-20 type of switch in addition to which we
pvit a small attachment or trigger that slides in behind the handle so
that when the switch is open, The handle of the switch cannot be thrown
in. The trigger Is held in position by a padlock which locks the switch .open when the men are charging the acid towers. This switch operates the gas fans. The motor is shut-down and the switch is locked open In that position. The men who Are charging the acid towers bring the key-
back with them and unlock thr switch. (Showing Slide 4) This shows our method of locking the blow-off
valves on digester when men rare working in the blow-pits. When the
men go to work in the blow-pit they lock the blow-off valve, take' the key Into the blow-pit with them and it remains locked until they come out of the blow-pit again.-
(Showing Slide o) There is another application of the danger sigpM.
The men were changing a cable on the elevator, the "Danger" was hung on the elevator gate.
Chaiumas Costigani:: We 7 have all listened with great pleasure to Mr. Dickson's paper and as J.t is a subject that lends itself to a' good
discussion, you will now he given the opportunity.
96G
Eighth Safety Congress
I am sure some one present must have had experience in danger signs-. Tells us of your experiences.
DISCUSSION
Mr. Jackson: We heard yesterday about industrial autocracy and we can perhaps apply that to safety -work particularly in.the matter of put ting up signs. I agree that one outstanding fact is this: There are always a certain number of employees who either carelessly or maliciously disregard safety signs and it seems necessary for the.company to make threats perhaps o._a mild nature, or perhaps mak4 a ruling that if
certain regulations _are disregarded employees will be discharged. I think, however, in putting up signs, instead of making them threatening, it would be better iLwe would substitute something like this': "If such and such a tiling is_ done, you are not only endangering your life but lives of other members." I think that appeals to men more than that they will be discharged. It may also take away the desire of the young employees to see if they can do things perhaps of a- malicious nature and get away with them. The sign will be a constant incentive to them to do the right thing, i^we put it tip to their own honor.
Mr. A. Kroes (Employers' Mutual Liability Insurance Company) : A
good point brought jfiit here this morning In the nature of signs, is the steel enameled surface of the sign.
In my trips to mills I see signs of all descriptions, some even made of cardboard. These get dirty very easily, and torn down, so that steel enameled signs are more preferable.
They always look neat. Sometimes, of course, they get grimy and dirty and what Mi*. Dickson said about cleaning them Is very important. If the sign is neglected, you, as safety engineers, are also neglecting your work in the workman's estimation. So, 'to keep a sign clean is about the same thing as putting up a new sign.
Ckaihmax Costigane: i would like to take up one point that Mr. Jackson has already touched upon, the point of giving men the option of doing things at their own risk. As far as we in Ontario are concerned, that i3 not a solution of the problem because under the "Workman's Compensation Act" ilf is specifically stated that no matter when, where, or how a man is injured in the discharge of his duty, he is entitled to compensation.
If there is no further discussion, we will now take up the paper on "Sulphate and Sulphite Hazards" by Mr. Erling Riis.
Mb. E. Riis: I have been fortunate enough to he on Mr. Altman's Safe Practices Committee. Mr. Altman as a good leader assigned special duties to the different men on this Committee. I am a sulphate man, and he delegated to me to prepare the sulphate part of the pamphlet.
SULPHATE AND SULPHITE HAZARDS
Erling Riis, Wausau Sulphate Fibre Company, Mosinee, Wis.
The hazards in the sulphate and sulphite pulp mill are very similar although the principles on which the chemical process Is based are exactly the reverse. -We will therefore treat them together up to the point where
Paper attcl Pulp Section.
06?
there really is a marked difference where the sulphate and sulphite hazards will be treated separately.
The logical way to treat the subject would be to follow the manufac turing process from the time the logs enter into your pulp yards until the pulp Is delivered as a finished product.
THEJ-OTPWOOD YaUD
The place In the pulp mill that has the most accidents is the yard. This has its reason in the following two factors: First, there is a great er labor turnover in the yard than in the interior plant, consequently you are always employing men with less experience than you do in the rest of the mill; second, even in the best organized pulpwood yard there are certain hazards which it is practically impossible to overcome.
Pulpwood is unloaded from the cars either by cranes or by hand. The pulpwood which comes to the mill loaded on flat cars or gondolas is al ways held in. place by means of car stakes which are wired together. Be fore the cars can be unloadedZJhese wires have to he cut which always is more or less of a dangerous operation. Of .course, patent car stakes have been introduced and are used to a great extent within the mill yards but very seldom used by the railroads. This has its reason not only in the fact that the safety movement has not boosted them sufficiently but also in the fact that the railroads claim they have a tendency to come loose and therefore are very dangerous on long traffic. The cutting of the ordinary stake and the clipping of the wire must therefore he men tioned as a great hazard.
We will not dwell on this subject here as it will he fully covered in the safe practices pamphlet which Mr. Altman will deliver in a few minutes.
If the wood Is unloaded by hand it is generally because it has heen shipped in box cars, where cranes cannot be used. A runway must then be staged from the car to the-pile. Men carry the logs and bolts and of course there is danger of stumbling when climbing the piles. In pick ing up the logs or bolts it is necessary to use hooks. As the work is very 'monotonous the attention of the workmen is quite frequently divided be tween their work and conversation. This leads to the two most common
TWO COMMON- CAUSES OE ACCIDENTS
causes of accidents In unloading wood in this manner; where the hook, not being securely fastened into the log, slips out; or where the workman while jabbing the hook in the log hooks in a different direction and misses his log, the hook flies by it and generally hits him in the left knee or thigh or hits his fellow workman.
Many things have been done and many others suggested to minimize the accidents from these causes bub the only suggestion that really has proved of great value is education. Education by direct contact with the men, by publication, by lectures, and last but not least by bulletin boards. The heavier logs, when being unloaded by hand, must be handled by two men, the lighter logs by one man; but whether the log is being carried by one
or two men the carriers are always exposed to the danger of stumbling
9fiS
. ^Eighth Safety Congress
while walking on the leg piles, it is general practice to form terraces
from the car to the piles most remote from the track so that the piles take the appearance of a stairway from the car and back. The safe prac tice, of course, is to lay,the logs perpendicular to the tracks and if 4- or 8foot lengths are used, there will be vertical air spaces every 4 or 8 feet from the first tier and back. If the men are very careful about piling the logs neatly there Will he no danger of a man getting his foot down in these spaces but if tbe greatest care is not taken, here is a very common cause for a broken leg, dr a sprained ankle.
Regardless of how strongly you impress upon the man who delivers your pulpwood that you will not accept 4- and S-foot lengths in the same car, he is apt to ship you wood mixed in this way. As two 4-foot tiers will take up more space than can be covered by the length of one 8-foot log when the wood is mixed in this manner, it is plainly to be seen that here is another great danger for a man to get his foot caught.
If the wood comes in gondolas or on flat cars, it is generally unloaded by a crane. Presupposing that skillful men handle the crane, that the cables are always being watched, brake bands kept in good condition, buckets inspected for cracks, etc., the handling of cranes is always a dangerous operation alB here as well as with unloading by hand the danger is multiplied when logs of various lengths come in the same car, because a longer log sticking out farther is apt to slip out of the bucket without being noticed by the man on the pile. Many an accident has been caused in this manner.
These same hazards ^which we have in unloading the wood, we also have in reloading it on cars from the yard. But in the pulpwood yard the car with the safety stake should be used exclusively not only be cause it is safe but because of the great financial saving affected In un loading the car at theisawmill platform.
SCASIIER MILL
In the sawmill or slashing mill of a sulphate or sulphite factory the hazards were numerous hut it is very interesting to see how in later years they have decreased, merely due to the fact that unguarded saws, carriages without railings, etc., are hardly ever to be' found any more.
The wood rooms are: of the most varied construction. The object of a wood room is always the same, i. e., to remove the bark from the wood and chip the wood into chips of the desired size. The chips are now screened, the screening^- recliipped or conveyed to the boiler room for fuel.
There are three types of barkers: The knife barker which is operated either by hand or machinery, the periodic harking drum, and the con tinuous barking drum."
The knife barker operated by band has led to many accidents although they are generally minor accidents such as the cutting off of the tips of fingers. The knife barker has been equipped with an attachment to re volve the logs while the bark is being removed which has minimized this danger and on some barkers in fact entirely removed it.
Paperjand Pulp Section
969
The continuous barking drum is operated in such a manner that the
bolts come into one end of the revolving drum and out of the other.
Some bolts, however, will not be completely barked and have to be re turned by a special conveyor and re-fed in the drum. The danger of accidents is very small and the accidents generally result in a slight squeeze or bruise. If, however, a man should fall into the barking drum death is almost certain.
The periodic barker requires a hopper above the barking drum of a construction similar, to a chip, bin over a digester. This hopper is filled by means of a conveyor. The bazards here are smaller than witb either of the other two methods of harking and as the harking drum stands still at the time it is'being filled and the continuous barker is always rather small, seldom more than 8 ft. by S ft., tbe danger if a man should fall into the drum is not very great aSd the probabilities of falling In the drum are also very small.
The hazards on the chipper are mainly the jumping back of the bolts from the chipper spout. The operator should therefore have an oppor tunity to stand somewhat on the side of the spout while feeding the chip per. A shield of steel or 2-inch plank hung in front of the chipper in such a manner that it acts aa baffle plate for these articles will fully protect the crew in the wood room. Most chippers are belt driven and have tight and loose pulleys or they are belted direct from an individual motor. However, in some mills we find them belted from the main drive shaft of the wood room without tight and loose pulleys so that when knives have to be changed in the chipper the whole wood room has to be shut down. When the disk .has to be turned In order to change knives, the fly wheel of the steam efipne driving the wood room must be turned in similar manner. This is ha. dangerous practice as there is always a danger of misunderstanding jfhe signals and this has been the cause for many a lost finger or hand. Whichever arrangement a wood room has, there are always a good many conveyors and there have been numerous accidents due to men being caught in conveyors or being hit by bolts falling from the conveyors. ;_Jhese things should always be investigated. The switches, if the conveyors are motor driven, should he easily acces
sible so that any conveyor can be shut down on a moment's notice. Where pulp is being made from slabs, it is customary to make the
chips by means of a hog. The chute leading from the conveyor Into this hog will always have a tendency to clog up. Great care should be taken that the men are instructed znever to descend into the chute to unplug this while the hog Is in motion. One very great hazard wherever a hog is being used is the danger jH the disk exploding, especially where this is made of cast iron without wrought iron bands surrounding it.
THE CHU? BIIs'
From the wood room the ehips are carried by means of conveyors to the chip bin from which they are put Into the digesters. A properly constructed chip bin is not A dangerous place for a man to work. How-
070
-- FUr/Jith Safety Oouyress
ever, the majority of chip bins throughout the country are constructed in such a manner that a man has to go up into the chip bin in order to pick the chips loose to make them slide down into the ^digesters. There has been a case of aJnan losing his hold, going with the chips into the digester and being ^smothered to death. When chip bins are so con structed, steam pipes or compressed air pipes should lead into the chip bln to break down the arches of chips which form while filling the di gester. This minimizes the danger to the man.
PIOESTIXG
Tiie cooking process is somewhat different in the sulphate and sul
phite digester and will therefore be handled separately.
1. Sulpfiatc Cooking'.
The sulphate digester is generally a small digester yielding from two
to three tons of pulp. It may he a tumbling digester or stationary. It
should always he welded seamless and not be riveted as no riveted di
gester will stand njrunder the strains of expansion and compression
without commencing to leak and as the cooking pressure in the sulphate
process generally is very high, 100 to 175 pounds, the liquor will invari
ably squirt out through the leaks and if anybody is hit by the liquor he
will be severely burned. If the leak is very small a fine spray will come
from a digester as a fog that can hardly be detected but- the fine par
ticles of liquor and steam will he flying around in the air and these par
ticles are very injurious to the eyes.
As the liquor used in a sulphate process does not attack iron to any
great extent, the digesters need no lining and do not offer much chance for explosion.Where tumbling digesters are used, the steam line enters
the digester through the trunions. There is then always a danger of
this steam line breaking which is one of the greatest hazards in the
digester room of a sulphate mill. The operating floor of the digester
room should therefore have plenty of exits. If the boiler pressure is
higher than the prSSure allowed on the digester, a steam reducing
valve should be placed on the high pressure steam line where this enters
the digester room. There should also he all iron check valves on each .
branch of the steam line of the digesters and on the main line right be
hind the steam reducing valve preventing black liquor from hacking
out of the digester into the steam line and back to the boiler room.
Samples of the pulp have to be taken out of the digesters while this is under full pressure and in most mills this is done In a very primitive manner by blowing the pulp into a barrel or a box with some sacks or
old paper mill felt wrapped, around it. This seems to be traditional and
few mills have been^willing to install a cabinet with baffle plates, etc.,
into which their samples could be blown overcoming the danger of
splashing liquor on the operator and wasting it on the floor. As this
substance is very slippery there is always a danger of slipping on a con
crete floor full of liquor and If a man falls in It he might be severely
burned.
-
1
Paper aliZP Pulp Section
971
When a sulphate digester is to be blown into a diffuser, a system of signals is generally used between the digester man and the diffuser man so that the latter is aware of the fact that blowing is about to take place and he can take the necessary precautions. The digester man, how ever, should never blow until 'he has received the return signal to go
ahead. Even with this precaution there Is danger that the blow pipe Is connected up to a wrong diffuser and the pulp is being blown into the
diffuser which is in the process at being emptied with the result that the
man on the bottom floor is badly burned.
2. Sulphite Cooking:
In the sulphite process the digesters are generally larger than in a sulphate mill, in fact five to ten times as large. The liquor used in this process releases the gases of sulphur dioxide which are very offensive and choking. The liquor should therefore not be filled into a sulphite digester from the top in the same manner as is used in the case of a sulphate mill but should,. after the chips are in the digester, be pumped in from the bottom. Also here samples are taken as in. the sulphate di gester but with this difference that If the liquor splashes on a man's hand or clothing, it does not affect him. What does affect him however is the strong gas. The greatest danger in the digester room of a sul phite mill is the blowing of a digester. The valve might burst and the man operating the valve will be scalded. Remote control of the digester valve is recommended and where it is absolutely impossible to Install this, a strong partition between the valve and the hand wheel of the valve should be installed. This danger Is generally recognized by all sulphite men as the greatest danger in the sulphite mill and should be given due consideration by everybody In authority to improve this con dition.
WET MACHINES, ETC.
, After the stock has been washed in the blow pits or the diffusers it is bandied in the same manner in both the sulphite and sulphate mills either over deckers, wet machines, or dry pulp machines. Pulp from
the wet machines or dry pulp machines has to he trucked and as sim
ple as this operation seems to be it is peculiar to note how many acci dents occur during trucking. This, however, does not seem to result
from any other cause than, the fact that truckers very often are young men who have just commenced -to work and still like to play and ride the trucks or they overload the trucks so badly that the loads tip over on them. The handling of wet machines must be considered as a
rather safe operation while the dry pulp machines offer a few more
dangers more similar' to those on a slow running paper machine.
We have now covered the manufacture of the pulp throughout, starting
with the logs, and will next turn our attention to the manufacture of
cooking liquor.
~
1. Sulphate:
LIQUOR MAKING "r
The cooking liquor in the sulphate mill is a mixture of sodium hydrox
ide, sodium carbonate, and sodium sulphide. The liquor Is originally
972
Eighth Safety Congress
made in. the causticizer room where the solution, of sodium carbonate is
causticized by means Of quick lime. In putting the lime in the causti
cizer there is always danger of splashing and as the liquor besides be
ing highly caustic also is extremely hot, these burns are very disagree
able. A bottle of acid acetic should always be kept on hand for imme
diate application which minimizes the danger. The handling of lime is an exceptionally disagreeable job especially
In hot weather and the lime bin should be well ventilated and the dust sucked right out. Even at that the lime dust in itself will always attack
a man's skin. The men should therefore be instructed to have their jackets buttoned tightly around their waists, a muffler around their
neck, and wear muzzles. After the lime sludge has settled to the bottom of the causticizer, the
clear liquor is drawn off by means of a siphon pipe and used directly in
the digester. The sulphate mills _ always recover their liquor.
The process which
takes place in the recovery is primarily a process of evaporation, second
arily purification and in the third place dissolving.
The first step of evaporation is with a vacuum evaporator such as the
Swenson, Scott, or Webre evaporators with multiple effects. These evapo
rators have been known to explode and burn the operators severely. This
is, however, something which happens very rarely. The main danger in
the evaporator room of a sulphate mill is from the escaping gasses
which have a tendency! to injure the eyes. The sulphate meu have never succeeded entirely ini overcoming this danger but have in later years
reduced it to a minimum by piping all condensed water into enclosed
sewers outdoors. ErSBi vacuum evaporators the liquor passes to the disc evaporator which_Jis nothing but a big pan in which are revolving
large steel disc plates. The whole thing is entirely enclosed and really
offers no danger to anybody. From the disc evaporator the liquor runs into the rotary furnace. The
dangers in the rotary ifurnace are the forming of rings of black ash with
in the rotary stopping the liquor from getting towards the front end
while the heat from, the smelting furnaces will have a tendency to ignite
and melt the black agh. which is in this end. When ultimately a ring
breaks and the liquor runs Into the molten-soda ash in the rotary explo
sions are very apt toJTappen. When the liquor has passed through the
rotary furnace it fallsout on the floor in a dry state as black ash and the process of evaporation is completed. This black ash contains the
sodium salts from the hooking liquor with the lignin from the wood. This
is with salt cake shoveled into the smelting surface where, upon being
ignited the lignin will burn and smelt the sodium salts which purified will drop into molten form as socalled melt down into the dissolving
tanks, where it Is dissolved and pumped into the causticizer room.
There are certain trade hazards connected with a smelting furnace.
These are blast furnaces and the blast pipes have water cooled nozzles. At times these nozzles burn out and the water will run into the melt
Paper and Pulp Section
973
and cause terrific explosionsT Furthermore, these smelting furnaces at
times have a tendency to clog tip at the bottom so that all the melt which is being made in the furnace^ does not run out but accumulates. If the operator does not detect this immediately a good deal of melt will have a chance to accumulate before he gets a chance to run a steel rod In through the opening and unplug same.. When he does this the melt will rush out with terrific force and in striking the solution of liquor in the dissolving tank, there will be minor explosions with sparks flying in all
directions. It is then up to the man to be on the lookout so that he can
get out of the way before the melt has had time to reach the-tank. It
appears plainly that the main thing is to have well-trained and ex
perienced men to do this work. It is also recommended that in each
soda recovery there should only be one man designated to handle thd
water valves for the .blow nozzles so that these never run dry and give
chances for explosions.
2. Sulphite:
-~
In the sulphite mills the cooking liquor is very seldom totally recovered
but new liquor is always being made. Cooking liquor is here calcium bi
sulphite. Some mills use pyrites but the most commonly used is sul
phur. This is burned in sulphur ovens either stationary or rotary to
sulphur dioxide gas. With the drafts properly manipulated there is very
little chance of any gas here escaping so the dangers are very small
indeed. This gas passes through a cooling plant. During the operation
of this cooling plant there is very little danger of accidents happening to the men due to the nature of the process. When the plant is shut down, however, and the codling system has to be cleaned the gasses really are very strong and men have been known to be overcome. These gasses pass through high towers filled with limestone meeting a stream of water or weak acid which absorb the gasses making the acid. The sul phite mill operated by the" tower system must have at least two towers, a weak and 'a strong liquor tower. The strong liquor 'tower must be tightly sealed at the top while the weak liquor tower may be left open at the top as long as there ia a steam jet to take care of the SO, and CO, gasses, this tower being filled with limestone. The greatest dan ger here is that in unsealing^ a tower for filling it with limestone, a man might make a mistake of unsealing the strong liquor tower which will expose him to the danger -Of being overcome by gas. As these towers are very high and limestone has to be carried to the top, they are al ways equipped with an elevator. .These should always be furnished with a locking device so that nobody can lower the elevator while the operator
Is on top.
--
When the acid has been' made in the towers it is generally weak, a
test of approximately 3 to 3% per cent. It is, however, before being
used in the digesters, strengthened in a series of tanks by means of the
gas-rfif coming from the digesters. Here as through the rest of the acid
plant there is really only rone danger and that is the escaping of gas.
CnAiBitAjr Costicaxe: Atb there any questions any one would like to
put to Mr. Riis on this Interesting subject?
974
Eighth Safety Congress
Mb. Altiux: It' there'are no questions, I would like to ask the mem
bers out of curiosity, how many representatives we have here of the
sulphate process besides_Jthe Mosinee people? Ch-ubma.v CouTiG.i.xE: X see no hand. I guess that answers your
question.
--
It occurs to me that in the sulphite process there is considerable danger
at the top of the tower by men being overcome by acid fumes; I would
like very much for any one present to give us their experience, and tell
how the danger is overcome. I am sure some one has had such experi
ence.
JL DISCUSSION
Mr. Djckson: Mr. Chairman, we have had some experience along that line in the top of the tower in the acid process. When the gas fans are in operation and the gas ig circulated through the towers, if the top of the tower, is unsealed and more limestone is put in there certainly is a very great chance for an accident. In fact, we have had our lesson.
One scheme is to have an emergency switch extended to the top of the tower so that you can throw off the gas fan from that point. That can be done by having an additional switch with a long distance control, either with light chains attached to it, or light wire cables, or it can be done by running a loop from the low voltage release of the controller so that when you open the switch at the top of the tower, it shuts down the tower by throwing the low voltage release.
GAS MASKS
Chaikman CoSTKiA.xK: - There is a point that occurs to me, regarding
which Mr. Riis might give us a little more information. He mentioned
incidentally gas masks. -iWill you tell us, Mr. Riis, what type of gas
masks yon found most efficient?
Mr. Riis: I think Mr. Altman knows more about that than I do. He
has some new masks at the Marathon Paper Mills.
Mr. Ai.tmax: We have the regular army gas masks, secured from the
Ordnance Department. The chemists in the mill have been able to fill
the canisters to offset either tlie sulphurous gas or the chlorine. In
other words, we have three or four canisters for each gas mask, so that
whenever a millwright goes either in the digester or in cleaning up the
storage acid gas tanks, he lias a proj>er mask to use.
Mr. Riis: Are those masks with or without mouth pieces?
Mr. Ai.t-max: They are the regular arms'- gas masks, with mouth
piece.
Chairman Costkia.m;: _:I will now ask Mr. Altman for particulars on
I be Safe Practices pamphlet -with a view to opening a discussion on. this
topic.
^
"Safe Practices" is interesting and vital to every one Of us connected
with this industry and I am sure that there should be a great number of
good suggestions come from this meeting today. These suggestions I am
asking for with a very conscious idea of the work that has been put
through by the Safe Practices Committee because I sat on the same
Committee the year previous and it is no light Job. I am sure the Safe
Paper ttncl Pulp Section
975
Practices Committee will welcome anj- suggestions that can be included
in the' pamphlet.
--
SAFE PHACTICES PAMPHLET
Mb. Altman: [After reading the prepared copy of the pamphlet which
will he issued as the second in the series of Safe Practices pamphlets for
the Paper and Pulp Section] "While I don't pretend to answer all ques
tions, I hope with the help of the men who helped me get this up, we will
be able to answer most questions. I have a number of photographs here
on display for any one wishing-to see them.
Mb. Jackwon: Has anybody here had experience in connection with
reversing of the reels when the machines run more than say 475 or 500
feet per minute, and what difficulties were encountered in introducing
the system? Can you reversetthe direction of-the reel on a fast speed and
get the same results?
=5
Mr. At.tman : We haven't done it on our machines though it is one
of the Industrial Commissionis orders. Some of us in Wisconsin find
that it is impracticable to comply with two or three of these orders.
Mr. Jackson: It is easy effiiugh to change the mechanism but it is a
question of how to handle the^paper after you have the machine changed
over--.to feed the paper on the reel. Mb. Ai.tm.\x: There are a number of things that machine hands will
complain of at the time, but Jater on they are perfectly willing to try
out. You haven't had a chance to try it yet. You haven't changed those
drives.
Mr. Kkoks: In Paragraph 1, you speak of annealing chains. Have you
any method to suggest in which way to anneal them?
You remember in former yjgrs there was quite a discussion of how to
anneal chains. Wouldn't it be well to add suggestions on this?
Mit. Altman: We want to put in additions and if any criticisms are
necessary we are perfectly willing to make them. It is for that purpose
that we put this upon the program.
Mr. Kiioks: I would think that only additions are needed--like anneal
ing of chains. Mr. Cockney is here. Maybe he can give us some infor
mation.
^
Mr. I. C. Cockney (Chief Safety Engineer, State Safety Board, Olympia.
Wash.) : I would suggest that if you want to insert anything in the
copy at all, you say that if any one wishes to get information regarding
the correct methods, or most improved methods of annealing chains to
consult the National Safety Council because they have a lot of informa
tion regarding that for the purpose of distribution. Mr. S. F. Siiattuck (Kimberly-Clark Company): Paragraph 9. relating
to unloading.~lime. I just got the information the other day through Miss Edwards that one mill jn the East, in unloading lime, had a barrel of vaseline handy and the men were encouraged to smear themselves with vaseline and that offered an absolute protection against the injurious
effect.
-
Page 5, Paragraph 11 on the stacking of pulp: I imagine most mills
have had accidents from this cause. We have signs printed to hang on the
976
Eighth Safety Congress
face of a pile of pulp. It gives instructions on how the stack is taken
down, so when a man goes there he has his instructions and because these
instructions are there .they can't help but be seen; we have also a warning
sign that we make a reduction of 15 per cent in compensation if those
instructions are not followed.
Chairman CostigaxE!T Do you have power to do that? Mjt. Siiattuck : We have investigated that and find we are within
the state law. That is: perfectly true in Wisconsin, the Commission will
reduce the compensation 15 per cent.
Chairman Costicank; 1 understand that does apply to the compensa
tion law in some of the states, but it does not apply to the compensation
law in Canada. Therecan be no reduction in compensation there.
Ms. Ai.tj.ian-: The sign simply giving instructions on taking the pile
down should be valuable, although it may not be absolutely fool-proof.
It would give the workmen a warning of the danger in unloading, even
if you do not add the reduction in compensation. However, the reduction
would be a very good thing to add where allowed.
CirAiBAiAN' CosticastEt Do you have these signs in English, or do you use other languages also?
M3*. Siiattuck: WCJhave always used only one language, English.
Chairman CosrrGanE: The whole idea of submitting this pamphlet to
the meeting is with a-view of having a keen discussion and to get ideas
which may he betterTthan those in the pamphlet before having the
pamphlet printed. We want to guard against the possibility of suggesting to mills methods
which may already have been put out of date by some better methods.
We want to know the best methods being used in-, .the talks so that they
can be embodied in this pamphlet.
Mi*. Kkoes: What do you do about the old wire laying around the
place? This forms tripping hazards.
Mr. At.tman: As far as we are concerned, we have a man with a team
going around and picking up the old wire and selling it. I think it sells
for about the cost of gathering.
Mr. Kroes: In addition to your splendid paper, could something be
said about elevators?
Mr. Altman: That Is just the point, we don't want to digress Into
various subjects such as elevators and annealing, because we have a
pamphlet already issued by the National Safety Council on "Elevators."
When anything is to he said in regard to elevators we can refer to this
pamphlet. Chairman CostigaNE
Instead of repeating what Is already In print
it Is Intended to referTo existing publications covering that subject.
Mr. E. C. Gir.DEyzoPF (York Haven Paper Company): Page 9. regard ing Chip Bins: Our sulphite digester room and blow-pit room is all one
room which isn't the case In the more modern mills. We had two men
up in the chip rooms and the men blowing off the digesters neglected
to close the manhole^door and also to close the doors of the wet room.
Paper and Palp Section,
977
Of course, when the blow-off lines were used the gases got all through the
digester room and up.intorthe chip room. The two men working there were shifting chips from one bin to
another. A warning was given them by means of a bell that we have
installed. When .that bell was rung they knew what it was of course,
but they thought there was no danger from gas up there. One got out all right but the other was overcome with gas, because there was no way Of getting down out of the chip bin except down the stairway through the digester room. We have since made an exit, on each end of the monitor on top of the digester room and have placed a platform from
the end of the monitor out to the digester room with a safety ladder
attachment. We have built a platform from the end of each monitor. In. our case,
a wood room is on one end and an acid room on the other, so one doesn't have to go down throughjbe digester room to get out. In more modern mills, in case a blow-pit is left open it would make no difference because they have several blow-pit rooms. But in our case suppose a gas valve or gas pipe should burst while men are up there, the same condition arises; they now have no trouble in getting out.
Ch.urmas Costioase: Have you a platform at the point from which the ladder starts so that a man wli'o is overcome by the gas can rest in
the open air?
^
Mb. Gjxdexzopf : Yes.
Mb. G. A. TJacBEBiLi.ii (Northern Paper Mills) : On account of a recent
accident at our mill, when a helper was caught between a bottom felt
and a crush roll the Safety Committee attempted to overcome the crush
roll. 1 was wondering if any one had any suggestions on this point.
There doesn't seem to be any way to do without this crush roll. Mr. Ai.tmas: Is it a frequent practice to get underneath to scrape the
roll? Mb. Umbebham ; Some would say, "Shut the machinery down." But
generally we do not shut'a-machine down so the fellow crawls under and
scrapes off the roll.
Mb. Riis: When the pulp or paper stock slips off a felt like that, it is
generally due to the felt not containing the right amount of moisture.
Some mills have tried
overcome it by a hot-air blast on to tbe felt.
Probably some one else can give additional information as to what experi
ence they have had with paper sticking on the felt, and what results
they get from the hot-air blast. Mr. Omberham: Bear in mind that this was a new felt, just put on. Mb. Rns; Well, then wash your felts better. Mb. ICkoes: On Page 7, the Slasher Mill: In the sentence, "If the
walk is inclined, the flooring should have cleats to prevent slipping." Nothing is said here about tbe railing or toe-board.
Mr. AxniAN: It is well known that any of these walks should have toe-boards and failings, but cleats may not have been considered. Refer
ence to toe-hoards and Tailings will be made in the pamphlet. Mr. Altacan : In connection with the dryers and the danger of burns,
I remember when burns' used to be a very frequent occurrence and I have
mm
9 18
Eighth Safety Congress
been wondering if any one here is using the Sheahan rope carrier over
the dryer.
Mn. F. J. Me Elgin (Carthage Sulphite Pulp and Paper Company, Cart
hage, Is. Y.) : I have seen several used.
Mr. Altman: I think it is one of the best devices we have. It not
only eliminates danger so far as burns are concerned but it is a sure
carrier.
__
Mk. A. G. RicjiABso.N''TLaurentide Company, Limited) : We have sis
of these in operation, and have found them very satisfactory.
Mr. Gjldk.vzopk: Will they work on heavy paper as well?
Mk. Altman: I recommended that to the Cornell Wood-Board. They
are manufacturing a board like beaver board. I haven't heard whether
they have installed one hor not. I have asked them to install oni '\ for
trial and if it worked to let me know, so I could give this information, to
any one who has a board machine.
AVe have a cylinder machine, also, used as a board machine. The ma
terial on our Fourdrinier is sometimes sixty-five and seventy pound stock and it carries that satisfactorily.
Mn. Gildenzopk: I understand it saves the paper from following the dryers around. How does it work in the case that the paper breaks?
Mr. Altman: It depends where it breaks. If it started on the first
dryer, it would continue.right along like a new sheet should.
Mr. Me Elc.ix : Will there be a hazard in spearing it off the dryers?
Mr. Altman: I have never seen that occur. The arrangements of the ropes would make that impossible.
Mr. Me Elgin: I haveCseen it carried all the way up to the dryers
in the banging paper. II it breaks before it gets on the dryers, it
drops there.
Mr. Riik: There is nothing that will stop the paper from winding
around the dryer at times and I thought you meant, Mr. Gildenzopf,
would the rope be in tlie^way of getting it out. I can tell you it is not
It Is right behind the frame and does not interfere with that part of it.
Mr. Jackson: Isn't your machine at the Mosinee carrying a device to
take the paper through the calender?
Mr. Rits: ?Cot through the calender.
Mr.-Lockney: There iaTme point not well taken. You advise painting
obstructions white so thaLpeople will not run into them. It is a good
thing to make black stripes around them. A white background can't be seen. If you have black stripes, they bring it out stronger.
Mr. Knots: If you mention gas masks, wouldn't it be well to'-'mention
the kind you use?
^
JIr. Altman: We oneeu.used a Burrel, and it isn't as satisfactory as
the regular army gas mask. A list was sent in by the Ordnance Depart
ment and a gas mask wail selected.
Secretary Jackson: The Mine Safety Appliance Company are making
a mask similar to tlie army gas mask without the mouthpiece and they
furnish canisters for different gases and different acids.
Mr. Altman: I don't Think too much good can be said about these
army masks, especially for cleaning acid storage tanks.
Ms. Grr.nENzorr: We have a mask on the order of a diving helmet but
Paper and Pulp Section
979
I can't remember where we got it. A hose connected to a blower is
attached. You can't give a man too much air. After a certain deter
mined pressure is reached, a valve opens and permits the excess air to
escape. We have had very good success with it.
The other day our acid pump went wrong. This pump is located in a
very close place, little if anyTiir gets to it. A man wearing the mask
repaired the pump and was not troubled with the sulphurous gas sur
rounding him. This gas, as you know, quickly burns the eyes.
Mr. Aotmaj;: Your hose has to be long enough to serve every purpose.
That is the reason your canister mask is the better, because the man
carried the entire equipment .with him all the time.
Adjournment.
.=
FRIDAY MORNING SESSION
HAIRMAN COSTIGANE: The Chairman of the Bulletin Committee,
Mr., Phillips, is not able to be present and I have just received a let
ter from him this morning enclosing his report. I will ask the Secretary
to read this report.
-a
REPORT OK BULLETIN COMMITTEE
Your committee, composed 7>f Mr. G. W. Dickson, Riordon Pulp and Paper Company, Hawkesbury, Canada, Mr.-Harry Ballou, Manaslia Paper Company, Ladysmith, Wis., Mr. A. G. Richardson, Laurentide Paper Com pany, Grand Mere, Quebec, and myself being so widely separated geographically, were unable to get together in conference.
Since the meeting of the Section one year ago, however, bulletins have been issued regularly by the National Safety Council, every two weeks and distributed to the members of the Paper and Pulp Section. These bulletins covered the various hazards of the Paper and Pulp Industry, and the most of them were illustrated by photographs and cartoons.
We have, however, found it no easy task to procure suitable material, that is ideas for good live safety pictures illustrating the hazards peculiar to the Paper and Pulp industry.
Your Committee feels very grateful to Mr. Fullum of the International Paper Company for the excellent cartoons which he sentCus.
As some, of you know, especially those who have served on the Bulletin Committee what a problem it is to get up bulletin material, bearing specifically on hazards existing"in the Paper and Pulp industry, I suggest for the benefit of the Committee which shall he appointed at this confer ence for the ensuing year, that every member of the Paper and Pulp Sec tion be requested by the Bulletin. Committee of the National Safety Coun cil, to submit a list of danger- points and buletin subjects, covering the Important and hazardous operations peculiar to the Paper and Pulp Indus try, and a list of these suggestions to be sent to the Chairman of the Bul letin: Committee of this section.
Respectfully submitted. G. W. Pmr.r.rrs, Chairman.
(On motion the rdport was accepted.)
H80
Eighth Safety Congress
REPORT=jQF NOMINATING COMMITTEE
Chairman Cosxiga2se: I will now ask Mr. Riis, Chairman of the Nom
inating- Committee, to make their report.
Mb. Rijls: The Nominating Committee lias met and decided on the
andfollowing gentlemen to fill the positions of Chairman, Vice-Chairman,
Secretary:
=
Chairman, R. M. Altman, Marathon Paper Mills. Vice-Chairman, G. W.^Dickson, Riordan Pulp & Paper Company.
Secretary, N. S. Stone, Wausau Sulphate Fibre Company.
(These men were elected.) Chairman- ICostigaxeu have pleasure indeed in vacating the chair in
favor of Mr. Altman. I have known Mr. Altman for some time and I
know the affairs of this Section will be in first class hands. He will not suffer under the same drawback as I did, having been so far away. I
think that one of the points made by Mr. Riis is very good that the
nucleus of the organization should be fairly close together, so that the
officers can meet together from time to time, have a heart to heart talk,
make suggestions and proposals, meet with other people and get all the
Information possible to make the meeting of this Section of the National Safety Council as interesting and effective as possible.
Mr. Aitoax: I want to thank you gentlemen for the honor that has
been bestowed upon me.I don't feel that I should thank the Nominating
Committee. (Laughter.) I know exactly what the proposition Is but .1
will say this, seeing that I am to take the part, I will do the best I can
and trust that every otrA present here today will cooperate with me In
making the meeting next year as successful, if not more successful than
it has been in the past. -=_
There is just one point that I wish all you members would bear in
mind before you leave^taday, that is to work for a larger representation next year. Let's see ir^we can't have one of the big sectional meetings
here, instead of a meeting of thirty, forty or fifty members. I heard yes
terday the Paper and Pulp Section has about 1S4 members and that our
efforts should be to increase the membership. I think the better policy,
is to see that all the 184 members send representatives to the next con
gress.
=
Chairman- Costicanf.: --We will now ask Mr. H. H. Malthieson to give
us his paper.
^
SOME UNSAFE- PRACTICES IN PAPER MILLS--TIIEIR COST IN MONEY- AND MEN
H. H. Matt hies on, Safety Director, Crown- Willnjiette Paper Company. Portland, - Ore.
Unsafe practices or, 1L you please, "sins" against safety and common sense, are quite as prevalent in Pulp and Paper Mills as In any other branch of industry and, "perhaps due to the varied and peculiar conditions
Paper and Pulp Section
981
under which, these operations are carried on, certain of these practices are even more prevalent in our Industry than in any other. In consider ing: this subject, one's mind at once begins to enumerate a list of forbidden unsafe practices, with which we are all quite familiar and against which
we are all continually combatting. Such unsafe practices, for the most part, produce 80 per cent of the accidents with which the Industry is
charged.
.
In passing, however, permit me to -mention a few common, every-day,
unsafe practices which are continually coming to our attention, and more
particularly prevalent in the Paper Industry, such, for example, as the
wearing of loose, ragged clothing while working around machinery; not U3ing safeguards or leaving them out of place; poor housekeeping; horse
play and scuffling; throwing pulp balls; burrowing "tunnels" in wood
piles; not wearing goggles while doing work which is dangerous to the
eyes; dropping wood and other materials on the hands or feet. In study
ing these several unsafe practices, let us re-elassify them, listing them,
if you please, under somfi physical or mental condition of the individual
himself,--such as "Thoughtlessness," "Inattention," "Indifference," "Ignor
ance," and "Chance-taking,"--and to. ascertain, if possible, what may be
done through safety training or other means, really to reach the individual
workman and, by neutralizing or eradicating these causes, get at the root
of our accidents and thus eliminate them. These "sins" against safety and common-sense are the underlying elements of all unsafe practices, and unsafe practices are the primary cause of accidents.
You will note, in passing, that in the various causes listed above, I have omitted the term "Carelessness." This was intentional. 'I do not like the word "Carelessness" as so often applied to the causes of accidents because of its misuse. It so easily covers such a wide field that we are all apt to use it inadvertently, and the mere statement that "Carelessness" is the cause of a certain accident covers the whole field, leaving no further investigation or inquiry necessary. The' mere fact that a man is "Careless" closes the chapter. Carelessness is merely an excuse, or rather a very handy way of shifting responsibility. I fear that this word Is too freely used and that, were it _not so commonly used, and a little more effort and thought put toward carefully investigating the real causes of acci dents, we might discover: more ways and means of avoiding many of the accidents which we now have. A thorough investigation will often reveal
some other cause than "Carelessness" and often one which will suggest a remedy. The word "Carelessness" should be used with greater caution and reserve than is commonly done.
With your kind permission, let us now endeavor to develop this subject In a broader and more comprehensive sense,--to cover, in. a more general way, some of the unsafe practices occurring in industry as a whole,--and discover, if possible, some efficient, effective, and practical methods of
dealing with these unsafe practices and causes of accidents, with a view to making them so unpopular as to reduce their frequency and thus reduce bur accidents to a minimum. We will thus divert our attention somewhat and study this subject of unsafe practices from the angle of complete elimination thereof through safety training.
982
Eighth Safety Congress
Let us first assume, therefore, an ideal condition in our plants all over the country; that is, a complete practical safeguarding of all dangerous parts and machinery. In fact, safety work, in so far as safeguards are concerned, becattse of the passage of the various state laws, because of regulations laid down by Insurance companies, and because of public sentiment, the safeguarding of dangerous parts has been so featured that now the unguarded plant is becoming the exception rather than the rule, and everybody, everywhere, is demanding safe working places and safe working conditions. The problem, then, of really getting results In accident-prevention work, has shifted from the safeguarding problem to that problem sometimes called "Human Engineering," which tends to enlist the interest, help, and cooperation of the individual workman, his family, and the whole community by instilling into their lives and make-up what is known as the "Safety Spirit."
DKVEI.Ol* I'CUtlC SAFETY- SPIRIT'
The Spirit of Safety must! become popularized and be made a public proposition. The Safety Spirit should be so propagated that the Public as a whole, will know it, believe in it, and consider it in the same way and the same class as thevzieonsider the Red Crpss, Pure Milk, Public Health, or any other necessaoCy proposition. Safety must be made a part of the public make-up and scr-thoroughly known and believed in as to be a part of every man's, womarPs, and child's inner life. This, to my mind. Is the Safety Man's mission; it is his opportunity; it is SO per cent of the battle of really getting results and eliminating accidents.
The question then arises: how to develop this Safety Spirit and how actually to sell it to the workmen and the people at large.
Much has been written and much study given to the subject of how to sell safety to the management, to the superintendent, and to the foreman,--but, how about the workman? He, too, has an individuality and must be sold, too, for he, "after all, is the man we really have to reach.
Do not misunderstand me=*that I am under-estimating the necessity of selling safety to the "big boss'*: such is not tbe case, but I often feel that many of us think, when this is done, the whole problem is solved. Gaining the backing and cooperation of the higher-ups is only the first important stepping stone. There is an old saying "You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink unless he wants to** and it sometimes appears that we are trying to make the .workman "take" this safety propaganda whether he wants to or not. He has an individuality: he must be "sold'' Safety, just,the same as any one else.
The Safety Committee is recognized by all, as the very best meawe of enlivening this interest in the-workman. It is a well-known fact In the political world that in order to get one's interest in a political proposition; you must give him something to do; therefore the practical politician arranges to enlist the services of as many voters as possible by placing them on committees and giving them a part to perform. The workmen likewise should be given something to do in the safety world. He does not want this.Safety Spirit forced upon him from "above." He wants
Paper and Pulp Section
9S3
to be a part of it; he wants to help prevent accidents in his plant and
community; he wants to consider it his business, too.
Do not try to sell safety to your man as a charity or a welfare proposi
tion, nor to make it appear wholly for his individual benefit. Aside from
the humanitarian standpoint there is also a commercial and patriotic
standpoint to Safety. He'is aware of this fact just as well as you are, so
do not try to deceive him; be fr-ank and truthful with him. He appre
ciates frankness and only in this way can you gain his confidence and get
his loyal support.
.
We must extend this Work even beyond the Safety Committees and
endeavor, through personal contact and personal interest, through the
foreman, through the plant publications, through safety motion pictures,
through bulletins, through^ daily messages on a conspicuous blackboard,
and throiigh the schools, the churches, the newspapers and local ordi
nances, to get this man, his wife, and his children, to consider the safety
idea as an integral part of their lives and to consider it as such, rather
than a mere necessity or philosophy which is forced upon him by the
foreman or by the Company'for which he is working. I sometimes think that we have been trying to bombard the workman's
position with reference to safety for so long a time, along the same lines
and methods, that a change of attack and new ideas and new methods
are necessary now to make greater progress. More attention must he
given to developing safety as a community proposition as outlined above
and in the endeavor to interest the individual citizen, his children, his
wife, and his whole family in habits of safe practices. Safety is every
body's problem; it is everybody's business.
COST OF ACCIDENTS------ITT AfEX
Aside from considering the humanitarian side of accident prevention work, that is, the pain, suffering, and misery caused thereby, accidents are an economic and commercial loss, not alone to the individual and to industry, but also, to the .nation. The great war has taught us that the man power of a nation is without doubt, the greatest asset it has, and anything which tends to ^deplete or undermine a nation's man power is striking at the very heart of that Nation. Unsafe practices and their resulting accidents are annually Injuring, maiming, and killing thousands of our people. Accident prevention activities then, become a patriotic proposition which can best be demonstrated by the following statistics:
During the great war just closed, the United States' fatality loss in France amounted to 56,227 men killed. During these same nineteen months, while we were engaged in war, hack here at home, many miles away from the bloody'cofiflict, something over 126,000 men, women, and children met violent deaths in the United States because of accidents; that is on an average, 220 accidental deaths every day for the nineteen months we were in the war, nearly two and a half times as many people
killed by accidents as by war. During these same nineteen months, over 200,000 cf our soldiers were
984
Eighth Safety Congress
injured or wounded in battle. At the same time at home over 2,000,000 of our people were injured by accidents (though not fatally) but so badly injured that they were disabled' for four weeks or longer; ten times as
many injured at home by accident as were disabled by war. This,
Gentlemen, is the cost ofTunsafe practices and their resultant accidents
in man-power of this country of ours. This is a loss which I am positive that systematic, thorough safety work can reduce many fold. In fact, some
of the most optimistic of : us believe it can be reduced thereby, over 75
per cent as approximately! this proportion of our accidents are directly traceable to unsafe practices and acts in our every-day life.
An accident should he considered as a terrible calamity, and we should learn to look at unsafe practices and their, resultant accidents as one of the Nation's great curses, and to endeavor to imprint in our minds and on the minds of the people of this Nation, the awfulness of the crime of "Carelessness."
THE COST OF ACCIDENTS------IN MONEY
In addition to the great cost of accidents in man-power, accidents also
cost money. This is the commercial side, of safety. I once had occasion,
in a plant where I was employed, to ascertain the average cast of each
time-lost accident occurring in that plant. From the records we ascer tained the number of accidents occurring over a certain period of time,
comprising all classes of accidents, including fatalities; we first compiled
the compensation paymenfc, - funeral expenses, and other expenses con nected with these accidents (not including the medical co3t nor the loss
of wages). We allowed an. estimated cost of $30.00 per man for replacing
the injured men with newsmen, which, by the way, is a very conservative
estimate; compiling these figures, we found that 292 accidents covering this period, cost our industry $46,758.35, or ah average of $160.14 for each
and every lost-time accident occurring during that period. This was the
average cost per lost-time accident to the industry only; in addition to
this, we estimated a total loss of $22,708.00 in wages lost, because of these 292 accidents, over aid above what the compensation of that State
allowed for such injuries, and a like amount for the medical care of these 292 injured men. Taking the sum total of all these Items into .con
sideration, the cost of these 292 accidents amounted to $92,174.35 or an average total cost of each_ accident, amounting to $315.66. This sum.
Gentlemen, was the averagir total cost of each lost-time accident to that
particular industry and the community at large. These figures may
perhaps vary somewhat for the various industries, the various state laws,
and the particular experience. of each individual industry, but when the
cost of your accidents is calculated on this basis, the figures will astound
you.
.-
Taking, for example, the above average cost as the cost of each dis
abling accident, to Society and to Industry, and considering the millions
of accidents which occur in the United States every year, the. greater
majority .of which might be eliminated by proper safety training; the
wastage, the total cost ancLthe loss occasioned thereby. If saved, would
retire our National debt in a comparatively short time.
Paper and Pulp Section
985
I may have wandered somewhat from my original subject, but when
we stop to consider that the unsafe practices enumerated above are in a
measure, the cause of 80 per cent of this outlay of human, life and enor
mous cost in men and in money, we realize perhaps more than ever
before,' the great opportunity which is afforded us in endeavoring to
spread the Safety Spirit to 411, thus not only performing a humanitarian
duty but a patriotic and an economic one as well. Safety should be
handled just as we handleTlhe production end of industry,--as a good
sound business proposition. It should be given a dignified place as an
indispensable part of an efficient organization. Do this and we will
succeed; go at it half-heartedly and we will fail.
As a result of these efforts,--namely, to make Safety a by-word .of
every man, woman, and child in the Nation, permit me to paint before
you, a picture in words, showing the contrast between the old conditions
of a few years ago, the "Plant of Yesterday," and the new ideals of the
future, the "Plant of Tomorrow": In the Plant of Yesterday, there was little or no thought given to acci
dent prevention work; safety ideas were ridiculed and considered lightly,
as a joke, or passed by with scorn. Unsafe practices and chance-taking,
were prevalent and quite permissible,--passed by with a shrug of the
shoulders--and accidents were considered a necessity to industry and to
production. Men were killed, maimed, and injured, for lack of proper
safeguards and proper safety training. We seemed to be in the business
of producing widows, orphans, cripples, and suffering. The ambulance
was a frequent visitor at the front gate to haul away the poor unfor
tunates whose broken bodies in many cases were cast out on the scrap
heap of humanity as a by-product of industry.
But a new era has dawned oh the horizon; some one had a vision that
accidents were unnecessary to production, that they were a humanitarian
and an economic waste, and that they could be entirely. eliminated by
proper safeguards and safety training,--a vision which was put into
practical effect; thus, the Plant of Yesterday fades into the Plant of
Tomorrow: In the Plant of Tomorrow we shall know nothing of industrial acci
dents, for every plant will be completely and practically safeguarded;
unsafe practices, chance-taking, and carelessness become so unpopular as
to be looked upon with scorn by all and be considered as criminal acts;
every person in Industry, from the President to the humblest employee,
will he imbued with the Safety Spirit, and safe practices, safe thoughts,
and safe acts will have become a habit with all, and all will have come
to believe that the safety way of performing work is the best way.
In this plant, through frequent Safety Committee meetings, the employer
and the employee will '"get together" and become . acquainted with each
other and find that each is human, that each is "his brother's keeper,"
and that each is not such a had fellow after all, and, all working together,"
hand in hand, will ultimately wlh the battle for Industrial Democracy.
That, Gentlemen, Is our opportunity; that, is the ultimate goal of
Safety.
--
986
Eighth Safety Congress
Chairman Costjcane: Would any one present like to ask ifr. Mattbieson any questions on his paper? His paper covers a very broad subject
and should lend itself to an animated discussion.
DISCUSSION
Ms. JDickson : I would like to ask Mr. Matthieson in referring to the safe practices as more of the spirit and education, if it has been hi experience, or if it is possible to commence that safety education In the homes or in the schools, and if he is able to give us any information about
that?
Mr. Matthieson: I might answer that question from a personal experi
ence I had In my safety work in various localities. We have been trying
to bombard the man for so long and from different angles, I believe tbat
the new way is through the home. I am using moving pictures, sending
circular letters to the homes so that the home folks will be brought to
the realization that safety ^ls their business.
I well remember an experience I recently had. We got certain'safety
films from the National Safety Council. I got in touch with, the School
Board and told them what I proposed to do; they called the Superintend
ent and told him to close :the schools and send all the children to the
free moving picture show.___We had 2,000 little folks from all grades to
the high school. We showed them safety pictures and talked to them on
safety.
--
I told the boys and girls we were trying to make the mill safe and have
no accidents, but that my Job was too big and asked If they all wanted
to be Safety Scouts and help me. They all held up their hands.
Next day a man came to me in the mill and said, "What was this stuff you told the children yesterday in the moving picture show?" Well, I
didn't know what was coming. But this man said, "Well, my boy told me
last night, and the little fellow crawled up in my lap, and he said.
`There's a Safety-first man down there at the show this afternoon and I
want you to go tonight andTsee the pictures. He told me about the mill.
It is quite dangerous and men get hurt quite often and. Daddy, I got to
Ihinkin' what would happen^to me and sister and mother if something
happened to you. And, Dacfdy. I want you to be careful for my sake."'
Then this man said to me, "Matthieson, that little boy's talk did me
more good than all the preaching in a year."
Mr. Riis: You mention that tunnels were being made In piles and pulp
balls were thrown, etc. Do you mean that there is more horse-playing,
and more unsafe practices going on in the pulp and paper industry than
in any other industry?
Mr. Matthieson: I might answer that, by yes and no. Yes. because
in the paper and pulp Industry there are so many various lines of work
carried on. We start right out in the woods in the logging operation:
we have railroading; we have the sawing operations; we have transporta
tion and we then have the various operations in the manufacture of paper.
Around the paper mill proper, as you know, a great many operators
have a lot of time on their hands and they seem to have to do something
Paper and Pulp Section
987
with their reserve energy. "That is what brings up the horse-play, throw
ing pulp balls, etc., but take the industry as a whole, X think we can
safely say there is a greater variety of sins against safety committed In
that industry than in any other.
Mb. I. Wvmax (Strathmore Paper Company): Mr. -Matthieson brought
up the question of old clothing and also falling objects. What has been
done in the past to remedy that question? Ninety per cent of our acci
dents last year were caused by falling objects and by falls. Mr. Mattiiiesox: The first question about ragged clothing. We made
it so unpopular to work around the machine with ragged clothing that
the men will not permit ode of the fellows to wear ragged clothes.
.falling objects--that is a personal question. The only thing you can
get, in my opinion, to counteract this influence, is through very intensive
safety training. ' You can't safeguard a man's toes very well, to resist a
block of wood, or his fingers against knocks, but if you will analyze
those accidents there "is a "personal influence we must get at and try to
make the safety idea so prevalent in the plant that men talk about It
among themselves.
___
Last night X was taking a car ride out on the fast side to visit some
friends, and our car collided with a Ford. It broke up the street-car
pretty badly but didn't hurt the Ford. X went out to size up the situ
ation and found no one was hurt, so I started to go back to the car and
it- was so congested at the door of the car I couldn't get in. A fellow on
the car said, "Don't you know this is Safety week? Wbat are you trying
to do, allowing the people to get on that way?"
If you could get every man in the mill to exhibit the spirit of the man
on the car. you are going to get at and stop the men throwing things on
hands and feet.
Chair3iax CosncASE: This is an interesting topic, gentlemen, X am
sure there are some other questions you would like to put-
I would like to ask Mr. Matthieson if he has dealt with the term
"carelessness" as far as accidents are concerned. I think the trend of
his remarks is to show that the word "carelessness" should not be used.
It might not be entirely eliminated but the' use of the word might be
largely decreased.
._
X have quite a lot of statistics to make up in connection with the paper
and pulp mills of Ontario^ I would like to ask Mr. Matthieson as to wbat term in making up those statistics X may use in exchange for the
word "carelessness."
;
Mr. Matteciesox: I don't want you to think I mean entirely to elim
inate the use of the word B5r I used it in my paper but I do think we use
it far too freely.
I once made inspections lor an insurance company and would go to a
plant and have a talk with the superintendent or manager and almost
invariably he would say something like this, "We don't have many acci
dents here. They are all caused by carelessness."
I would say to him, "What do you mean by carelessness?"
He would start to tell ire how a man was Injured In a certain way. I
would say, "That man wasn't careless. You're at fault."
9SS Eighth Safety Congress
"\o, he was just careless " I would say, "You never did anything to train him, or to change the
conditions."
You see that man said the word "carelessness," closed the deal, relieved
himself of all blame and put the full burden on the injured man.
I have made statistics. The very first thing I did was to sit down and
take all the accidents and study them carefully. I resolved that I would
use the word "carelessness" just as carefully as I could and I studied
every one of them over and I want to tell you-it took a lot of investigation
to get around that resolution. I was forced to charge five or six to care
lessness.
--
I sometimes found on the face of the report "Carelessness" written
very boldly, but if I took plenty of time to study out each one of those
accidents, I found some other very good cause for the accident. I find that if an accident is caused by chance taking, there's our
chance for educational work. If it is caused by' indifference, there's a
chance for educational work, but if it is caused by carelessness, there is
no chance to do anything. ^Z Chairman Costigane: Trthank you.
* I'm convinced that we shall still
have use for the word, nofZin a loose way, but-a little more specifically
and possibly with a little more information behind it.
We will now close the discussion on this paper and pass to the paper by Mr. S. F*. Shattuck of the Ivimherly-CIark Company, Neenah, Wisconsin,
on "How to Make Safety Meetings Interesting." Mu. Siiattuck: I am expecting some back-fire on this because we, not
knowing we were exceptional at all, have made at least a temporary change in our safety policy which for the time being eliminates the usual
type of Safety Committee. ^This was done since I promised to give this paper back in early July.
HOW TO MAKE SAFETY MEETINGS INTERESTING
S. F. Shattuck, Kimbebuy-Cjcakk Company, Xeesah, Wis.
This subject, regardless of the form of safety organization employed,
is vital to an enthusiastic and successful safety program. A dead or
uninteresting safety meeting sends a thinking man back to his work
with a case of brain fag and such a mental attitude tends to anything
but safety.
zzt
At the present time, in our organization, we are varying our safety pro
gram by the abandonment of the usual type of safety committee and cen
tering all responsibility oil the foreman of each shift or department.
This plan contemplates periodic meetings of foremen instead of the for
mer elected or appointed safety committee. It was at a meeting of fore
men that this plan was suggested and evolved. The sentiment was strong
ly voiced that the safety ofa department is "up to" the foreman, and our
Paper and Pulp Section
989
comparative results since July 15, when this new order of thing's went Into effect, have abundantly justified the change.
FOREMEN ASSUMED RESPONSIBILITY
This Incident and its results point the way to the secret of interest in
safety or safety meetings. Our foremen have taken the initiative, have
assumed a responsibility, and are now proving .up by lowering a previous
record. Pride in, and record of achievement are vital factors in main*
taining Interest in safety meetings or any safety program.
Along with this must go a system for providing each foreman with his
record of achievement in comparison with other foremen. "We have hit
upon the simple psychology of giving each foreman each week a record
of man days elapsed since the last accident within his jurisdiction. In
addition, this record goes onto the desk of every officer of the company and proper publicity is given to this fact. The reaction on both sides i3
wholesome and the effect upon the safety record has been the constant
widening of clean spots.
',
The sporting element is also a valuable factor if properly utilized. We
have pulled off almost every conceivable form of safety contest between
our several mills and departments and the relative standings are, of
course, features of the safety meetings.
To bring before a safety meeting all possible new safety ideas In tangi
ble form helps to fix Interest. For instance, when one of our mechanics
developed a foot brake for two-wheeled trucks, we had this device demon
strated, prior to adoption, before several of our safety committees. For
years, in paper and pulp mills, men have stumbled over tbe bandies of
fonr-wbeel trucks. Recently, one of our men invented a handle that, as
soon as It touches the floor, will spring back to an upright position. This
idea was demonstrated before the plant safety committee and is now
under observation.
--
A campaign for clean tojlets, elimination of horse play, and new
schemes for advertising the safety program have their logical inception
and periodic boosts in meetings of safety committees.
INVITE INJURED MEN .TO MEET WITH PLANT SAFETY COMMITTEE
We have tried the idea of inviting injured men to meet with a plant safety committee. If these men are treated with just the right tact and consideration, this practice is good and lends a genuine interest to the meeting. Much depends upon the attitude and personality of the chair men. If the injured man can be placed at his ease and robbed of the em barrassment which may well attend an invitation, which amounts to a summons, to appear before^ the committee, much good may result through getting the first-hand views of the injured man, and causing him to feel that his misfortune is being used to a coustructlve end. But If such meetings are conducted along Inquisitorial lines, the sooner this feature Is dropped the better for the good of ail concerned:
For some years we have had, as the executive center of our safety pro-
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--Eighth Safety Congress
gram, a monthly or quarterly meeting of department beads--men whose
chief concern is production. The source of sustained interest in such a group, granting that all are well sold on the safety proposition. Is defi- ' nite responsibility. Recommendations of the Safety Director are here brought up for approv~' or disapproval. If approved, responsibility for execution is placed ancLan accounting is subsequently called for. Inter est with men of this type is the kind of interest that obtains in the carry ing forward of any necessary or important phase of manufacture. Fur thermore, the steady backing' of such a group may be counted upon pro vided the Safety Director conducts bis program in a sane, cooperative spirit.
SAFETY MASS MEETING
In our Company, we hold annually a Safety Mass Meeting to which wives and sweethearts are welcome, and nothing is left undone to make them "regular" events. Advance advertising, free transportation, admis sion by ticket, and plenty of .delegated responsibility are the advance agents of an interesting meeting. Such meetings, staged on right lines, may do much to develop a family feeling through an organization and It is this feeling that Industry is so sadly in need of these days.
For the "family reunion" of our Fox River Valley mills this year, we secured the new chapel bf Lawrence College, seating approximately 1,800 people. This auditorium contains a magnificent pipe organ and we en gaged the services of the best organist in the state for an organ recital to precede our regular program. Then followed a community sing, which
was a Joy forever. The volume and quality of the singing was the sur
prise of the meeting. Most folks like to sing when they are not embar rassed by the sound of their own voice and few influences weld.a large body of people into one-ness of feeling like song, properly conducted and heartily entered into. t--
A simple and Impressive feature of our program was an idea, presum ably borrowed, as are molt of our good ideas, from some good friend In the safety game, namely. "A Procession of the Blind Man and His Friends." A blind man Isled onto the stage by a little child; behind him follow at intervals a dozen varieties of cripples. When all have reached the far end of the stage, they turn their backs to the audience and upon the back of each cripple Ig a placard, "I was careless"--"I didn't think"-- "I forgot"--"I didn't know it was loaded", etc. Any safety committee can readily find willing "victims" for such a stunt and a point of con tact with an industrial audience is instantly established. We have always tried on these occasions to have one or more addresses by men capable of getting home with tbeinnessages. The homlier the message and the more simple the mode of address, the better.
Thus far, the movie has closed every program, and even though every body is now well "fed up" on movies, a good safety film never fails to hold its- own. At such mass meetings, any new phase of the safety pro gram or anything akin to=it may be touched upon with good grace. For Instance, when dentistry was about to be instituted in our mills, we took
occasion to give'one of our company dentists a place on the program and
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991
there is little question that the smoothness and enthusiasm with which
this service moved off had its roots in the favorable impression given at
the safety meeting.
--
Our mass meetings are invariably held on a Sunday afternoon, a proper
time for such a gathering. It has also seemed to us appropriate to in
vite a local pastor or priest Jo open the session with prayer.
To summarize, I would say that our experience has made clear seven
factors making for sustained interest in safety meetings:
FACTOBS MAK1SB FOR SUSTAINED INTEREST IX SAFETY" MEETINGS
1. Develop a personal and group pride and initiative.
2. Provide foremen and groups with comparative records of accom
plishment.
3. Utilize the sporting element.
4. Bring into the meeting as much tangible illustrative material as pos
sible.
-
5. Make the committees development centers for new ideas.
6. Conduct meetings in a business-like manner and localize responsi
bility.
7. . Occasionally inject the_ Inspirational element to maintain the tone of
the organization.
^
DISCUSSION
Chairman Costigane: Are there any questions?
Mr. James L. Kerr (E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company) :
I want
to know if I understood yoft correctly. Have your safety committees
been abandoned ?
--
Mr. Shattuck : Yes, temporarily. We will go back to the other, but we wanted to get a change of atmosphere, a change of outlook and wanted
to make the foremen feel the responsibility more.
Mr. Kerr: We have also come to the conclusion that a safety com
mittee does not get to the right point in safety work. Our foremen are
the men we wanted to get at and make them responsible for their own
department. By putting the Jvork in the safety committee's hands, we
took away from the foremen part of that responsibility.
In another plant, we utilized a safety committee in this way. We had
a foremen's committee and a. safety committee go around and make
their inspection. The superintendent utilized the recommendations of
the safety committee to impress on the foremen that they should have
found those hazards themselves. In this way we have to get the foremen
to watch out for safety in their own department.
Mr. Shattuck: That method of procedure contemplates a Foremen's Club .of the Safety Committee.
Chairman Costigane: Are there any further questions?
Mr. Shatttjck: Mr. Hoymlft, our new Safety Director, is here and has
brought a chart that we have placed near the time clocks.
Mb. M. G. Hoimak (Kimberly-Clark Company) : The chart is placed
on a solid background and wertnove those flags evei'y day. In some places
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Eighth Safety (Jotigress
we use the same of the foreman or the name of the room. We try to place the chart where all men have to pass it and they watch it closely. The way to find out is to slip a red flag when there was no accident. Not only the foremen watch but the men are very anxious to see that no red flag is posted against their department.
We also get out a weekly bulletin and post it on the bulletin boards. We attach a great deal of importance to the bulletin boards and have them placed in each department- Our weekly accident record gives not only the name or the department, but the name of the roreman and shows how many men there are under them, how many accidents occurred during the week, the percentage, and how each accident occurred. I go around, talk to the foreman when an accident occurs, get the foreman's
explanation of how it happened as well as the man's and see It he cannot
suggest some way to eliminate a like happening in the future: I find the foremen are much interested.
The foremen are keen men: and so far this plan has proven very suc cessful because accidents have been decreased about 65 per cent in the last three months. The large drop may be due partly to luck but I have given the foremen the credit. I credit them with good records and doii't dwell too much on the bad ones. I find the foreman is like any other man. be likes a pat on the back and it is working out fine.
Mr. Dickso.n : One more word about the foremen's meeting. The fore men as a rule are pretty hard men to get hold of- The foremen were here before the safety engineers and I think have a certain sense of re sentment, feeling that the safety men are to a certain extent undermining their authority. 'Some foremen are a little suspicious that perhaps they are getting knocked, but if you can get them to understand what you are striving for, jr0u will get goerd support and you will get their confidence.
Mr. Matthieson : How to make safety committees interesting? I think that Is a question each one of you here, perhaps every safety man
in the land, works overtime on--to find out ways and means to make safety meetings interesting.
I know you will agree with me that the safety committee meeting Is the most important, and vital organization we have in safety and the thing we have to get at is not to .make safety the safety man's business, and the superintendent's business, but everybody's business. In order to do that you have to give everybody something to do, advertising it that everybody in that plant is on a safety committee.
I have stopped asking for__suggestions in safety committee meetings. You will waste too much, time telling about the way a nail is put In the top of the sulphite department. Though It may sound a little bit radical, I think it is better not to waste a lot of time in committee meetings on minor suggestions but get right down to studying ways and means of preventing accidents and the suggestions will take care of themselves.
I once heard of a young pastor talking to one of his parishioners. He had just come out of college and he said, "It's easy to get up and preach. I just get up there and open_ my mouth and talk." The old man said, "Well, your sermons sound like it."
Too often we go into a safety committee meeting and the safety man is
Paper (md Pulp Section
993
trying to do it all. I tell the fellow the reason I am fat is because I let
the other fellow do the work. When you get somebody else to do some
thing for Safety, you are accomplishing something. I know the minute
when I get a man to do something for Safety, I've got him. If I can get
a man to turn down a nail without being told to do it, he is on my side
of the fence. That is what your safety meetings are for. You can't do it
by preaching. You can't do it by asking for a few suggestions. You want
to get right down to brass tacks and study ways and means for prevent
ing accidents.
.
I have found in foremen's meetings, it is better for me to sit In the back
ground. I let the foremen, do the work and let the fellows handle their
own safety committee meetings and let them think they are doing it all.
At our Workmen's Committee, I generally preside at the first two or
three meetings. Our meetings run for three months. I pick out one man
among them to preside. You want to get a man who can talk. I have
seen some men who can talk in a group but put him up in a meeting and
he can't, but get a man who can preside at a workman's meeting and you
will have the best safety committee meeting you ever had. Give the men something to do. Appoint a sub-committee in that meeting to inspect the plant and bring back a report.-Get the fellows to do something.
I might mention a little incident. We appointed a new committee the first of the year in one of our mills. I prevailed upon the Superintendent
to start the thing off. We appointed an old man to preside. Everybody
liked the old gentleman' and be was just the ideal man to preside. He
liked to do it so well, he kept on coming to preside. He liked the job.
He called the roll one night and he said, "Mr. Secretary, how many men are supposed to be in this meeting?" I said, "Thirty." Wje counted and found there were thirty-three. --7-
We asked one fellow why he was there and he said, "I am on the night
shift and just thought I wouldjome over an hour earlier this afternoon."
We asked another fellow why he was there and he said, "I am on the
midnight shift--the grave-yard shift--hut I liked that committee so well
that I just came in here."
.
Another said, "I'm not on duty now hut I felt I was still on the Safety
Committee."
I think those meetings wereinteresting or those three men wouldn't
have come on their own time without being invited.
Mb. Altman : There is one more little point that I think is worth while mentioning in the foremen and safety committee meetings. How
to get into the Safety game the foreman who thinks he knows It all'and.
is not pliable enough to take interest in a new game like Safety.
I have one man in mind wr have in our mill, who has been in the
business for twenty-four years11--finishing foreman. We couldn't go out
and tell him anything in regard to certain safety essentials that were necessary because he had been in'the business for twe'nty-four years and he knew how to Tun the safety loom. It is the usual thing in paper mills especially, when a man in charge of one department not to really get
in touch with other foremen of other departments and see what is being
done. They are in their ownjtepartment the entire day and when they
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-- Eighth Safety Congress
get through they are ready to go home and not think of the matters In their department until the next morning.
I had the opportunity of getting this man in the safety meeting and he saw from the various talks of the other foremen that they were interested in the safety work. It was wonderful to have seen the change in the four or five meetings he attended until now I find that he is dread* ing an accident in his department, for the reason that he doesn't want his department to stand out as the department that has many accidents. He did have them but he doesn't have many now because he is looking after his department more carefully.
This is a matter that doesn't apply so much to those mills where the safety work has been going on for some time, but more especially to those starting out on it.
Mb. Rns: This Is a very Important thing and I have been waiting for somebody to touch upon the subject of how many should constitute a workman's committee. Mr. Matthieson mentioned thirty.
I would like to have that point brought out a little clearer. How many ought there to be on a safety committee? How many departments are rep resented when you have thirty representatives, and how many have others found as a good number for a safety committee? The number constituting a safety committee is a very important factor and I would like to have some more light on it.
Mb. MinuiEsos" I may differ from some of you on my opinion of a safety committee. I believe a safety committee is a safety school and If I can get a bunch of men. one from each department, perhaps two from the large departments, to meet, I will have thirty men and at the end of the year I will have four times thirty who will be on the Job for Safety to eliminate accidents.
It. order to do that you have to get every man of every nationality in your plant fully conversant with the safety proposition. You can't reach a man very well if you have four or five men on a committee. Give me a man from every department. When I mentioned the number of thirty in that particular mill, we had two men out of a saw-mill of about 1,000 employees, one from every shift of the pulp mill and went right through the plant taking one man from each department. We had eight machines in that mill and a man from each machine. We had a representative from the office, a representative from the hotel. Every department in that mill was represented in the safety committee.
We have a safety school also. We are studying how to eliminate acci
dents. I am not the teacher, those men are the teachers. I tell them
when they graduate from the safety school, every one is a safety in
structor.
--
Chairman Costigask We have consumed the time for discussion of this paper and will now pass on to a paper entitled, "Poster Talk" by AI Kroes, Employers' Mutual Liability Insurance Company, Wausau, Wisconsin.
Paper and Pulp Section
995
POSTER TALK ON SAFETY
Ax. Kboes, Safett Engiiteeb, :Empx4>xebs' Mutual Liabiutt Insusakci Company, of Watjsatx, Wis,
I am exceedingly glad, of this opportunity to discuss with, you the Important subject of safety. Of course, the very best I can do In the time allotted. Is to handle this on the skip-stop plan. Indeed I can only present to you in part the method used by our company "to get close to the men,
and I may say at the outset that I never lacked an audience or never failed to get the strictest attention. And while these words are not directed to you. It is still possible to pick up a seed here and there which
I hope you may take home with you and plant in some fertile corner of your mill.
Gatherings Of this kind are and always have been the national stepping stones on the stream of safety and the National Safety Council deserves great praise for their policy _of engineering these better every year. What can do more for all-around efficiency than for a number of paper-mill superintendents of different stales, to come together in. brotherly fashion and exchange Ideas on their chosen profession? The younger men are rub bing elbows with the veterans, gaining valuable knowledge, and the older fellow gets some up-to-the-minute stuff from the newly appointed, and from that crucible the real facts come to all of you.
I am intensely Interested in this work of reducing the horrible toll of accidents everywhere throughout our beloved country. For some years back I have come to the conclusion, that after all is said and done, the most Important cog in the whole safety movement Is "to get close to the men." Now these six words and what they imply seem simple enough, but mind you, they constitute "some job," big enough and worthy enough for the best man in your midst.
Speaking to men of qualified leadership, men of authority, I came here
to tell you, that to get close to the men Is distinctly- your job. Further
more the responsibility of accidents in your mill is yours. Don't try to shift the burden, don't pass the buck. It's yours, and without your cooperation the .safety movement becomes a dead issue.
Army officers are held to strict accountability for the safety of their men; a captain of a ship feels responsible for the comfort and lives entrusted to his care; a railroad engineer with keen eye is watching the signals by day or in the dead of night. He feels keenly that upon him depend the lives of his. passengers and crew. "Why then, my friends, should a superintendent neglect his men and their comfort, not to men tion the resulting horror -of a home destroyed.
That, my friends, is the heritage of being a leader of men; and this splendid Congress is to he congratulated, for including In their various discussions the great worth-while subject of safety in paper mills, in separate sessions.
Superintendents or safety engineers must he safety enthusiasts and I am sure they will be, if they tackle this safety movement from the right. angle.
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_ Eighth Safety Congress
adding happiness to the home of your fellow workers. For every man
with red blood mid a normal heartbeat, will do the safe thing for home
and mother and for the kiddies who are waiting by the gate to welcome
Daddy, when the day's work Is done.
And right there, my friends, you are reaping your reward. All of you
curse the accident after it happens. I know that your heart is in the
right place--like the engineer on the speeding train and the captain of
the great ocean liner you will feel the great responsibility in caring for-
the men in your charge.
And in conclusion I will say that I am not blind to the shortcomings
of these workmen--In the daily panorama of shop life the utter indiffer
ence to safety of mbit of them is amazing. But still, deep in men's
hearts lies the desire to do right. To awaken that spirit and steer it in
the channels of safety^is your, almost sacred duty.
Mb. E. S. Wiu.is (Safety First Supply Company, Pittsburgh, Pennsyl
vania) : After hearing Mr. Kroes' speech, I would like to ask that a
rising vote of thanks be given Mr. Kroes.
Mb. Altman: We are very much indebted to Mr. Kroes today. I take
great pleasure indeed in expressing to Mr. Kroes the appreciation of this
meeting.
Zr
(A rising vote of thanks was given Mr. Kroes.)
Chairman CoStiganTst The discussion is now open on -Mr. Kroes' paper
and I hope it will be as vigorous as his own presentation of the subject.
DISCUSSION
Mit. Jackson':. I would like to ask Mr. Kroes just what has been his experience in presenting illustrations. We discussed that last year and there was quite a difference of opinion. Some thought that the gruesome illustrations had a better effect on the average workman.
GRUESOME BULLETINS
Mr. Kroes: That is another part of my work, to make bulletins, and we have made a lot of them of various kinds. Some real scarecrows In the line of blood-poisssing but in some plants the managers don't want them up. That is a personal feeling. Some don't like to have them on the bulletin boards.
I am a sort of a detective. I like to ask the men what they think. One fellow said, "That's a mighty' good thing. These guys don't know enough to go to the first aid. They ought to he tied to a chair and made look at them for two Hours."
Another fellow said, "They're all right but we don't want them up there too long."
A very gruesome picture of a blood-poisoned hand or any other part of the body is repulsive but if you can't bring It home to the fellow In any other way, let him walk past that for a while.
I think the opinion of most of the men I have talk to was that they would just as soon have them there. Must of the managers. If they don't have any personal feeling in the matter, don't care.
Paper mid Pulp Section
999
I bad one man say, "My men will look at that stuff, and the first thins you know they will have it."
So, I think it is a matter of education, but I don't like too many of the terrible ones myself. Does that answer the question?
Mb. Jackson: .By individual detective work you might find in the shop, from the men themselves an idea of what they like or don't like.
X remember the National Safety Council had a bulletin not long ago,
showing an arm, something like the one you showed lie, but it was a
horrible picture. I think that particular one was not well executed. It
looked like the arm was afire. That was really a horrible thing: While
I have got all respect for the National Safety Council, still if they make
posters too terrible I think they are taboo.
Mr. Riis: I would like to ask what you think about certain of the Council's bulletins that I have torn up immediately. One that I thought
would antagonize more than it would do any good, was the bulletin of
Mars standing behind capital and Labor and Capital says, "Good morning,
sir, I thought you wore a club," and Labor says, "Good morning, sir, I
thought you wore a silk hat." ~ In my mind, such things would tend to create discontent and antag
onize, consequently we did not put up those bulletins and there have
been others which have come from the Department of Labor which we
did not put up. I would like to hear what the rest of the men think
about these bulletins. If they think they are worth having or not.
Mb. Jackson: I will confess that I use about one-third of the bulletins that I receive. It might be because these bulletins are not all of them
applicable to our particular industry, it might be because I think some are not very well gotten up. Lthink you have to study the character of
your men. Certain industries have a certain type of men and the bul
letins might not do' good but do harm.
We receive bulletins from the National Safety Council, and wq have
received bulletins from the government. Department of Labor, for the last eight months periodically but I haven't used one of them, and the
reason has b.een it seemed that those bulletins appealed to a class of men
who perhaps are more ignorant than the ordinary. They semed to appeal
to his sense of loyalty and assume that he wasn't loyal, and while it
might be true that they would appeal to other classes of men, I didn't
use them at all. You have to study the help you have in the shop and
make it apply if you can.
Mb. Willis: Are there any of the men here who give their safety
committees, or the men in the plant, a chance to pass on these bulletins as to which ones should go up?
Chairman Costigane: .Speaking for the mills in Ontario, I don't think there are any such privileges extended to the men, though It may be
through the safety committees^ The usual practice there is for the bul
letins to be handed to the safety committee, discussed and the best ones
put on the bulletin board. I don't know if that is the general practice or
not.
-~
Mb. Kboes: This is not the bulletin, party but so long as we are speak
ing on bulletins, I want to say: too many of them hang around In the
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Eighth Safety Congress
office. I am not saying this as especially complimentary to Mr. Shattuck, but in an organization like tbeirs or in any other well-organized mill I know of, those things do not happen. The bulletins get to the right place, to the safety engineer, or the man in the office who opens the mail dis tributes them where they belong.
In so many mills, it is left to the judgment of the office mail opener. If they don't look good-_to him--zing! Into the waste-basket they go! There is a point that should be eliminated. Call the office mail opener's attention to the fact that they are valuable.
The safety committees is not always the committee that might have the balance of judging power, but I believe if you get to the safety engineer, or the safety man and let him judge, he will find the right place.
Cii-viRxi ax Costicaxk: ' In using a general term for the safety commit tees. I have in mind the plan we have adopted in Ontario. The safety committee is divided into departmental committees, and each department is responsible for its accidents. The chairmen of each of these depart mental committees are ^members automatically of a central committee which represents the whole of that plant. On that central committee there are also representatives appointed by the management so that such a committee is perfectly able to judge as to the nature of the bulletins and which are the proper bulletins to distribute through the factory, because of the viewpoints giveii from both the management and the direct representation of the employees.
Are there any other Questions, gentlemen? -Mk. Ivkoe.s: Just one snore minute because I am going to that Bulletin Luncheon. I have a bulletin here that I would like to have your opinion on. Some years ago in the Judge magazine I saw a little picture of a man kicking himself. I read the picture and being somewhat of a cartoonist, I drew It on a piece of cardboard and had a cut made and used it on a bulletin (showing the bulletin). We had some vigorous kicks from a fellow and he tore the bulletins up in disgust. He said we proposed to make his bulletin board a comic supplement and that we needn't send any more. I want to have your opinion on that as to whether a bulletin of that kind is offensive. ^1would trust your judgment more than I woui'd this fellow's.
Here is another one otTn different nature. I thought after that some
thing must happen to balance'this up. (Shows bulletin.) The oil-can with the oil dripping down, and the safety man. (Reading
from the bulletin.) "TwH of a kind. The shop oiler keeping the'ma chinery in fighting trim. When he stops oiling, the equipment goes to pieces and production stops. The safety man supplies the oil for the safety movement. When he stops oiling, accidents will occur and you may be the goat. Stand by these men. They are mighty factors in your shop. When both do their duty everything will go smoothly. You are interested in that kind of oil. It is far better than having an oil well with some fancy name."
I did that to counteract the "kick" from the "self-kicker". I just want ed to know if that fellow was warranted in writing such a letter. One fellow said, "That's the ptuff. I wish I had a model of it." And others
Paper anc Pulp Section
1001
say, "That's all right." This Is just an incident. I really wanted to get
your opinion.
~
.IC any of you gentlemen -want some of those bulletins we would be
pleased to send them to your whether you belong to the company or not.
Mr. Amman: I know the time Mr. Kroes came out to our mill, we had
a noon talk. When the time approached for one o'clock, our General Manager happened to be In at the meeting and he sent word not to have
the whistle blown until Mr. Kroes was through talking.
Mr. Riis: There is one thing I think we all here ought to do before
we part and that is to thank Mr. Jackson for the program he was able
to get up. Mr. Altman yesterday, Mr. Kroes today, Mr. Shattuck, Mr.
Matthieson, and others have proven that a better program, could not have
been gotten up and I think we all ought to offer Mr. Jackson our hearty
thanks. ,
Mb. Jackson: X would like to add another vote of thanks and recogni
tion to Mr. Costigane. I think that I can infer from the correspondence
I-have had from him that Usl has had his mind on this Section for the
entire past year and his efforts have been sincere and have been pro
ductive of results. I move 3'that we extend to Mr. Costigane a vote of
appreciation for his work. "7
Mb. Kroes: I want to amend that motion by a standing vote of thanks
to Mr. Costigane.
(A rising vote of thanks was given Mr. Costigane.)
Chairman Costigane:
X appreciate, very much indeed, the kindly
feelings you have expressed in that motion.' I may say that the work
of this Section has not beenza task, not by any means. It has been a
pleasure. It has taken a little time. Perhaps I have not been able to
devote as much time to it as I should have done to make it even more
efficient than what it has been during the last twelve months, and I am
sure with the change 'of officersr the executive officers being closer together,
there will be even greater interest in our convention next year. 1 -m
looking forward to a bumper gathering at our next Congress.
I hope that every gentleman here today will make it a point to come
back next year. By so doing, your motion of thanks will take practical
form that will appeal very strongly to me. Thank you very much for
this expression of appreciation. We have completed our program and if there is nothing else, a motion
for adjournment is in order. -IT
Adjournment.
Public Safety Section
Octot>erl3 and 4, 1919
C. M. TALBERT, Chairman
Director, Department ofrStreets and Sewers, St. Louis, Mo. J. H. HARVEY, Vice-Chairman
The Bracken Company, Kansas City, Mo.
DR. WILLIAM BURGESS, Secretary
-Chicago
FRIDAY MORNING SESSION
r ...% HE election of officers for the ensuing year was the first order of 1 business, and the following officers were elected:
Chairman, C. M. Talbert, Director, Department of Streets and Sewers, St.
Louis, Mo.--reelected.
..
Vice-Chairman, J. H. Harvey, The Bracken Company, Kansas City, Mo.--
reelected. Secretary, Carl L. Smith.
Chairman- Taoiket: In the absence.of Dr. Wm. Burgess, our Secretary, I will ask Dr. C. B. Scott to read the Secretary's report.
SECRETARY'S REPORT
The following brief paper is offered as observations which the office of secretary seemed to suggest.
The value of the safety movement in industrial service can hardly be over-estimated. But thus far thtT problem of public safety remains un touched except for two or three notable examples and experiments.
If life is of more value than material resources the fact that more than 50,000 deaths occur annually in the United States from accidental causes is one of the most appalling of the records of government mortality sta tistics.
And yet that the recklessness "and irresponsible carelessness and in
1003
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-sEighth Safety Congress
difference which result in such loss is amenable to education and regula
tion has been established.
Remarkable gains were shown in the Safety Week; conducted by the
National Safety Council at Rochester in 1917 and at St- Louis last year.
I was for 4% years executive secretary of the Public Safety Commission
of Chicago. In one year we showed a reduction of 464 coroner's cases of
death by accident. We had four definite departments of service.
(1) A Complaint Department which served as a clearing house for
reports of dangerous conditions, such as speeding, lawless driving, broken
tracks and sidewalks, street obstructions, unprotected cellarways and coal
holes, defective crossings^ broken signs, gates, doorways, stairways, streets
or slippery hazards of any kind, unguarded street repairs, inefficient or
careless elevator service, overcrowding exits or other provision in public
buildings. Thousands of such complaints came to us. (2) An Investigation^Department for inquiry into dangerous points
and conditions of street and railway crossings, public buildings, factories, bathing places, school zones, etc.
(3) Educational Department. This work was carried on by cam paigns in schools, clubs and churches, and by printed bulletins, danger
signs, slogans, etc
--
(4) Legislation and-Laic Enforcement,- cooperating for legal enact
ments and with all departments of civic authority--of police, fire, health.
The financial support must come from a public educated to feel respon
sibility- for its own Interests. In Chicago a county appropriation was
made annually for three years in support of its work. But this appropri
ation in course of time involved certain elements of patronage.
In Chicago there is a body of good men now planning an organization to be supported by public subscription and which will, I think, embrace the lines of service suggested here.
CirAiKMAx Taujert: I will now ask Mr. Frederick S. Crum, Chairman
of the Statistical Committee, to submit his report. Following is the re port:
EEPORT OP'THE STATISTICAL COMMITTEE
The first task in connection with the attempt of the National Safety
Council to have ultimately a nation-wide uniform reporting of public
accidents is to prepare the blanks to be used as a first record of each
public accident. The second task is to prepare a booklet of instructions,
definitions, and uniform provisions to be followed -in answering the
questions contained in the_report blank. The third task is to code and
tabulate all of these original.accident reports, at some central point. The
fourth task is to classify and tabulate the accidents and Injuries.
The sub-committee has first of all divided all public accidents into five'
groups as follows:
-is-
1. Accidents Peculiar to T?ublic Highways
(a) those involving vehicles (excep't aircraft) and animals
(b) those not involving vehicles and animals '
2. Water Transportation
3. Aircraft Accidents
Public Safety Section
1005
t. Accidents Peculiar to Buildings and Other Structures (not home or
industrial accidents)
_____
5. General Accidents
--
A separate report blank is deemed advisable for each of these divisions.
These report blanks will be filled out in every city where the statistics
are to be kept, by whoever is designated to investigate and report on acci
dents. Presumably these reports or copies of same will be forwarded to
the National Safety Council or other designated central authority or or
ganization for coding and compilation purposes.
-
.The following is.a list of the questions and notations which have been
prepared tentatively for use in Report Blank Number 1, Highway Vehicu
lar Accidents:
--
REPORT BLAKIC FOR HIGHWAY VEHICULAR ACCIDENTS
A note to the following effect should be placed near the top of the
blank:
--
"Write plainly in ink, as this is a permanent record."
Reference should be made TSTthe manual of instructions and definitions.
The following questions should be answered:
1. Kind of Accident
_
Be brief but follow instructions in booklet as to primary and sec
ondary causes and types of vehicles involved.
(a) (b)
Type of Vehicle ^ Kind-of Accident^
(c) Cause
Primary
Contributory
2. Time
Date, Day of Week, Hour of Day
3. Place of Accident (a) .State, County, municipality (village or city, taking 10,000 as minimum city population), open country.
(b) Did accident occur in. public or private park, fair or exhibi
tion grounds, cemetery, on bridge or viaduct, in tunnel, on fac
tory premises, institutional premises, docks or piers, railroad premises. Government premises, or in congested business sec
tions, non-coneested business sections, congested residential sec
tions, or non-eongested residential or rural sections.
(c) Kind of pavement, whether concrete, brick, wood, stone, or
other permanent pavement; or shell road, macadam, corduroy,
dirt, sand or other temporary surface. (d) Condition of roaff^snowy, slippery, muddy, very rough, rough,
or smooth.
(e) Did accident occur at street crossing (rounding corner to
right, rounding corner to left, or moving straight ahead) or in
middle of block (on curve or straightaway).
(f) Did accident occur on side of highway or middle of highway.
(g). Was it within 300-feet of school building?
(4) Speed of each vehicle involved in the accident. (5) Weather conditions--Clear, foggy, cloudy, rain, snow, not stated.
1006
-- Eighth Safety Congress
(6) (7)
Give the name, sex, age, color, or race, nativity, and marital con dition of the operator of each, vehicle involved in the accident, whether injured or not. Was operator licensed or unlicensed.
State number of persons injured and the number of persons killed.
(8)
Estimate the property damage to vehicles involved in the accident. Estimate the damage to all other property. Note: If any one of the injured persons is apt to die before seven days elapse
(9J (10)
after the time of the accident, this report should he held up until the seven day period has elapsed; otherwise the report can be sent in immediately after the particulars are obtained. For every person injured or killed, get the following information: Name, address, color, sex, age, marital condition, regular occupa tion or business, if any (use Industrial Occupational Code), was he or she operator, passenger or pedestrian. Could he speak Eng lish? Was hei a naturalized citizen? Weight. Height. What physical disabilities did he have before the accident. Extent of injury (in accordance with Industrial Statistical Plan). Time laid up on account of injury. The number of dependents. Was competent first-aid promptly administered? Names and addresses of witnesses.
Signed--/--..................................................................
Date of Report-----------------------------------------
Report blanks have not been prepared as yet for the other divisions of public accidents but the outline made use of for Highway Vehicular acci dents will be closely followed for each of the others.
BOOKLKT OF INSTSTTCTIOXS ON HOW TO BEPOBT PUBLIC ACCIDENTS
Every person who undertakes to investigate and fill out a report blank for any public accident should be equipped with a booklet of instruc tions. This booklet should go Into detail respecting the classification of accidents. It should also outline in full the proper way to answer each question so that there can be no doubt as to any phase of the accident when it comes time for the accident to be properly coded. The com mittee has not as yet prepared the material for this booklet.
CODING OF ACCIDENTS
As'report blanks are sent in from various parts of the country to some central organization, same will have to be properly coded. The committee has not as yet gone into the matter of coding but does not anticipate any serious difficulty In drawing up proper cards and series of codes that will adequately take care of all public accidents reported. The commit tee makes the suggestion that possibly some large insurance company would be willing to do this work for the. National Safety Council at the start.
The final task of this sub-committee has to do with the ultimate tabula tion of public accidents. The committee appreciates that there Is prac tically no limit to the number of tables that can be prepared. fL separate memorandum attached hereto outlines merely In a tentative manner the
Public Safety Section
1007
substance matter for the tables which'will probably best serve the pur
poses of the National Safety Council.
Note: The sub-committee is at work on this last task and already has
prepared a tentative or trial classification covering seventeen type-written
pages. This Is still too imperfect to submit at this time, but it will be im
proved at once by the sub-committee, multigraphed, and copies sent to
several persons qualified by experience and special interest to give the
sub-committee valuable advice and aid. When these criticisms and sug
gestions have been received the subcommittee will call a Round Table
Conference of carefully selected advisors to meet in New York City,
probably the latter part of November, for the purpose of perfecting the
blank forms for original accident reports. The Conference will also care
fully consider the .probable primary classifications and more essential
tabulations.
=
Immediately subsequent to this Conference these blank forms, some
six or seven in number, will be multigraphed and sent to every member
of the Public Safety Section of the National Safety Council. Our commit
tee has had the Invaluable assistance of Messrs. Ryder and Meltzer of the
National Workmen's Compensation Service Bureau, of New York City. We submit only a trial blank form for Highway accident reporting.
Some six or seven other forms, corresponding to the main group classifi
cations or divisions of public accidents, are being prepared. We do not
anticipate any Insuperable difficulties as the public and its representatives
need jnst the data that we are seeking to secure. The need is. visualized
in the fact that about 45,000 fatal public accidents and about 5,000,000
non-fatal injuries by public accident are occurring annually in the United
States.
Chaibuan Talbekt : I am going to ask' Dr. E. George Payne of St.
Louis if he will make a brief statement of the work done on safety edu
cation in the schools.
-1
SAFETY EDUCATION IN THE SCHOOLS
Db. Payne: I think that we all recognize that the most fundamental element in the whole safety movement is education, and that the most fundamental and important part of the education is public school educa tion. When we began to study accidents with reference to the schools, we found that there were only a limited number of situations in which accidents occur. The reasons for those accidents from the point of view of the educator are very clear. One Is, that the child has
not developed proper habits, and another is, that he hasn't the proper at titude, knowledge, or ideals about accidents, or about safety.
Now, what we have attempted to do Is to go through the different grades and adapt the formation of these habits with reference to acci dent situations to the various grades, from the kindergarten throughout the school career of 'the child. Not only have we attempted to do that, but we have done it, knowing that accident instruction wouldn't get a "look in" if we added it as a special subject to tbe. curriculum, because there are-already about twenty subjects in the curriculum, and that is more than can be bandied. At the same time, we discovered that it was
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Eighth Safety Congress
dren were more impressed with the pictures than anything else; and we did not have an accident to a child of school age during three months.
Lieut. H. A. Lewis (Portland, Ore.) : We even go further than just showing the film. We Take the children out on the street, and act the film first so that they know what causes the accident, to begin with. They see the film acted on the street, and just what leads up to the cause of the accident. In this way, the child will get experience. If you show him what roller skating in certain places, for instance, will do to him, you can teacli him to avoid such places; but if you are going to leave it for him to get that experience, then it is no use, because the child might be killed by that time. ^
Onairman Talbert: Mr. Barclay, Director of Education, Boy Scouts of America. New York City, is the first on the program, and I will now call on him.
L. W_ Barclay: What I have to say now will deal more with the problems that are immediately facing our country in regard to Safety First and boys. Let me-say in beginning, that it is a real pleasure to come out here as a representative of the Boy Scouts of America, as a fraternal delegate, to express in physical form our cooperation, our in terest and our activity in education in a safety sense. In other wordB, that Is what we are trying to do in this country as'far as the Safety First movement is concerned. We are trying to develop a safety sense In the American people. As many of you know, "the Scouts have done a great deal in that line, and we are doing a great deal more. I have with me manuscripts of two books which will be printed, one on Safety First for Scouts, and another on Firemansbip. These books will be of great sig nificance in the educational field.
WHAT BOY SCOUTS CAN DO FOR SAFETY
Louse W.
Barclay,
Director of Education, New York City
Boy
Scouts
of
America,
The advantage of utilizing snch an organization as the Boy Scouts of America, with its membership of half a million boys trained to per sonal efficiency and resourcefulness, in the furtherance of any movement. Is apparent.
First aid, or knowledge of what to do after the accident occurs, has from the first been a requirement for the degrees of second and first class scout, and instruction in first aid has formed an. important part of the training of each member of tbis great organization.
Perhaps we may seem To have stressed this "pound of cure" at the ex pense of the "ounce of prevention", inasmuch as specific instruction In safety first has not beenTnade a matter of requirement; bnt as a matter of fact, scoutmasters, generally, bave devoted much attention to safety instruction, impressing every lesson of chance opportunity, and' Identify ing their troops actively with local campaigns in the Interest of pre vention, whether of disease, accident, or other destructive force.
Piiblic Safety Section-
1011
Safety ak xmpoktaitt past of scout's instRucitox
Moreover, among: the merit badge subjects open to scouts, safety first holds a conspicuous place, and scoutmasters are urging; their troop mem bers to Qualify for this badge. National headquarters of the Boy Scouts of America Is publishing a pamphlet for the aid of scouts who wish to qualify for this merit badge. The pamphlet has been prepared under the direction of Mr. Lew R. Palmer, Director of the Department of Safety and Personnel of the Equitable Life Assurance Society. A wealth of ma terial was furnished by the National Safety Council and the National Board of Fire Underwriters, which, under the able editorship of Mr. L. R. Palmer, makes the monograph a most important addition to the literature of the Boy Scout movement. The issuing of the pamphlet in an edition, running into the thousands will tend to focus the attention of the organization upon the importance of safety propaganda, and we may at this time expect a revival of safety instruction in boy scout troops as a logical reaction. Scoutixg, the official organ of the movement, will publish excerpts from the pamphlet and from other safety first lit erature, and will advocate an active campaign in safety instruction throughout the organization. To say that the National Safety Congress has the active cooperation of the Boy Scouts of America in the promo tion of its program of prevention, is to state the case conservatively.
So much for our attitude on this most important subject. Now, as to the question, "What can scouts do for safety?"--the inquiry at once calls to mind such a multiplicity of instances of what scouts have done, that It becomes rather a question of selecting a few illustrations from the material available, as suggestive of the manifold ramifications of scout activity In the interest of accident prevention.
In an important city where the growth In population has exceeded the development of carrying facilities, at times of special congestion in the streets, as for example the fortnight preceding Christmas, It has been customary Tor scouts to assist the traffic police at the points of greatest congestion. Divisions of the troop, lining up on the fonr corners of a dan gerous crossing, at the turn of the "Stop" signal, by the traffic policemen quickly form a chain by clasping hands and throw this live line across the pavement thereby restraining the foot passengers until the turn of the "Go" signal releases the stream and transfers the line of scouts to a similar position of defense on the cross street. This maneuver is rein forced by the presence of other scouts carrying placards, "Keep to the Right" and "Help the Traffic "Policeman--Walt for the `Go' Signal." -
TBAEC1XG IX LEADERSHIP
The need for leadership in a fire crisis is met by training, of which the following illustration is typical: Fire drill is held at troop head quarters. This drill includes a study of all the fire prevention facilities of the environment, the location of fire escapes and the nearest fire alarm box, and the rehearsal of procedure under all the different conditions which might arise in case of fire. With this instruction as' a guide, the
303 2
Eighth Safety Congress
scout Is sent back home to study all the conditions to be met in case of fire there and to work out, with the assistance of the other members of the family group, the fire drill under these conditions. This study of local conditions has even teen extended to the study of the houses of the neighbors on either side. Tor in the case of fire (as in many another menace) responsibility extends beyond the individual home, and each is, in truth, his neighbor's keeper.
The point of emphasis In scout instruction is that, first of all, the proper authorities be notified. In the case of fire this means turning in the alarm. In the case of physical injury, notifying a physician or call ing a hospital ambulance. In every case it means doing the thing which must be done pending the arrival of the expert. Scouts are trained to act promptly, efficiently, and intelligently in crises. "Safety" training means the use of the same powers and resources for prevention. It tends to increase the sense of individual responsibility.
I recall a case where many persons passing a building noted the odor of escaping gas, but it was a boy scout who stopped to investigate and discovered the janitor of the building unconscious from the fumes". To the scout, the odor was a challenge. It was his job to trace the result to" its cause, and report.
To my mind, the chief_jcontribution that scbuting can make to the cause of safety first or any other movement, rests in this fact, namely, that scouts are trained to" assume responsibility and to act.
In schools, safety patrols of scouts are organized to lead in fire drills or other emergency drills. Their precision and decisiveness impart promptitude and orderliness^ to other children and. In time of real dan ger, Inspire courage.
The United States Bureau of Education has provided 20,000 copies of a fire prevention manual for the use of hoy scouts.
STUDYING FIREMANS HIP
Just in passing, it may=be well to call attention to the fact that firemanship is among the subjects which scouts can take up as a sort of elective course In scoutTng, thereby qualifying for merit badges in recognition of efficiency. Quoting from the Handbook for Boys:
"CTo-obtain a, merit badge for firemanship, a scout must: *`l. Know how to turn in an alarm of fire. "2. Know how to enter "burning buildings. "3. Know how to prevent,panics and the spread of fire. "4. Understand the use Of hose--unrolling, joining up, connecting to hydrant, use of nozzle, etc.-- "5. Understand the use-Of scapes, ladders, and chutes, and know the location of exits in buildings which he frequents. "6. Know how to improvise ropes and nets. "7. Explain what to do in case of panic, understand the fireman's lift and drag, and know how to-work In fumes. "S. Understand how to use fire extinguishers; how to rescue animals;
Public Safety Section
1013
how to. save property; how to organize a bucket brigade; and how to aid
the police in keeping back crowds."
The motto of the Boy Scouts of America is "Be Prepared." It is im
possible to tell where or when a fire is going to start.
But if every boy of scout age were enrolled in the movement, fewer fires would get under headway, and life and property would be safer
throughout the nation. The practical application of the 6re prevention instruction of the Boy
Scouts has been productive of excellent results. Recently in Spokane,
Washington, the members of the local council of the Boy Scouts were
organized with the cooperation of Fire Chief A. L. Weeks, and the mu nicipal authorities, into a brigade that covered the city in a thorough
campaign of fire prevention.
The scouts were required^ to pass a written examination before they
were enrolled as "firemen.''; They were questioned as to the proper way
to send in an alarm, as to correcting the ordinary fire hazards of the
home, and were generally quizzed along the lines of fire protection. Some of the answers received were amusing. One boy, for example, de
clared that gasoline was "dangruser than damanite." As he evidently
meant dynamite and .clearly realized the hazard of careless handling of gasoline, he was marked ^Correct" upon this question.
The boys who were appointed to constitute the fire prevention force,
besides cleaning up rubbish, also distributed questionnaires throughout
the city, together with a folder containing cautionary data. The ques tionnaires were printed upon cardboard, and householders were asked
to hang them up as constant reminders of the danger^ of oil lamps and
stoves, ga3 appliances, matches, oily rags, and the rest of the common
hazards.
zz
The cards were provided with a stub which was torn off by the scouts
and returned as a report form. Altogether fourteen prizes and one
hundred badges were distributed as rewards for the scouts who dis
played the greatest interests and activity in the work.
lUSmiNG IN EMERGENCIES
On another occasion boy^ scouts proved valuable aids as an auxiliary tire force in protecting a large city under unusual circumstances. This was at the time of the Cincinnati fire department strike. A great deal of trouble and confusion was caused during that period by the ringing of false alarms. The few volunteers who were manning the fire houses had all they could, do to take care of actual blazes without having their energies dissipated by answering bogus calls, and it was realized that something most be done. The boy scouts thereupon stepped into the breach and stood guard oyer the alarm boxes until normal conditions were restored.
Incidentally, daring this trouble the possibilities of carefulness as a fire preventive were shown in a striking manner. The word was sent broadcast urging every one- in the city to exercise extraordinary precau tions to prevent fires, as in the event of a large fire getting started a con-
1014
Eighth Safety Congress
flagration might ensue that would wipe out a portion, of the city. The result of the appeal was remarkable. . During the eight days of the strike Cincinnati's Are loss amounted to $500, as against $20,670 during the corresponding period of the previous year.
REQUIREMENTS FOR SAFETY FIRST BADGE
It is believed that a first class scout, expert in first aid as a requisite
for this rank In scouting, and holding the merit badge In firemanship
and safety first, will be recognized by a prospective employer- as one trained for leadership in emergencies and therefore more valuable to the factory or shop.
Let us look for a moment at the requirements for the safety first merit
badge. Quoting from the Soy Scouts' Handbook, page 61, we read:
"To obtain a merit badge for safety first, a scout must: "1. State four or more dangerous conditions in. the average home and
indicate what steps should be taken to correct these conditions. "2. Produce satisfactory evidence that he is personally responsible for
the application of at least two constructive safety first principles in his
own home.
==8
"3. Name the most serious violation of public-safety principles which
has come under his observation and produce satisfactory evidence that
he has done all within his power to correct the same.
"4. State in writing at least six of the most important regulations
covering street safety to meet the conditions of the neighborhood In
which he lives.
^
"5. State in writing at least six of the most important regulations
covering street safety to meet the conditions of the school he last at
tended.
--
"6. Submit in writing as outline of his own plan for a school fire
drill and explain the method of properly carrying it into effect.
"7. State in writing at least six violations of safety first principles
which are responsible for accidents in connection with railroads. "8. Stand a satisfactory examination showing a knowledge of the im
portance of the safety first movement and the most important princi ples it Involves, and satisfactorily demonstrate his ability to assume lead ership in case of a fire, panic, or. other disaster."
To give an idea of the character of the Instruction given in the pam
phlet already referred to, which Is Just being issued by the national head quarters for the guidance of scouts qualifying for this merit badge, I quote the following passages!:
"For the most part the scout is dealing with familiar subjects. In try ing to win this merit badge. He starts right at home, for the first re quirement Is as follows:
"1. State four or more dangerous conditions in the average home and -
indicate what steps should be taken to correct these conditions.
"Your first move should be to make a list of your own of conditions in
your home and in such other houses as you can learn about, that Beem
to you dangerous. Then bring your list back to this page without having
Pub tic Safety Section
1015
first gone any further In your reading, and check It back with the' dan gerous conditions named below as found In the average home. Ton- may have some -or all of these, or even others, on your list.
Dangerous Conditions in the Average Home
Presence of flies.
"Dost" pins and needles
Inadequate ventilation especially
Sharp knives and tools
at night
Broken glassware
Exposed garbage
'jj
D
Exposed food
Rats and mice
Presence of contagious disease
B __
Unprotected gas jets
Improper electric wiring
Use of kerosene and gasoline
Use of celluloid articles Improperly constructed flues and
chimneys
,^
Improperly placed furnace^
C
Use of matches
Disposal of hot ashes
Christinas trees
}*
Open fire places
Cooking in grease
Boiling water
Articles left on steps
Disposal of old rags and paper
Refuse In dumbwaiter shaft
El
Lack of headroom in stairways Gas leaks Back drafts in stoves and furnaces
Medicines and poisons
"Prom this list, or your Jswn, or both, select four or more conditions
and 'indicate what steps should be taken to correct them. This implies
some knowledge of safety first principles. For the most part, these prin
ciples are based on common sense, and if you will employ common sense
in thinking how to correct the dangerous conditions that you select for
your merit badge test,- ycra will be on fairly safe ground. But yon
should make sure by propel Inquiry of older persons, whether the steps
that you would take would really correct the dangerous conditions that
you intend to correct . ' : .
Look out for Dangers Like These
"You know that epidemics of typhoid fever, for example, can start from rotting garbage exposed in ^public street, and that fine ashes blown about can ruin not only clothes but also eyesight, and can even carry with them disease germs. Whether or not there is any town regulation against ex posed garbage or the carting of ashes in uncovered carts, if such things occur in your town, they.are serious violations of public safety principles.
"The same thing is true of the omission of lights on vehicles at night: town rule or no town rule, a safety first principle Is violated by such omission. Under other requirements, you will get acquainted with the traffic rules of your town and other street regulations. It Is for you to de^ cide whether the violation of one or another of these rules Is a serious violation of public safety principles. For example, would you consider the omission of a red flag, or, at night, of a red light, on a load, that
JOJrt
^Eighth Safety Congress
extends beyond the rear of the vehicle carrying it, a serious violation of a public safety principle? If so. why?
"Perhaps that last question will suggest how necessary it is for you to get all the fundamental facts that you can, and then carry your case to your parents or your scout-master, or a lawyer friend, or a physician, or a
member of the town btfialth board, or the police force, and obtain advice. But in the end you must use your own judgment based on all the informa tion you can get."
We see from even so meagre a quotation from the safety first pamphlet that the presentation of the subject is essentially practical. It is hoped
and believed that there will be at this time an awakening of the entire scout organization to the realization of the great service which can be
rendered to communities and individuals by focusing attention upon safety first principles and instruction, and on behalf of the Boy Scouts of America I pledge that service.
(Mr. Arthur T- Morey,rSt. Louis, took the Chairman's place temporarily
at this time.)
_
DISCUSSION
Acting Chairmax MoSEy: I would like to ask Mr. Barclay if the Na tional Safety Council was able to cooperate in getting out this new Safety
First book for boys.
Mr. Barclay: It was practically gotten out by the National Safety Coun
cil. The safety engineer of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
really did most of the work on it.
HostER J. Hodsox (East St. Louis, III.) : You all noticed in the first
issue of the Congress NeWs, the scheme which was promoted by the busi ness men and the E. StrLouis Council of Boy Scouts, with reference to
choosing the best scout out of three hundred who might deliver a lecture
on scouting and safety. _ Gentlemen, I can think of nothing more inspir
ing than at next year's Congress to see every large city of any size, which
has a. Boy Scout Council, do the same thing. I have with me today Carl
E. Wiemken, the Scout who will be used when we return to E. St. Louis
for the purpose of lecturing before the Rotary Club, the Chamber of
Commerce, and we have'arranged through the Superintendent of Schools to have him deliver FrxcRLy afternoon lectures. I am going to ask Mr. Barclay what he thinks of the idea.
Mr. Barclay: I tliiuk your plan would be a fine thing. A boy learns
leadership by leading. He will learn Safety First by participating in
Safety First activities. IScan't think of anything that would be more in spiring than to bring 4:5J) Boy'Scouts from 450 different cities to this
Congress and give them :a Boy Scout session where they would all go
back with the inspiration they would get from associating with men like
you.
--
Ixspector E. H. May (Cleveland, Ohio) : I don't know whether you
would he interested in knowing what the Cleveland Police Department
thinks of the Boy Scouts, but we have encouraged them on every possible occasion. We think, from a safety point of view, that it is the best thing
Public Safety Section
1017
we can. do. Not from the standpoint of safety from accidents so much, as
safety from crime.
=
Acting Chairman Morey : I want to introduce to you gentlemen, Mr.
John R. Doan, the Boy Scout Executive of Cleveland.
Mb. Doan: The Presidents of our university here is having us organize
along that line to prevent the thing that brings about the spirit that is
back of the thing we are trying to kill here today, and that is reckless
ness. That is what is the matter with America, we are utterly abandon
ing oar attitude toward life. JVfy object is not only to prevent crime and accidents, but -to develop good citizenship by having the boys take part
in proper activities. Seventy per cent of our boys in Cleveland are for
eign born, and I believe that in their homes their parents' attitude is against the government. We have recently had here a great Bolshevist
trial, and the reason for that was that the foreign element did not under
stand. They look upon the man with the uniform as the government, and as the big blue-coated enemy. If we can line up the boys to the under
standing that they ai-e working with'the man in uniform as a friend and
a citizen, when the boy goes back to that home and the door is shut, and they are hack in the foreigrrland and atmosphere, the boy is in position to
try to open the door and really do some good work in Americanization, as well as to teach them to be careful and to be alert.
Acting Chairman Morey
I wish now to introduce to you, Mr. Dana
Webster, Safety Inspector, Aetna Life Insurance Company, Indianapolis,
Ind., who will read a paper on "Elevator Hazards Affecting the General
Public."
--
''
I want to say that the Aetna Life Insurance Company, which Mr. Web
ster represents, has certainly shown wonderful cooperation throughout this whole safety movement, and it is a pleasure to have with us one of their representatives. Theyhave not only been big students of this prob lem, but have been very generous with their ideas. The elevator hazard
in St. Louis is tremendous. Thirty-five deaths last year resulted from elevator accidents, and up until the first of September this year there were about twenty-two.
ELEVATOR HAZARDS AFFECTING THE GENERAL PUBLIC
Dana Webster, Safety Inspector, Aetna Life Insurance Company, Indianapolis, Ind.
Before making any remarks on the safety of elevators, it might be interesting to cover briefly the gradual development in the manufacture of mechanical lifting devices.
MECHANICAL RIFTING DEVICES
Lifting devices were undoubtedly used by Julius Caesar, as far back as 236 B. C. as history mentions their lifting animals from the dens to the arena in the Coliseum of Rome. About the middle of the Nineteenth
1018
Eighth Safety Congress
Century, platforms or cable hoisted elevators were first installed in New York and Boston, but were not provided with any kind of safety devices, and strange to say you can find a few elevators without safety devices at the present time.
A few years later elevators were equipped with safety devices of such type that it was necessary for the hoist cable to break before the safety could actuate. There lire a great many of this type of safety in use today, but with the introduction of high speed elevators, which were required to meet the demands of the public, quite naturally it necessitated a much better type of safety apparatus and a multiplicity of cables.
Accidents could and did occur from over-speeding elevators caused by disarrangement of controlling apparatus, and it became necessary to provide safety devices that would actuate should the elevator speed increase beyond a predetermined number of feet per minute.
The most essential elements of safety are the prevention of excessive speed from any cause, the over-running of the limits of travel at top and bottom, safe protection rat the landing entrances to the elevator, and a regular examination of ihe cables and all parts of the elevator equip ments.
__ CAR SAFETY DEVICE
The early type of the safety device was designed to stop the car in stantaneously. This served the purpose satisfactorily for slow speed but was not adequate for the higher speed of 400 to 700 feet per minute. It, therefore, became necessary to provide a safety device that would stop the car with an easy and gradual stop. This is accomplished by the friction clamp safety which is actuated by a safety speed governor, usually set to trip at 40 per cent above regular speed. This governor will act should the hoist cable break, allowing- the car to drop, or should the car over-speed frorcusome defect in the machinery after the governor trips and the car has dropped far enough to take up the clearance of the safety jaws. The jaws rare forced hard against the guide rail (like a vise), and the car will continue to slide until the friction is enough to stop the car entirely, rihe distance the car will slide after the safety takes hold, depends upon the load; but the farther the car slides the lighter the safety grips the rail. Usually a car will drop about six feet after the governor trips and clamps the governor cable.
O VKR-RUX NIXG OF 11 MIT STOP
The machine of all power-operated elevators should be equipped with
automatic limit stops: that is, a device that will stop the elevator at the
top and bottom limit ot travel, regardless of the operator.
On Drum machines, thezAutomatic Limit Stop should he built with and
made a part of the machine.
On Hydraulic elevators, the Automatic Limit Stop should consist of a
Out Off Valve, either in the to-and-from pipe, or In both the supply and
discharge pipe.
.
On Traction type of elevators, the Automatic Limit Stops must he lo-
Public Safety Section
1019
cated in the hoistway, and the power cut off by the travel of the car- As
there is more or less slippage of the hoist cables on the drive sheave, a
machine automatic would not be dependable. In addition to automatic
limit stops on electric elevators, there are hoistway limit switches located
so that should the car travel a certain distance by the automatic limit
stop, the car would open a switch, thus cutting off the power and stopping
the machine.
--
SAFE PROTECTION AT LANDINGS
The early types of passenget_elevators--and in fact most elevators up to the present time,--are provided with landing doors equipped with a catch located on the inside so That the door can only be opened by the operator. The operator, however, in order to make speed:--and the public Is partly to blame for this--starts the elevator before the door is closed, and quite often the door does hot fully close and latch, thus providing a very dangerous condition. Many persons have opened the door when finding it ajar, and looking in the hoistway have either fallen or, have been knocked down the hoistway by the car and severely injured or killed. X might say right here .timt statistics show that 85 to 90 per cent, of all elevator accidents occur at the landing doors. Therefore, it has be come necessary to provide thezianding doors with a locking device that prevents the doors from being jgpened, unless the car is at the landing; also prevents the car from being removed away from the landing until the landing doors are closed. .This is termed the Interlocking Device. or Interlocks for Landing Doors. While I believe all landing doors of passenger elevators and gates for freight elevators should be equipped with interlocks, I am sorry to say that at the present time only a small percentage of elevators are equipped with this device, although they are becoming more and more in general use.
CABLES
The Cables are the most essential parts of the elevator equipment, and their number and size should be equal to the load with a good factor of safety. The sheave should be of ample size and placed in alignment to prevent chaffing of the cables on the sides.
Great credit must be given to the manufacturers for the high state of perfection to which these device have been brought. This fact must be admitted when considering the few accidents on elevators, compared to the large number of passengers carried. Statistics show that 10,000,000 pas sengers are carried in the Borough of Manhattan daily, and it is said that this number exceeds the -unmber of passengers that ride on all the sur face, elevated, and subway cars r~ in other words--more people ride verti cally than horizontally.
A great many elevator accidents are not due to faulty design in con-c struction, machinery, or safety device,- but to the carelessness of the injured party. It, therefore, becomes necessary for the City or State to enact Ordinances and Daws regulating the construction of elevators, and enforcing their equipment with effective safety devices. In the interest of
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Eighth Safety Congress
accident prevention; that is to say--to prevent a person from being injured by his own carelessness, or by the carelessness of the operator.
ELEVATOR INSPECTION
Abe the Safety Devices Kept in Proper Condition? is one important question. The only way this can be accomplished is by having the elevator regularly inspected by a competent elevator inspector, who should inspect all the different safety devices, machinery, cables, etc., in fact, everything pertaining tothe elevator. The landing doors should be tried to determine whether they can be opened from the outside. The car safety device should be tested to be sure that it would actuate and hold the car from falling, should the cable break. The automatic limit stops should be tested so as to be sure the car will not over-run and strike the overhead beams or bumpers. The slack cable device should be tested to be positive the powerwonld be cutoff, should the cables slacken. The brake should be examinedlto be sure there is no slippage. The cables should be examined very carefully for defects, as there is no part of an elevator that requires the exercise of more good judgment than the exam ination of the cables. It is just as essential that the safety devices, and all parts of the elevator, be kept in good working order, as it is that they should be installed in the first_place. After an inspection has been made, the owner should proceed immediately to install safeguards and remedy any defects reported.
The elevator should be oiled and greased regularly by the engineer and looked over carefully for any defects at intervals between the visits of the official inspector. Oftentimes the engineer will discover some little defect which if fixecTl mined lately may avoid a serious accident.
There is another feature that I wish to mention before closing; that Is the elimination of mirrors, in fact all glass, from the passenger cars (except the electric light bulbs), not only because of the fact that they are liable to cause injury to. passengers by getting broken, but also because of their attraction, which results in passengers failing to notify the operator promptly as to their destination. This necessitates a stop between floors, and a trip back/fo let them off. They also have a tendency to retard the loading and unloading of the cars.
DISCUSSION
:Aotinc: Chairman Morey IE an elevator began to fall, thirty or forty feet up. would the "safety" work?
Mr. "Webster: That question~has been discussed time and time again. No man can tell when a cable is safe or unsafe. One day you may see a cable with perhaps only one broken wire and the next day you will hear that the elevator has dropped."^There are certain methods used whereby serious injury or possible fatalities are averted by the use of bumpers, when the ear only falls 8 or XOTfeet or even 30 feet. However, the safety, to work right, wants to have a_distance to work in.
Charles Er,lakes (Indianapblis, Ind.): I believe I can answer that question more fully.- It can be proven by mathematical analysis that the
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1021
distance required even up to S00 feet per minute, for a safety to actuate is only about six inches. The velocity from rest to six Inches will in crease it.
One other point I would like to make in reference to Mr. Webster's paper, is the question of automatic stops. Automatic limit stops are most desirable hut they are not always required. The architect of today Is not inclined to give the elevator construction all the headway it should have at the top of the elevator. In other words, the head drums of the passenger elevator of today :ySry from three feet to six or seven feet. That amount of room is not enough in which to stop high speed elevators going 800 feet or more per minute, so the manufacturers have gone a step farther and provided slow-down switches at a certain distance below the top landing. They have put in a switch which will automatically decrease the speed of the car to a given amount. If necessary, they put in two of those so that at the approach of the landing the speed is decreased to about _100 or 250 feet per minute, so that if the car passes the last land ing it will trip these automatic devices on the hoist limited switches and come to a full stop within theiix feet which the architect has given us.
ELEVATOR SAFETT CODE
One other point, the Bureau of Weights and Standards has been coop
erating with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in the develop
ment of an elevator safety code'which I believe is the very best which has
been put- out up to the present time. It is highly important that a code
of this kind be formulated at once. We do not only want to see that the
engineering principles in the thing are right, but we should see that the
men administer the laws properly. We also want to see that the city offi
cials get an idea of the engineering principles involved. We, at the Bu
reau of Standards, will be delighted to give any information we can on
the subject.
--
Mr. Webster: Mr. Chairman, I wish you would call on Mr. Greenleaf,
of the State Industrial Board of Indiana. I think he would have something
to say along this line.
^
Geo. W. Gbeekleaf (Indianapolis, Ind.) : I don't know of any way to
get at that proposition thoroughly unless it would be through a Federal
law that would require a universal standard for elevators throughout the
country. There is-just one safeguard on which I think more stress should
be laid and that is the question of a door on the passenger elevator car.
On one of the hotel elevators this morning I stood with jnst about 4 inches
clearance between my body and. the floor projections of the elevator shaft.
The slightest movement of someone back of me in the packed car would
have thrown me over so that my chin would have canght on one of the
floors, and part of me would have been up there now and the rest of me
would be in the elevator pit. While I don't think it is necessary to close
the car door on all occasions^ I do think that when an elevator car is
packed like that one was thisL morning and as they frequently are, that there should be doors on the, cars, and those doors should be closed be
fore the elevator is put into operation.
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Eighth Safety Congress
Dak L. Royeb (Ocean Accident & Guarantee Corp., N. Y.) : Until you
can get the public educated to the point where, they are willing to slow
down and admit of a perfectly guarded car, we are going to have the
present situation. 1 am coavinced that on passenger elevators we will
have to come to the adoption of a perfectly guarded car with inter locking doors and inner-locking car gates, because as long as you have
the human element to contend with in the operators, you will have ex
posures.
.
KtKVATOKS SHOULD HIT PROVIDED WITH SIDE AND TOP DOOKi
Mu. Webster: There are other things of which I might have spoken in my paper. For instance all elevators should be provided with side and top doors. I know of a casvwhere seven ladies were compelled to stay in an elevator car for nine hours because of the fact that no one there knew how to move the car, and there was no way for them to get out. If
there had been a door either" In the top or side they could have gotten
them out that way.
--
Then also there Is the question of toe guards which should be of metal
instead of wood.
-
Charles Ellaues (Bureair of Standards. Indianapolis, Ind.):
Air.
Greenleaf mentioned the question of a Federal law. I am connected with the Bureau of Standards. We have been working five hours on national electric safety codes, and we absolutely are opposed to a national law gov
erning safety. That is a question of purely states' right, and the only way it is going to be worked out is by cooperation. The only way you will ever get it is by having your engineers, your public officials, your Federal
officials and your insurance companies sit around a table like we did at Indianapolis at the National,Society of Arechanical Engineers six differ ent times for four days at a time, and iron the thing out.
aMr. Greek leak: I cannot concede that I am entirely wrong in regard
(o the effect of a Federal law. This whole question of States* Rights
lias been thrashed out along C"good many lines, and a good many things are being done through federal enactments which a few years ago were considered strictly a question of States' Right. For instance the child
labor proposition was considered that way, hut it has been taken up by the Federal Government. They didn't hit it right the first time and they
tried again, and if they haven't it right this tinea they will probably try it again until they do get it right. I can see that probably t will not be
possible for the federal government to enforce an elevator code throughout the United States, but they could proceed along the lines they have in other matters, and that is to provide that an elevator could, not be shipped in inter-state transportation unless it was so and so. I think that would
bring all the elevator manufacturers to the adoption of that code, be cause there are very few of them who confine their activities to any one state.
On the question of slowing down the speed of travel and that sort of thing, we have simply got to gcrback to the slogan of "Safety First". The
elevator must be safe at any Gist, and if it requires the installation of more elevators, then, that is the solution.
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Lieut. H. A. Lewis (Traffic Division, Portland, Ore.): As regards a Federal law, I don't think it Is the intention to have the law enforced by the Government, but to have a foundation laid by the federal govern ment for all state laws, not only in regard to elevator safe guards, but all safe guards. Unless we standardize all the way through, not only as regards elevator laws, but traffic and other laws as well, we are always going to have trouble.
(Mr. C. M. Talbert returned to the room and assumed the duties of Chairman.)
CawnMAN Talbert: The next paper scheduled is one by Mr. J. M. Quigley, Chief of Police, Rochester, N. Y., on the "Proper Personnel of a Public Safety Committee." =( Chief Quigley's paper was not read but was sent in for publication in the Proceedings.)
PROPER PERSONNEL OETA PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE
Joseph m. Qotgcev, Chief of Police, Rochester, N. Y.
When considering the matter of the forming of a committee which will assume the function of a study of accidents involving bodily injury or loss
of life, we must first find out why we want to prevent such occurrences,
and then select a personnel that will represent every phase of interest,
particularly those most vital to the family, the community, and human economy.
The depth of the grief suffer by one's own kin when the life of a be loved father, mother, or child IsT snuffed out prematurely by accident can
not be measured by any human standard of value. Money cannot com pensate a mother for the life of her dear child or the family for the loss Of a devoted father or a loving mother. Yet there is something that will and does alleviate sorrow, and helps us to bear the bnrden of grief, name ly, human sympathy, expressed in emotion and words and acts of kind ness. The knowledge that out grief is shared by others seems to make us
feel that our loss is not an individual deprivation only, hut that it affects
others as well, and to what extent depends upon the social relationship
of the departed one.
^
Their taking away may be a community calamity too according to the extent one may have been Interested in community activities or interests. Then again the sudden death of one skilled In mechanics and upon whom
the direction of large numbers "of co-workers has devolved, may and does
cause an economic loss, at times so great as to he keenly felt by many who cannot afford to lose the j|pie and consequent money loss occasioned
by the stoppage for a temporary period of a great Industry.
When death results from natural causes, there is always ample warning
given of the approach of dissolution, and provision for any Interruption
of business can be anticipated, but not so in the case of accidental death,
for seldom if ever do we learn of one so wise or prudent as to have pre
pared for the carrying on of his or her life's work in case of death by ac
cident.
--
Every person Is of value to the community in which they live, and their
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Eighth Safety Congress
death. If sudden, is a loss in proportion to the extent the community has leaned on the individual. AntTthough the community as a whole will not in every case be conscious of "the fact, yet the void has the effect to im
pair to a greater or lesser extent the equilibrium of the social and busi
ness affairs of the community. In large cities the taking away of an individual is not felt generally, and a human life as a consequence is not
estimated at its true value.
I have thought that if an instrument could he constructed that would record publicly the loss of every life by accident as they occur and show
in dollars and cents the actual loss to the community, we might arouse
the people to a realization of the importance of accident prevention. How often do we hear it said by those who have been dependent on one who has met a sudden death, "I doTiot know what I am going to do, I must
start all over again, for I left 'everything to him and never dreamed even
that he would be taken away suddenly, and I have made no provision for
su<-h a contingency."
-
It is an awful affliction to'have one on whom you depended almost wholly killed instantly, for in addition to the anguish suffered, there is always a financial loss, which- may entail the deprivation of comforts that had been hoped for, if they had only been, spared for the term of a natural life.
THE HCITAKE EMPLOYEB
The humane employer is solicitous for the safety and comfort of his employees, and will mourn with their associates when misfortune comes upon them in the form of anT&ccident resulting in death or injury, be cause he looks upon them as members of his business family who share with him the vicissitudes ancTTrials of commercial life, suffering or re joicing as failure or success fflines to him. And again he regrets be cause their removal permanently or temporarily means a financial loss to him according to the position they held in his business.
It is necessary, therefore, for'him to protect his employees from acci dents which may result in reSbving them from active participation in
his enterprise, entailing a financial loss, as well as the inconvenience, delay, and often the suspension of work in other factories; on public works; and on farms, which may be dependent upon the production of the factory for material necessary in the manufacture of goods, the construc tion of buildings, or the cultivation of the soil.
I can recall instances when ^mercantile business was suspended, ships were unable to leave port, farmers were prevented from harvesting grains, and important public work delajfed because of accident to employees; fac tories were hindered in the production of goods necessary for the mer chant. the mariner, the farmer, and the builder to carry on trade, com merce. cultivation of the soil, aiid the construction of buildings.
In the extending of civilization the ingenuity of the inventor has been directed in a great measure toward the development of vehicles for rapid transportation of men and material, and though speed has been the aim, safety has been the paramount factor. Yet much risk is indulged in by over-anxious and reckless persons who would stake everything on chance.
Public Safety Section-
1025
And while it may often appear that rapid progress has been made re gardless of care, yet it has been proved that where caution and temper ate action has been exercised the greatest success has been attained.
it A 1*10 TKASSPOBTATIOX
The principal agents of commerce today are the railroads. By them
goods and persons are transported great distances in an amazing short
space-of time, but often travel is interrupted and the delivery of goods is
delayed in arriving at destinations by the intervention of accident. The
destruction of life at times has been appalling, while the financial loss
has been incalculable. And why? Because some one had neglected to apply caution . in the prosecution of their work, or had for a moment
probably allowed their mind "to wander from the thing upon which it should have been concentrated, or recklessly took a chance and lost out.
Within the past twenty years there has taken place a wonderful change
in the character of vehicles ^commonly used by man on the highway.
The ox cart and the horse-drawn vehicle have been superseded almost en tirely by the gas motor vehicle, which is constructed for comfortable and rapid travel. And because of these advantages over the primitive vehicle travel, transportation by automobile has grown rapidly in. favor until
our roadways teem with pleasure and commercial cars.
Improved roads permit of fast driving without hardship, which is an
incentive to indulge in speeding. Therefore, travel on our highways has become extremely hazardous. -Accidents by which persons have suffered
bodily injury or death have-been so numerous the public has become
seriously concerned with the problem of preventing them. Laws have been enacted restricting the use of the roadways and regulating the opera
tion of vehicles on them.
--
Such measures have been taken because the public has demanded that
reckless driving on the public highways shall cease, and the slaughter of human beings from that cause Shall be stopped.
We have investigated many so called accidents, and I can safely say
that 80 per cent of them were not accidents but were the result of reck lessness, carelessness or willfurdistraction, and could have been prevented.
An accident we cannot prevent. I may be severely technical in defining
the word "accident," but when, the casualties on our highways have out
numbered by three to one those occurring in our army on the battle fields of France, is it not tirrm to become exacting?
When we come to consider that the bodies of those persons killed in
vehicular accidents on our highways in this country in one day. if laid
side by side, would form a-line over one mile in length, does it not re
quire of us that we be more technical in the determining of what occur
rences are accidents. I am inclined to insist that in every case where the
facts will prove that an occurrence could have been prevented. It be
reported as a preventable occurrence and the responsibility for It fixed.
Now it often happens that same one besides the principal in an occur-
rence may have done something indirectly which contributed to the cause
of a casualty: For example; If one- who deals in or uses dynamite or gun
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Eighth Safety Congress
or blasting powder, carelessly leaves such explosives where they may come
into the possession of persons ignorant of their character, or If an inex
perienced person is permitted to drive a locomotive or an automobile, or
if an employer encourages or compels an employee to work nntil he be
comes over-fatigued, or without sufficient light when operating machinery
in a factory; and loss of life or property results, can such occurrence be
termed an accident?
--
Let us not be too much Inclined to condone lack of caution, for so long
as we do, accidents (so called) will multiply.
FJRE PKEVEXTION
Little attention is given to accidental fires, except by the insurance com panies; the average citizen never gives a thought to the matter of the cause of a fire, except when an appalling loss of life has resulted. The financial loss, he seems to think, is borne by the insurance companies, which is not the fact. All business men do or should know that every person who carries insurance on his property is one of the guarantors against loss by fire and helps to pay the loss. The people at large suiter in proportion to the extent of the interruption to business, of the unem ployment and the poverty brought about by such occurrences.
Fire prevention is essentially a public duty, and If assumed and car ried on in the proper spirit, SO per cent of the fire loss of the present day can be saved; this estimate I am sure is not excessive. Why then delay the enactment of laws penalizing carelessness in the disposal of rubbish, hot ashes, oily rags and waste: and the storage of highly com bustible materials; and providing for a board of fire investigators whose duty will be to discover, if possible, the cause of fires, fix the blame and suggest measures for prevention of the reoccurrence of happenings, result ing from neglect of caution.
Accidents in the home are numerous and are due In nearly every in stance to lack of caution and are therefore preventable, but it seems that some serious mishap must occur now and then, in order that we may be brought to a realization of the necessity for caution. The match box, carbolic acid, the hot poker and sharp knife have not been put out of reach of the babies, and open stairways and windows are left unguarded. Mothers should practice the doing of these preventive things constantly, until it becomes a habit, then household accidents will become rare and much pain and sorrow wilLbe averted.
.vrrr.Y the c.oi.dex hdle
A review of the causes Of accidents convinces us of the necessity for the devising of methods of ^prevention which will be effective in constantly keeping before the people=that fact that we are seldom, ir ever, where we can be considered safe from accidental injury or death. Those who are careless of their own safety and that of others seem to be everywhere. Everybody at some time or other indulges in recklessness hoping thereby to win applause or gain some selfish end or advantage over his fellow man, and occasionally falling, not only loses all for himself but brings injury.
Public Safety Section
1027
Borrow, and suffering to Ills neighbor. It is imperative, therefore, that In
accident prevention work, the golden rule shall apply. Always keeping
in mind the rights of our neighbor, conceding. If need be, some of our own
rights. If by so doing we may avert a disaster.
When' making tip your committee, therefore, let the personnel represent
the family, the school, the employer and the worker, an attorney, a doctor,
and a clergyman, who will consult and advise with a public safety com
mittee appointed by the Mayor of a City. Such a committee will, I think,
represent every phase of interest, and having official powers, may be able
to compel strict observance of safety rules.
In this short paper I think I_have shown that persons In every walk
of life and of varied interests should become concerned in safety work,
and if I may be permitted to say so, it is a duty which no one can justly
avoid and yet claim to be a good neighbor, a considerate employer, a faith
ful employee, a cautious parent, or a good citizen.
Caution should be the watchword of all; In planning be cautious and do
not hazard too much for the sake of haste or excessive production; be
content with reasonable accomplishment and you will become a true
apostle of safety.
~
DISCUSSION
Chairman Talbert: In view of the fact that Chief Quigley is not present this morning I will say a word in this connection.
The entire committee of the Public Safety Section has endeavored dur ing the past year, to work out~a comprehensive plan of public safety, and that work had been tried in EHree cities. It was tried first in St. Louis to a certain extent, carried a Tittle further in Pittsburgh, and now is
being tried out in Cleveland. The coordinating of the matters found in
those three cities has brought us to a fairly definite program for public ' safety work, and we have on the table here copies of the program which
I will be glad to give to those who are interested. . We will set' two o'clock as the definite time to discuss the traffic question. Inasmuch as we have thirty or forty minutes left this morning, I would suggest that we go on with our informal discussion and continue this as a business meeting.
Mb. Coffin: I believe that the plan proposed by Mr. Crum is altogether too complicated to put Into practical use. It is all right to get these sta tistics, but the simpler they arey the better.
Chairman Talbert: At my suggestion. Dr. Vitt, the Coronor of St. Louis, in conjunction with the public safety campaign has made a thor ough study in regard to the matter of statistics, and has developed a lot of Information we didn't know could be bad from his records. I asked him yesterday if he would notTfake up Mr. Crum's paper and make a study of It and then give us the results of his study during the past 24
hours. I am going to ask him now to give us his idea of what it con tains and its. value.
FORM FOR REPORTING ACCIDENTS
Dr, R. S. Vitt (Coroner, St. Louis, Mo.) : It certainly was quite a pleasure to review with Mr. Crurn_ and Mr. Ryder the work they had been
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Eighth Safety Congress
doing for months. I was amazed how thoroughly they had covered all
the accidents and deaths. I do not believe that the form they have pre
sented is too complicated. I rather think additions will be made. The
only difficulty that I see in connection with the use of the form, and I
don't think that is a serious one, is the question of locating the proper
person in each locality^o whom to make these reports.
CH.vmjLA.x Talheut: The only question in my mind. Mr. Crum, is
whether or not the report might be too complicated for the use of the
average policeman or traffic officer who has to fill out the report?
Mr. Crum: I think you are under a misapprehension if yon think the
form is too complex. If you will go into the latter part of the report. It
may appear complex, but accidents only find a place for tabulation In cer
tain parts of the report. Policemen are intelligent people and know how
to make reports. It is_really very simple. If all the information is not
given on the report a member of the Police Board, some clerk or assistant
should follow the thing up and go right back to the man who made the
report and get the information wanted. That information should be got
ten immediately while the matter is hot, and not several weeks afterwards
or a year afterwards when the thing is forgotten.
Dr. Vitt: I think we~ought to decide where these reports should go.
I think Mr. Crum's office would be the logical central bureau.
Cit.viR.vr.vx T.*i_i:ert: Does your scheme, Mr. Crum, provide for the
codification of these statistics after they are received? What method
would there be for accumulating this information?
Mr. Cbum: They should go to some central organization, either one
supported or organized by the National Safety Council, or to some volun
tary agency to start with- I doubt that those forms will be in use next
year in more than a half dozen large cities. I am quite sure that if
no one else will do it. that our company will finance the printing of the
forms and take care of the mechanical end of coding and tabulating it.
I don't, see how we could possibly spend money in a more serviceable way. CiiAiRvr.vx Tam'.krt: r will ask the committee then to devise some way.
before leaving, of getting the reports back to some central point where
they can be compared and tabulated.
Preukrick S. Crv-m : TSe may not be able to decide it here, hut we will
take care of that question. Ixspkctor May: It seems that everything finally winds up in the stand
ardization of accident reports and laws, and so I advocate wtaxadardixatioa. I have Just finished a trour of the principal cities of the t'tdtcd States
for the purpose of trying^to learn what could be done to make Cleveland
safer for the pedestrian and the careful driver.
One of the questions Lwent into was the use of accident mran* used by the various cities, sks good many cities follow iSe N-evr York plan,
but some of them have'a form which doesn't mean anything. 1 think
New York uses a good form, but Coroner Hoffman of Chicago
the best
I saw. It all resolves it into this, that the fellow who make* the report
is the one who makes the gu^ss. Sixty-five per cent of antorawhHe acci dents are due to carelessness of^the pedestrian- Some say Si per cent and
others `75 per cent, and It is a question of whether one can gne** better
Public Safety Section
1020
than the other. The man who makes the report should have certain things
to answer. In fact, everything should, be in there, as Mr. Crum has said.
Chairman Talbert:
Mr. DeArmand, the chairman of the publicity
committee of the public safety section, will now make his report.
REPORT OP PUBLICITY COMMITTEE
Louis G. DeAbmasd (Commissioner of Public Safety, Davenport, la.) :
The Publicity Committee assumes that we have a commodity to sell, safety to the public in public places. There is no need to go into details as to
the methods to be used. We carried on an investigation ^during the last three or four months in
some thirty of the largest cities throughout the United States, and found
that Detroit, St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Cleveland have done constructive
work in publicity. That is, they have gotten what they went out to get, which was publicity without paying for it. It was found however that a great number of towns had no-Idea of how to get publicity on public
safety work.
--
Now it is our idea that this "committee should formulate a plan just
as some manufacturer, department or retail store would do in advertis
ing. We are going to give equal attention to free publicity and paid public
ity, with the idea that if a community is sincere in its endeavor to make the streets and highways and other public places safe for the public,
that it ought to be sufficiently interested to raise money with which to pay for part of the publicity.
Chairman Talbert: To my mind, that is one of the biggest things we have to work on. I am sure that a great many of you have some very
definite ideas on publicity and how best to get it, so I am going to ask
Mr. DeArmand to select three or four men from among you who will act
as a sort of an advisory committee and cooperate with him during the
year. The men selected should -be fairly well scattered throughout the country. Mr. H. W. Mowery has a'paper to read on the pedestrian hazard.
Mr. Mowery (American Abrasive Metals Co., New York City) : Meas ured in terms of fatalities, the automobile or vehicular hazard is unques
tionably in a class by itself. It surpasses all the other causes of casual
ties in its number. Closely following is the pedestrian hazard, which is due to the conditions of the walkways, and those two so far surpass any other form of casualty in public safety work, which are worthy of particu lar attention. Last year this committee prepared a paper on pedestrian hazards which was entitled "Making Walking Places Safe." This paper
was presented to the meeting." The committee subsequently appointed to investigate pedestrian hazards met. just once, the appointnfent being made
only about six weeks ago, and that left us no time in which to do a great
deal of work. However, reference' was made to the paper presented last
year, and upon reviewing it, it was the concensus of opinion in the com mittee that nothing better could he reported than to refer again to that
paper and the recommendations j? 1th which it was closed,
mendations I will repeat.
1030
--Eighth Safety Congress
(See Proceedings, Seventh. Safety Congress, St. Louis, 1918, p. 385.)
We have gotten to that point in this work where some real constructive
action is necessary. I think it would be well if some definite constructive
action to enforce those recommendations could be taken.
Chairman Talbert: I want to say that Mr. Mowery presented last year,
one of the most exhaustive papers that it has been my pleasure to hear
or to read, and it was included in last year's proceedings In full- Unless
there is something else,to come up now I am going to suggest that we
adjourn.
(On motion made and duly seconded, the meeting adjourned.)
Adjournment.
--
FRmXY AFTERNOON SESSION
r-- ~x. HE meeting wassailed to order at 2:30 P. M., Mr. C. M. Talbert I presiding. Chairman Talbert: Here is the particular thing for this afternoon, the
question of considering-whether the Traffic Code put out by the National Council of Defense and the publication called tlieir Code should be adopted
NATIONAL TRAFFIC CODE
bv this body. The code has been prepared by Mr. W. P. Eno of Washing ton. D. C. Mr. Eno is "pFobably the best informed man on the traffic situ ation in the country, being tbe first man to take it up as a serious matter and to systematize it and to put it into effect. He wrote a number of pam phlets on it and made a^trip or two to London and Paris where his lines of traffic control were adopted. He has never, however, to my knowledge, affiliated himself with this organization or any organization of this sort.
I say this at the outset, because we ought to give to Mr. Bao all the credit we possibly can for being the originator and the first in the field to attempt to put into "definite form, traffic rules and regulations. This work of his dates back over the last ten or twelve years.
Some six months ago^rthe National Council of Defense sent out a num ber of letters to a list d organizations, among which was the National Safety Council, suggesting taking up the matter of traffic regulations with the idea of formulating some that might be taken as a national code. They asked us to criticize this letter and return it to them. It happened at that time there was a meeting of the Executive Committee In Washing ton and I was not able to be there. Mr. Cameron was designated to rep resent the Council at that meeting and I emphasized to him the things that ought to be taken up in connection witb this proposed regulation. Unfortunately Mr. CameTSn wasn't there for some reason and that left the Council without representation. Having missed the first meeting it is rather difficult to get in "touch with the question again, and, of course, no criticism was sent. This particular letter which I am going to read to
Public Safety Section
1031
you now from Mr. Eno will give you the present status of the case, so far as the Council is concerned.
"COUNCIL OF NATIONAL DEFENSE
"Highways Transport Committee
"Washington, September 26, 1919
"Mr. S. J. Williams, "Natlonal Safety Council,'
"168 North Michigan Avenue, "Chicago, Illinois
"My Dear Sir:
"I am sending you herewith my file of correspondence with you, dating
from April until the- present time, I am also enclosing a self addressed
franked envelope for the return of this correspondence when you are
through with it- I thought this would be the easiest way to bring the mat ter before you so that you could see at a glance where we stand. 1 am
sorry I can not he at the meeting this year and therefore take this other
method of again bringing to your attention the desirability and necessity of standardized Traffic Regulations.
"From the time we began our work last November, the National Safety
Council was kept posted by circular letter of all our activities but did not apparently interest itself in doing anything towards assisting us either by
suggestions or recommendations although from all over the country we
received suggestions and recommendations and letters of approval in our
efforts to bring about safety on the. roads.
"I am also sending yon a dozen T5f the General Highway Traffic Regula tions adopted for standardization by the Council of National Defense on May 8th together with a dozen pamphlets which were sent out with these
Regulations. These I send you for the use of your committee and' would
beg of you to approve of the regulations as they now stand.
"I think I explained to you before the plan of the Council of National Defense was to annually invite suggestions and recommendations and to
pass upon whether they should be ^adopted or rejected."This has been, a most strenuous campaign, involving continuous labor
from November until the Regulations were adopted on May 8th. I hope
I am not asking too much when I "Earnestly request your prompt coopera
tion at the present time.
--
"I deeply regret that I am not able to be present at the meeting this
year. I shall never forget the conference I attended In Detroit some years
ago and I am a great admirer of the good work your Council has been
doing.
-
-
"Very sincerely yours,
___
"(Signed) W. R. Eno."
You observed in his letter he states particularly-- "These I send you
for the use of your committee and-would beg of you to approve of the reg
ulations as they now stand." The question is, shall we approve them as they stand?
Mh. Coffin: I have had a copy of these General Highway Traffic Regu-
Efl
1032
Eighth Safety Congress
Iations, for some time, and I cannot in justice to everything, vote to ac
cept these regulations jis they stand. They are not applicable to all parts
of the country, in theJfirst place. In the second place, some articles are
rather antiquated. The State of New York follows these suggestions of
Mr. Eno, and we used them to a large extent in drawing up the new State
law of Oregon. I am heartily in favor of a standardization of traffic laws
throughout the country. But I think it should be left to a committee to
go over the existing .conditions throughout the country, take them all
into consideration, report back to the National Safety Council, and then
through the various Legislatures ask that it be adopted as a general pro
gram.
TT.
Lieut. Lewis: As far as that Code goes, it is all right, but it doesn't
go far enough. I think, it would be foolish for this Council at the present
time to approve something we are bound to change within a year or six
months. We should goTfurther into the matter and get a more complete
code before we approve" anything at all.
31b. May: I don't think we ought to flounder on this thing at all. I
think we ought to take up each article separately and see whether it is
practical for the whole country. We have to have certain regulations
in certain places to coyer special conditions.
Chairman Talbhkt: In taking up these discussions, we must take them up by section: if we need a license law that question would become an ar
gument by itself. The question now is, whether or not we approve them
as they stand.
~
Inspector May: I don't see any provision here for a license law, but
Mr. Eno and his committee assume that there should be such a license
law. I don't see anything in Section 1, that is not practical and wouldn't
be a good thing. Chairman Tauiebt;- The question is, is this traffic regulation a proper
one?
^
Inspector May: I move that Section l, of this Article be adopted. Sergeant Blecke (Cleveland) : I second the motion.
Mb. DeArmand: I don't think we ought to adopt Section 1, on account
of that last clause--"When for any other reason not competent to drive
properly." We don't state what the reason is to drive properly, whether
every driver should be licensed or only employed drivers. In other words
chauffeurs.
--
Lieut. Lewis: Before we go any further, what would be the effect of
the adoption by this Council of these regulations? Does that make the foundation of all traffic laws?
Chairman Talbert: No, it is merely an endorsement of that particular
part of the code as devised by the Council of National Defense. There is
no official connection with that, as I know of- I don't see the connection between the National Council of Defense, which was a war measure, and
the standardization of traffic regulations throughout the country. Never
theless, they have undertaken it and it is a question whether we adopt
their plan.
--
Mr. Coffin: I believe that a Committee should be appointed of the
best men available, in itljis country to take up the general rules and regu-
Public Safety Section
1033
lations, and any other rules and regulations that may come before them,
and draft a suitable standard code that can be brought back to this
National Council next year. If this is done we will have a year to study
this thing over and put it into practical shape. If we start to take and
endorse this by section, it will take us a month of discussions as to
whether it is proper or not. If weleave it to a committee which we know
has the qualifications to draw up a suitable proposition we will get suit
able and practical results.
=
Ckaibman Talbert: It seems quite evident there will be opposition on
this. Mr. Eno in his letter asked for a unanimous approval, and it is
evident it is not the unanimous opinion of those here that we adopt at
once the code proposed to us.
Je_
Mr. C. Howard Stewart (LaClede Gas Light Company, St. Louis) : I have had the opportunity to glance through this code, and I can see no
objection to approving it.
I heartily approve Mr. Coffin's suggestion, however, that a permanent
committee be appointed to work dut a code. Mr. Eno has simply asked us to endorse the work as far as Tit has progressed, that doesn't obligate
the National Safety Council to take this code and accept it in its entirety.
Chairman Talbert: Yes, that is what it would mean. We endorse it
or we don't. If we do endorse it we become a part of it and endorse it as our code. Now, if we don't do it that way, we may on the other hand,
accept it and offer to cooperate with them and endeavor to devise one that
we will endorse. Certainly from the tone of the talk now and this morn
ing, we are all for a standardized code. Then a theory of a standardized
code we can approve, and we can take this one here and modify it in some
way or make a new one entirely.^ Mr. L. J. Smyth: (Kansas City) : I think this question is far too im
portant for any snap judgment. The traffic situation In every large city
is such that experts should give it at least a year of very thorough study
before any uniform code is formulated. I would like to endorse Mr. Coffin's plan to adopt a committee to go into this question, give them all
the time necessary so that they wilT finally be able to make recommenda
tions that will really solve the traffic problem.
Mr. R. N. He it aiing (Fort Wayne) : I agree with Mr. Coffin, a commit
tee ought to be appointed.
~~
Cabt. Jack Robbins (Windsor, Canada) : Speaking for Canada, I am
one of the representatives and I think something should be done today, but as Mr. Smyth says, not on snap judgment. We come so close to De
troit it is going to interest us greatly, and we are going to work in. co
operation with the United States laws.
Mr. R. B. Mobley (Toronto, Canada) : I have talked with various mem
bers of the Toronto traffic squad and they are firmly of the opinion that
traffic laws should be, that is certain fundamentals should he, uniform
for the whole continent. I think It is also the feeling of the Police De partment in other centers.
Chairman Talbert: It is extremely difficult for a body of men to for
mulate in its entire detail, a code .applicable to every town. A system
1034
Eighth Safety Congress
in one town will not answer tor another, and yet we do know there are certain general principles of traffic that are by common consent recog nized throughout thjg country, hut they are only elemental. We can not attempt to devise a complete code at this time, that would undoubtedly entail long discussions, a great deal of work, committee meetings, and personal contact to thrash out those minor points. We are all committed to the general policy of standardization in our principal rules.
There are two things we can do today. We can appoint a resolution committee who can carefully consider Mr. Eno's letter--because their work should be recognized and the end they intend to attain should be recognized--and make it clear we are heartily in sympathy with that scheme; that we are willing to cooperate with them and work with them. We should attempt In that resolution to show how we can do that. We might at this time .present certain definite, general basic rules of traffic that we would recommend be included at once in a national traffic code and that these rules be added to from time to time. As an example, we have in several States a rule that a vehicle on the right has the right of way. I don't knoWwliether there is any national law upon that or not, in the United States. But that is the first simple elemental rule we have, drive to the right and yet it is only by-common consent and by common usage that it is done. The vehicle on the right has the right of way, that is the rule practically everywhere, it is a State law in Missouri, and it may be in other States. There are two examples which are fundamen tal. We might add that we are willing to go on record in favor of a few
fundamentals like tgat and to take on others from time to time.
I doubt if there is a man here who doesn't know the time it takes to get one board of aldermen to settle on a traffic law. How much more difficult would it be to formulate a law for the whole United States? It is a process of building up to it, not of days or weeks but of months and years. We could formulate certain, rules which we may add to and make that the foundation upon which we build from time to time.
If we don't take any action on it, on the other hand, we can start up with these other things and build up from them. Having our policy started it will be much easier than, to formulate a perfect regulation at the outset and have that adopted. I would like to have a discussion on that phase and particularly as to whether we should appoint a resolution committee to consider Mr. Eno's letter because it deserves all the courtesy that we can give.
Mr. Morey; It is a big problem for any one community to get into, and I think appointing If committee--we have never had a committee on that subject--would certainly be a good idea. Surely this body isn't ready to adopt a code, and I don't see how it can be approached In any other way than to appoint a committee of careful selection, men who will work and produce a definite report to be gone over and adopted in whole or in part and I surely will move the appointment of a committee to work on this.
Chairman' Talbert: What do you think of a resolution committee to
answer his letter? =-, Mr Morey: I would simply refer that to this committee who would
immediately acknowledge receipt of the letter and tell Mr. Eno the matter
Public Safety Section
103o
was referred to a committee and the results would come from it.
Inspector May: 1 will withdraw my motion, and I think it will be
all right for a committee to be appointed, but I really can't see the neces
sity of a year's wait for a report.
Mr. J- H. Hanson (Rochester!: I think this committee ought to take
some action, say three months, of^ ninety days, that would be time enough.
Mr. A. Ryder (New York) : Irggree with Inspector May, usually if you
give a committee a year's time they will let nine months go by and then
do it all in three months.
In this public safety educatioirwe are starting with the children. Why
can't we look ahead ten or fifteen years on this thing? For instance, if
you didn't have grade crossings You wouldn't have many of the problems
that you are talking of today. ITdon't see why this same committee can't
look into that question so that we can look forward to fool proof crossings at every busy section in the United States.
Mr. Caro D. Smith: I think we ought by all means appoint a committee
to reply to Mr. Eno's letter. HeThas written us several times to get 3ome
definite suggestion from the National Safety Council and we ought to re
ply as soon as possible one way or the other.
It occurs to me that he mentioned sometime back in bis correspondence
that the revision of this code would be somewhere around January 1, that
next January they are going todssue the new code with amendments and
modifications and improvements that they have been receiving from all
over the country. I, however, think that as far as a code is concerned,
the National Safety Council is big enough and. has representatives enough in States and practically all large cities, that we should prepare our own
code and I think that if we appoint a committee here to take up this
matter of code we should either write Mr. Eno or telegraph him before
the Congress closes. In that telegram state that we have appointed a
committee on the traffic situation that is going to work out a code, and
then give that committee the power to work out a code along the lines we
have been discussing. Don't wait until the next Congress to have them
report, have them report in six days, or ninety days. The Executive
Committee can get together perhaps in some future time and receive
that report.
.~3~
Mr. Morey: I think it vitally important that no confliction enter these
things and a proper committee should be appointed and get in immediate
touch, not only in Acknowledging that letter, but in conference with that
National Council of Defense, and these other bodies, the Automobile Clubs,
etc., and be the medium to get a:jiniform code.
Chairman Taijjert: I have very distinctly in mind that we must do one
of two things; either refuse any" advice or suggestion from Mr. Eno. or get into it and do something. We must not come in and talk-about a committee and then let it drift. If we acknowledge this letter in any
way then we must follow our action, without which we would be stultify
ing ourselves. There is a motion made and seconded that the Chair ap
point a committee to draft a reply to Mr. Eno's communication, that maybe
In the form of a resolution, telegram, or whatever they think best. Those
in favor say "Aye"--Contrary "No." The motion is carried.
1036
Eighth Safety Congress
COMMITTEE APPOINTED TO ASSWEH MR. ENO'S COMMUNICATION
The Chair will appoint Mr. Carl L. Smith, Mr. H. P. Coffin, and Mr. Louis G. DeArmand to be the committee to draft that communication to
Mr. Eno.
There is another matter brought up by Mr. Roemer, that is the manner
in which this traffic committee shall carry out its work. He offers a suggestion that we should formulate certain definite things and then trans
mit them to the differenLcommunities and ask them to criticize them be fore we finally decide upon them. Do you thiuk that is feasible?
Mb. H. SroraiRKB (St. Louis) : Before answering that specific question, my thought was that we have so much conflicting legislation on our books
at the present time, if you are going to attempt to unify those laws in the various States then it is absolutely ill advised to adopt this code, because some of the States would immediately accept that endorsement and begin
to found new laws on thisjcode. The matter of appointing a committee and getting immediate action is the proper procedure.
As to the matter of submitting those opinions to the practical people, I
think that is also highly_advisable. Chairman Taijiekt: What is your idea, Mr. Morey? Is it feasible for
the committee to formulate different rules and send them to the different
communities and organizations?
"Mb. Morey: I would say, to a certain extent that would be according to the amount of money, and the amount of time that can he put into it. I
think if we had the money and we had the time, as to getting results from that sort of thing you would be getting opinions that would be al
most invaluable.
__-
AtR. Mori.ey : This matter has engaged the attention of the National
Safety Council so long, Lknow the headquarters in Chicago will give all
the necessary assistance In canvassing that this committee will want. I
think it is a very important thing and as far as the expense, and time, and work, are concerned.^ am sure the headquarters will help you.
Mil. Morey: I think we are agreed what the motion should be and I
move you that the Chair^appoint a committee, and leave it to his judg ment as to how many, to consider this entire matter and get results.
(The motion was seconded.)
Chairman T.tr.F.RT: If I am empowered to appoint that committee I would take it up on the basis of tbe person; what the men could do and would do; their geographical location; and their ability to cooperate with
other organizations on the same line. There are several organizations working on this and very; much interested and we would give that very careful consideration, rz
Mr. Ryder: The United States is engaged today, and will be engaged for the next five or ten years in building roads, mail roads all over the country. These roads arC going to be permanent. I don't see why we
shouldn't interest ourselves that those roads are built along the best lines
for accident prevention work.
Mr. Roemer: This committee's work isn't building roads, it is conduct
Public Safety Section
1037
ing the traffic of those roads. I don't believe that it is within the scope
of this committee to interfere with the building of roads.
Ckaiemas Talbert: I will say for Mr. Ryder's benefit that the matter
mentioned by him was proposed in another meeting and will be given con
sideration. It is fairly certain that the Council will establish within the
next six months, a separate division of engineering which will consider
that phase of the work, e. g., the type of road that will be safest, but
which would be entirely distinct from this committee's work. Road
building has technical features ^entirely different from the regulation of
traffic.
--
Are there any objections to the Chair appointing a committee of not
less than seven members, bearing in mind what I said as to geographical
location, etc.? Our Traffic Committee on the Safety First Federation con
sisted of twenty-one or twenty-two men. We held three ox* four different
meetings, and we gave two or three days of discussion at each time, and
I think we can have some of those men work on this. We will get the
benefit of their work and ideas find also the cooperation of the American
Automobile Association.
TRAFFIC COMMITTEE TO BE APPOINTED
The motion is made and seconded that the Chair appoint a committee
to take up the phases of traffic discussed.
(The motion was carried. ) _ Chairman Talbert: ' Now shall we at the present time take up any
further detailed discussion of this particular phase, or shall we leave- that
to the first report of that committee?
Mr. Stewart: I move that the details of that traffic code be left to that
committee to be reported on within ninety days, and a copy of that report
be mailed to each member. (The motion was duly seconded and carried.)
Mr. Morey: As Chairman of this Section the Chairman should put him
self on that committee.
~
I move that Mr. Talbert be Chairman of this Committee.
(The motion was duly seconded and carried.) Chairman Talbert: I have been in considerable correspondence and I
do know a good many men wha_are in the automobile business and the
American Automobile Association. I am sure we can get their cooperation.
Now I want to bring up a matter Mr. Roemer and X were discussing. Mr. Roemer: The question I^would like to bring up this morning, Mr.
Morey brought the first thouglit to mind, is the statement that manufactur
ers were trying to cooperate with the legislators and were to be compli
mented as to what they had done. The legislators were trying to get in
formation. and In order to get legislation the manufacturers were spend
ing money for these devices. The legislatures are willing to act if they
can get the right information, but the proposition isn't submitted properly
until some organization like thO-safety first organization goes behind the
thing and approves it.
___
Now the one thing I have particularly in mind is a law that was just
1038
Eighth, Safety Congress
passed in the State o California making- it compulsory to put on the rear
end of every closed automobile such a safety signal as would warn the
man behind of your intentions. If you will look up statistics on accidents
you will find an alarming percentage are rear end collisions, and these are
due to faulty signals. =
I would like to have this body. If it is possible, to do one of two things
the same as the National Traffic Officers' Association did, on the Coast.
Either to endorse such W proposition, or appoint a committee to investi
gate the points I have tried to bring out. That committee can report back
to this section with a view of legislation and I .am sure the manufacturers
of any of these signal devices will aid you and the ultimate purpose will
be gained and we will avert these accidents.
Mr. Hem mini: : I am "interested in tail end signals. Some rear end signals are in the center of the car and some of them off to one side. I
recall several accidents both rear end and front end, also side smashes
because of lack of signal. We can greatly eliminate that class of acci
dents by defining a definite position for tail lights. To my mind, that
should be on the left rear'guard on top; red to the rear; green to the front
or any combination of colors, for the reason that the approaching car has
a. gage line of clearance. That is very important, especially when one of
the headlights is out on either car. The headlights being out is the
cause of many head-on collisions or side swipes.
That is one important^thing that the committee on standardization of
rules should take into consideration. It is important not only in con
nection with automobile Thriving, but in every kind of traffic, especially
on narrow streets where vehicles left on the curb are sometimes left out
to such extent they are hit by the electric cars. If the signal were on
the dash it would signify Instantly what the clearance line is and acci dents would be avoided.__
Chairman Talbert: J-et us try to close, if we can, in the next ten or
fifteen minutes.
--
Two or three years ago we had considerable discussion on uniform sig
nals, or signs on the public highway. To my mind those signs undoubted
ly should be uniform so that when a man is traveling he doesn't have to stop to read the sign. We are getting many national highways now, and
we ought to have standardized signs. That question should be given fair
study. We have three types of signals for the motorist, those on the road
side; those given by the. traffic officer; and those on the car itself. Are
not those three sufficient Co ask for special consideration? In other words,
ought they not be taken up separately from the traffic committee?
Mr. Morey: If one conHhittee handles it you will get information from the same parties and there will be no duplication, and questionnaires, and
letters, and all that.
Chairman Talbert: We might appoint a subcommittee of the traffic
committee.
Mr. Morey: I would suggest a subcommittee.
Chairman Talbert: Mr. Coffin, what do you think of appointing a
general traffic cominittee^snd dividing it into subcommittees?
Mr. Cofftn: That is a very good idea, I am sure. The Chairman spoke
t*ntfUc Safety Section
1039
about ttiadwAtectf wfgnats. We rnxie a Cull set about five years ago which
are now is tbe SCeiaeum in New York. This show* you the idea. Aa we
adopted It la Porthand, and I believe St. Louis baa it. the green in the
center denotes safety and carries the words: "Safety First". The ring
outside is bright red. and on that you can print anything you wish. "Cau
tion"--"1Sehool~--"Slow Down"--"Dangerous Cornet"--"Keep to the
Right"--"Steep Hill Ahead". That is mounted on a regular standard
sign, or fastened to a telegraph pole. Signs where black lines are used
don't show up at night.
zr
Mb. Hemming: In the next six months we will be swamped with ques
tions from all these committees. I suggest the committees be so mapped
out, that they do not run at cross purposes.
Chairman Talbert: My suggestion Is that the Chicago office receive all
this correspondence and tabulate the Information. If these committees
will do the investigation work the necessary clerical work will be done at
the Council's office and that will simplify the committee work and get
better results. These committees might formulate the questions and in
dicate the people to whom they should be sent, and the Chicago office will
take care of it.
__1_
Mb. Smith: We beg to submit the report of the Resolutions Committee,
and suggest that this telegram be sent to Mr. Eno tonight.
REPORT OP RESOLUTION'S COMMITTEE
"Mr. Wm. P. Eno,
"
"Your letter of September 26, 1919, was read today before a special ses
sion of the Public Safety Section of the National Safety Council, and it
was unanimously agreed that the subject matter being of sucb vital im portance to the country, your code was referred to a special committee for consideration, with instructions to report not later than January 1st, 1920.
"We thoroughly agree with you that a national traffic code should be
adopted throughout the country. "Mr. Charles M. Talbert, Director of Streets and Sewers, St. Louis, Mis
souri, and Chairman of Public Safety Section, National Safety Council,
will advise the personnel of this committee. "(Signed) Carl L. Smith
"Secretary Public Safety Section, National Safety Council, Chicago, 111. "H. A. Coffin
"Executive Secretary ^Public Safety Commission, Portland, Ore.
"Louis C. DeArmand
"Commissioner of Public Safety, Davenport, Iowa."
Chairman Talbert: It bas_been moved and seconded tbis telegram be
approved and forwarded to Mr. Eno tonight by nigbt letter. Any discus
sion? Mb. Rydeb:
Any work that is done by the committee is absolutely free
from Mr. Eno, is that the idea? Mr. Coffin: This is only the committee on resolutions. "We have no
power to tie the committee to Six. Eno, or any policy. We thought we
would leave that to the committee.
1040
Eighth Safety Congress
Chaibiiax T.M.uunT: I will send him a personal telegram telling him it is our purpose to cSoperate with him just as fully as we possibly can.
X will outline the purpose, as discussed here this afternoon, stating that
we thoroughly believe In a national code, we thoroughly agree with him in
the necessity for it, and that this committee will expect to cooperate with
him. If that is agreeable to the body, I will put this to a vote for approv
al. Those in favor of sending this to him signify by the usual manner. I
will send them then.If there it nothing further we will adjourn until
tomorrow morning. --
Adjournment.
---
SATURDAY MORNING SESSION
--' he meeting was called to order by Chairman Talbert at 9:30 A. M. Chairman- TAr.nEgT: The program this year made no provision for
a business session. We-have on our program this morning three papers, two of which I know can be covered in a general way in a very few min utes, but Mr. Crum's paper will probably take more time. It seems to me to be more worth while to discuss our general problems and how to carry them out, than to read those detailed statements. I suggest there fore, that the two papers be read by title, with a synopsis of what they contain, with the understanding that they will be published in full In the proceedings where Jhey can be read by anyone interested, and that the time saved be given to a discussion of the matters of our work daring the year and our program-tor the next convention. I would like to aelc you -what you think of that:procedure?
(Suggestion unanimously approved.)
ESSENTIALS ASp NON-ESSENTIALS, AND COST OF CONDUCTING A SAFETY WEEK CAMPAIGN
Carl L. SjOth, Public Safety Field Secretary, National Safeti Council
In presenting this paper, I am asked to state, as briefly as possible, a few things that constitute essential things to he done in a Safety Week campaign, and their cost, as well as the things that might be done to help in the campaign and that could be classed as non-essentials. Oar purpose in conducting a Safety Week, campaign is obviously that we want to reach every man, woman, and child in the community and Im press upon them the importance of Safety. -To do this it is necessary that we have some avenue 'by which we can reach, without a great deal of trouble, the majority otthe people in the city.
Public Safety Section
1041
ESSENTIALS
Publicity--Our first thought, therefore, is plenty of publicity, and the
services of a high-grade publicity man or woman, should be secured to
follow up and keep before the people the fact that there is to be a
Safety Week and to secure the cooperation of every one, and have pub
lished daily all meritorious items of news. It depends entirely upon the
community as to the cost of a publicity expert. He should be secured at
least two months prior to the time the Safety Week is to be held. How
ever, a fair average would be an estimate of $400.00 for two months' work.
Schools--Another avenue that is, perhaps, more effective than any
other, is the schools, and the first thing to do is to reach the parents of
.he children with an effective message on Safety. The method used in
Rochester, St. Louis, and Cleveland is to send a letter--signed by the
president of the Local Council or the president of the Chamber of Com
merce--by the children to the parents, stating clearly the accident situa
tion In the city, and asking their cooperation in the Safety Week cam
paign to help eliminate these accidents. On the reverse side of the let
ter a bulletin Is compiled, giving the things that the parent should teach
the child, together with a picture of a crippled child and the figures as
to the number of children injured annually in the United States. At the
bottom of the letter is a pledge which the parent signs, stating that the
window card which accompanies the letter will be hung in a window of
the home. After the card has been hung in the window and the pledge
signed by the parent, the child then returns the'pledge to the teacher, and
the teacher gives the child a ticket which carries free admission to sev
eral rallies which will be held in the community. At these rallies Safety
motion pictures are shown, with speakers on Safety; also community
singing as well as special entertainment. This is essential No. 2 and is
by far the most effective means of enlisting the support of the citizens
that has ever been tried in any Safety Week campaign. A conservative
estimate of the cost of this publicity for such cities as St. Louis and
Cleveland was $1,800.00, including distribution.
Stickers--The third essentialTand a preferable means of publicity and
enlisting the suppoit of citizens is through the cooperation of the auto mobile clubs. I say clubs because in some cities there is more than one
club. In St. Louis, as well as in Cleveland, a sticker of the same design
and wording as the window card in the homes was pasted on the wind
shields of every automobile. This did three things:
1. It enlisted the support of ~~the driver in the Safety Cause.
2. It educated him as to the things he could do to help eliminate ac
cidents.
--
3. It advertised to the public that he was willing to drive safely, and
kept before him, as a constant reminder for the week, that it was
Safety Week, and that he was expected to drive safely.
The stickers for Cleveland were contributed by the Automobile Club,
which took full charge of securing permission to paste them on the auto
mobiles and arranged with the^ Boy Scouts for their distribution. The
average cost for them was $150700.
1042
Eighth Safety Congress
In this connection. In St. Louis a letter was sent to every automobile owner, visualizing to bim the number of fatalities caused by automobiles, and the sticker and the letter were sent through the mail at a great ex* pense. As there was an average of 35,000 automobiles in St. Louis, and during the war the cost of postage was two cents per letter. It can be readily seen that using the mall was rather expensive. It was decided to eliminate this expose in Cleveland and depend upon the Boy Scouts to placard the majority of the automobiles. They distributed 40,000 stickers.
Safety Sunday. Setting aside the Sunday of Safety Week as Safety Sunday, and having tie ministers and the priests in the city devote part or all of their time to a sermon on Safety, has proven to be a convincing way of arousing the church-goers' interest in the safety of the commun ity. A large portion of the ministers are very enthusiastic and give all of their sermons to this subject, others devote a part of it, and, of course, some pass it by altogether. A booklet bas always been prepared in all of our campaigns, setting fortb just a few things that a minister should know to deliver properly a Safety sermon. Distribution of the book was made through the Secretary of the Church Federation, who, after secur ing the endorsement "of the J3oard of Directors, sent a letter to every minister who was a member of his organization, asking him to preach on. this subject Safety Sunday. The same thing can be said for the priests of the Diocese, and it has been found advantageous to have In the book let a letter signed by the Archbishop and by the President or Secretary of the Church Federation. Accompanying the letter and the booklet on Safety Sunday, it has "been found well to Include another booklet, known as the Plan for Safety Week, containing a rfisumd of all the activities to be conducted Safety Week. The cost of the two booklets, letters, and dis tribution, averages $200.00.
Cooperation of City Officials. The fifth essential which I might speak of would be the cooperation of all city officials, especially the Police De partment, in holdings a mass meeting of Police at which time Safety speakers would talk to "them on what they could do to eliminate accidents during Safety Week, such as 'enforcement of the traffic rules and regula tions; daily demonstrations by the Fire Department to show their interest in the Cause; and cooperation of other city officials, such as Superintend ent of Streets, Judges Af the Police Courts, Coroner, etc.
Cooperation of StreW Car Company. I would deem getting the coop eration of the street car company in a city an essential part of the pro gram and one which can be easily accomplished. In the two campaigns held in St. Louis and Cleveland, buttons of the same design as the win dow card and automobile sticker were distributed to the police and to the motormen and conductors of the street car company. Large posters of the same design as the, window card were used on the front of the cars in St. Louis, and In Cleveland on the windows inside and outside and on some of the strap hangers. In Cleveland, the Cleveland Street Hallway Company generously Mlumed all of this expense, amounting to $350.00.
These- six points that I have mentioned constitute really the founds-
Public Safety Section
1043
tlon of the campaign, and are the essential things that should be done, and must be done, in order to have In the smallest way an effective cam paign, at a total cost of $2,900.00.
XOX-ESSEXTIAI.S
As to the non-essentials, 1 will say that, of course. It 13 desirous to have as many things to Interest the people as possible during the week in order to have sufficient momentum to arouse the interest of every one in the community and have them know that there is a Safety Week dem onstration being held. The following are some of the attractions that con tributed to the success of St. Louis' and Cleveland's Safety Weeks:
Parades. Now that the war is over, and people have had a rest from parades, these might well be included as a splendid way to draw the at tention of the public. The schools (including any military organization), industrial bands and the drum corps of private concerns and organiza tions, can be mustered into service with little cost. In Cleveland every school held a parade In the vicinity of the school, and It proved a splen did way of interesting not only the child but also the parents as many of the mothers turned out to see their children parade. . Occident . Clock. An effective"way to interest citizens is to have some thing spectacular, such as the accident clock used in St. Louis and Cleve land, and banners to be placed on all vehicles of the city.
Circulars. Circulars on home and street safety, to be inserted in bun dles by all department stores, reach many people, and 100,000 of these were distributed in Cleveland at a cost of $210.00.
Teachers' Meeting. A mass meeting of all school teachers in the city is a splendid way of securing publicity and the proper propaganda on .Safety,, especially as regards school safety. Out-of-town speakers on this subject can be easily secure'd and this can be done at a small expense.
Complaint Cards. Complaint cards may be run in the newspapers dur ing the week, giving the citizens a chance to report careless practices they see occurring on the streets, these complaints to he followed up by .the Police Department by letter, calling the attention of the offender to an infraction of the traffic rules and regulations. In 99 cases out of 100, people will reply, apologizing and pledging their support and coopera tion to make the city safe. . ___
Safety Supplement. Sunday-supplements in newspapers, as given in Cleveland by the Cleveland News-Leader, are far reaching In the interest aroused among the citizens. --
Slogans on. Milk Bottles. ..All milk companies can be enlisted to run slogans on the caps of the milk_ bottles, such as was done by the TellingBelle-Vernon Company and others In Cleveland, reaching 200,000 people every day with a Safety message. This without cost.
Window Displays. Department stores will be glad to arrange for win dow displays providing that material for such displays is furnished them.
Slogans on Menus. Hotel and restaurant menus are splendid mediums for slogans, drawing the public's attention to Safety Week. These were successfully used this week in Cleveland at practically no cost.
1044
E+Sfhtit Sstfeig Congress
Slogans on Bill*. Tdepbone. Gas ad Electric Light Companies will
be glad, to run tbe same dapm os an Ibeir monthly bills provided you in
terview them early in preparim? yoor plans for Safety Week, as most of
these companies have their yrtwtny
sixty to ninety days in ad
vance. The City of Cleveland need a L.ligan on all letters and bills sent
out.
Safety Speaker* Before Alt
Organizations, High, Schools. All
clubs holding noonday ]ancbenM during Safety Week will be glad to have
men who are or national prominence in safety work speak before their
organizations. Tbe high schools and normal schools are always glad to
cooperate by having speakers talk to the students.
Demonstration of Bow Scours. It is interesting to have the Boy Scouts
give demonstrations and exhibits of First-aid Work at some central
point in the city during the noon hours. Tbe boys like to participate in
this movement for they feel they are doing something worth while. These
demonstrations also give good material for publicity and a great many
homes are reached in ibis way. Welcome Cards. Th Retail Dealers* Association is glad to help is
the arrangements for Safety Week in attending to such matters as ar
ranging for the stores to exhibit Welcome Cards in their windows.
Advertising Cltth. The Advertising Club of St. Louis appointed an ad
visory committee to assist the secretary and general arrangement com
mittee in all matters of publicity. In Cleveland the Advertising Club as
sumed entire charge of the out-door advertising, such as posters, bulletin
boards, pennants for trolley wires and lamp posts, etc. They also pre
vailed on the members in the Club, who had contracted for advertise
ments in the newspapers during the week, to insert in the advertisement
a slogan regarding Safety Week.
Motion, Pictures. The Ford Motor Company of Detroit and the local
motion picture people in Cleveland arranged to take motion pictures of
all things that were done during the week. The local motion picture
agency will distribute their films in every theatre in Cleveland following
the week, showing the people the full story of Safety Week. Slides in Theatres. Slides in theatres are effective. A week previous
to Safety Week a black And white slide was run in all theatres of Cleve
land, announcing the coming of Safety Week and asking the people to
observe all rules of Safety. Two hundred slides were distributed In
Cleveland at a cost of $300.00. One hundred slides in three colors, of the
same design as the window cards, showing how to make Cleveland safe
from accidents, were run during Safety Week. Prices for Cartoons. Tn Cleveland and St. Louis prizes were offered
for the five best cartoons:published during Safety Week, as follows:
First prize __________________________________________.-________________________$ 50.00
Second prize ________..........................................1
30.00
Third prize ................................................................................................................................ 25.00
Fourth prize ...............--
20.00
Fifth prize ........................................................................................................................... 10.00
$135.00
Public Safety Section
1045
Notice was given, to the cartoonists through, the city editors o all news papers. News items were published about the contest and letters were addressed to cartoonists personally inviting them to participate.
COST OF SAFETY WEEK DRIVE
The total cost of a Safety Week drive in cities the size of Cleveland and St. Louis can be safely estimated at $3,000.00 for the necessary and
essential things, and $2,000.00 for the non-essentials, making a total cost
of $5,000.00, which does not include any entertainment when the Safety Week is a part of the plans for the holding of a National Safety Council's
Annual Congress.
_
From the results' achieved from Safety Week demonstrations we can
safely assume that the National Safety Council has now a plan that will
get results. In almost everything attempted, the idea has been to pledge those concerned to do thMr part. The result has been that we have se cured cooperation, and it takes the cooperation of every man, woman, and
child to have community safety. I think we ail realize -that while a Safety Week demonstration does
good and is far-reaching in awakening a community to the importance of Safety, it is only a start and is only intended to create the proper impetus for the establishing of a Public Safety Committee with a definite program of activities for a year's work--which will be explained to you in detail
by the next speaker.
=^.
I think we are to be congratulated on the results obtained in Cleve
land. As a result of the work done on public safety, we decreased the
number of fatalities in Cleveland since the first of August, fifty per cent.
Inspector May of this city who was present yesterday questioned that statement, so he went back to his office and on investigation found it to
be true.
____
(Mr. Smith read Mr. Talbert's paper.)
ST. LOUIS ELAN OF PUBLIC SAFETY
C. M. Taebebt, Director, Department of Streets and Sewers,
St. Louts, Mo. *
.
: There are three distinct and common causes of deaths In the United States today, viz.,- sickness, public accidents, and industrial accidents.
In the past five years "splendid reduction has been made in fatal acci dents in industry, due principally to the fact that the National Safety Council being an organization composed almost entirely of industrial men has focused its attention chiefly on the prevention of industrial accidents. ._ This demonstration has-been fine and it has proved conclusively what can he done to control The human factor in industry. Managers of In dustries all over the country are now beginning to see that public acci dents have a direct bearing on their business, just the same as Industrial accidents. It is claimed )5y some that we 'cannot hope to reduce industrial accidents to the minimum that we should until something Is done in the way of controlling careless habits of the employee on the street. For il-
1046
'Eighth, Safety Congress
lustration, it hardly seems good business to spend so much time taxd
money educating an employee to be careful while he Is working in Indus
try if when he leaves the shop he forgets all that-has been taught him,
and on the -way home is struck by a street car or automobile and fatally-
injured.
It matters little whether an employee is killed in the shop or on the
street--It Is obvious that the loss of a valuable workman to the em
ployer is just the same. *~It is no consolation, to the wife and children
that their protector and provider was killed in a public accident, nor can
industrial safety men feel that they have done their duty.
It is Indeed encouraging to know that fatalities in industries the past
five years have been decreased from 35,000 to 23,000; that serious injuries
have been reduced from 750,000 to 500,000. It is rather discouraging
to think that S0.000 people lose their lives every year in public acci
dents (6,000 of which are children under ten years of age), and that so
many thousands of people are seriously injured that we hesitate to esti
mate the figure.
--
INDUSTRIAL safetv work scccessfci, oklt in spots
( Factories all over the country have done efficient safety work but this success has been entirely Individual, and in spots. Before the formation of the Central Mississippi Valley Division of the National .Safety Council in St. Louis only 5 per cent of the factories in St. Louis were doing any thing like efficient safety work. As a direct result of the work of this division during the past year all large manufacturing plants that are members of the National Safety Council are doing constructive work, and a great many of the smaller ones. A liability manager for the largest insurance company in St. Louis recently stated that the safety work among his assureds had been in creased 50 per cent the past year, and that this was due to the employing of a permanent secretary In the district who could give all of his time to the work, and the adopting of a permanent program with such activities as School for Safety Supervisors, when fifteen, lessons on the fundamentals of safety were taught; each lecture being given by a high grade speaker. Over five hundred students were enrolled In this school with such men in attendance as managers, superintendents, safety en gineers of plants, coroner and his deputies, insurance factory inspectors, and state factory inspectors^ Two hundred and twenty-six of these stu dents who had attended 75 per cent of the lectures were graduated and each received a diploma. ' ~ Other activities were monthly meetings for foremen and superintendents with an average attendance of 1,500 to 2,000; meetings for managers with an attendance from 200 to- 400; motion picture shows in plants and safety instruction given to the children of the public schools.
SAFETY MUSIiBE PAST OF COMMUNITY IXFB
t
This proves, does It not, that safety to be successful must be a part of
Public Safety Section
1047
the community. life, and an integral part of every man, woman, and child's life. People must come to respect Bafety just as they do pure milk, pore food, or pure'drinking water. .
We know the fundamental fact of safety work proven by the experience in indnstry is that only one-third of accidents can be eliminated by mechanical guards and that two-third3 must be eliminated by educational methods. What is true in industry is likewise true In public safety. Not more than one-third of the causes of fatal accidents on the streets can be taken care of by such installations as safety zones, crosswalks, proper signals, clearances, etc. *
SAFETY WEEK IK ST. POUTS
shown byCan any definite results in public safety be
educational work?
I think you will agree with me that this was conclusively proved by the
demonstration of Safety Week in St. Louis last Fail which synchronized
with our Seventh Annual Congress. Only one death occurred--a case of
a drunken man falling from a wagon--notwithstanding the fact that
previous records show that for several years there bad been one to four deaths every day. The corresponding week in September, 1917, there
were twenty-four deaths and the corresponding week in September, 1918, ten deaths occurred. Does this not prove that the human factor can be
gotten hold of in a city with a population of 800,000 and that every man,
woman, and child can be made to think Safety? ,
i
PEBMANENT OEGANIZATIOJT
Following the Sevenths Annual Congress and the Safety Week demon stration in St. Louis steps were taken by the executive committee of the Central Mississippi Valley Division of the National Safety Council to appoint a permanent safety committee and to adopt a definite program of procedure to reduce the amount of public accidents in the city of St. Louis.
To begin, there were two fundamental questions to be considered: First: What steps should he taken to produce results; second, who were the logical men in St. Louis to do the work?
The committee decided to name a temporary chairman and they selected Mr. Arthur T. Morey whom most of you know because of his wide ex perience and Intensive interest in safety work, and the fact that he was past president Of the National Safety Council. The committee felt that by having a strong industrial man at the head of the General Public Safety Committee it would insure the permanency of the chairman, where as if some one were named in public life, such as a director of public safety, a change in the ^administration might occur and the head of the committee would then be lost.
It was realized that no organization could expect to achieve the co operation of all the citizens unless enough momentum was given the movement to arouse the public to the necessity for unanimity of action on the part of all the leading organizations of the city, so a public
1048
Eighth Safety Congress
meeting was held to which were invited representatives from all the leading organizations, such as the Automobile Club, Chamber of Com merce, City Club, Retail Dealers Association, Advertising Club, Team and Truck Owners' Association, Women's Clubs, representatives of the municipal government such as the mayor, coroner, chief of police and Are departments, police commissioners, director of streets and sewers, circuit attorney, prosecuting attorney, director of public safety, com plaint board, health commissioner, comptroller, judges of all courts affect ing traffic, superintendenf"bf schools, etc.
PUBI.IC MSN' MUST MB I.VTERKSTKI)
It was obvious that if we were to succeed in any plan it was necessary 'to interest the men who'by reason of the office they held should neces sarily be members of the committee. For instance, it would be rather foolish to organize a committee and not include the men whose duty it is to look after the welfare of the citizens. Imagine how ri&Scwtow* tt would be to have an industrial man as the head of the statistical com mittee, whereas it is logical that the coroner wopdd he the proper per son by reason of the office he holds.
A personal visit was made to all of these men by ooflae fcprcucTiffhtivc of the executive committeeTl>f the council and they were t*td of the pro posed plans and sold the safety idea, rust * ft l* ptKwmsfy to tei) a manager of a plant before yon can expect to tnefafi reHtr spfrTt of safety in the works.
rcitur Mt ->- s*-r mxh.-ivt wrrw
To prove further the necessity for this person.s.1
would tt sur
prise you to know that thezeoron-er of Sf. Lout*. t*r, St. J? t"Rt_ who is
one of the most ardent safety supporters to our city. d*d not kn*w pre
vious to the holding of the Seventh Annual returtee tn Sit. Lowis i*t fall that such an organization as the National Safety Cooroctl existed, and what is true of the coroner of Su Lards is True of ss per cent of all the
public office holders in our large cities today.
As I said before this general meeting of public men was held, at which time the general chairman outlined the reasons why we should take some
definite steps to form a public safety committee with a definite plan of
action. All present were asked to submit suggestions regarding things that should be attempted and the names of the men in St_ Louis who
should naturally undertake the work, also what committees should be formed to correct the present careless condition.
Figures were given by the coroner's office showing the number of deaths
occurring last year, their causes, etc. All newspapers were represented
by reporters.
After all had gone on record as to their willingness to support the idea of a public safety conflHBttee, it was moved and seconded that a
general chairman and a general, secretary be elected and the general
chairman be empowered to appoint a committee to select men to serve
Public Safety Section
1049
on the various committees_and to outline the tentative dnties of these committees, and at the next meeting these committees appointed should form and elect a chairman and secretary of their committee and then submit to the general committee their plan of action for approval. This was done and the following is the plan as adopted:
THE PLAN
AtrTOMOBir.E ajtd LEr.tsr.ATios Committef.: It was obvious that It was
necessary to have a strong^ committee to look after the many activities
that would naturally come under this heading, such as parking problems,
traffic regulations, hazard of pedestrians, speeding, head lights, slowing-
down at crossings, etc., and Ihe following committees were named. Please
note the official connection of the men on thfe committee: C. M. Tal
bert, superintendent of streets and sewers, chairman; .T. C. Josse. superin tendent Continental Portland Cement Company. secreTary: F. S. Pfngree.
president St. Louis Aut**g^Sl* Cfeb: l^vrard SStdeaet*. prosecuting at
torney; J. A. Bruner. sevrsfeM y
taeormce Agency:
Louis JsTolte. coroptrn?t; La-wT***^** "WePVjwHei-.
attorney: Patrick
Kelleher, general
'iPFa^r.fhr
Suit-Cojrmitten ov Ar-rnwnm i-- Pn-hr!^,' t* K- g^iesd-. secretary. Team
and Truck Owners' AsnaeTStsoa. T 1* Wvr=F**J<--.
. K-. W*. Tflemoetler.
secretary, St. Louis ffcomflLr.ftaffPr 3wsi. A == wyyflPs, yferrrtu-BreUr.
Real Estate Company; V*?. "W *3- 1wrr*fci
Sub-Coxmrrtm. ow fm?*'
foward Sldener.
prosecuting attorney; T g vv Src-CoM M rriTK **-c PS-mlrn V i-fMt [,1-WV->W..SJS. Wwaw**. *sn Vr TETf'I.K
Drivers: FI S. Pfagrev. _pr*qMp#*wt. ?*
^wrtwsiws&fi** Ctnb: J. A.
Bruner, secretary.
T%curswScw
nemtwiWATma \ o>e-rt= Kv mr** sMirTxj;
1. Licensing of professional ebau^irur*: and teamster!*.
2. Regulations for pedestrians, such as adopting of city ordinance to com
pel pedestrians to cross the streets at the crosswalks and refrain from
crossing in the middle of the block.
3. Parking laws to be revised In the congested district for the limit of thirty minutes on some streets and one hour on other streets; also,
that certain streets be Kept entirely free from parking and be used
exclusively for heavy hauling for teams and automobile trucks.
4. Additional traffic police Lb be provided on busy intersections and be
tween crossings, and to enforce traffic regulations pertaining to both
pedestrians and vehielesSg?
5. Effort to be made to have all pedestrians at intersections follow the
signal of the traffic officer and move with the traffic.
G. School, to be held for licensed chauffeurs.
taught:
^
Suggested subjects to be
1050
Eighth Safety Congress
a. Traffic rales b. Safe operations of automobile and truck. c. Hazards on tbe streets d. How accidents occur e. Dangerous curbs and corners f. Proper signals Other subjects to be ^selected and speakers for these subjects to De secured and pamphlets provided on each subject by the headquarters staff of the National Safety Council.
VIGILANCE COMMITTEE
Were you to ask me iwhat is the one thing most needed in every city to promote public safety, I should unhesitatingly say the enforcement of the present traffic laws. --Police are handicapped in making arrests and securing prosecutions in the courts because there has been no united effort on the part of the citizens, or on the part of any organization to cooper ate with the judges: in securing this end. What arrests are made usually result in no conviction in the courts because of the fronting done by the friends of the arrested one.
I dare say that a great many men in this room have passed through this experience. Most everyone has some friend that will say a quiet word to the judge. When the judges were asked about this condition they said: "What is the use of convicting or fining one offender when there are hundreds doing the same thing every day who are'not molested. If any united effort is made to stop men who are infracting the law, we will do our part." So a vigilance committee was formed to give special attention to this need. This committee is at present composed of one hundred and fifty prominent men.
Hirst:, five men were appointed on the committee, viz: Major Roy F. Britton, attorney, "hairman; William Dover, deputy coroner, secretary; Herman Spoehrer, secretary and treasurer Union Electric Light and Power Company; C. M. Talbert, superintendent of streets and sewers; Cline Finnell, president Junior Chamber of Commerce.
The chairman selected was a man who had charge of the four hundred and sixty secret police during the war. These five men met and adopted a pledge card that every member of the committee must sign before becoming a member, as follows:
PLEDGE
As a member of the vigilance committee of the St. Louis Safety Council, I realize the importance of eliminating needless traffic accidents and promise that I will faithfully endeavor to note all instances of haz-
ardous violation of traffic--regulations coming: under my observation on
"Chance Taking Reports," and forward same promptly to Secretary E. G. Marsh, Complaint Board, City Hall, St. Louis, Mo.
I have read the ordinances of the City of St. Louis and the laws Of
Public- Safety Section
1051
Missouri relating to motor vehicles and traffic regulations and consider myself competent to repor.tr yiolattons-
Name
Address
Telephone No. He is then given a number and thereafter is known not as Mr. John Brown, but as number 23, 24, etc., and is supplied with a number of report cards on which he te: pledged to report careless practices occur ring on the streets, as the following sample complaint card:
KEPOET OF CHANCE TAKING
Month...............................................Day.^^7.............X 91__________
Time____________M.
Location ---------------------------------------------=;____________________________
License No................................................rr ___________________________________________________________________
(X opposite violation, or write in blank space)
---------Recklessly drove in front of moving car.
---------Recklessly passed car While taking on or oft passengers.
---------Pulled in front of approaching car when parking.
---------Passed car to left on double track.
---------Created hazard by excessive speed.
pedestrian
--.......Did not slow up on nearing vell|cje
at crossing.
---------Did not give way to right for faster moving vehicle.
---------Passed another vehicle to right.
----------Failed to signal change of direction, slow down, stop.
----------Started from curb into traffic without giving notice. ---------Front; rear,lights out. "i
---------Did not sound horn or slow down nearing crossing or curve with
obstructed view.
^
---------Did not show license as required by law.
...........Driver continued on after accident.
(Write particular not covered above)
Witness (Name) ~
Address __________________________________---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Car No---------r.............................................---
Signature..TM-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------These cards when filled out are sent to the secretary of the Complaint Board who takes the matter hp either personally or by letter with the person concerned. Complaint card is filed by license number of tbe car.
3052
Eighth Safety Congress
Should a second offense be reported more severe measures are taken and in case of a man being: tried in court for careless practices, such as speed ing. etc., the judge will look up his record at the Complaint Board and see if he has had previous complaint made against him. Imagine if you can what chance a man would have of being acquitted by a safety judge when a judge findsThere are three or four complaints filed against the offender for carelessness.
Each one of these five men agreed to name five more men and be re sponsible for their instruction. This made a total of twenty-five men. These twenty-five after they had signed the pledge card and had a little experience named five more men, making a grand total of one hundred and fifty men.
The idea was taken up slowly until the results could be demonstrated: As stated before the namertf the committee are held entirely secret; the secretary being the only bite who has the file showing who these men are. It is not necessary Tor them to sign their name in making com plaint, they simply sign the number by which they are known. You never can tell but what the friend you are driving around on Sunday afternoon in your car is one of these special police.
As an example of the public's willingness to cooperate, here is a sample of the many letters received in answer to letter sent out by the Complaint Board calling attention to the violation of traffic laws:
BROWN PLANING MILL COMPANY
Manufacturers of
SASIT, DOORS, AND BLINDS 3100 Salena St. St. Louis, Mo., March 29, 1919.
Mr. E. G. Marsh, Secretary, Complaint Board, Municipal Courts Building, ~ ~ St. Louis, Mo. Dear Mr. Marsh:
Referring to your letter of complaint calling attention to the reckless driving of our truck driver da Grand Avenue, regret exceedingly this In excusable offense. We have reprimanded him severely and will let him out If further complaints rue received.
We certainly do not approve of these reckless tactics, and will be glad at any time to cooperate with your office to reduce these violations.
Thanking you for your kind letter, we are Yours very truly, (Signed) A. R. BROWN.
complaint committee
Lewis B. Tune, superintendent of Bradstreets, chairman; E. G. Marsh, secretary of Complaint Boarff7=Secretary.
The specific duties of this committee are to follow the complaints that are received from the Vigilance Committee. We have found that em
Public Safety Section
305a
ployers of labor and business men are very considerate and courteous about replying to a letter calling their attention to infractions of traffic regulations. The records show that only two people out of one hundred and fifty to whom letters were sent calling attention to complaints re ceived failed to answer the JLetter sent them by the Complaint BoardIn cases like this the secretary of the Complaint Bureau gives the com plaint special attention, and/should further reports be received against such individuals the matter is called to the attention of the judges of the police court and summons are issued for their appearance in court and they are tried on the last complaint filed against them. In special cases like this it is sometimes necessary for "the man filing the complaint to appear as a witness. This they are willing to do.
_ COTJBT3
C. B. Hardin, president. Central Mississippi Valley Division, N. S. C., chairman; C. L. Smith, secretary. Central Mississippi Valley Division, N. S. C., secretary; Chauncey I. Krueger, judge Court of Criminal Correction; Calvin Miller, judge of Criminal Court; George E. Mix, judge City Court
No. 1; Anthony F. Ittner, judge City Court No. 2.
The purpose of this committee is to adopt a uniform method of dealing with traffic violators and to cooperate -with the police and other commit tees. You will be interested to know that this was the first time the judges of the courts of St. Louis got together on a problem of mutual interest. With every judge a safety judge, changes of venue for the traffic violator will be a thing of the past.
STATISTICS
Dr. R. S. Vitt, coroner, chairman; W. L. Patterson, St- Louis Motor Service Company, secretary ;tzM. W. Doyle, American Automobile Insur ance Company; Barney Verheyen, assistant to chief of police.
One of the greatest helps in tackling an accident condition is to have a thorough analysis and study Of causes. To understand such problems as the automobile problems and for the use of various other committees, it Is necessary to have a statistical committee that could give a statis tical analysis of all automobile and vehicle accidents, advising for in stance: Ages of victims; ages of drivers; condition of drivers, whether intoxicated, etc.; whether drivers were owners, members of family, or employees; location of accidents; description of accidents; cost of acci dents, such as property damage; personal property and personal damage; what laws, rules, or cautions were violated; adoption of proper form to report accidents; analysing causes of accidents; securing pictures of ali wrecks and furnishing a statement of the accident. This to be used as propaganda matter for bulletins, etc.
POLICE
C. H. Stewart, assistant treasurer, Laclede Gas Light Company, chair man; Barney Verheyen, assistant to chief of police, secretary; C. W.
1054
Eighth Safety Congress
Mansur, president. Board of Police Commissioners; Wm. A. Giraldin,
member. Board of Police Commissioners.
This committee Is to assist the police department and help them
realize that in their hands lies a large part of the solution of this auto
mobile situation, and to procure for the police the necessary backing of
public opinion and the police courts.
The following recommendations were adopted by this committee:
Safety code for patrolmen
Proper report form for accidents
School for police--suggested subjects to be taught.
1. Handling pedestrians
2. Statistics
3. Automobile and CPSTck hazards
4. Hazards of children playing on the streets 5. Parking problems:
6. Enforcement of traffic regulations
T. Proper safety equipment
SCHOOLS
Dr. John W. Withers, Superintendent of Instruction, chairman; George Platt Knox, assistant superintendent of instruction, secretary; Dr. E. George Payne, principal, Harris Teachers' College; Carl G. Rathman, Assistant Superintendent of Instruction; Henry X Gerling, Assistant Superintendent of Instruction; W. J. S- Bryan, Assistant Superintendent of Instruction; Rev. J. P. M. Murray, Supervisor of Instruction Parochial Schools.
It is obvious this committee's work has to do with the safety educa tion of children which involves Instruction covering such items' as: Roller skating in streets: bicycle riding In streets; playing ball in streets; ''hitching" onto vehicles; unsafe coasting in and across streets; playing tag in streets; simple rules as to crossing streets safely; secure proper material for Instruction of children.
The plan for Instruction ~of children has been well worked out by Dr. E. George Payne, principal of the Harris Teachers' College, St. Louis. Dr. Payne has written a syllabus covering the teaching of safety to the children, and the matter of school safety will be taken up in detail at one of our general sessions.
STREET CARS .
Bruce Cameron, superintendent. United Railways Company, chairman; Homer Hodson, safety engineer. East St. Louis & Suburban Railway, secretary; George Fisher, assistant to manager, Illinois Traction System.
This committee adopted the following on which to focus their atten tion: Constant education otmotormen and conductors; safety slogans in side and on front of cars; special lectures to motormen and conductors; backs of transfers to be utilized for safety slogans.
BULLETINS AND FUBLICITT Carl L. Smith, secretary, Central Mississippi Valley Division, N. S. C.,
Public Safety Section
1055
chairman; Anita Moore, publicity expert; H. J. Krusz, Ludlow-Saylor
Wire Company, secretary; H. C. Davis, assistant treasurer, Wagner
Electric Company. This committee will give their attention to the following items: Public
ity, such as all items of interest to newspapers, house organs and trade magazines; establishment of standard bulletin boards in all garages and
gasoline stations, using public safety bulletins of the National Safety
Council monthly; designing monthly bulletins regarding home accidents
which are distributed Into the homes by the school children; coSperation
with other committees and especially Women's Committee In regard to
bulletins for the home.
---
women's committee
The members of this committee should consist of the prominent mem bers of the various Women's Clubs of the city, such as Women's Council of National Defense, Federated Clubs, etc.
The duties of this committee- will consist of taking charge of the dis tribution of bulletins in the home each month by school children; to ar range for speakers to talk before all women's societies, parents, teachers* organizations, etc., and such other work as they see fit.
CLUBS AND ORGANIZATIONS
Dr. E. George Payne, Principal, Harris Teachers' College, Chairman. This committee Is organized juplely for the purpose of supplying speak ers on Industrial. Home, and Street Safety. Its duties consist of: Or ganizing Speakers' Bureau and"training men, women, boys, and girls for speakers to hold themselves in- readiness to speak as they may be as signed; to supply speakers for all clubs and organizations upon request.
PtATGBOUSDS
Nelson Cunliff, Park Commissioner, Chairman; T. P. Chapman, Chair man, Parks and Recreation Committee, Chamber of Commerce, Secretary; Martin Collins, President, Papa Club.
This committee is primarily for the purpose of establishing safety in connection with all playgrounds. Their activities are as follows: Play ground safety; motion picture shows on playgrounds during summer' months; utilization of streets for playgrounds.
FEW COMMITTEES DESIRABLE
The mistake has often been made In organizing a Public Safety Com mittee to have too many sub-committees, so that the committees become burdensome. In the outline that I have given you there is but one com mittee--a General Committee, -All of the sub-committees are a part of the General Committee and meet when the General Committee meets at a regu lar monthly meeting. In this way should a member of any sub-committee desire information an opportunity is given to any member of the other
1058
Eighth Safety Congress
the papers in detail. That will allow us more time for questions and dis cussion, because every man who comes into this meeting should be al lowed, and even requested "to give us his ideas.
DISCUSSION
Mr. Roemeb: I think that inasmuch as the time allowed for the various meetings is very short, that the plan you have suggested is the proper one, especially so since the real good out of any particular subject is gained through the discussion and questions. That was shown on several differ ent matters yesterday. I think your plan is the best.
H. B. Aiiasis (A. E. & C. It. R., Aurora, 111.): I believe we will save a lot of valuable time in adopting your plan. Time is very valuable; when we come a. thousand miles to get to one of these conventions we ought to conserve it.
MFt. DeArmasu: I move that the plan as outlined by the Chairman be adopted and submitted to the Executive Committee, for approval.
Motion seconded by Mr."K. N. Hemming, Fort Wayne, Ind. Chairman Tai'.hkut: It tb moved and seconded that this Section re quest of the Executive CoffiDni.ttee that at the next annual convention it be assigned a definite room for the entire period of the Congress, with a Secretary or Assistant Secretary who will be in charge during the en tire time, and that the place assigned be at some point commensurate with the work we have in charge. (Motion unanimously adopted.) Mr. Smith: I think the Idea is a good one. I think that can be worked out very easily. I will certainly give it my attention and I will see that the details are carried out according to the plans adopted.
progr.vm suggestions kor 1020
Chairman Tai.rert: Before we start on the next paper I want to ask for suggestions as to the character of the program for next year. The work this year has been carried on by six committees, the Traffic, Statis tical. Educational, Elevators^ Publicity, and Pedestrian Hazards. Next year's program should be taken up largely with the reports of these com mittees and their discussions.
Mr. DeArmand: I suggilt that we have a paper by some street rail way man. Also it seems to me to be a good idea to have some member of a teamster's union present the teamster's side of the proposition of public safety as it relates to vehicles and pedestrians.
Clair Bowers (Goodyear 'Tire & Rubber Co., Akron, Ohio.) : I would like to recommend that we-have four papers presented, one by a police man or traffic man who is outside and sees the accidents, one by a post man. and one each by a teamster and an automobile man.
Mr. Mobley: Wliat we want to get at is essentials. We want to find out exactly what people in the different modes of locomotion on the streets and highways think of the other fellow. We want to give their attitude to the >public at large.' and if we can take these four classes and can get
Public Safety Section
105U
someone who will come and give us their ideas on the subject, we will
evolve something a great deal Jjetter than if we had them tell us what
they think they do is right.
T_
Chairman Talbert: A suggestion was made yesterday that next year we hold a joint meeting of this section aud the Educational Section. Mr. Hemming, what is your opinion of that suggestion?
Me. Hemming (Chairman, Public Utility Section. National Safety Coun cil) : I would like to see it gocOne better. Inasmuch as the electric rail way field is so closely allied with the public safety proposition, I would like to see a joint session combining the three, public safety, transporta tion and public education. I think the two Sections would be deeply In terested in the educational feature, and that is the thing we are all driving at. If we can get the Public Safety Section to meet with us jointly, I
think we would be able to thrash out in a very short time problems the solution of which otherwise would take a period of from three to five years.
Chairman Talbert: We will ask the Executive Committee for a joint session of the Public Safety Section, the Educational and the Electric Railways' Sections.
Dr. Payne: It seems to me That there is a little bit of duplication
there. You have an Educational committee of this Public Safety Section, and you also have an Educational Section. It seems to me that the Educa
tional Section really belongs to the Public Safety Section as a part of its work, and therefore the program should be merely a part of this Sec tion's program.
Mb. Vrrr: There are two subjects which we have discussed very little here, which I would like to see taken up at our next year's convention, and they are Vigilance Committees and the police judges' attitude with refer ence to traffic violations. I believe that traffic violations play a very Im
portant part in large cities' relations to public safety, and we should have a freer discussion at our convention next year as to what large cities are doing to the traffic violators, and the attitude of the police judges.
Mb. Talbert: We found that was one of the best plans we could get hold of, because the judges go.back to the bench with the public attitude
toward these accidents. The question now is whether we should have a paper from some judge or traffic court dealing with that point of public
safety. (There were remarks of Approval.)
Mr. Josse: Mr. Chairman, for the benefit of those gentlemen who are not from St. Louis, I suggest that you outline the cooperation we have received from our two police judges since they joined our committee. When a man comes up before either of those judges. It doesn't make any
difference whether he has a "fixer" or not, he gets it, that Is all. Our State Headlight Law went along r 18 months without any prosecutions at all: but when these two judges got In they notified automobile drivers that they were going to start enforcing that law on a certain day, and they started too. They had six hundred violators the first day and every one of them was fined. That has a very salutory effect on a fellow. Out
of some eleven thousand men who came up before these two judges in
10b*0
Eighth Safety Cotigress
three months' time tor flotations of automobile laws, only two repeaters were reported, and they won't repeat again.
Mr. Taijikkt: I remember Judge Mix apologized at one of our meetings
because he was only 98 per cent pure, saying he had let two people off.
So far as the judge is concerned, the moral support of somebody back
of him is the greatest possible thing you can have in enforcing your
traffic regulations.
^=-
Then I have added to the prospective papers for next year, one by some
police magistrate on his view of traffic violations and hazards of that nature.
Dit. S. Da.na Huiibakd ("Supt. Division of Industrial Hygiene, New York
City): I would suggest jEor a paper of that nature that you select a man who is Secretary of State.
Mr. Smith: The question arises there whether the Secretary of States
is really sold on the question of safety as strongly as a judge is?
Mr. HniRARu: In NewCTorlc State the present law gives him the power to abrogate a license, and^ie is now sitting as a magistrate.
M.k. Smith: Yes. but I see he has almost taken the punch out of the law by saying that he Is agoing to modify the power of the law, and is
not going to compel automobile drivers -to become licensed, except
in the cases of new ones.--
Dit. Ht.-nitARD: I don't think you quite understand it. His plan is this,
in licensing new drivers,-men who have never driven before, he is going
to require a physical examination. My complaint was that there were some 35 or -10 narcotic addicts who were driving up to the clinics on trucks and getting their dope, and it was my opinion that a physical ex
amination should be required, as both a snuffler and a needle man could be recognized. Mr. Hugo stated he would not require a physical exami nation of every person, nor a road test. Mr. Hugo is sitting as a com
mittee magistrate, and anyiman who repeatedly violates the law is brought
before him, and if it is a question of intoxication, reckless driving, incom petency. moral deficiency, etc., he immediately stops his license.
Mr. Tat.hkrt: Mr. Smith suggests that we have a paper outlining the
methods followed by Vigilance Committees in .the various cities. Do you think that question is worthy of a paper and discussion?
Mr. Smith: Four Vigilance Committees are working now, one in St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Kansas City and Cleveland.
Louis G. DeArjcasd (DaVenport, la.) : What success have they had in
St. Louis?
-===-
Mk, Vitt: I think they have had very good success. I know that on
some days they send in aslhigh as fifty and one hundred reports of vio- lations of Ordinances. The reports are sent in to Mr. Marsh, who is Chairman of the Complaint Board, and he in turn writes them a letter
calling attention to the violation, which has been reported. He reports
that 95 per cent of the answers to his letters are courteous and apologetic.
From eleven or twelve hundred reports from the Vigilance Committee,
he probably- has a half dozen repeaters, which shows that some attention
is being paid to the letters-from the Complaint Board. To those who do
not answer he writes .a se<35nd letter and refers the names of the parties
Public- Safety Section
1061
to the Chief otf Police, who sends for them and talks to them in rather a
corrective manner. There are-no fines or other methods used. It is
merely a corrective plan.
--
Csuiest.vj; Talbert: I am going to ask our Secretary, Mr. Carl Smith,
to bear this topic in mind and during the year collect all data he can from
ail cities having Vigilance Committees, and then present a digest of the
resnlts. We can then go on record as to whether Vigilance Committees
are desirable. We will now proceed to Mr. Crum's paper.
Frederick S. Crum (Prudential Insurance Co., Newark, N. ,T.) : I will
not read the report in Tull, hut will run over it and pick out the more
important points and elaborate on them a little, and then the report will
be printed in full in the proceedings.
PUBLIC ACCIDENTS AND THEIR COST
Frederick S. Crum, Pir. D., Assistant Statistician-. The Prudential Insurance Company"op America, Newark. X. .1.
Accidents to persons may be conveniently divided, or classified, into three main groups--namely, industrial, or those arising out of industry or employment, home, or those occurring in and immediately about the home, and public, or those met with In public places. This grouping is toot entirely satisfactory but if itcan be generally adhered to, a beginning will have been made in clearing up what is now a very chaotic condition in the statistics of personal accidents.
We are all familiar with thesejthree types of accidents, but no one can say definitely what proportion each type forms of the grand total of per sonal accidents. Almost nowhere. In the various and numerous official reports of accidents, is there a sharp differentiation made of these three classes of accidents. Fairly satisfactory distinction is made in the Inter state Commerce Commission repOTts between accidents to employees (in dustrial accidents) and accidents affecting passengers and trespassers (mostly public accidents) but even here there Is an overlapping. A com mercial traveller, for illustration must use trains in the pursuit of his occupation. If killed in a train accident, the death can quite logically be classified either as an industrial or a public accident. Similarly, if a driver of a truck Is killed in the street as a result of collision, or other accident occurring while in the pursuit of his regular work, the death is very likely to be classified both as an industrial and as a public accident. In other words, public accidents are quite likely to include or affect a very considerable number of Industrially employed persons who are in. the pursuit of their vocations when the accidents occur.
One of the most laudable recent attempts to separate persons killed as
a direct result of their employment from persons killed otherwise is that
made by The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.'
'See Mortality Statistics of Insured Wage Earners and Their Families, by Louis I. Lublin, Ph.D., Statistician. New York: 1919.
1062
Eighth Safety Congress
In this mortality experience--limited to white males, ages 15 and over, and for the period 1912-191G--out of 14,151 deaths from sixteen specified causes or forms of accidents, careful inquiry revealed the fact that only 28 per cent were definitely assignable to occupation or were of occupa tional origin. If weather agencies, such as lightning, excessive cold, exces
sive heat (insolation) arid certain other forms or types of accident had
been included, the percentage would have been smaller. Again, it must be remembered that this experience embraced mainly the industrially em ployed, or wage-earners. If the professional, commercial, and other largely non-wage earning classes had been as fully represented as in the general population, the effect would have been still further to reduce the percentage of accidental fatalities of occupational origin. In only four types of accidents in this experience traumatism in mines and quarries (91.4 per cent), traumatism by machines (S0.9 per cent), crushing--other than vehicular and in mines and quarries, by machines and by falls (64.9 per cent), and electricity--lightning excepted (61.9 per cent)--were the percentages of fatalities 3f occupational origin in excess of fifty. On the other hand for drowning^isccidents the percentage of occupational origin was only 6.2 and for falls the percentage was only 6.3. For railroad acci dents the percentage assignable to occupation was only 35.2. Obviously it females bad been included in this experience these percentages would have been further and quite materially reduced.
If we assume that one-fourth the total accidental fatalities in the gen
eral population of ages ISTyears and upward are due to occupation the estimate Is probably a liberal one. Three-fourths of the deaths by accident, ages 15 and over, would then be assignable to either public or home: acci dents. Here, however, weTlre left without any very definite knowledge of what percentage or proportion belongs to either class. From general knowledge and experienceyjiowever, it seems reasonably certain that fully one-half of all the fatal accidents in the United States are chargeable to public accidents. It is quite probable that the true proportion considering all ages is nearer 60 than 50 per cent, but to be conservative, this argu ment will be based upon the assumption that 50 per cent of all accident fatalities in the United States are of the public type.
In the registration areardf the United States during the calendar year
1917, which then embraced about 73 per cent of the total population there
were 65,644 accidental deaths, so reported. For the whole population and
area of the continental United States the total of accidental deaths must
have been close to 90,000 during 1917. On the basis of the above assump
tion 45,000 of these may be; considered as having been of the public type.
Of this total (45,000) alSnit three-fourths were males and one-fourth
females.
^
Considering the age factor, we know that In the registration area dur ing the ten years 1907-1916, 12 per cent of the decedents by accident were of ages under 5 yearly9 per cent, ages 5-14 years, 44 per cent. age3 15-44, 20 per cent, ages 45-04 and 15 per cent, ages 65 and over. The age distribution of those killed by accident are quite different for the two sexes, however, as the following table clearly shows:
PubliclSafety Section
1063
age: distribution of accidental deaths
TT. S. KEGISTaATIOrf AEEA, 1907-1916
Total Deaths r
Male Deaths
Ages
Number Per centT Number Per cent
Under 5............... ___ 56,613
11.9=
31,562
8.6
Female Deaths
Number Per cent
25.051
22.9
5-14 15-44 45-64
................:... ..... 43,100 .............................209,172 .....................___ 95,823
9.1 44.CU 20-1^
31,739 185,509
80,233
8.7 50.7 21.9
11.361 23,663 15.590
10.4 21.6 14.2
65 and over......... 70,926
14.9
37,072
10.1
33.854
30.9
All known ages.,47o,634 Unknown ................. 2,777 All ages__________478,411
100.0
.......=^=
366,115 2,608
368,723
100.0
109,519 169
109,688
100.0
__
Among females a much larger proportion of fatal accidents occur at the
extremes of life, that is at ages under 5 and at 65 and upward, than is true of males and. conversely, the proportion of ages 15-44 is much smaller
for females, or only 21.6 per ceaf as against 50.7 per cent for males.
Returning now to the fatal accidents which occurred in the United
States during 1917--the total was estimated at 90,000 for the continental
United States during 3917, or J7F30 per week, and the public accidents,
constituting fully one-half of the total, were estimated at 45,000, or an
average of 860 per week. These'315,000 deatlis distributed by age and sex
on the basis of the reported total accidental deaths in the registration
area, 1907-1916, can be tabulated as follows:
ESTIMATED DISTRIBUTION BY AGE AND SEX, OF 45,000 FATAL-
ITIES BY PUBLIC ACCIDENTS IN THE UNITED
STATES DURING 1917
Age
.
,
Total
Males Females
. Under 5_____................................................................................
4,9934.046
947
5-14 ............................................................................
4,051935,0794
15-44 ___________________________________________________________________20,537
14,960
5,577
45-64 _____________________________________________________________
9,243-6,834
2,409
65 and over........................................................................
6,1765,0661,110
Total ...............................................................................................................45,000
34,000
11,000
Assuming further that the approximate average economic loss by these
deaths was on the following basis:
APPROXIMATE AVERAGE ECONOMIC VALUE PER ANNUM OF HUMAN LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES BY AGE AND SEX
Age
Males Females
Under 5_____________________
............................................
$350
$150
5-14
...................................................... 600
200
15 and over________________
____________________________
750 300
We arrive at the following estimate of the total economic loss involved
In the 45.000 deaths by public accidents in the United States during the
calendar year 1917.
1064
Eighth Safety Congress
Age
'----
Total
Under 5........................... . .. .777.'.
$ 73,517.000
6-14 ....................
88,438,000
15-44 .......__........-----------------
............. 338,567,000
45-64 ....................
-- 52,634,000
65 and over............................... ..........--
4,133,000
Total* ...............-.......
..................$557,289,000
Males $ 66,557,000
79,825,000 291,720,000
46,130,000 3,800,000
$488,032,000
Females $ 6.960,000
8.613.000 46,847,000
6,504,000 333.000
$69,257,000
MAI^S
Total
Number Expectation Number
of
of Life
of Years
Age
Deaths to Age 72 of Life Lost
Under 5.............. ............ 4,046 47 190,162
5-14 ____________
43 133,042
15-44 ....................._______14.960
26 388,960
45-65 ................................. 6.S3-T
9
61,506
65 and over.................. 5,066
1
5,066
Average Economic
Value per Life per Annum $350
600 750 750 750
Total Loss $ 66.557,000
79,825,000 291,720,000
46,130,000 3.SOO.OOO
Total ...........................34.000T
778,736
Under 5........................... 947"
5-14 ................................. 15-44 ......................
957
45-64 ......................______ 2.409
65 and over ... ........... l.iioci
'
FEMALES
49 46,403 45 43,065 28 156,156
9 21,681 1 1,110
$150 200 300 300 300
$488,032,000
$ 6,960,00J 8,613,000
46,847,000 6.504,000 333,000
Total ...............______11.000'"
268,415
$69,257,000 '
Enormous as these figures are they represent but a traction of the
economic loss involved in public accidents for they refer only to fatal
accidents while accidentr insurance and workmen's compensation experi ence shows that there are approximately 3 25 non-fatal but more or less
disabling injuries to every fatal injury. Assuming that these in the
aggregate involve an economic loss three times that of the fatal accidents,
we have It that these estimated 5,625,000 non-fatal injuries by public
accidents during 1917 involved an aggregate economic loss of $1,671,867.-
000 which added to the former total of $557,2S9,000 gives a grand total of
$2,229,156,000. Even yetTTiowever, the total economic Joss has not been
*The method of estimaiidfi. in brief, is ns follows: From the life tables pre pared by the United States^Bureau of the Census and based upon the population of 1910 and the mortality for the three years, 1909-1911, we find the approximate
normal expectation of working years of life to age 72 separately for the males
and females who are estimated to have been killed in public accidents during 1917. It is assumed that age 72 years marks the period when life ceases to have an appreciable economic value. The number of deaths by age and sex multiplied by the expectation of life factor (average number of years normally lived through to age 72) gives the total number of years of life lost as the result of public accidents. These.y.ears when multiplied by the estimated net economic worth to society of these lives, as shown in the previous table, gives the aggre
gate not -conomic loss by age and sex. The table in detail is given above.
Public Safety Section
30G5
accounted for, as we have only considered the loss involved in the human wreckage to which must he added untold and unknowable losses from wreckage and destruction of property values resulting from the destruc*
tion of all kinds of material wealth such as buildings and other struc
tures, crops, rolling stock, including vehicles of all kinds, goods, chattels,
etc. Then to all this there mustistill be added the unmeasurable but none
the less real and enormous physical and psychological loss .involved in
the physical pain and mental anguish of the victims, their dependents
and friends.
-----
Prom the foregoing statements It must be patent to every reasonable person that public accident prevention is a worth-while undertaking and that organized effort should be put forth on a nation-wide scale to abate
the present criminal negligence and recklessness which is so charac teristic of Americans. In no other civilized country is life held so cheap.
To emphasize this point some' tables have been prepared which will
form an. appendix to this statement. Also the toll of life In the United States in disasters and sports have been itemized for several years as a part of this paper. When theserare placed before you I am sure that you will agree with me that it is high time that a more definite and resolute course of action be adopted byL the National Safety Council and other official and public organizations to check these enormous and largely preventable losses of lives and property due to public accidents.
A good beginning will be to ^place the facts before the public in a clearer light. This cannot be done effectively until public accidents are more completely reported, more intelligently classified and more clearly differentiated from industrial and home accidents. To this end the Confmittee on Statistics (Public Safety Section) of this organization of which I have the honor to be Chairman-is trying to develop blank forms for the better reporting and recording ot public accidents. When these are per
fected we may hope to get information before the public, the truth of which will be undeniable and the significance of which will be so truly
startling that a much wider cooperation of government and public for the prevention of public accidents must be the sure result. Then and
only then can we hope to see a reduction In public accidents similar to that which is now being effected in industrial accidents and in certain diseases such as pulmonary tuberculosis, typhoid fever, malaria and diphtheria.
APPENDIX A
niSASTEBS
Some of the more important public accidents involve such loss of life that they may properly be designated as disasters. Many of the land transportation or vehicular accidents fall within this class and a large proportion of serious accidents at sea, as also many navigation accidents on rivers and other inland waters fall within this group. In the follow ing lists drawn largely . from the annual summaries of the Chicago Tribune I have included the more noteworthy disasters of all kinds within or - near the United States during the period 1908-1918. Only
1066
Eighth Safety Congress
accidents involving a reported loss of twenty or more lives have been included in these lists.
EAILWAY DI8A8TEB3
Lives Lost
1908 Sept. 25, Collision, Northern Pacific R. R,, Young's Point, Mont. 1910 March 21. Derailment, Chicago, Rock Island & Pac.ific, Green
21
Mt., Iowa ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------April 21. Collision, Ft. Wayne & Wabash Interurban R. R.............. Oct. 4. Collision. Interurban R. R., Staunton, 111..........................................
50 43 36
1911 Aug. 25, Derailment, Lehigh Valley R. R., near Manchester, N. Y..............................................................................:..................................................................
28
1912 March IS, Locomotive Boiler Explosion, San Antonio, Tex............ 32 July 4, Collision, D. L. & W. R. R., Corning, N. Y 41
July 5. Collision, Ligonier Valley R. R., Wilpen, Pa.................................. 21 1913 July 31, Collision, Ore train, Duluth, Minn....................................................... 21
Sept. 2, Collision, N. Y., N. H. & Hartford R. R., Waterford,
1914
1915 191G 1917
191S
Oct. 19, Derailment, Mobile and Ohio R. R., State Line, Miss.,__ Aug. 5. Collision, Kansas City and Southern R. R., Tipton's
Ford. Mo. T..............................................................:.........-_____________________________ Aug. 15, Derailment, St. Louis & San Francisco R. R,, Leb
anon, Mo.5.......................................----------------------------------------------------------------------Nov. 22, Collision, Georgia Central R. R., Columbia, Ga....................
March 29, Collision, Lake Shore R. R., Amherst, Ohio....................... Aug. 12, Collision, Electric Cars, Johnstown, Pa....................................... Nov. S. Elevated R. R. Accident. Boston, Mass............................................. Feb. 27, Collision, Pennsylvania R. R,, Mt. Union, Pa_______________ Sept. 2S. Collision, St. Louis and San Francisco R. R., near Kel-
iyville. Ok la................................................................................................................................ Dec. 20. Collision, Louisville & Nashville R. R.. Shepherdsville,
Ky................. June 22, Collision, Michigan Central R. R., Ivanhoe. Ind_______ July 9. Collision, Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis R. R..
near Nashville..................................................................................... Nov. l. Derailment, Rapid Transit R. R.. Brooklyn. N. Y.................
26
40
27 24 26 25 54 20
23
45 53
89 98
1909
1910 1911 1912
1913
ilARIXE DISASTEBS, TJ. S. AND CANADA
April 5. SteaHer "Oak Branch", Pacific Coast............................................... 20
May 11. Sinking of launch "Pittsburgh"................................................................. 23
Dec. 10, Maryrnette & Bessemer No. 2 Ferry Boat. Lake Erie......... 28
Oct. 1. Drowning Accident, Hudson River................................................................... 47
June 24. Explosion, Steamer "City of St. Joseph", Memphis.
Tenn.............XS.....................................................................................................................................................-- 20
April 14, Sinking of Steamship "Titanic"...............................................................1.517
June 23, Drowning Accident, Niagara River..................................................... 39
Dec. 22, Steadier "Florence", New Ifoundland Coast................................ 22
Aug. IS. Steamer "State of California", AlaskanCoast----------------
40
Nov. 10. Steiffiier "Bridgeport," lost at sea........................................................ 42
Nov. 10, Steel Freighter "Regina", Lake Huron.......................:................... 20
Nov. 10. Steamer "Wexon", Lake Huron.................................................................... 20
Public Safety Section
1067
1914
1915 1918
Nov. 10. Steamer "Charles S. Price", Lake Huron................................... 28
Nov. 10, Steamer "James Carruthers", Lake Huron............................. 25
Nov. 10, Steamer "John A. McGear", Lake Huron 23
Nov. 10, Steamer "J. Pr Hutchinson", Lake Huron................................... 20
Jan. 4, Steamer "Oklahoma" off Sandy Hook-------------------------------------------- 27
Jan. 29, Steamer "Monroe", Virginia Coast______________________________ 41
April 2, Steamer "Newfoundland", Newfoundland Coast___________ 77
April 2, Steamer "Southern Cross", Newfoundland Coast.............. 173
April 15, Steamer "Kite", Newfoundland Coast............................................ 65
April IS. Barge "America", Alaskan Coast........................................................... 50
April 29, Steamer "Benjamin Noble", Lake Superior............................. 30
May 29, Steamer "Empress of Ireland", St. Lawrence River..........1,027
Sept. 19. Steamer "Frances A. Leggett", Oregon Coast....................... 80
April 4. Steamer "Prince Mauritz", Virginia Coast................................... 49
July 24. Steamer "Eastland". Chicago River...............................................
811
Aug. 17. Steamer "Marolgne". Gulf of Mexico.................................................. 96
Nov. 13, Steamer "Charles A. Luch", Lake Superior....................
20
Dec. 12, Steamer "St. Kllda", Newfoundland Coast................................... 29
July 4, Sinking of Steamer "Columbia", Illinois River.......................... 85
? Steamer "Florizal" off Cape Race.............................................................. 92
? U. S. Collier "Cyclops" lost at sea........................................................... 293
? Steamer "Princess Sophia", Alaskan Coast.................................' 343
FIRES :XND CONFLAGRATIONS
1908
1909 1910
1911 1913
1914 1915 1917 1918
Jan. 13, Theatre, BoyertSwn, Pa....................................................................................... 172
March 4, School house, Collingwood. Ohio........................................................... 178
Oct. 16, Forest, Michigan........................................................................................................ Jan. 20. 71st Street Crib, Chicago, 111........................................................................... Aug. 21, Forest, Idaho_______________________________________________________________
50 55 80
Oct. 9, Forest, Northern Minnesota................................................................................ 30
Nov. 25, Factory, Newark, N. J__________________________________________________ Dec. 24, Stockyards, Chicago, Illinois_____________ 24
25
March 25, Triangle Waist Co. Factory, N. Y. City...................................... Aug. 25, Theatre and panic, Canonsburg, Pa...-.........................,,................... Feb. 2S, Dewry Hotel, Omaha, Neb.................................................................................
142 87 20
July 22, Binghamton. N. Y...............................................1....................................................... 32
July 22, Jackson, Miss.-iSt......................................................................................................... 35
Dec. 3, Arcadia Hotel, Boston, Mass............................................................................. 28
Dec. 24, Fire and panic. Oalumet, Mich..................................................................... 72
March 8, Athletic Clubhouse, St. Louis, Mo.......................................................... Oct. 21, St. John School,~Peabody, Mass.................................................................
30 21
June 14, New York City............................................................................................................... 20
April 13, Norman, Okla............................................................................................................... 37
Oct. 12, Forest, Minnesota1,000
EXPLOSIONS
1908 1910
Feb. 20, Dynamite, Berkeley, Cal..................................................................................... Nov. 20, Gas, Brooklyn, N. Y................................................................................................ Oct. 1. Dynamite, Los Angeles Times Office, Los Angeles, Cal.......
30 25 21
1068
-- Eighth Safety Congress
Dec. 27, Dynamite, El JPaso, Texas................................................................................... 1911 Feb. 1, Dynamite, Jersey City, N. J_____________________________________________ 1913 March. 7, Dynamite, Baltimore Harbor, Md........................................................... 1915 Sept. 27, Gasoline, Ardmore, Okla 47
20 35 50
STORMS AND FLOODS
1908 Jan. 13, Cyclone, Mississippi_____________________________________________________ 20
April 24, CycloSe, Louisiana ____________________________________________________ 108
April 24, Cyclone, Alabama ..............................................................
31
April 24, Cyclone, Mississippi .............................................................................................. 229
May 13, Cyclone, Louisiana------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 42
June 6, Cyclone; Nebraska....................................................................................................... 28 June 20, Storm, Oklahoma....................................................................................................... 100
Aug. 2S, Flood, Folsom, N. Mexico................................................................................. 20
Aug. 2S, Flood. Georgia ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 60
Aug. 2S, Flood,TMS. Carolina_______
26
Nov. 25, Cyclone. Northwestern Ark............................................................................... 27
1909 Feb. 5, Cyclone, Arkansas and Mississippi 23
April 7, Storm iiTNorthwest..................................................................................................... 58
May 29. Cyclone, N. Dakota and Oklahoma ____________________________ 22 May 30, Cyclone^ Texas ......................................................................................................... 33
July 21, Hurricane, Galveston. Texas 3M
Oct. 15, Storm, Tennessee and' Georgia___
93
1911 April 4, CycloneTMissouri, Kansas and Oklahoma...................................... 38
Sept. 30 Flood, from burst dam, Austin, Pa...................................................... 7*
1912 April 4, Flood. Mississippi River_________________________________________________ April IS, Flood, Boliver Co., Mississippi ............................................................ 200
April 21, Cyclone, Illinois and Indiana __________________________________ 75
April 22, Cyclone, Georgia and Alabama ............................................................. 25
April 27, Cyclone, Oklahoma .............................................................................................. 50
May 9, Flood, Louisiana............................................................................................................ 75
June 16, StormLtH Missouri
26
July IS, Cloud burst. Seven Tvaughs, Nev________________________________ 2*
July 23. Cloud burst, Western Pennsylvania 65
Sept. 2. Storm, `Western Pennsylvania and W. Virginia_____________ 40
1913 March 14 Cyclone, Middle West and South 338
' |
March 22. Cyclone, MississippiValley......................................................... March 2S, Floods. Indiana and Ohio..............................................
220 736
\
\ 19lj
Dec. 4, Floods, Texas........................................................
Dec. 4, Storm, CSorado .......................... May 3, Storms in Southwest _______________________________
500
24 20
1915 1916
April 23, Floods Land Cyclone, Texas.......................................................................... 40
May 4, Tornado, Louisiana ...................
41
July 7, Cyclone.-Middle West................................................................................................ 58
Aug. 2, Cloud burst, Erie, Pa____________
35
Aug. 16. Hurricane, Texas Coast...................................................................................... 375
Aug. 20. Storm, SfT Louis, Mo--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20
Sept. 29, Hurricane, Louisiana............................................................................................ 600
Jah. 2S, San Diego, Cal.........................................................................--................................. 100
Jan. 2S;'Floods, Arkansas ......................................................................................................... 29
Public Safety Section
3069
1917 1918
June 5, Storm in SoutKwest..................-___-................................................... 150 July 6. Storm, Alabama and North Carolina__:.................................... SO Aug. 3, Cloudburst, Tazewell, Tenn..............................................................- 3S Aug. 9, Cloud burst, W. Virginia....................................................................... 9-1
Feb. 22, Cyclone, Georgia and Alabama...................................................... 20 March 24, Cyclone, NeW^Albany, Indiana ................................................. 36 May 25, Cyclone, Andale. Kansas ............................................................... 30 May 26, Cyclone, IllinoUT..................................................................................... 94 May 26, Cyclone, Kentucky .............................................................................. 70 May 27, Cyclone, Alabama ............................................................................... 48 May 27. Cyclone. Tennessee ...................................... .................................... 34 May 30. Cyclone, Missouri ............................................................................... 79 June 1. Oklahoma and Kansas ............................................................. ........ 21
Jnne 6, Cyclone, Missouri .............................................................................. 22 Aug. 21, Cyclone. Tyler. Minn.......................................................................... xs>
MISCELLANEOUS DISASTERS
1910
1912 191*
Feb. 28. Snow-slides. Montana.......................................................................... 118
Jane II, Volcanic Eruption, Alaska ...
'200
Jan. 23,Fall of building. McKinney. Teias..................
35
May 24. Collapse of Municipal pier, CongBeach. Cal............................. 39
1916 July 24. Water tunnel accident Cleveland. Ohio.......................
2:{
1918 Jane 29. Collapse of store, Sioux City. Iowa......................................... 41
Nov. 9. Asphyxiation Accident. Pittsburgh. Pa................................... These disasters may be summarized as follows:
Storms
25
and Miacel-
Years
Railway Marine
Fire Explosion- FlootJa laneons Total
1908 ..........
21
1909 ____........ __
400
55
691
81 55
266
IA6T -Ml2
1910 ...................129
1911 ____........... 28 1912____________94
47 20 1.57S
159 _r 229
41
35
...
102 616
11$ 2*K>
49+
*14 2.498
1913
........... 68
218
1ST 50 l.$t$ 74 2.415
1914
1.570
30
20 1.637
1915 ........______ 24
1.005 ^ 21
*7 1.069
2.166
1916
------ 105
- 20
..
491
23
639
1917 _____.......... 88
TMTi.037
454
1.579
1918 ...................240
813
--...........
........
35 66 1.154
Total . ............864
5.332
2.13S
223
5.562
tsi
14.605
(190S-191S)
.
In these lists of the more important disasters, and not all are Included,
there were 14,605 reported deaths during the eleven-year period, or an
average of 1,32S deaths per year. By kinds of disasters, storm and floods
and navigation easily lead in importance. Fires, too. are shown to be re
sponsible for many disasters, Those listed causing a reported loss of 2,13S
lives. Railways are a less frequent cause of disasters today than a few
year ago, although 1918 was a particularly bad year.
1070
Eighth Safety Congress.
The above lists and summary furnish striking evidence of the impor tance or disasters indwelling the grand total of lives lost iu public acci dents and they emphasize the importance of devising more efficient pre ventive measures. With the possible exception of deaths fn storms and floods there would appear to be great possibilities for the saving of lives which now are lost by thousands in needles fires, explosions, collapse of buildings, etc., and in transportation both by land and water.
APPENDIX B
FATALITIES FROM SPORTS
Probably few of uSTTealize or even stop to think of the toll of lives which Death takes iniTSports in the United States every year. The most interesting figures onrjhis interesting subject are to be found in the an nual summaries of the Chicago Tribune. No pretense is made that these data are complete or entirely accurate, but they will serve when totaled for a number of yearifTo attract attention to a series of public hazards many of which are preventable and all of which are indicative of Ameri can recklessness. During the eight-year period, 1911-1918, inclusive, there were no fewer than 4,ll3 fatalities as the direct result of sports, hunting, celebrations, etc., according to the records of the Chicago Tribune. It is not likely that this total is anywhere near large enough to express the whole truth, and it does not contain the fatalities due to ballooning and aviation, but it is significant of the accumulative results of many small numbers. By specific causes or methods of death, bicycles and motor
cycles is at the head ot the list with 1,769 fatalities; hunting is second with 1,105; and Fourth-of July and other celebrations Is third with 303 fatalities. It is interescOhg to note that thi3 class of fatalities has been rapidly reduced with more rational community action in the regulation of the sale and use of fiflWbrks, firearms, and other dangerous display and noise makers. In 190S3Jie Chicago Tribune reported 178 deaths due to Fourth of July celebrations, when ten years later in 1918 only 8 such deaths were noted. Here is a most significant lesson in the value of ra tional accident prevention work.
The danger of careless handling of firearms is clearly set forth in the data collected under the caption "Didn't know it was loaded." During the eight years, 1911-1918, no fewer than 298 fatalities were reported by
the Chicago Tribune asrthe result of this fatal excuse' of ignorance; it is a record which in disastrous results is now more important than celebra tions. During the last five years, 1914-191S, this cause was responsible for 177 fatalities against 149T from celebrations.
In eight years 19S deaths have been charged against baseball and 134 against football. Even gblf is charged- with 7 deaths and tennis with the same number, also basketball. Coasting has cost 71 lives, roller coasting 34; roller skating 24; prize fighting 19; boxing 17; wrestling 18; horse racing 31; and polo 6. The record of fatalities from auto racing does not seem to be complete, but it has become a real menace not only to the drivers, but to the spectators as well.
Rocking the boat may be an interesting diversion, but is charged with
Pul) fie Safety Sect inn
1071
45 fatalities, which probably does not express more than a traction of the truth. Scenic railways have caused 13 deaths during the period un der review. In this connection it is interesting to recall the recent (August 10, 1919 disaster at ^Montreal resort In which seven passengers on a scenic railway were dashed into a fire and their bodies burned be yond recognition. Merry-go-rOunds have caused one fatality per year, on an average. The other specific causes of sport fatalitfes as listed by the Chicago Tribune are of minor importance, but for convenience the data have been tabulated in the following table by order of the relative impor tance of the causes specified^
Death Toll of Sports in the United States--Data Rearranged front Annual Summaries in' Chicago Tribune, 1911-1918
No. of
Sport
Fatalities
Bicycles and Motorcycles........-..1,769
Hunting --.1,105
Fourth of July and other cele
brations .......................................=7=.. 303
Didn't know it was loaded___ 29S
Baseball ............................._..........-- 198
Football ...........................................
134
Coasting ....................................--TM 71
Rocking the boat...........................7.. 45
Prize fighting ..............................i. 35
Roller coasting ...........................-ssi. 34
Horse racing ...............................
31
Roller skating ............................
24
Wrestling ...................................................IS
Boxing .............................................3s 17
Sport Scenic railway...... Merry-o-round ..... Golf.............................. Tennis ____________ Basketball ............... Polo_________ _______ Pole vaulting .......... Disc throwing.......... Foot racing.............. Hammer throwing Putting the shot..... Tobogganing .......... Hockey ...................... Trapese ......--...........
Total
Xo. Of
Fatalities
______ 13
_____ 8
6 3
2 1 1 1 1 1
4.143
APPENDIX C
MORTALITY FROM ACCIDENTS IN TIIK REGISTRATION AREA OF TILE EXITED STATES 1007-1017
(Rates per 100,000 Population)
rCl'ULATKlN
Year
: .Males
1907 ................................................. 21.899.144
1908 ..................................................." 23.S76.529
1909 ................................................... 26.020,431
Females 21.117.S45 22,9l3,3S4 24,850.087
1910 ............................................. 27,606,526 1911 ..................................................... 30,463,411 1912 .....................................................~ 31,128,193 1913 ....................................................7- 32,607,069 1914 ...........................:...................... 33,0S4,4S6 1915 .................................................' 34,678,550
26,237,370 28,812.566 29.298.946 30,691,649 32,004.807 32,65S,442
Total 13.016.990 46.789,913 50.870,5 IS 53.S43.896 59,275.977 60,427,133 63.298.71 S 65,989,293 67.336.992
.1916......... 1917 ..........
1907-1911 1912-1916
Year 1907 ........... 190S ............ 1909 ............ ' 1910 ----------
1911 ............... 1912 ------------1913 ............... 191-1 --...........
1915 ............
1916 ...............
191.7 .........-- 1907-1911 . 1912-1916 .
Year 1907"! 19QSJ. J909J 1!U0 ........ 1911 ........ 1912 .......
1913 .........
1914 ....... 1915 ........ 1916 -...... 1917 .......
1907-1911
1912-1916
Year
1907'|
190S 1 1909) 1910 1911 .
Mifffit h Safety Congress
36,721,421 38,453,558
129,866,041 169,119,719
34,900,211 36,546,442
123,931,253' 159,554,049
71,621,632 75,000,000
253,797,294 328,673,768
ALT, ACCIDENTS
Males
Deaths
Rate
... 31,816
145,3
... 29,570
123,9
... 31,488 .... 35,731
121,0 129.4
... 3S.335
125.8
... 3S,23?
122.8
41,757 ... 37,OW
128.1 109.2
... 3S,667
111.5
... 45,91^ 125.1
. 49,173" 127.9
... 166,9411 ... 201.673"
12S.5 119.3
Females
Deaths
Bate
S,474
40.1
S.406
36.7
9.185
37.0
9,685
36.9
11,7S6
40.9
11,542
39.4
12,254
40.0
11,465
35.8
12,739
39.0
14,152
40.6
16.476
45.1
47.536 62.152
3S.4 ' 39.0
POISONING BY FOOD
.Males
DeathsT
Rate
Females
Deaths
Rate
Deaths 40,290 37,976
. 40,673 45,416 50,121
49,775
54,011 48,562 51,406 60,071
t>E>,64y
214.476 263,825
Rate 93.7 81.2 80.0 S4.4 84.6 82.4 85.3 73.6 76.3 83.9 87.5
S4.5 S0.3
Total
;&ths
Rate
-- Not Separately Reported ^
26=
285 -- 337 -- 336-- 34 4 -- 393 " 4 27=^
0.36 0.86
0.92 1.03 0.99 0.99 1.07 1.11
~>S 219
2SS 320 305 295 327 352
0.22
0.76 0.9S 1.04 0.95 0.90 0.94 0.96
157
481 573 657 641 639 720 779
0.29
0.81 0.95 1.04 0.97 0.95
1.01 1.04
2.69-53E 1.59
1.535
0.96
OTHER ACUTE FOISONTIXG
Males
Deaths
Rate
Females
Deaths
Rate
3.230
0.98
Total
Deaths
Rate -
-Not Separately Reported
728 - 2.64 7$9 2.59
IDS 1.90 610 2.12
1.227 1.399
2-2S 2.36
1912 ............... ,, 1913 ....................... 3914 ....................... 1915 ....................... 1916 1917
1907-3 911 ........... 1912-1916 ______
l*ublic Safety Section
769 85 5 832 733 754 719
^2.47 "2.62
2.45 2.11 "S 2.05 ^l.S7
579 598 595 547 531 577
1.9S
1.95 1.86 1.67 1.52 1.5S
3,943
2.33
2,850
1.79
1.34S 1,453 1.427 1,280 1.285 1,296
6,793
1073
2.23 2.30 2.16 1.90 1.79 1.73
2.07
CONFLAGRATIONS
Males"
Females
Total
Year 39071
Deaths *
-Rate -
Deaths
Rate
Deaths
Rate
1908 J.
Combined with Absorption of Deleterious Gases
1909J
1910 ....................... 1911 ......................
4S3 H.75 4S6 ^5! .60
262 1.00 r 745 1.38
383 1.33
869 1.47
1912 _______
-1.7S
347 1.18
901 1.49
1913 ............. ......... 1914 .............
622 =1.91 639 =1.88
327 1.07 2S3 0.S8
949 1.50 922 1.40
1915 ............. ......... 1916 ......... .........
590 "3.70 641 --1.75
381 1.17 413 1.18
971 1,054
1.44 1.47
1917 ..............___
705 3.83
452 1.24
1.157
1.54
1907-1911 .. 1912-1916 .. .........
3.046
3.80
1.751
1.10
4,797
1.46
TOTAL POISONING
Males'" -
Year
Deaths
Rate
1907 ....3......
4.52
1908 .......................
957
4.01
1909 ............. ........ 1.006
387
Females
Deaths
Rate
736 3.49
695 3.03
773 3.11-
Total
Deaths
Rate
1.725
4.01
1,652
3.53
1,779
3.50
TOTAL CONFLAGRATIONS AND ABSORPTION OF DELETERIOUS GASES
Males
Year
Deaths
Rate
1907 . ...................... 1,125
5.14
1908 . ..................... 1.100
4.61
1909 . ...................... 1,262
4.85
Females
Deaths
Rate
566 2.6S
5SS 2.57
57o 2.31
Total
Deaths
Rate
1.691
3.93
1,688
3.61
1.837
3.61
=
- Males TT
Year
Deaths'
1907 . ........'............. 1,679
Rate 7767
BURNS
Females
Deaths . Rate
2.239
10.60
-
Total
Deaths
Rate
3,918
9.11
10/4
Eighth Safety Congress
1908 ........................ 1909 ........................ 1910 ........................ 1911 ....................,,. 1912 ........................ 1913 ........................ 191-1 ........................ 1915 ........................ 1916 _____________ 1917 .......................
1,540 1,677 1,810
1,891= 2,072: 2,156== 2,002
2,105 2,579 2,975_
1907-1911 ........... 8,59T 1912-1916 ........... 10,914*
6.45 6.44 6.56 6.21 6.66 6.61
5.89 6.07 7.02 7.74
6.62 6.45
2,148 2,315 2,372 2,676 2,767 2,779
2,503 2,699 3,147 3,854
11,750 13,895
9.37 9.32 9.04 9.29 9.44 9.05 7.82 8.26 9.02 10.55
9.48 8.71
3,688 3,992 4,182 4,567 4,839 4,935 4,505 4,804 5,726 6,829
20,347 24,809
7.88 7.85 7.77 7.70 8.01 7.80 6.83 7.13 7.99 9.11
8.02 7.55
ABSOREIION OB' DELETERIOUS GASES
Year 1907 190S
1909
Males
Females
Deaths " Rate
Deaths
Rate
'j
(.. Combined with Conflagration J
1910 ........................ 1911 ........................ 1912 ....................... 1913 ................ 1914 ........................ 1915 ........................ 1916 ........................ 1917 ........................
999 1,472 = 1,595 1,53113
1,625 =
1,516 2,010" 2,359 ^
3.62 4.83 5.12 4.70
4.78
4.37 5.47 6.13
3S0 671 783 740 792 686 917 1,007
.1.45 2.37 2.66 2.41 2.47 2.10 2.63 2.76
1907-1911 ...........
--
1912-1916 ........... 8,277 = 4.89
3,918
2.46
Total
Deaths
Rate
1,379 2,143 2,378 2,271 2,417 2,202 2,927 3,366
12.195
2.56 3.62 3.94 3.59 3.66 3.27 4.09 4.49
3.71
DROWNING
Males
Year
Deaths
Rate
1907 ....................... 3,91S
17.S9
1908 ........................ 4.262 i 17.S5
1909 ....................... 4.144 -= 15.92
1910 ........................ 4,396
15.92
1911
4.972 =16.32
1912 ....................... 4,760 ZTlo.29
1913 ....................... 5,656 =5kJL7.35
1914 ........................ 4,827 ~14.20
1915 ...................... 5,479
15.80
1916 ....................... 5,519 =15.03
1917 ........................ 4,S53
12.62
Females
Deaths
Rate
389 1.84
415 1.81 414 1.67
422 1.61
599 2.08
553 1.89
S12 2.65
oil
1.60
1,035
3.17
666 1.91
609 1.67
Total
Deaths
Rate
4,307
10.01
4.677- 10.09
4.558
8.96
4,818
8.95
5,571
9.40
5,313
8.79
6,468
10.22
5,338
S.-09
6,514
9.67
6,185
8.64
5,462
7.2S
1907-1911 ........... 21,692 -- 16.70 1912-3 916 ........... 26.241 Xd5.52
2.239 3,577
1.81 2.24
23,931 ' 29,818
9.43 9.0 i
Public Safely Section
1075
TRA.tTMA.TISM BY FIREARMS
Males '
Year
Deaths
Rate
1907
798
3.64
1908 *........................
885
3.71
1909 _____________ 1910 ___________
840 1^3.23 1,029 " 3.73
1911------------------- . 1,166
3.83
1912 -------------------- 1,217 " 3.91
1913
............... 1,380 -- 4.23
1914 1915 --------------------
1,202 -- 3.54
1,301
3.75
1916 -------------------- ' 1,401 LT3.82
1917 _______
1,478 "3.84
1907-1911 ____... \ /4.71S ^3.63 1912-1916 ___.... 6,501 " 3.84
Females
Deaths
Rate
99 0.47
101 0.44
104
0.42
132 0.50
161
0.56
152 0.52
192 166
0.63 0.52
200
0.61
212 0.61
252
0.69
597 922
0.48 0.58
Total
Deaths Rate
897
2.09
986 2.11
944 1.86
1,161
2.16
1,327
2.24
1,369
2.27
1,572
2.48
1,368
2.07
1,501
2.23
1,613
2.25
1,730
2.31
5*315 7,423
2.09 2.26
TRAUMATISM BY CUTTING AND PIERCING INSTRUMENTS
Year 19071 190S L
1909J 1910 -------------1911 .................... 1912 ----------------1913 _______-- 1914'.................... 1915 .................... 1916 ....................
1917 ....................
Males
Deaths
Rate
Females
Deaths
Rate
Not Separately Reported
80 98 90 79
98 81 98 129
^9.29 ^0.32 J 0.29 -- 0.24.
."9.29 --0.23 --0.27 0.34
9 0.03 24 0.08 16 0.05 16 0.05
14 0.04 8 0.02
19 0.05 35 9.10
Total
Deaths
Rate
89 122 106
95 112
89 117 164
0.17 0.21 0.18
0.15 0.17 0.13 0.16
0.22
1912-1916 ........
Year ISO?"! 1908 L 1909J 1910 .:.................. 1911 .................... 1912 .................... 1913 .................... 1914 .................... 1915 ....................
446 0.25
73 0.05
TRAUMATISM BY FALL
Males
Deaths
Rate
Females
Deaths
Rate
Not Separately Reported
5.320 5,603 5,806 6,097 5,814 5,909
LL9.27 33.39 T3.65
18.70 17.11 TT7.04
2,985 3,302 3,516 3,650 3,757 4,070
11.38 11.46 12.00
11.89 11.74 12.46
519 0.16
Total
Deaths
Rate
8,305 8,905 9,322 9,747 9,571 9,979
15.42 15.02 15.43
15.40 14.50 14.82
1076
Eighth Safety Congress
1916 ......... ............. 1917 ......................
lAOT-IAI 7 1912-1916 ...........
6,654 6,538
18.12 17.00
30.28(T~ 17.90
4,121 4,650
19,114
11.81 12.45
11.98
MINES .AND QUARRIES
Males
Year
Deaths -- Rate
1907 ...................... 2,127
9.71
1 SOS ...................... 1909 ......................
1.915-** S.02
1,994
7.66
1-910 ....................... .1911 ....................... 1912 ....................... 1913 ....................... 1914 .......................
1915 .......... 1916 .......... 1917 ......................
2,474 2.36S ^ 2,128""" 2,381 ^ 2.110 2.103 2.2-?3 2,710
8.96 7.77 6.83 7.30 6.20 6.07 6.06 7.05
1907-1911 ........... 10.S78 ^ S.38 1912-1916 ........... 10,945 ^ 6.47
Females
Deaths
Rate
3 0.01
2 0.01
3 0.01
10 0.04
4 0.01
9 0.03
4 0.01
3 0.01
7 0.02
3 0.01
3 0.01
22 0.02 26 0.02
10,775
15.04
11,088
14.78
*
49,394
15.03
Total
Deaths
Rate
2.130
4.95
1,917
4.10
1.997
3.93
2.4 S4
4.61
2,372
4.01
2.137
3.54
2.385 ' 3.77
2.113
3.20
2,110
3.13
2,226
3.11
2,713
3.62
10.900 10,971
4.29 3.34
MACHINES
Males
Year
Deaths ^=Rate
1907 ....................... 1908 ........................
1,042 --L- 4.76 876 ^ 3.67
1909 ........................ 1,139 T 4.38
1910 ....................... 1911 ..........-......._ 1912 .......................
1,275 1,200 1,351
4.62 JZZ3-94 ^ 4.34
1913 ....................... 3.4S6 ^4.56
1914 ....................... 1915 .......................
1,191 iS3.50 1,220 1T3.52
1916 ....................... 1.5S4 ^4.31
1917 ....................... 2.054 ^5.34
1907-1911 ............ 1912-1916 ...........
5.532 131:26 6.S32 --"4.04
Females
Deaths
Rate
29 0.14
25 o.n
35 0.14
24 0.09
39 0.14
28 0.-10
40 0.13
3.9 0.12
37 0.11
40 0.11
54 0.15
152 0.12 1S4 0.12
Total
Deaths
Rate
1.071
2.49
901 1.93
1.174
2.31
1.299
2.41
1.239
2.09
1,379
2.2S
1,526
2.41
1.230
1.86
1.257
1.S7
1.624
2.27
2.1 OS
2.SI
5.6S4 7.016
2.24 2.13
RAILROAD
Males --
Year
Deaths Rate
1907 ........................ 7,239
190S .............
5,724
H3:06 4ST.97
1909 ....................... 6,299 lgT.20
Females
Deaths
437 356
Rate
2.07 X.55
360 1.45
Total
Deaths
Rate
7,676
17.84
6,0S0
12.99
6,659
13.09
Public Safety Section
1910 _____________ 1911 ....................... 1912 1913 1914 ....................... 1915 ....................... 1916 1917 .......................
7.43o 7.217
7.676 7,747
6,170 6,190 7,509 7,783 .
1907-1911 ........... 33,914 1912-1916 ........... 35,292
26.93 23.69 24.66 23.76 16.16 17.85 20.45 20.24
zsm 20.ST
442 479 533 465 443 462 618 743
2,074 2.521
1.68 1.66 1.82 1.52 1.38 1-41 1.77 2.03
1.67 1.58
Street cars
Males
Year
Deaths
Rate
1907
1,568
7.16
1908 ..................... 1,397
5785
1909 ...........................
1,412
ST43
1910 ....................
1,611
7^4
1911 .................... .. 1,570
15
1912 ....................
1,503
4.83
1913 ....................
1,641
6.03
1914 ....................
1.309
85
1915 ....................
1,251
"3361
1916 ----------------- 1.436
91
1917 ....................
3,779
4763
Females
Deaths
Rate
312 1.48
299 1.30
311 1.25
33S 1.29
313 1.09
329 1.12
357 1.16
284 0.89
304 0.93
339 0.97
480 1.31
1907-1911 ........... 1912-1916 .........
T.55S 7,140
::
5.82 A.22
1,573 1,613
1.27 1.01
Automobiles
Males
Year
Deaths
Rate
1907 ............
232 1.06
190S .................
310 7130
1909 .................
473 1.S2
1910 ................
7S1 "2783
1911 .................
1,026
3.-37
1912 ________....;. 1,370
4.40
1913 ................
6.00
1914 .................
2.172
C39
1915 ................
3,120
1916 ...................... 4,114
9.00 11:20
1917 ................
5,193
150
1907-1911 .... ...... 2,822 1912-1916 .... ...... 12,733
2717 " 7-53
Females
Deaths
Rate
62 0.29
83 0.36
159 0.64
199 0.76
265 0.92
388 1.32
531 1.73
57S 1.S1
858 2.63
1,079
3.09
1,484
4.06
76S 3,434
0.62 2.15
7,877 7,696 8.209 S,212 6,613 6,652 8,127 8,526
35.98S 37.813
1077
14.63 12.98 13.58 12.97 10.02
9.88 11.35 11.37
14.18 11.50
Total
Deaths
Rate
1,880
4.37
1.696
3.63
3.723
3.39
1,949
3.62
1.SS3
3.18
1,832
3.03
1.99S
3.16
1,593
2.41
1,555
2.31
1*775
2.4 S
2,259
3.01
9.131 8.753
3.60 2.66
Total
Deaths
Rate
294 0.68
393 0.84
632 1.24
9S0 1.82
1.291
2.18
1,758
2.91
2,488
3.93
2.750 3,978
4.17 5.91
5,193
7-25
6,677
8.90
3,590 16,167
1.41 4.92
1078
-- Eighth Safety Congress
OTHER VEHICLES
Year*, 1907 ___________ 1908 ___________ 1909 __________ 1910 .................... 1911 ___________ 1912 .................... 1913 .................... 1914 ___________ 1916 ___________ 1916 ..................... 1917 .....................
1907-1911 .......... 1912-1916 ...........
Males
Deaths
Rate
7.34
1,675
7.02
1,883
7.24
1,674
6.06
1,918
6.30
1,941
6.24
2,057
6.31
1,996
5.87
2,040
5.88
2,025
5.51
2,004
5.21
8,758"" l0,0o9TT
6.74 5.95
Females
Deaths
Rate
202 0.96
249 1.09
269 1.03
266 1.01
319 1.11
280 0.96
324 1.06
316 0.99
308 0.94
30S 0.S8
298 0.S2
1.305 1,536
1.05 0.96
Total
Deaths 1,810
Rate 4.21
1,924
4.11
2,152
4.23
1,940
3.60
2,237
3.77
2,221 2,381
3.68 3.76
2,312
3.60
2,348 2,333
3.49 3.26
2,302
3.07
10,063 11,595
3.96 3.53
LANDSLIDE AND OTHER CRUSHING
Year 1907-) 19081 1909]
1910. ................... 1911 .................... 1912 .................... 1913 .................... 1914 ....................
1915 ..................... 1916 ..................... 1917 ....................
1907-1911 .......... 1912-1916 ...........
Males Deaths^ Rate
Females
Deaths
Rate
Total
Deaths
Rate
Not Separately Reported
5297 454 _ 453^ 536 400~^ 419 543 472
^==~
2,351TM^
1.92 1.49 1.46 1.64 1.18 1.21 1.48 1.23
1.39
27 ll 23 65 18 26 20 48
152
0.10 0.04
o.os
0.21 0.06 O.OS 0.06 0.13
0.10
556 465 476 601 418 445 563 520
2,503
1.03 0.78 0.79 0.95 0.63 0.66 0.79 0.69
0.76
INJURIES BY ANIMALS
Year
19071 190S L 2909j
Males
Deaths
Rate
Females
Deaths
Rate
Total
Deaths
Rate
' Not Separately Reported
1910 ...................... 1911 ...................... 1912 1913 ....................... 1914 ....................... 1915 .......................
461 1.67 4S6 -- 1.60 495 1.59 495 ^ 1.52 478 ~ 1.41 527 ~ 1.52
41 0.16 34 0.12 4S 0.16 45 0.15 51 0.16 36 0.11
502 520 543
540 629 563
0.93 0.88 0.90
0.85 0.80 0.84
Public Safety Section
1079
1916__________
1917
...........
537 1.46 583 =L.52
52 0.15 70 0.19
5S9 0.82 653 0.87
1907-1911 ...... 1912-1916 ____
2,532
- ______
=1.50
...................
232
........... --
0.15
--------------
2,764
--
0.84
STARVATION
Year
Males Deaths .Rate
Females
Deaths
Rate
Total
Deaths
Rate
19071 19081
**
... Not Separately Reported
1909 I
1910'_________ 1911 ................____ 1912 ....................... 1913 ____________ 1914 ................____ 1915 ................ ......
1916 ................ 1917 ................ ......
24 '-0.09 61 ___0.20 35 =0.11 21 =0.06 27 0.08 29 = 0.08 24 = 0.07 26 =0.07
14 0.05 33 0.11 15 0.05
13 0.04 14 0.04 14 0.04 23 0.07 12 0.03
38 0.07 94 0.16 50 0.08
34 0.05 41 0.06 43 0.06 47 0.07 38 0.05
iQin.ioi i 1912-1916 ............
136
0.08
79 0.05
____
215 0.07
EXCESSIVE COLD
Males
Year
Deaths Rate
1907 .....................
233 =.06
1908 -------------------
205
0.86
1909
221 =_0.85
1910 -------------------
1911 ------------------------
219 = 0.79 170 =0.56
1912 ........................
267
0.86
1913 -------------------
203 = 0.62
1914 ------------------1915 --...................
293 = 0.86 277 = 0.80
1916 .......................
322 =>.SS
1917 .......................
43S =1.14
1907-1911 --------1912-1916 ---------
1,04S =0.81 1.362 __ 0.81
Females
Deaths
Rate
47 0.22
22 0.10
30 0.12
35 0.13 18 0.06
49 0.17
27 0.09
56 0.17
67 0.21
49 0.14
69 0.19
152 0.12 248 0.16
EFFECTS OF HEAT
Males
fear
Deaths _ "Rate
1907 ........................
389 = 1.78
1908 -------
550 " 2.30
1909 ....................
562 = 2.16
Females
Deaths
Rate
191 0.90
279
1.22
254
1.02
Total
Deaths
Rate
2S0 0.65
227 0.49
251 0.49
254 0.47
188 0.32
316 0.52
230 0.36
349 0.53
344 0.51
371
0.52
507 0.6S
1,200 1,610
0.47 0.49
Total
Deaths
Rate
580 1.35
829 1.77
816 1.60
1080
Eighih Safety Congress
1910 _________ 1911 .................. 1912 .................. 1913 .................. 1914 .................. 1915 .................. 1916 .................. 1917 .................. ......
557 2,10L3_
547 seir
293L 1,581 1,451_
1907-1911 ...... 1912-1.916 .......
4,159 3.793"
2.02 6.90 1.76 2.61 1.50 0.S4 4.31 3.77
3.20 2.24
269 1.064
232 366 3 68 116 472 512
2,057 1,354
1.03 3.69 0.79 1.19 0.52 0.36 1.35 1.40
1.66 0.85
826 3.165
779 1.226
679 407 2.056 1,963
6.216 5.147
1.55 5.34 1.29 1.94 1.03 0.60 2.S7 2.62
2.45 1.57
LIGHTNING
Males
Year
Deaths
Rate
1907 ....................... 1908 ____________
107^ 0.49
132 r 0.55
1909 .......................
136" 0.52
1310 .......................
134
0.49
1911 .......................
19S^T 0.65
1912 .......................
211 S 0.68
1913 ......................
260" 0.80
1914 .......................
234 - 0.69
1915 .......................
190
0.55
1916 .......................
280
0.76
1917 .......................
292 -- 0.76
1907-1911 ........... 1912-1916 ...........
707 1.175
0.54 0.69
Females
Deaths
Rate
26 0.12
29 0.13
14 0.06
22 O.OS
42 0.15
32 0.11
57 0.19
30 0.09
31 0.09
60 0.17
67 0.1S
133 0.11 210 0.13
Total
Deaths
Rate
333 0.31.
161 0.34
150 0.29
156 0.29
240 0.40
243 0.40
317 0.50
264 0.40
221 0.33
340 0.47
359 0.48
S40 1.3S5
0.33 0.42
ELECTRICITY
Year 3 907-j i nos L
1909 j 1910 .............. ....... 1911 .............. 1913 ------------....... 1913 ...................... 1914 ...................... 1915 ....... .... ...... 1916 ................ 1917 ................___
Males
Deaths ^Rate
Females
Deaths
Rate
Total
Deaths
Rate
Not Separately Reported
464 ' 1.6S ^J-1.64
553 LS1.7S 661 ^2.03 533 . jil.57 ,, 502 Si.4 5
-Si.57 63S Si.66
14 13 14
9
10 13 ' 11 16
0.0-'* 0.05 0.05 0.03 0.03 0.04 0.03 0.04
47$ 513 567 670 543 515 586 654
0.S9 0.S7 0.94
1.06 0.82 0.76 0.82 0.87
1907-1911 .... 1912-1916 ....
2.S24 Sil .67
57 0.04
2.S81
0.88
Public Safety Section
1081
FRACTURES
Year 1907 .......................
1908 ....................... 1909 ....................... 1910 ....................... 1911 1912 ....................... 1913 ....................... 1914 ....................... 1915 ..................... 1916 ____________ 1917 .......................
Males
Deaths
Rate
1,088
4.97
446 1.8T
230 0.8S
376 1.36
235 0.77
285 onon
301 0.9ST
227 0.67
261 0.75
438 1.19
333 0.87
1907-1911 ______ 1912-1916 ______
2.375 1.512
1.83
o.sir
Females
Deaths
Rate
838 - 3.97
288 1.26
127 0.51
247 0.94
12S 0.44
180
0.61
145 0.47
165 0.52
130 0.40
198 0.57
142 0.39
1,628 81S
1.31 0.51
OTHER EXTERNAL VIOLENCE
Year 1907 1908 ------------------1909 .......................
1910 ....................... 1911 ....................... 1912 .................... 1913 ................... 1914 _____ _____ 1915 1916 1917 .......................
Aiales
--
Deaths 7;654
Rate35.0
7,596
31.8"
8,310
31.sr~
2.773
10.0
2,092 2.270
6.9" 7.3 ^
2,438
7.5
2,071
6.1--
2,189
6.3 "
2,676
7.3^
3,234
8.4 ~
1907-1911 ......... 28,425 1912-1916 ______ 11,644
21.9-^ 6-9 rr
Females
Deaths
Rate
2.298
10.9
2,827
12.3
3.442
13.9
618 2.4
379 1.3
381 1.3
372 1.2
364 1.1
409 1.3
527 1.5
790 2.2.
9,564 2,053
7.7 1.3
Total
Deaths
Rate
1,926
4.48
734 1.57
357 0.70
623 1.16
363 0.61
465 0.77
446 0.70
392 0.59
391 0.58
636 0.89
475 0.63
4.003 2.330
1.58 0.71
Total
Deaths
Rate
9.952
23.2
10,423
22.3
11,752
23.1
3.391
6.3
2.471
4.2
2.651
4.4
2.810
4.4
2,435
3.7
2,598
3.9
3.203
4.5
4,024
5.4
37,989 13,697
15.0 4.2
SUMMARY AND ESTIMATES OF ACCIDENT MORTALITY IN THE UNITED STATES, 1918 AND 1919
Registration Area,
U. S. 1917
Poisonings by Food.......
779
Other Poisonings ............ ............... 1,296
Conflagrations .
.,157
Burns ...................
________ 6,829
Absorption of Deleterious Gases"3,366
Drownings .......
------------ ^5,462
Traumatism by Firearms........... J ,730
United States
( Estimated )
1917
1918*
1,067
1,115
1,775
1,855
1,5S5
1,656
9,355
9,776
4,611
4,619
7.4S2
7,819
2,370
2,477
1919* 1,165
1,939 1,731 10,216 5.036 8,171 2,589
1082
Eighth Safety Congress
Traumatism, Cutting and Pierc-
ing Instruments ............________ 164
Falls ........................................... h=f........ 11,OSS
Mines and Quarries...........-T-........ 2,713
Machines ....................................
2,10S
Railroad ................................................. 8,526
Street Cars ...........................________ 2,259
Automobiles ....................................... 6,677
Other Vehicles ................... ^....... 2,302
Landslides and Other CruUiing 520
Injuries by Animals..............
653
Starvation ................................. ~___
38
Excessive Cold .... ..............--____ 507
Effects of Heat........................2^.
3,963
Lightning .............................................. 359
Electricity ..................................7"^"
C54
Fractures .....................................is___ 475
Other External Violence...-- 4,024
225 15,189
3,716 2.SSS 11,679 3,095 9,147 3,153
712 895
52 694 2,6S9 492 S96 651 5,512
All Accidents .................______ 65,649
S9.930
235 15,873
3,883 3,018 12,205 3,234 9,559 3,295
744 935
54 725 2,810 514 936 690 5,760
93.9S7
246 16,587
4,058 3,154 12,754 3,540 9,989 3,443
778 977
56 75S 2,937 537 978 721 6,019
98,179
On the assumption that there has been no increase or decrease in the acci-
dent rates which prevailed in 1317.
JVIr. Chum: The automobile question as regards public accidents, prob ably is today the most Important. There are in this country over eight thousand fatalities from automobiles annually and that is a real serious problem because the number is increasing rapidly. The intensive effort in the safety work ought to more than offset the increase in the number of automobiles. That is an enormous problem, and the States are getting after it. Massachusetts is-going to enact some drastic legislation.
Here is a little report on fatalities in the one borough of Manhattan. In one year there were 73 2 fatalities due to automobile accidents.
Chairman Taijrkrt: I want to extend the Section's sincere thanks for the time Mr. Crum has put on this work and the two wonderful papers he has presented.
DISCUSSION
Du. S. Dana Hviikaru (Division of Industrial Hygiene, New York City, N. Y.) : I would like to say^ that we publish a weekly and monthly btilletin in which we give ourJzfigures carefully studied and carefully ana lyzed, and also comments by the various public officials. We also pub lish in this bulletin a scienTific paper prepared by a publicist on some particular subject such as ^health. When you figure there are fifty thousand industrial establishments in New YTork. and that Manhattan is only twenty-five square miles, you can readily understand what it means. It is like dealing with contagious diseases, the greater the congestion the greater the danger of the diseases. For instance, I am told that 125.000 people pass out of the Equitable and Woolworth. Buildings in a day. The subway in the city of New York with less than fifty miles of track, carries
Public Safety Section
1083
pretty close to 3,000,000 people a day.
New York City is an island. On one side the river is a mile and a
quarter -wide, and our bay on tbe east side is about five miles wide. Last
year a canoeing party crossed the river for a picnic. A storm came up
and torty-six persons were jdrowned. This year we forbade any such
canoeing in groups.
The same thing is true about motor boating. You may recall a fishing ex
pedition off of Seebright, in which fifteen motor boats sank at one time
with a loss of 116 lives. The Park Place disaster was a question of a
cigarette. The Ireland Building fire had similar origin. When you have
50,000 industrial establishments It is impossible to be in pthose
places all the time. A State factory Department and an Industrial Com
mission can't be everywhere, and the result is, that where there is a
large number of people the police power will not do the trick, and you
have to educate the people byi concentrated instruction.
S.Frederick:
Crum:
It wBs not my intention. Dr. Hubbard, to criti
cise Manhattan.
'-2.
Dr. S. Dana Hubiurd (New York City, N. Y.) : That Is all right. We
need it and deserve jit. ~ --
S.Frederick;
Crum:
If those figures were posted where they could be
seen by everyone in New York, I think it would help some.
S.Db.
Dana Hubbard:
Ware glad to have those facts brought out and
we want them made public. We appreciate where the negligence is, and I
think to a large extent it isZdue to a lack of knowledge of the English
language. I came here for .the purpose of learning safety, with the idea
of taking it back to the city of New York in a comprehensive report, in
order to show the citizens of New York, who are contemplating a cam
paign on Industrial health promotion and safety, just what Is being done.
We don't want to s&al anybody's thunder or patent their devices, but we
do want to know about the best methods of educating the people of New
York to this work. We have forty-five inspectors who have just been
appointed at a salary payroll of 565,000, and we have a publicity payroll
of 520,000, making pretty close to $100,000 we are spending a year to
prevent accidents. Now if we are going to tax our tax payers for that
money, we have to give them something for their money.
Chairman Tai.cert: That concludes the papers to be presented this
morning. I wish those who were in the Public Safety Section work last
year at the St. Louis Congress would please raise their hands. (Only five
hands were raised.)
Now you can see for yourselves how radically these assemblages change from year to year. On the other hand, if you will go to the industrial sections you will find men there who have been there for years. They are
able to tell pretty accurately about how many of their members will be
present next year, but in our work it is extremely difficult to get in
touch with, those on whose cooperation we can count, and upon whom we
can rely for committee work. That condition Is not due to any fault
of the members, but to the fact that most of them are public officials,
people who are interested from one cause or another outside' of the in
dustrial relation.
-a:
1084
--Eighth Safety Congress
We are now in position to carry on actively our propaganda work. That is, the National Safety Council has financed us to the extent of em? ploying a most excellent Field Secretary, Mr. Carl Smith, who will carry on this work during the coming year. Mr. Smith has had a good deal of experience in this work. During the next twelve months he will be at the service of this Section.
Mit. Smith: We have at Headquarters, two men who will cooperate with these committees. The committees appointed this year will be ex pected to continue their.work through correspondence as far as possible. The Chairmen of those committees will communicate directly with this Section and with the. Chicago office. The mailing of questionnaires or circulars of information^or the printing of reports, will be done by the Chicago Office. In other words, as far as possible the headquarters staff and field staff will take the detail work from these committees. We want the committees however, to outline what is to be done, and then entrust to us the work of carrying out the details.
COMMITTEES
CEAimrAK Tausert:
I;
going to ask the chairmen of committees to
furnish a list of all members selected by them.. It was agreed upon at
our first meeting that two or three of the chairmen of this year's com
mittees should continue through the next year. Through the assistance
of the National Safety Council we are now in position to do some real
work, and these men should be allowed to continue their work under these
advantageous conditions. With that understanding Mr. Crum has been
asked to continue on the"Committee on Statistics, and I believe you will
agree with me that that is a good appointment and should be continued.
Mr. DeArmand has heeifT'eappomted as Chairman of the Committee on
Publicity. I am asking him to sele'ct such men as he thinks will be of
most service to him, but" I am going to suggest that Mr. Morley would
be a very valuable man cni that committee.
Mr. DeAbmaxd: I have^selected the following members to work with
me on the Publicity Committee:
R. B. Morley, Ontario Safety League, Toronto, Can. W. N. Fitch. B. F. GooTfldch Co., Akron, Ohio. Clyde R. Miller, HicoxjBldg., Cleveland, Ohio. Marshall Dana, Portland Oregon Journal.
Chairman- Talbebt: Next we have the Committee on Pedestrian Haz ards of which Mr. H. W. Mowery was chairman.
We have a Committee "on Elevators of which Mr. Dana Webster was Chairman, hut Mr. Webster suggests that someone else be appointed as Chairman for the coming year, bearing in mind that he will act as a member of the committee. =
Mb. Webster: I would suggest the name of Mr. Geo. W. Greenleaf as Chairman of the Committee on Elevators.
Chairman Tai-rebt: Then we have the Committee on Education. I would like Dr. Payne to say a word on that. Last year we appointed Dr. George Platt Knox who is an associate of Dr. Payne's in St. Louis, as Chairman of that Committee. While I have the highest personal regard
Public Safety Section
1085
for Dr. Jvnox, it seems to be the logical thing for Dr. Payne to take that
committee for this Section. JHowever I -would like to have an expression
from some of the other delegates from St. Louis.
Mb. Josse: Dr. Knox was- very unfortunate in having a rather severe
accident which kept him from attending the meetings of the Executive
Board for three months. L think Dr. Payne is the logical man for the
committee.
y
Dr. Payne: Dr. Knox is probably as much interested in public safety
work as any man I know of in the country, and we don't want to lose
him to that movement. I Would be perfectly happy to work with him
on the committee, and I would suggest if possible, that we hold that mat
ter over until you and I and Dr. Knox can get together in St. Louis and
talk it over.
-
Chairman Talbert: It happens that all three of us are from St. Louis,
so if the members here will permit me, I will consult with the two gen
tlemen after we return to St. Louis, and we will arrange for the chair
manship of that committeer bearing in mind that it will be either Dr.
Knox or Dr. Faj-ne.
`
Mr. Crum: I move that Mr. Talbert be authorized to talk this matter
over with the two gentlemen in St. Louis, and there select the chairman
for the Committee on Education.'
(Motion seconded by Mr. Hodson, and unanimously adopted.)
Mr. Crum: Is there any By-Law or Rule governing the Section as to
the size of committees, andiwhat has been the practice in the past in that
respect?
Chairman Talbert: The idea has been to confine the committee to as
small a size as you can and still get good results. So far as getting in formation1 is concerned, I want you to follow your own judgment. You
can feel perfectly at liberty to circularize men in various towns to act as
committeemen and to care for that town. You are authorized, if you
desire, to ask any man in airy town to act as your representative or your
committeeman for that parieular city, and to furnish you such informa
tion as you want.
=
A. W. Whitney (National Workmen's Compensation Service): I
think the idea of allowing the various chairmen to select as large a com
mittee as they desire, is a good one, because public safety work is a little
different, in that it reaches- out and strikes all cities, and you have to
create the machinery for getting hold of them.
Chairman Talbert: We still have the Traffic Committee to deal with.
I made the suggestion that the Traffic Committee be sub-divided, and that
one section be made to cover signs and signals. It developed that there
were three different characters of signs and signals as controlling traffic,
that, by the officer at his station in the highway; signs adjacent to the
highways, and signs on carsT I appoint Mr. Harry P. Coffin of Portland,
Ore;, and who is a member of the Puulic Safety Commission of that State,
as Chairman of .the Traffic Committee. He has taken a deep Interest in
this matter, and has made a thorough study of it. In addition I appoint
on the Traffic Committee Lieut. Lewis of Portland, Ore., who is in charge
of the traffic work 'in Portland, and who I understand is in direct com-
1086
Eighth Safety Congress
munication with the entire Coast situation; also Inspector H. May of Cleveland, who has traveled rather extensively under the auspices of the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, studying the traffic situation.
Before we adjourn I want Mr. R. B. Morley, General Manager of the Ontario Safety League, of Toronto, Canada, to say a few words to us. I am going to ask him to prepare for us as a part of next year's program, a resume of the Canadian situation.
ONTARIO SAFETY LEAGUE
Mr. Morley: Nearly six years ago the Ontario Safety League was
created, largely because of the reports received by the Ontario Railway
and Municipal Board dealing with electric railway accidents throughout
the Province. The original intention was that we-would deal with traffic accidents only. About three months after we started our campaign in
1914, we came to the conclusion that traffic accidents were only a small
portion of the work, and that we* had to extend our activities into the
industrial field. We have used bulletins, pictures, buttons, blotters and
practically all the approved methods of publicity. That is to say, that
nearly everything we have done has been done in some form or other by
someone else.
--
Our organization is represented throughout the Province. We have an
excellent Executive Committee, composed of men who take a real interest
in the work. We have devoted a large portion of our time to the educa
tion of the children through various channels of publicity. We have late
ly created a new organization^ to be known as the Canadian Safety League,
by which we intend to encourage the formation of Provincial Leagues in
the other provinces, leagues jdmilar to the Ontario Safety League. We are
now, through the Canadian National League headquarters, in communica
tion with five of the other provinces, and I believe at least two will line
up and form provincial leagues before 1920. We expect to work out some
sort of a proposition for affiliation with the National Safety Council. If
there Is anything at all that I can do to help things so far as any of your committees go, I will be only too glad to do it.
There is one thought I want to leave with the members of the com
mittee, namely that as a source of funds, you cannot beat public safety
work. Nearly ninety per cent of the people who have contributed to our
work in Canada have done so through a succession of years, largely on
account of Public Safety work. Public Safety is the big end of it and Is
really the tent under which all the others will ultimately come.
Chairman Talbert: The Either day I asked Mr. Hodson of E. St- Louis,
111., to present to us a resume of the conditions under which his Boy
Scout was designated to corns' to this convention. I want to express my
appreciation to him for the help he has been, and the gentlemanliness and
manliness In which he has carried out those things left for him to do. I
am going to ask Carl to standi so that we can all get a look at him.
(Carl E. Wiemken, Boy Scotft from E. St. Louis, III., stands up and is ap
plauded.)
Dr. Hubbard: I move that the Public Safety Section of the National
Safety Council thank E. St. Louis and its representative for their work.
Public Safety Section
1087
and that we extend to E. St. Louis and their Boy Scouts the thanks of
this Section for the work they have done in sending this young man, and that we thank Carl Wiernken of Troop 9, for coming here.
(Motion, duly seconded arid unanimously adopted.)
Homeb J. Hodsoi? (E. St. Louis, 111.) : I have made a short report show
ing how this Boy Scout was selected, and this report will be put In the
record.
-
KEPOBT on SELECTION OF BOY SCOUT DELEGATES TO NATIONAL COA'GBESS
Each troop in East St. Louis, Illinois, was asked to submit the name of a Scout who had successfully passed an examination in his individual
Troop and had proven to be the best speaker on the value of scouting and safety. The scout chosen from each Troop then appeared before the Court of Honor (of which I am a member), which selected the best scout who could deliver the best five-minute talk on scouting and safety. The re ward was a trip to the National Safety Congress, with all expenses paid.
I think that one of the greatest things which we could do for the Scout
movement, with regaTd to its safety work, would be to suggest to all local Boy Scout Councils that they put on this same competition next year and
that the reward for the winner shall be a trip to the Annual Safety Con
gress. It might be well, and. I think it would be an ideal movement, for
the National Safety Council to establish a Boy Scout Section.
You will recall that the Council was instrumental in arranging with the
Boy Scouts of America to establish a Merit Badge Examination in Safety
First. The questions which a Scout must answer before he is entitled
to a Safety First Merit Badge are as follows:
1. State four or more dangerous conditions in the average home and in
dicate what steps should be taken to correct these conditions.
2. Produce satisfactory evidence that he is personally responsible for
the application of at least two constructive Safety First principles in his
home town.
^
3. Name the most serious violation of public safety principles which
has come under his observation and produce satisfactory evidence that
he has done all within his lower to correct the same.
4. State in writing at least six of the most important regulations cov
ering street safety to meet the conditions of the neighborhood in which
he lives.
^
5. State in writing at least six of the most important regulations cov
ering street safety to meet the conditions of the school he last attended. 6. Submit in writing an outline-of his own plan for a school fire drill,
and explain the method of properly carrying it into effect. 7. State in writing at' least six violations of Safety First principles
which are responsible for accidents in connection with railroads. 8. Stand a satisfactory examination, showing a knowledge of the im
portance of-the Safety-first Movement, and the most important principles
it involves, and satisfactorily! demonstrate his ability to assume leadership In case of a fire, panic or other disaster.
Surely after a scout has successfully passed such an examination as that given above, he would be a great booster for the Safety-first Movement,
and if It were possible to have a delegation of Boy Scouts at the next
1088
Eighth Safety Congress
Annual Conference, they would go home so enthusiastic for safety work
that It would be a great help in getting all of the Scouts to cooperate In
this valuable movement
I have a promise that this idea of sending a Scout to the Congress will
be given wide publicity by the National Headquarters of Boy Scouts of
America in their weekly magazine, which reaches every Troop in the
United States, numbering; I believe, about 450.
1 do not believe that tKere.is any one in this audience who is not in
terested in the Boy Scout movement, and especially to the part the Scout
plays in the Safety-first work.
As I explained to Mr. Barclay, after his valuable paper at our session
yesterday morning, I would he very glad indeed to explain this idea, which
is suggested to all the Boy Scout organizations throughout the United
States.
--
Respectfully submitted,
Homer J. Hodson.
Safety Engineer, E. St. Louis Ry. Co., E. St. Lout*. III. Inspector May: Tlier.e is one thought I would like to send back to the
various communities represented here today. It seems to me that is
many cities the aim is to_move traffic quickly. * Every man here should
go back to his communityand advocate the slogan, "Move it safely".
Chairman Talbert: The question has been asked as to whether the
Chairman of this section-Should appoint the sub-committees of the Traffic
Committee. I believe it would be better for Mr. Coffin to appoint his own
sub-committees.
Lieut. Lewis: I wouldi^like. to get a list of the members on that com mittee for use at the National Traffic Officers Convention. They are going
to appoint a committee for the nationalization of traffic laws themselves,
and I would like to have that list with me.
Chairman' Talbert: We are not trying to assume to ourselves the
right to say what these things shall be. We want to cooperate and offer
this Association's machinery for doing that. You will express to them oar
attitude and tell them that" what we want to do Is to cooperate. If they
will appoint a committee to work with us we will be very glad to meet
them. We will ask you as a member of this traffic committee to take that
up in detail and keep us fully posted In regard to the situation. Is there
anything further to come before the meeting at the present time?
Carl E. Wiejikes (Boy^Scouts of America. E. St. Louis. HI.>: Mr.
Crum quoted statistics showing that about seventy-five per cent of all
accidents involved the male population. The Boy Scouts have a merit
badge system which teaches them "Safety First", and if you gentlemen,
when you go back to your respective communities, will look up the Boy
Scouts and interest yourself in their organizations, I think you will be
able to reduce the accidents to the male population through the Boy
Scouts. I think you will find out things you never knew before If you
will just put yourself in a place where you can help the Boy Scouts.
Chairman Talbert: If there is nothing further, this meeting will stand
adjourned to meet next year.
Adjournment.
.
^
Public Utilities Section
October 3 and 4, 1919
,, C. E PAIGE, Chairman Manager. Malden and Met rose Gas Light Company. Malden. Mass.
WILLS MACLSCHLAN, Vice-President Electrical Engineer, Consultant Employees' Relations. Toronto. Canada
SAMUEL H. REID, Secretary Bureau ol Safety, Chicago
FRIDAY .MORNING SESSION
CHAIRMAN PAIGE: The meeting is scheduled for 9:30 and, although all the delegates have not come in yet. I think we have enough here to listen to the report of the Chairman.
REPORT OP CHAIRMAN
This section has before it possibilities that were but vaguely appreciat ed at the time of its inception.^^
More and more we are brought to' realize that business, large business
and small business, has given up Safety First as a fad, but has taken It
up as a practical necessity. '
It has now become so intimately related to operation, both in produc
tion and distribution, that many companies have well and carefully
planned departmental organizations to work cooperatively with; the other branches of the enterprise.
But the smaller companies, who are not in position to have definite or
ganizations to work out this matter, must and are giving it attention.
They may not have a corps of Inspectors, or "safety staff." They must
look to the National Safety Council for the highly-specialized knowledge
which their particular problems ^require.
This section must function as a clearing house for ideas and preventive
equipment, for the handling offaccident prevention and for methods of
dealing with accidents peculiar td public utilities.
The key-note of this convention is struck by the phrase--Employees'
Relations.
_
Its various phases have formed the subject of many discussions here,
formal and informal. Utilities are not unfamiliar with the term. Public
relations have been an important feature of our operations, and It is but
a step to private or better named employees' relations.
1089
1090
Eighth Safety Congress
No matter what a company may believe with regard to the merits of various theories in the matter, we have one point on which we must
all agree.
Accident prevention interest can not come from the top down, it must
permeate the whole structure, bottom and top, and to this extent all must
recognize that satisfactory work can be accomplished only by developing
a relationship which acknowledges unreservedly that this effort is in
deed for mutual benefit. There are many things which are closely re
lated to this matter. They go into the methods of employment, questions
of physical examination, vocational differentiation and questions of
company policy with regard to protecting employees' interests.
All these things are so closely related to our work that they indeed
are a part of it. t-
If these subjects Are to be worked out as part of the program of this
section we must prepare ourselves.
If this Section 1st to be considered a valuable asset to the National
Safety Council and-to the industries we represent, we must go to work.
At times like this we find no difficulty in getting up enthusiasm and
making plans. Plans do not mean much if .they are not executed. By all
means let us have our plans, but when you have returned-to your every
day occupations, and are expected to do something for the Section, as
an officer, or a member of a committee, or as an individual, recall the
enthusiasm you now feel and make your effort count.
The various conlBtittee reports will give you Information as to the
status of the section, past and present.
The program is before j'ou. Let us make the most of it, and let every
man here leave with a sense of obligation to the Section, and remember
his duty until we meet again.
We will now have the report of the Secretary.
SECRETARY'S REPORT
The secretary was3uot privileged to attend any of the meetings of the
Public Utilities Section during the year and his report will therefore be
brief.
According to the best 'information available, 25 member companies
canceled their membership during the year and 13 new ones were added,
resulting in a net loss of 12. The total membership at the time of this
report is 224.
--
It is significant that most of those who cancelled are small companies,
and some are isolated from the great center of population and Council
activities and it isAvident that they withdrew their memberships be
cause of a feeling that they were not getting the worth of their money.
The service rendered by the National Safety Council is largely general
and the need of members of tbe Utilities Section, particularly the small
companies, is special Aervice designed so far as possible to meet local and
individual problems. In view of this fact and the obvious necessity for
a close study of the problems of member companies, the following recom
mendations are submitted:
Public Utilities Section-
1091
(1) The adoptions of a prearranged policy governing the activity of
the Public Utilities Section, during the coming year and strict adherence
to that policy..
--
"(2) That .more meetings be held and a special study he made of the
needs of the member companies.'
(3) That efforts be made to make this section of the National Safety
body of, by, and for its members.
(4) That special attention be given to the smaller companies, particu
larly those far removed from the center of activities of the National
Safety Council and the local councils of the larger cities.
(5) That all helpful Information gathered from time to time be
promptly distributed to the members.
~
(6) That more attention be given to the gas, ice, and water interests,
and that these interests be given a place on the programs of the Annual
Congresses.
(The report was accepted and filed.)
Mn. Hermann Spoehrer (Union Electric Light & Power Co., St. Louis):
I would like to inquire why some of the larger companies have with
drawn their membership.
Secretary Reid: In each instance, the company withdrawing stated
the reasons and if the members^want to take the time to go over them,
T shall be glad to do so.
^
Mr. Spoehrer: I would like to say that I imagine resignations of some
of the smaller ones are due to consolidations, but I can hardly conceive
of such a large company as the Newark, N. J., Company withdrawing
their membership.
Mb. H. A. Johnson (Omaha^Gas Company, Omaha, Neb.) : Some of
the smaller companies gave reasons, but as for the Newark Company, I
have this question up with their main office and. they plan to take it up
again. Does that answer the'question, Mr. Spoehrer?
Mr. Spoehrer: Yes, sir.
--
Chairman Paige: Mr. Rosseland of the headquarters staff is here and
as his time Is limited, he has asked for the privilege of speaking at this
time.
^
Mr. Rosseland: I want to ask for some help and suggestions. The
first proposition is to urge tbatrnrembers be a little more free in sending
In bulletin material. Send in suggestions for bulletins. I don't know
whether you all appreciate it or not, but it is difficult to even attempt to
cover adequately the public Utilities field and when, as In the case of the
Council, we are entirely dependent upon the membership for suggestions
and for material you may realize how Important your part is in the work.
Please send us bulletin material, pictures if possible. If not, simply a
clear, concise statement of what you think should be in the bulletin. If
it is impracticable to send a picture, please tell us what you think the
picture should contain, then possibly we can arrange through some of the
other members to secure the pictures.
Then I want to ask that yon-consider whether you wish the Staff to
work with such of your officers as you may select in the preparation
of a Safe Practices pamphlet. zPtber sections have prepared pamphlets
1092
----- Eighth Safety Congress
during the year and_ if you decide that you want one, and will appoint
officers to work \vitR~~ the Council's staff in the preparation of the pam
phlet, you shall have it. I also wish to refer to the use of the Conncil's
Information Bureau. You are probably rather tired of hearing us tell
how much information we have In our files. We have a lot of it. It is
In the form of reports and letters, but we feel, keenly, that the informa
tion is of no value in the files. We know from conversation with mem
bers who come into the Council Headquarters and through correspondence,
that there are many subjects upoii which, we have information that mem
bers desire to have._. What can we do to encourage the use of the In
formation Bureau? ^
I should like very much, if your Chairman will permit, to have some
discussion of the several points that I have brought up. I don't want to
delay'you, hut I want you to feel that the Council is yours.
Mit. C. E. Morcitrsox (Utilities Mutual Insurance Company. New York):
The subject of bulletins is mentioned. I think possibly there has been a
little feeling in this section that some of the Information submitted to
the Council has not been accepted and recognition has not been placed
upon the bulletin and It has not been shown that the information came
from (lie Public Utilities Section- We are very glad to cooperate and
I know those who have no bulletins on hand are more than anxious to
get such information through the Council. I don't know whether we
have assumed that we have a right to more space than we probably are
entitled to. but that matter ought to be cleared up so we won't be labor
ing under a misapprehension.
IVI.it. Rossi:i.a.nh: The Public Utilities section has received during the past year, without exception, one special bulletin each week'. Inasmuch
as this section includes several industries, we have tried to divide the
subjects of the bulletins so as to give at least three of them something
during the year, that is, the gas plants, the electric light plants and
the telephone and telegraph companies. So much for that. We are con
stantly at some pains to maintain the sectional bulletin service so that
it will cover the specific hazards of the Industry that we are trying to
serve. I can't speak, of course, for the years prior to my connection with
the staff of the CoiilRni but since that time, much of the material that
has been sent in for sectional bulletins has been very general, and really not suitable for sectional bulletins wblch should cover a specific
hazard peculiar to jDie industry. Please understand, however, that
material that is not used immediately is not lost, it may not be desirable
or practicable to place it. in the general bulletin service immediately
because of other material possibly already printed.
As to crediting the member companies that send in material, I know
personally of instances where credit was not given where it should have
been. That again, is another illustration of human element, men working
under pressure, and. trying to do the best that they can. I know of two
companies each of which provided twelve pictures but they asked! that
their names be not shown on the bulletins. Does that answer year
question?
1=T
Public Utilities Section
1093
Mb. Morrison : Yes, sir.
"
Mr. Spoehkeb: Do the suggestions come through the officers of the
section or are they sent to the Council headquarters for approval?
Mb. Rossi:land: That is a question your officers must decide. It makes no difference to-us unless it is something that requires immediate
attention, in which case we should like to "have them sent to the Council and copy sent to sectional officers. ' If the sectional officers are ready and
wiiling to care for such matters as may be brought to them by corre spondence, we prefer to have them do so, but' remember, we are on the job to try to relieve them, of as much of the detail work as we can.
Hr. F. "W. Fisher (Rochester Railway & Light Co., Rochester, N. Y-): I would like to urge a little better cooperation on the part of the gentle men here and the member companies in sending in bulletins. I have been somewhat responsible for helping collect them and it is very discour
aging to write a lot of letters to your friends and acquaintances and get promises and have them stop with that. If we want bulletins, we all must get into the work .or see to it that somebody has the time and means and money to make a special study of it and work up new bulletins. There is plenty of--material that has been used and it isn't
the easiest thing in the world, to re-hash it and work it up to make it
look like new so I urge you tEcooperate next year to do all you can. Mr. Rosseland: I want to second Mr. Fisher's remarks- He was chair
man of the committee having the bulletins in charge. I know how dis couraging it is not to get material from Bill and Jack who are good friends, upon whom you depended when you accepted the office. There
is no secret about safety bulletins. I don't believe that there is a single member of this section who couldn't provide at least six bulletins and the photographs to illustrate them, each year.
Chairman Pa ill: Has anybody anything further to add- to this dis cussion? If not. we will proceed to the regular order of business.
REPORT OF THEIMEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE
There are at present a total of 210 companies In "the Public Utilities Section. This includes 44 companies who are also operating electric rail ways and are therefore counted in the Electric Railway Section as well as in the Public Utilities Section.
According to the 191S report of this committee there were 19S mem bers, so it appears tbat there has been an increase in membership of 12 new members during the past year.
At the request of this committee a letter enclosing a folder explaining the activities of the National Safety Council was mailed to each company member of the Iowa District Gas Association by their Secretary, Mr. H. R. Sterrett, of Des MoineST Iowa. This letter was written on their stationery and heartily endorsed our organization. Only one new mem ber was obtained by this effort, and I believe it shows that it is very difficult to obtain members through correspondence.
As this Association growslind adds Field Secretaries, I think great results could be obtained by having a representative of the National
1094
Eighth Safety Congress
Safety Council attend the large annual conventions of the American Gas Association and similar societies, at which, time short talks could be given and membership booths established.
The Membership Committee wishes to express its appreciation of the hearty cooperation of the Headquarters of the National Safety Council.
The Membership Committee, H. A. Johnson, Chairman. (The report was accepted and filed.) Chairman Paic;e: The next is the Program Committee, Mr. John Bailey of Philadelphia, Chairman.
REPORT OP PROGRAM COMMITTEE
Mr. John' Bailey (Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania, Philadel phia) : The Program- Committee has no special report to make. Its duties, I believe, were finished when they presented the program for this
meeting. When I war elected Chairman of this Committee I supposed
there would be other members of the committee but I was surprised to find that the Chairman was a whole committee. I want to take this occa sion to thank the Chairman of the other committees for the assistance they rendered me In preparing the program. I would like also to make the suggestion to tlie Section that I think it would be well in the ap pointment of a Program Committee if there would be other members named, selecting those members from the various utility bodies that are members of the section in order that you may be able to get good repre sentative selections for people to present papers. It is pretty bard for a telephone man or electric light man or gas man to be conversant with 'the proper people and the proper subjects for all the various utilities and I think it would very materially aid my successor in selecting a program for the coming year.
Chairman Paige: You have heard Mr. Bailey's report and I am sure the logic of his suggestion will appeal to you.
Mr. W. L. Bruce (Westchester Lighting Co.. Mt. Vernon, New York): I move you, Mr. Chairman, that the report be accepted and filed and as a suggestion, I would Offer that at the next meeting of the Council next year, the Program Committee arrange to have on possibly the second day, as that will not interfere with our arrangement of program, a gettogether dinner, as this seems to be the arrangement here that different sections have their meetings and informal gatherings and I think it would be a good idea to get something among ourselves at some speci fied evening. I offer the suggestion for the next Program Committee.
(Motion seconded aj&t carried.) Chairman Patge: The next is the Safe Practices Committee, Mr. F. W. Fisher, Rochester. =r
REPORT OF SAFE PRACTICES COMaHTTEE
Mr. F. W. Fisher: The Safe Practices Committee collected several hundred bulletins, the majority of which were sent on to the Council and mpst of them were used. In my remarks a few minutes ago, I covered practically all that the Committee has to report. I especially
Public Utilities Section
1095
urge that in coming here, information on what we call "stunts", "short
cuts", unsafe tools or safe methods which are not standard and not on
the market, information on those things be sent in. They have been
particularly valuable in our own Company and I feel that they will be
equally valuable in other companies. The work on preparation of special
Safe Practices pamphlets has been held in abeyance pending some action
of this body. '
-----'
(The report was accepted mid filed.)
Mb. J. B. Douglass Mr. Chairman, it seems to me it would be interest
ing to hear something of the relation between the work of our Safe Prac
tices Committee and the work of the individual or department of the
home office which has to do with safe practices. It seems to me we should
get a little closer together there. Speaking entirely without reference
to this Section but in the attitude of the Executive Committee of the
Council, it seems to me that the Safe Practices pamphlets can be better
handled by the home office. I have never known any good results to
be had from a Safe Practices pamphlet put out by the Safe Practices
Committee. In fact, I don't know of a safe practice committee which is
putting out any pamphlets. It seenas to me that the relations of our Safe
Practices Committee should be more clearly defined. Of course I think
that the question of whether we haven't been assuming something that
we shouldn't assume is embodied there. I don't know but that the re
tiring chairman feels the same way.
Mb. F. W. Fisher: A year or two ago I inquired of the home office
what the practices of the Safe7Practices Committee were and the informa
tion "was given me that the work was limited almost entirely to collection
of bulletin material, and I may"say that is all the committee has tried to
do this year.
--
Mb. J. B.. Douglas: Then, Mr. Chairman, may I ask would it not be
well to change the name of our Committee to Bulletin Committee as it
used to be known as it seemsT;o me that is expressive and to the point,
it doesn't comprehend anything that we are not responsible for.
:Mr. Rosseland If I may be permitted to say so, I "think that would be
highly advisable. The fact of the matter is that the securing and prepa
ration of the bulletins is enough for one committee to handle as it is.
In so far as the headquarters is concerned, if the membership decide
that they wish one or more safe practices pamphlets and will so indicate,
the staff is prepared to assign a member, one of Its engineers, to work
with an individual or a committee appointed by the section in the prepa
ration of a safe practices pamphlet. Mb. F. W. Fisiteb: I think the record will show that we have already
made recommendations to the staff for Safe Practices pamphlets. As
retiring Chairman of the Safe Practices Committee, I would like to make
a recommendation that we abolish that committee and substitute in its
stead a Bulletin Committee, and that the former recommendation rela
tive to preparation of Safe Practices pamphlets on our industry by the-
Staff be renewed. I make thatT as a motion.
(Motion seconded and carried.)
109(>
Kighth Safety ('ottgrcsn
Cir.MRMan Paiuk: TEe next order of business is the appointment of the
Nominating: Committee. On that committee I have appointed Mr. F. W. Fisher, Chairman, Mr. John Bailey, and Mr. Charles B. Scott. This
committee is to report tomorrow morning and should get together in the
meantime.
_
Chairman Pa roe: We will now proceed with the reading of papers. The first paper is TO! the subject of "Preventing Accidents in Gas
Plants," by Mr. J. F.TConner.
Mr. J. F. Conner: I feel that I must make an explanation in regard
to the brevity with which I have treated this important subject. The fact
is that had I gone intojt in detail it would have consumed more time than that at my disposal for its presentation, so I have therefore taken it up in
a general manner hoping that the detail part of it would come out in the
discussion that would follow.
PREVENTING ACCIDENTS IN GAS PLANTS
J. F. Conner, Sakety Sri'KKvisoR. TriK 1'nitkp Gas Improvement
Company, Pmr.AUKi.riqa, Pa-
In view of the fact that during the past several years all phases of the accident prevention problems have been broadly and ably discussed by men and women who.-in serious interest, have given much of their time and thought to the questions Involved, there appears to be left little or no opening for further amplification, and in addressing you on the subject "Preventing Accidents in Gas Plants" I fear that my remarks may' not carry with them any new or constructive suggestions.
The title may lead persons unacquainted with the operation of gas plants to assume that employment in such plants is an extra hazardous occupa tion, fraught with, unusual danger. Let me at this point make it clear that with few exceptions, the accident hazards met in gas plants do not materially differ from those found in other industries where mechanical and construction operations are the rule.
My conclusion, in this respect is based on experience gained from a close acquaintance with such operations, receiving reports of accidents and investigating their causes, and from making accident hazard inspections of many gas plants.
UASCTltnS I'KCn.lAR TO TMti tSI>l*STV
The industry has, of course, inherent hazards. There are certain zones in gas works where in the course of operation pockets of gas may accum ulate and, with the admixture of air, serious explosive hazards may form. Precautions should be-Ltaken against such conditions arising. The venti lation, and the lighting system of such zones are questions for con sideration. Such places should be as well ventilated as conditions will permit. In the lighting system, approved types of keyless socket, vapor proof globe electric lamps with remote switch controls should be used, to guard against the possibility of the gaseotis atmosphere being fired by an elecjtric are.' WarnHIg signs of size sufficient to attract attention cau
PiiblicL^Utit if ics Serf Ton
1091
tioning against smoking and The carrying of naked flames in such zones,
should be posted in conspicuous places.
Like precautions should also be taken to guard against dust explosions
in coal crusher rooms and pits where the air may be heavily charged,
especially while the crushers are in operation, with minute particles of
carbon which may be ignited and exploded by contact with an exposed
flame. Dust explosions, while Infrequent in gas plants, have been known
to occur frequently In other industries with disastrous results.
It may be unnecessary to state that all warning signs should be kept In
clear, legible condition if any benefitis to be derived from their posting.
The writer has found, in the course of inspections, instances of lettering
on painted wooden signs having become Illegible from exposure to weather,
and enamelled metal signs cohered by accretions of smut and dust.
Emergency conditions may arise which will require working against
live gas. In such instances, the workman should be protected by a suit
able type of respirator. The same precaution should be taken when a
workman Is required to enter any gas-charged atmosphere and in every
instance he should be under the clear observation of a person outside
the danger zone, who should be prepared to render Immediate assistance.
Oil and other tanks in which gases are present should, where conditions
will permit, be first purged by steam and well ventilated before entrance
is made to= such enclosure. Life lines can in such work be used to ad
vantage.
Generally speaking, gas plants are usually well guarded mechanically.
Occasionally, however, accidents occur on machinery due to guards being
temporarily removed during repairs and failure to replace guards before
putting the machines in operation again, or possibly to an exposure being
considered too remote to warrant guarding.
A review of cases reported Ibows that the causes responsible for the
greater number of accidents are due to the simple hazards found In all
Industrial establishments such as tripping, falling, slipping, and lifting,
protruding nails, to the use lof defective hand tools, ladders, scaffolds
and makeshift supports that give insecure footing, and other like
minor hazards, and to disregard of instructions to wear goggles when
engaged in work in which the eyes are exposed to flying particles or
splashing liquors.
~
,
The safeguarding of machinery and the installation of other mechani
cal devices for the prevention of accidents is unquestionably a necessary
measure in any well-ordered-plant, but in many cases the guards cannot
be made absolutely fool-proof, so that in the final analysis, the greater
reliance for preventing accidents must be placed on the human agency.
GREATER EFFORT MUST 1!E MADE TO EDUCATE WORKMEN
If we are to continue to loolCtorward to a reduction in the accident fre quency, greater efforts must ha made to educate the workman to know the dangers that beset him, and_others, from carelessness, thoughtlessness, and inattention on his part, and to aroiise and maintain the accident pre vention spirit in him.'
Dow we shall best reach the workmen by educational propaganda is a
10`IS
Krffbiit Snfttg Congress
Qaestloa of personal opinion Rcaimming with tbe men collectively la
usually attended by good result*. In obdurate cases, however, resort to
Individual approach brine* the best results. We should not, however, be too hasty in ecninre of tbe workman for apparent indifference to
safety. He possibly may be influenced by environment and be reflecting
the attitude of bis superiors to this Important question. The problem,
to my reasoning, should first be brought convincingly to the attention of
the man higher up. the man directly in charge of the operation. If he
meets it. as he should, in a spirit of serious interest and by precept and
example sets the standard for bis subordinates, lets it be known that he Is keenly alive to any failure or disinterestedness on their part to should er tlieir duty, tbe indifference, if any, of the foremen and sub-foremen
will quickly vanish and those in positions of responsibility will, figura
tively speaking, be standing on their toes and showing greater activity
toward preventing accidents. The Interest they show Is bound to be re
flected in the workmen and with tbe environment of good housekeeping,
a place for everything and everything in its place, which must of neces sity be part of the program, there will come a subconscious awakening of the prevention spirit in the workmen and that Is the dominating factor
in preventing accidents.
The company with which I am connected is one of the pioneers In the
first aid and prevention field. Its activity in this regard dates back some
fifteen years. The education of its employees In accident prevention has
been carried on by means of safety rallies including motion pictures,
shop meetings including lantern slides, a house organ under the title of
"Safety News", the use of bulletins, buttons and other measures that tend
to instill, attract, and maintain an interest in accident prevention and In
holding down the accident occurrences. Team work as outlined means coSperation. When tbe force of co
operation is behind the punch for safety, the fight for accident prevention
Is soon won.
^
Mr. J. F. Conner:
1 has been my experience time and time again that
the safety engineer or supervising inspector in going through a plant
greets the superintendent or manager and his presence is accepted more
as a matter of factr, something that they have to bear with and their
attitude toward safety is not such as would reflect on their -workmen
and I believe, as I have stated in my paper, that if we are to get the
results from the safety movement, our efforts must first be directed
towards the men above and bring them to a realization of what our
work consists and get them to fall in line with us.
Chairman Paige: -Mr. Conner has given us a real contribution. Before opening the discussion. I-wish to announce that Mr. Scott has given me
an adequate reason for not serving on the dominating Committee and the
name of Mr. H. A. Johnson of Omaha is substituted. The discussion on
Mr. Conner's subiect~will be taken up by Mir. A. O. Mitchell.
DISCUSSION
Mr. A. O. MircrrEi-i. (Adjuster. Northern Indiana Gas and Electric Company, Hammond. Indiana! : Mr. Chairman and fellow members, I
Public Utilities Section
1090
also wish, to apologize for thevbrevity of this discussion, feeling that it was better, possibly more practical, to treat a few of the points rather
than go into it in a general way. In my discussion of Mr. Conner's paper I cannot hope to
offer anything particularly original or new along the lines of accident prevention in and about gas plants, but rather to view the subject in the light of my experience,' in the investigation of such accidents. These In vestigations with few exceptions, disclose no especially dangerous condi tions, after, of course, the machinery and equipment contained therein has been protected with guards, as most of them are at this time.
The possibility of explosion brings to mind a case wherein the blast line of a'-water gas plant was:: literally blown to pieces by the ignition of gas which it contained. JChvestigation developed the fact that the
valve from the generator was leaking and certain quantities of gas en tered the blast line; when the generator was next opened the gas in the blast line was subjected to the heat of the burning coke, a terrific explosion resulting. Fortunately no one was injured, the accident taking place In the early hours of the morning when comparatively few workmen were about the premises. The remedy for blast main explosion requires that the blast valves be kept clean and in good repair and that the blast main be purged continually by a strong current of air.
ILLUMINATION AS? IMPORTANT FEATURE
Illumination is an extremely important feature, not only in the plant itself, but in the yard where men are called upon to attend valves and around the coke and coal dumps where employees have regular duties at night, pood light shows uprthe tripping hazard if any there be due to construction or unusual maintenance about the works; it exposes the up turned shovel, nail, fo'rk or other tool in the passageway, thoughtlessly laid down by fellow -workers. -ji
Warning signs have a wholesome effect on accident prevention. They are handicapped somewhat in plants where a number of different nation alities are employed and where it does not seem practical to have them printed or embossed in the several languages. I have noted, however, that the foreign workman, though not being able to read our language, has learned that a sign indicates something special, usually a danger, a place not to enter, a piece of machinery or apparatus not to touch and in many instances will bring from him an inquiry as to its full meaning.
GAS PLANT ELEVATOR, A SOURCE OF ACCIDENTS
I have found the gas plant elevator an enemy of the safety inspector and a source of numerous accidents to the workmen. Many of the acci dents attributed to the elevator, however, are due to the men who operate them. -They persist in tying or fastening the safety gates so that they cannot function. Elevator platforms are left above or below building platform levels causing severe: strains, and bumps from coke and coal buggies. Simple adjustments will usually remedy this condition. With in the past thirty days I have investigated a case- wherein an elevator
1100
Eighth Safely Congress
chain broke inside of ihe stop weight, permitting the chain and weight to fall inside and on the elevator platform narrowly missing a workman who had placed a coke buggy thereon. Had this weight fallen on the
workmen most likely another fatality would have been added to our gas plant records. This condition has been a difficult one to compete with. Daily inspection by the foreman is possible, but this does not always suffice--the guards and gates being tampered with as soon as the fore man's duty requires his attention elsewhere.
Disciplining employees for failure to abide by safety regulations or for tampering with guards is a matter worthy of our deepest considera tion. It Is a very pimple matter to discharge a man, but not nearly as simple to bring another to the point of efficiency gained by experience of the man going out. Hence it would seem that our duty is to get the con fidence, the respect of the trifler or meddler, to win him over to the safety side. This jnay require persistent effort, which perhaps may be attended by some little unpleasantness, but it is being done every day and in several instances of my own knowledge has been well worth the effort 'expended. These men frequently develop into our best inspectors, calling to the attention ofXheir foreman or superintendent dangerous conditions and practices that had seemingly been overlooked. I am a firm believer In inspections made jointly by the workmen and the safety inspector. The interest the former will show is surprising, especially when he is con
vinced that his suggestions are being given the consideration to which they are entitled. --He has in mind hazards which may not have been considered as such by the foreman or inspector and can usually tell you how Bill or Tom was cut. bumped, or bruised due to the conditions he will point out.
>tr.\xv nmriALS diskkuard safety iu.-r.Es
The safety example set by a Company's officials has either an effect beneficial or detrimental upon the employee personnel. To illustrate this point, I wish to call attention to an action brought by an employee to re cover for personal injury received while employed in a building where gasoline was used. Smoking was prohibited in this building; large "Xc- Smoking" sighs printed both outside and inside the building in addition to which the employees had been personally warned against smoking. Regardless of these warnings the employee caused an explo sion while lighting ^; cigarette. In the trial of the cause he testified that it was the practice of the manager and. superintendent to come into the building with a lighted cigar and that he (the employee) did not think
it dangerous. In this testimony he was supported by the shop foreman and the evidence injured the Company's case to a considerable extent.
Education is of course a feature for serious consideration. The method o teaching. I believe, should differ as the conditions are different. A method that will avail in one plant may be a failure in another; hence, it falls to the lot of the individual directing the work to figure out and to observe a method that will give the best and the quickest results. Many communities offer night schools to the foreigner, which, for no other ex-
Public Utilities Section
1101.
pense than the pencil and paper he uses, give him the opportunity to learn the rudiments of our American grammar, mathematics, etc. These classes invariably' start out with a large attendance; the percentage com pleting the work or of finishing the first year, I am not in a position to stale.
I would like to hear a discussion of the elevator question, one that is a serious question with me,-
TTTE ELEVATOR QVESTION
Mr. .T. F. Conner : I think there is only one answer to that question, that all elevators should be_properly guarded, not only the casing of the
shaft but the gate should Tie high enough to prevent a person leaning
over the top and-should extend to the floor level to prevent any material
from falling into the shaft.- The platform of the elevator should have
fence guards, and the sides of the platform used for entrances- should have gates. The top of the elevator car should have a heavy screen guard over it to prevent any material falling Into the shaft from above and in
juring the operator. The gates should be constructed so that they cannot be operated from the outside^ They should also be arranged so that when
the gate is opened, the elevator is locked at that landing. Of course the counter weights should also be guarded. The machinery overhead should have a substantial bar grating or ceiling underneath to prevent any
broken parts from falling and it goes -without saying that the cables
should be frequently inspected. There should be adequate space left at
`be foot of the shaft in event of any repairs being made there to guard against the platfoi-m descending on the man at work. In fact there should
be landing posts or trestlesjmt in the bottom of the shaft if any work is being done there.
Mn. A. O. :Mitchell I wish particularly, Mr. Conner, to have you deal
with the method of trifling; or prevention of trifling with the elevator
gates, weights, etc.
Mr. J. F. Conner: If theiropes, chains, or cables on the elevator gates
are properly housed to prevent a person from getting hold of them,
that will eliminate, one source of danger. If the gates are of such con
struction that when they are closed they are locked on the inside, that
prevents any one from meddling from the outside.
Chairman Paige: The discussion will be closed with the announce ment that those interested Jn elevator hazards have at their disposal
Safe Practices pamphlet, N3T 15. Tile next paper is the "Inspection of Plants of Gas Companies," by Mr.
Alvin E. Bliss.
'_
Mr. Bliss: I am in hearty accord with the previous speakers that
twenty minutes is a very short time to deal with a subject so large as
"Accident Prevention in Gas and Electric Companies." I have tried to touch the high spots as the _ previous speakers have done and after lis
tening to those two very valuable papers, I feel. Mr. Chairman, that mine might well be dispensed with. I have dealt with mine a.little more
on a personal style than general.
1102
Eighth Safety Congress
INSPECTION OF PLANTS OF GAS COMPANIES
Axvix E. Buss, Gexebae. Sitpekin-tkxdejjt, ClJ ARLFTS H. TENNEY AXII COMPANY, BOSTOX. MASS
The spirit of victory which has become so much a part of our lives
since the eleventh of November last, can. only be maintained by a spirit of
safety and this "Spirit of Safety" must be followed by each individual in
order to establish the solid foundation for the -constructive element of the
future.
s
About five years ago the companies which I represent became interested
in the subjects of ^Inspections and Safety First and appointed me as official inspector. tt-
At the end of my .first visit to each plant I sent in this report: "Safety
first is almost unknown in some of our plants so far as signs, guards,
fire traps, etc. are concerned. I could not begin to relate the number of
small defects which might mean tremendous loss and possibly serious
accident. Belts and dangerous places should be properly guarded and
signs placed conspicuously about all plants calling attention to the fact that no trespassing^is allowed."
From that time on, our managers became-aware of the importance of
safety fix-st and cooperated with me by explaining tbe merits of safety
first and accident prevention to employees at each meeting of their de partment heads.
During the past five years the improvement has been remarkable. It
is impossible for an industrial plant to be "accident-proof," but I be
lieve tbat some of ouT companies nearly approach that mark.
There is so much to be said on my subject: "The Inspection, of Plants
of <Uts Companies"---that I hardly dare get in too deeply as time will
not allow it-
--
HAZARDS OF A CAS PLANT
A gas plant is particularly hazardous. The first item is perhaps the coal pile where some kind of accident happens almost every day. A man hauling coal in a wheelbarrow stubs his toe; gets a cinder in his eye: the coal pile slides too rapidly burying him; beyond this many companies hare a high trestle or perhaps low trestle, with railroad sid ings where coal passers are at work and everywhere you look is an ac cident hazard. Nexircomes the man at the retorts; under a constant and intensive lieat, liable to burns of all kinds. Then we have acids, by-products, etc., of inflammable nature, not to mention asphyxiating gas. In fact, we could" easily recite:
"Accidents to right of them Accidents to left of them Accidents all around them"
when speaking of plant employees of gas companies. How then can you attempt to overcome the danger of accident? There
is only one way--and that is by a process of education. In other words
Public Utilities Section
110:3
safety first must be driven and pounded again and again into the heads of the employees.
Realizing the human element Is the vital factor in safety first and that the human equation must be reckoned with at every turn, bow should we proceed to educate the employee In regard to his safety?
We know that the school teacher has to go over the A B C's many hundreds of times before the pupil can begin to form words, so our foreman must keep everlastingly at the rules for Safety First. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty and it is also the price'of safety.
There is no subject with which a man is so familiar as himself, so if we could put through a systematic campaign of safety by compelling each man to put himself into accident prevention--we should go a long way toward improving conditionsin an establishment or plant.
Even now, it would be interesting if each employee would take stock of himself; check up on the items of precaution which he has used since the campaign of SafetyJTirst has been in force. I believe it would be helpful information for airy plant.
Ill XT OF SAFETY OX 1*AY KN'VELOl'ES
-- It is the" custom in one or more of our compauies to have a hint of
safety on the pay envelope. One that I have seen has Safety First In
bold type printed on the envelope flap. Across the back of the envelope:
"Did you ever stop to think--that you, yourself, are the one who should
be most interested- in our accident prevention work? Yon and your
family suffer more than any one else if you are Injured. TOIXK FIRST
--BE CAREFUL. ALL THE TIME. Let's cut ont all accidents.~
Another one Is as followsT
If you are HURT, say s6___
Report an accidents, no matter bow trivial they seem.
Do not neglect small cuts.
Don't take chances.
__
Be Careful. Further, we think we have obtained some results by using the safety
bulletin which we try to issue each month. Many of these are actual
accidents which have been photographed around the plant showing the
right and wrong way of handling switches, valves, manhole covers, etc.
COPY OK SAFETY UXJ LLETIX GIVKX EACH EMl'I-OYEK
A copy of the bulletin is sent to each employee with Instructions to take
it home. In this way, we feel that the family will become interested
and by talking it over in the home, the workman is more thoroughly im
pressed.
' 2r
This process of education is more or less unsatisfactory as many of
you have proved. One of the greatest difficulties to overcome is the
utter disregard of instructions. For . instance: Goggles are always pro
vided where there is dangerjbf accident, but it is very rare that the em
ployee uses them--his excuse being that they are a bother and he is un
able to see - while using them- Only a few days ago, one of our em-
J104
_^Eighth Safety Congress
ployees sot a cinder in his eye. It troubled him, of course, but he thought It was too trivial to report, so kept on working. He suffered all night and the next morning went into the superintendent's office and asked him to remove It- The superintendent immediately took him in an automobile to rthe doctor, who, after many attempts covering a period of several hours, removed the cinder. The eye was badly in flamed which meant a great deal of pain to the employee, expense and loss of time for the corn pans-, and all this because the employee failed
to obey instructions- -- Tbis clearly shows :tlie lack of cooperation on the part of the employee
by not reporting the accident. Analyzing cooperation--the first and most important thing to accomplish is the manager's interest; then the foremen: and the employees. As stated before this is often a slow proc ess, but once the germ of Safety First is Inoculated, it spreads rapidly.
Our experience has proved that another good way to get results is by the formation of a Safety Committee in each of our organizations. Right here I would call attention to the report made by a committee on acci dent prevention which is published in the Proceedings of the American Has InstUutfVol. X, 1915. This report goes into the subject in a very exhaustive manner and is well worth the careful attention of every
recommendations ok committee ox accident prevention
manufacturing institution. It recommends the appointment of one or more employees, of whom at least one should devote a large portion of his time to the work of looking after safety details. Care should be taken in making these: appointments as the men chosen should be pro-, ficient in their own work and should command the respect of their fel low workmen. Unless every man is made to see that his work is closely related to that of the other fellow, success will not follow. Each and every accident should be referred to this committee and the committee should consider all the details In connection therewith and make a re port as to whether or not it was preventable, and see that conditions are remedied so that aTlike accident cannot occur.
It is the custom to isend a copy of the report of each accident to me.
i:\lI-I.OVKKS' REPORTS OK ACCIDENTS
On the back of this report is written a remedy if possible; suggestion
for precaution against a similar accident; and finally, whether or not the
accident was unavoidable. Some of these suggestions are very amusing,
as follows:
.
"While about work^some sand fell down the neck of one of the other
employees and he.--thinking it was a fellow employee who threw
it, hit him over the head with his shovel.
Remedy: Employees have been warned not to get too vicious--and
we do not know of_ any safety appliance that would have prevented this accident."
"Employee was washing the floor and he used his knee to* push the
Public Utilities Section
1103
mop causing it to swell and become inflamed.
Remedy: He will be instructed to leave out the use of knee in mop
ping."
"Injured party was putting new pin in stoker and tried to use his
finger as a drift pin. Finger was caught In the hole and slightly
jammed.
=
Remedy: This man should not have used his finger In the manner he did and he has been cautioned and instructed not to repeat
the performance."
_
Most of the remedies are very helpful however, one of which is des cribed as follows:
"Employee was laying fi-inch gas main and fellow employee pushed a length .of pipe into place and it caught employee's forefinger on his right hand.
SAFETY BUU-F-TIN
Wa 3~___________________________________________________________________________________ Juiw.
%
-a*
Step Udders ere fumSrhcd lor wwrk of thU kind. Thl* man. for ami reassn #f ether, preferred to taka ehaneoa. Fortunately no accident resulted fram thio aareleaeneea.
WHY TAKE SUCH CHANCES?
. Accident Peeventioh Committee
^CHARLES H. TENNEY & CO.
11 OB
No- 7
Eighth Safety Congress
SAFETY BULLETIN
October, 1917
Thi* ma Ujd vp *M iJw tu*l> *S * ifilif placed *!*** h* a0 te orh urn a arto--
The chair slipped out and itic man h* the rn.
painful!.* injured
if you would avoid
accfdsofs you must
If fee had used a step ladder the accident aonid not -- ha*e happened.
THINK SAFETY
Accident Prevention Committee
CHARLES H. TENNEY & CO.
Picblic Utilities Section
1107
Report: Cause was carelessness on the part of fellow employee to
gether with, careless handling by other man."
Employees are continually cautioned to use a perfect step-ladder, but
occasionally, owing to laziness or in the hope of saving time, he will re
sort to any and all kinds of make-shift with the result that the accident occurs--See illustration from "Safety Bulletin," No. 7 (Reduced). An
other lazy-man contrivance" is shown in "Safety Bulletin," No. 3 (Re
duced).
1=-
A LAZT-MAN CONTRIVANCE
Another glaring case was where a step-ladder had been utilized for some time as a means of getting Into and out of a sub-basement. After attention had been called to this condition, the proper steps were provid ed. (See illustration on page 1108).
In one of my diseussions at a convention of our companies I told them that I could write a book about the chairs, tables, ladders, benches, etc., which I had condemned iajny inspection and which had been destroyed In my presence. At that time I urged each one present to condemn and destroy everything that was hazardous.
Just as a side incident, I should like to state that our medical friends are cooperating with us to the extent of inventing complete first-aid kits which are very necessary for any industrial plant if kept in a complete condition. Only recently another very valuable remedy for burns came to our attention.
HOT WAX TREATMENT
One of our employees wag badly burned by receiving an electric shock
on a 33,000-volt circuit. By the persistent use of the hot-wax treatment,
this man is slowly recovering and my latest report is that he has been
dismissed from the. hospital and expects to report back to the company
for very light work, the last of this month. He owes bl3 life, however,
to the fact that his fellow-employees acted promptly and intelligently,
which points out the absolute necessity of always having somebody ac
company a man who is Working around dangerous places and back of
all this, the importance of instruction regarding all kinds of Qrstald
work.
"
requires constant care to prevent accidents
We have proved then that it.requires constant care to rid us of the menace of accidents and their followers of pain, sorrow, grief, disfigure ment and despair, a combination of enemies far more Insidious than those' that face nations, because they lie so stealthily In wait for each, individual.
I have felt obliged to be more or less personal In this paper, but I believe that these experiences, even in "testimonial form" will meet the conditions of some of our delegates.
1108
Eighth Safety Congress
The best slogan in the world today Is--BE A GOOD AMERICAN one of the best ways to be a good American is to PREACH, TEACH and PRACTICE "SAFETY FIRST."
Mr. J. B. Douglas: Before the formal discussion of this paper takes place, I would like to make a few* remarks. I have listened to Mr. Bliss'
Before
^
After
A STAIRWAY IS XOT (ISI.Y A SAI-'ETY JIEASl.'RE Rl'T IT IjS'CItEASES ITFICIIC.NTV
paper wiLh much interest, hut there are certain points at which I am not absolutely of the same opinion. Mr. Bliss refers to a gas works as being particularly hazardous. He considers conditions around a gas works as being dangerous but I que'stion whether many of you feel that either of those statements apply. As Chairman of the Accident Prevention Com mittee of the American GaFAssociation, I am at work on some statistics. Our committee got into action in August at which time I sent out a letter soliciting accident reports. My greatest trouble Is a lack of ac cident reports on which to.inake suggestions. I have also on file in my office from a number of companies, letters stating that the first six months of 1919 did not produce aHAtecident to report. It seems almost impossi-
Public Utilities Section
1109
ble. Now in having madeZan analysis of some ten thousand cases some time ago during our investigation, purely gas cases, as I recall, the per centage peculiar to the industry amounted to two or three per cent or less. In other words, the accidents we have in gas industry are pretty
much the same that are met with in other industries and I have been informed that certain insurance companies which thought that accidents
ARE GAS PLANTS EXTRA HAZARDOUS ?
were more or less extra hazardous, are beginning to change their view
point entirely. I don't know whether Mr. Fisher is in the room, hut 1
understand he has practically no accidents in his gas works. If he isn't
here, Mr. Morrison can tell you the wonderful record that the Rochester
plant has. No doubt Mr. Van Doren can teli you of the small number of
accidents in New York add I know many plants around the country
where they go for months without any accidents. I am just stating this
because I don't want those who are not familiar with gas plants to
think that they are extra hazardous. Mr. Bliss has made a very helpful
contribution but I don't think it should be allowed to stand without
some statements on those two points. I would be interested as to whether
other men from their experience, think that a gas works is extra haz
ardous.
---
Chairman Paige: Is Mr. Fisher in the room? Mr. Morrison,, have
you any thing to say? --
Mr. C. E. Morrison: In" a measure, Mr. Douglas is correct. There is
not as great a hazard in the gas industry as a good many people are In
clined to' believe. I think" that possibly the reason for that Is that the nature of the personnel of the employees is such that It doesn't very fre
quently change as It doeif in normal industries. -You have the same
people year after- year, particularly in the smaller plants, old trusted
employees who know how to take care of themselves. One point that has
not been touched upon, I Think reflects the accident frequency: Is the
attitude of the employer right? I don't mean the manager necessarily,
but the president and perhaps the owner. I am firmly and absolutely
convinced that if tbe employer and owner have the right attitude, the
proper concept, they, can instill into the employees the idea of safety
which will prevent accidents. We have frequently come across very
serious structural conditions which one naturally concludes would result
in many accidents, and y%t the record of accidents is absolutely nil.
Another hazard that hasn't been touched upon Is that occurring when
men are digging a trench Tor the laying of gas mains, which I think is
very important. We find very frequently that these trenches are not
shored in sufficiently to protect the workmen from the dirt which may
fall into the trench. The class of workmen you get there are casuals,
the drifters who come inland work for a week or a month, or during
the open season and then leave. To my way of thinking, much more
stress should be put uponThat than perhaps in the gas plant itself.
Mr. V. R Hughes (Pacific Gas & Electric Co, San Francisco): We
.have about tbe same number of accidents in our gas department that
1110
Eighth Safety Congress
we have In the electric. Some of them are not quite so severe because, as you say, they don't need to fall off a pole to be injured, but the gJW men will go under a house pnce In a while with a match or candle and blow the bouse to pieces. The electric man will get on a pole and short circuit something or gSt against a wire. Talk about your old employees, they are the hardest oEes to convert that there are. The old gas men have an idea that they know how to make gas and that is all there is to it, but we have gradually got away from that and got the- men to clean up a little, take up the dirt, and not sweep it into corners and under things. Our electric departments are pretty well cleaned up but our gas plants were in bad shape. There is another item which has just occurred to me, speaking of valves. I have an article In "Tower", February' 25, 1919, on this subject. I talked it over with Mr, Jones, Chief Engineer of the Gas Department, and he said they devote a large amount of time to the inspection of valves but very little time as to where they are going to put them, up high, in the ground, with the stem sticking out in the way,"some back of a pump or hack of shafting where
ESPEBtESCE WITH SIGHS
they are either hard to get at or right in the way. There is also another item of signs mentioned in these papers. My experience with signs has been very poor. I went into a warehouse with the superintendent of supplies one day to put gome supplies in and I asked him about the signs and he said they were no good. And yet right near us on a shaft, was a sign reading "No Smoking" and he was smoking himself. The only accident we have had, fatal accident, this year, was the case of a man crushed against a sign which read "Look Out for the Cars".
Mb. G. R. Ei.vke (Utilities Mutual Insurance Company, New York):
I haven't any statistics inT my hand but I think you will find just about as many accidents in gasas in electric plants. The reason you do not have as many fatalities ihT gas is that there is not the electric hazard. I have been very much interested in the point raised several times about Americanization. I belieVe there is one point not touched on and that is that gas makers or mejr handling gas machines should be American speaking people. So frequently you will find that they are Italians or other foreigners. They are naturally badly handicapped in case some unusual condition is met. "Quite frequently, too, you will find that there are machines installed and in operation and the people who are operating them do not have complete^ instructions as to what to do or the proper procedure to go through in starting a set up. I have in mind an acci dent where one man was killed and two others horribly burned. The man instead of controlling the draft through the ash pit doors, endeav ored to control the draft through the clinker doors; the result was gas pockets formed. There is "a question as to whether they formed under the grates or in the fuel bed itself, but it was a fact that the fuel was thrown out on the men. These men had been operating the sets in that plant probably since their employment and no accident had occurred but they weren't doing it the right way. There is a little question In my mind also as to whether "the manufacturers of the equipment aren't.
Public Utilities Section
1111
somewhat at fault because of the fact that they do not give sufficiently definite instructions as to just what the procedure should be in operating
the equipment. That question of accidents seems to show that in an organization such as you have around a gas works, you usually have more foreign-speaking people around than in an electric station. Quite a number of laborers are necessary to take care of outside work and those people seem more prone to accidents than the others. I think the electric hazard makes the electric plants really more dangerous than the gas plants.
Chairman- Paige: The discussion on Mr. Bliss' paper will be handled by Mr. H. A. Johnson.
DISCUSSION
Mb. H. A. Johnson (Adjuster, Omaha Gas Co., Omaha, Neb.): I have
read Mr. Bliss' paper with a great deal of interest and not only has he
touched on the subject of "inspection", but referred in a general way to
the prevention of accidents-in the Gas Industry.
Mr. Bliss states that a gas plant is particularly hazardous, but, although
one would expect that the "greatest number of employee personal injuries
in the Gas Industry occur at the Works or Manufacturing Department--
on account of the machinery, boilers, generators, etc.,--it has been our
experience that we have less accidents in this branch of the work than
in others. This probably Is due to the fact that the men are under a
closer supervision than those men who have to work in dark basements
of consumers' homes or on the street.
With, very few exceptions, the hazards of the gas plant are similar to
these of other industries. We have found that the best plan to reduce these hazards is by inspections at regular intervals, which work I have
been doing for some time. I usually make an inspection of our plant about
once every month. This inspection covers all our departments including
the Commercial Office. Fire risks as well as accident hazards are noted
and a report, giving location, nature of hazard--together with a recom
mendation to remedy it is referred to the Manager for his approval--
after which the person in charge of each department is expected to take
immediate action reporting hack what is done in each case.
Very good results have been obtained from these inspections owing,
especially, to the fact thatr we have the cooperation of manager and
foremen, which Mr. Bliss says is the most important thing to accomplish. The foremen are especially interested in reducing these hazards because
most of them are caused by poor housekeeping, and by adopting the
policy of putting everything in its place Immediately after completing
each job, it is quite easy to eliminate several items on the report.
Owing to the responsibility placed on employers by Workmen's Com
pensation laws, the Company of course is quite interested in providing
the necessary guards for machinery, stairways, footwalks, etc., and It is
important that the Company does its duty before asking the cooperation
of the employees.
^
V
1112
Eighth Safety (' ongrcss
I agree with Mr. Bliss that the only one way to overcome the danger of accidents Is by a process of education. As Mr. Bliss says, there is no better and easier way to educate the workmen in accident hazards than through safety committees.
OBGASI/.ATIO.V OF SAFETY COMMITTEES
We organized a Safety Committee in our Works last March, similar
to that outlined by the Accident Prevention Committee of the American
Gas Institute, and mentioned in Mr. Bliss' paper, and we have found
that it pays. We also expect soon to organize them in other departments.
While there hasn't been any reduction in the number of accidents over
last year during the same period of time, there has been a reduction in
time lost by employeeslon account of accidents--amounting to 25 days;
and the cost of holding the Safety Committee meetings, plus compensa
tion paid injured employees, together with medical expense, was less
than that paid for accidents In the Works last year during the same
period of time.
The Superintendent of Works acted as Chairman of this committee for
six months and six workmen were appointed to serve on the committee
with him. Each workman serves 30 days, and at the end of every 30
days two men are replaced with > new men and by this plan we hope
soon to give every employee a chance to serve on the committee--in
this way educating every person. At the expiration of his time each
member is given a gold-mounted safety button which he wears with
much pride.
--
The Committee meeis^everv two weeks and spends about two hours
time. Part of the timeL Is spent on an inspection through the plant,
after which a round-table discussion is held on working conditions in
general. I have been acting as Secretary and occasionally accompany the men through the plant,--and I have been surprised to find the number
of important recommendations the men make. Most of the suggestions
made would probably never appeal to an inspector who did not happen
to see certain work being done.
This Committee does not confine its meetings to Safety, but talks about
other conditions which help to reduce operating expenses so it is impos
sible to place a value on the work of such a committee. Each accident
that occurs in the plant is discussed by the Committee and in this wav-
considerable publicity is given on accidents, at the plant.
REPORT OF AM ERICA-V GAS INSTITUTE COMMITTEE
I am glad that Mr. BflSs referred to the report made in 1315 by the American Gas Institute Committee and hope that every member, if he has not already done so, will secure a copy of this report and study it. It is based on the experience of several gas companies, and covers In detail most every hazard in the Gas Industry.
In this connection I woSTId also like to refer to some work now being done by the Accident Prevention Committee of the American Gas Asso ciation of which Mr. Janies B. Douglas of the United Gas Improvement
Public Utilities Section
1 11:5
Company is Chairman. This Committee is asking for a report of all accidents in Gas Companiesjrwherein the injured person is disabled over one shift. I think this section ought to cooperate with this Committee so that every Company can get the benefit of the other's experience.
As Mr. Bliss states, much can be said on the subject of `Tias Plant Inspections", but I should like to point out some of the things I con sider most important in this'kind of work. Any plant can select a man to devote a few hours each' month to this work. He need not be a safety engineer nor a graduate of a technical school, hut he should be a man who is not daily on theground--as he will be more alert and notice the little things, which. Ieft unchanged, might cause serious injuries.
ISSPECTIOVToint TIIKOCGH CAS Pf.AXT
I recently hadthe pleasure of accompanying an inspector on a tour
through our GasWorks, anJ the first place he advised going was to
the top of our large gas holder, or highest point near the Works. He said
he could usually tell from thSFpoint if a plant was paying much attention
to safety, by the appearance bf the yard, in general, and he also stated
he could plainly see loose pieces of slate or other defects on roofs of buildings. I was glad to hear him say our yard was very clean, but be
did notice some loose piecesCjpf slate. We have great difficulty in pre
venting the last hazard owin^to continued Western winds which usually find their way under the pieces of slate.
In making these inspections, I try not to be too critical, and often
times correct small things at time of inspection by calling the attention
of the person whom I feel is responsible for the condition, and In this
way I think the foremen will not be apt to consider the report too
critical.
--
It is necessary, around a Gas Works, to have several valve pits with
wooden covers, and I find it quite important frequently to inspect the
cover and if it becomes cracked or rotted, recommend repairs at once.
This hazard appeals to me particularly owing to the fact that while mak
ing an inspection, I stepped on a cover over a pit which 'was located in
one corner of a holder yard,- and my leg immediately went through.
Fortunately, however, I was not injured. Upon close examination I
found that the material had become so rotted that it was nearly like paper, but to look at it one would have thought it quite strong.
Wooden stairways, woodea^passageways, or ladders exposed to the
weather, should receive* the most careful attention.
Some of the most common hazards around a Gas Works are oily waste
on floor or work benches, clothing or other combustible material in bot
tom of lockers. Frequently Tools are found with mush-roomed heads,
nails protruding from boards, and pieces of coke on runways. It is
necessary to have several foot-walks around a Gas Works, and the proper
guard rails should be provided, also toe-boards on sides to prevent acci dents from falling objects. It Is important to provide sloping tops on
all lockers and small cabinets to prevent the storage of material on top of
1114
E ighth Safe ty Congress
same. lackers may be purchased with sloping tops and it is well to
so specify when ordering.
Our storeroom and distribution shop is located in a six-story building
away from the plant, and there are several conditions to be watched
here, such as nails protruding from boards near place where stoves and
other material are uncrated, and we have also had a few accidents
caused by trucks running over loose nails on floor causing the head of
same to become wedged in floor and injuring workmen by striking foot
against point of same. --
Shelves used in storing glassware and other material should have
uprights to prevent material from falling; fixtures should be suspended
from hooks and not nails; passageways should he kept clear.
In our storeroom we have a sprinkler system, and we have had con
siderable difficulty in getting our men to realize the importance of not
piling material closer than 18 inches to the sprinkler heads. It is quite
important to provide ample fire protection in meter repair shop such
as sand pails and Tetrachloride Fire Extinguishers on account of oil
fires.
--
DANGER FROM EXHAUST PRODUCTS OF AUTOS ITT A CLOSED GARAGE
We also have our own Auto Repair Shop where we have tried to pro
vide suitable fire protection, and I should like to mention, at this time
the danger of workmen being made sick by the exhaust products of autos
in a closed garage, especially during the winter. Two years ago our
distribution superintendent installed three or four pipe connections
leading from the inside Wall of the garage to the outside of the building,
and in the cold weather the cars being repaired are backed up to the wall
and a hose is connected from the exhaust pipe of the car to pipe ih wall.
This has helped us to eliminate the disagreeable and dangerous condition
in the garage when the engines of two or three cars are running.
I have tried to touch only on the most common hazards of the gas
industry, and hope I bavercovered at least a few conditions which might
be new to some of the members--or at any rate renewed their importance
in. your minds.
Mr. A. E. Bliss: I am very glad that this matter of particular hazards
of gas companies has been brought up. Our employees must report
everything and I think that I am safe in saying that the serious acci
dents are no worse in the Has companies than in the electrip, hut cinders
In the eye, cutting fingers, or slight accidents of that kind that do not
lay the men lip, are very rBommon in the gas plants and that was what
I had reference to in bringing out the large number In gas plants over
electric.
--
Chairman Paige: The next paper is on "Effective Means of Focusing
the Responsibility for ther? Prevent! on of Accidents upon Foremen" by
Mr. J. W. Easley, Kansas ~CIty Home Telephone Company, Kansas City,
Missouri.
'Public Utilities Section
1115
EFFECTIVE MEANS OF FOCUSING THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE PREVENTION OF ACCIDENTS UPON FOREMEN
J. W. Easley, Kansas City Telephone Company, Kansas City, Mo.
A discussion of effective means of focusing the responsibility for the prevention of accidents upon foremen naturally leads to an investigation of the foreman's relative position in industry, and to the methods by which can be secured his supervision to cover prevention of accidents
to the end that such supervision -will be a matter of assigned routine and not optional. The,problem is a constructive psychological problem; a problem to secure a realization and acceptance of responsibility.
foreman the most potent factor in accident prevention
In tlie organization scheme "of the telephone industry the foreman, be cause of his functional duties is probably the most potent factor in acci dent prevention. To a more or- less extent this Is probably true^in all Industries, but particularly souta the telephone industry because of the necessary wide-scattering of the working units; the foreman's direction is final; his judgment conclusive; he is the controlling element relatively absolutely responsible for the efficiency of his unit and the correct per formance of its duties. If properly organized the foreman and his creware working under well-defined instructions, each operation covered by standardized specifications. To make proper progress in prevention work accident prevention must be made an integral part of the operation of the unit; safety practices and safety standards must be made part and parcel of construction specifications and construction methods--and the foreman must be brought to a realization of his responsibility in this regard-- then will accident prevention receive relative consideration. Definite instructions must be issued for every operation of the crew, instructions estimated to provide for the completion of a given operation, without ac cident, and the foreman's duties must be clearly defined to cover super vision in that direction. Output should not be a controlling factor. It should not be optional with the foreman whether a workman do this or that which may he safe or unsafe, even to hasten production. Ho should be specifically charged OEiat his directions must be along the line of the fewer hazards regardless of output. As the human equation Is a controlling factor in accidents, and as the mental attitude of the workman has much to do with success xsf prevention work, the matter of hiring and discharge should be delegated, with restrictions, to the foreman. He Is in a position to judge motives and should not be hampered with work men who are antagonistic to the safety idea. The problem of the new man on the job and his relation to accident prevention is one for the foreman's particular study. Much thought and energy hare been concen trated upon Improvement of method without a single new idea as to the
]]1G
--=Eighth Safety Co-tigress
man on tbe job. The foreman should be as responsible for correct In struction of safety practices as for operating- methods, and this responsi bility applies particularly to the new employee. Foremen should not tolerate indifference.
N'ecessarily all employees should be required to Inspect and test for efficiency, strength, and safety, all equipment and tools used by them. They should be instructed to do nothing contrary to their judgment witn reference to their personal safety, and that when in doubt they must con sult their foreman and be governed by his Instructions. The foreman must be cautioned not to accept an Instruction or put it into effect if in his judgment it will lead to unsafe practices. He must be encouraged to question the correctness of instructions as affecting safety. He must know that working conditions can be improved largely through his sug gestions and that it is^his moral obligation, to make such suggestions and that such suggestions would be of benefit both to the employee and the employer. Inspection and correct instruction for use of tools and materials should be made a part of the foreman's duty. He should be made responsible for the condition of tools.
If foremen or workrodfr are fined. laid off or dismissed for violation of operating rules, why should they not be fined, laid off or dismissed for failure to follow safety practices if these are to be a part of the operat ing rules? Dismissal of-employees for unsafe practices should be dele gated. with restrictions,^ to the foreman and there should be a welldefined penalty for accidents resulting from improper supervision.
VNSAKI-: l'K.UTICKS f'lIKl'KKI) VI' TO THE FOREMAX
Safety inspectors should report failure to observe safe practices as carefully as the output inspector reports faulty output, and' tbe same penalty should apply. Faulty output Is checked up to the foreman, why not unsafe practices? JW our plant we have tried the scheme of plant inspectors. They are appointed from the rank and file of the employees, to serve for a term of three months. Their reports are transmitted to our committee and are treated confidentially. The results have been very gratifying. The foremen^are continually on the outlook to prevent unfav orable reports. But foremen, must not be made too dependent upon in spection for improvement^as it hampers their initiative.
The economic loss resulting from an accident should be brought forci bly to the foreman's attention; the detrimental effect upon morale, the resulting confusion and tendency to uncertainty. The foreman should be required to make a detailed written report of all major accidents to members of his crew. HI should be kept Informed of the condition of the Injured person. The 'foreman must know intimately the effects of the accident upon the workman and his family, really to appreciate what it means. The foreman must realize his moral obligation.
The foreman must be informed of the principles of common, law as they relate to his position. HeJahould know that an employer is bound to use ordinary care to prevent: injury to an employee; that the degree of dili gence varies with the character of the work and that for this reason the
Public Utilities Section
1117
degree of diligence in utilities is very high; that the employee, to recover
damages must be free of continued negligence; that reasonable rules and
safeguards must be formulated and adopted by the employer and that the
responsibility rests upon the foreman to see that they- are enforced and
that any neglect on the part^qf the foreman in not carrying out the or
ders of his employer subjects the employer to full liability in case of in
jury to the employee, for reason of such neglect; thaL if the foreman is sues proper instructions and urges caution they 'will tend to mitigate the
damages. The foreman must realize his legal obligation.
The foreman should be well-informed as to Compensation laws that may
be in effect. For instance, in Missouri: he should know that compensa
tion will not be allowed for air injury or death due to the employee's or
another's willful misconduct including failure or refusal to use a safety appliance or perform a duty required by statute or failure to obey any
reasonable rule adopted by trio company for the safety of the employees.
He should especially know that the burden of proof rests upon the em
ployer; that it Is an accepted principle in compensation that neglect on
the part of a fellow workman does not prevent recovery of compensation.
If a compensation law is in effect, foremen and all other persons in super visory positions should be furnished with a copy of the law and with
the notations and explanations as issued from time to time by the Com
mission, and they should be encouraged to discuss them at the various
meetings. The foreman shoulcTbe in a position to see that justice is done
as relating to compensation. _
The study of accidents and Jtheir causes, by the foremen, is very im
portant. We find a very good method is to submit the circumstances and conditions leading up to an accident to each foreman for suggestions
as to how the accident could have been prevented. If accidents occur the details should be given wide circulation among employees. We are em
ploying for this work a personal letter to the "employees as we question
the value of the collective method--the use of the bulletin board. An ef
fective method also of securing the cooperation of the foreman in accident prevention work is to make the discussion of accidents an important fea
ture of the foremen's' meetings. In these meetings accident prevention
should be considered equally important with the discussion of other plant
matters, and topics for discussion should be assigned in advance.
Cu.virm.vx Paiok: Mr. Easley has given us a new slant on this ques
tion and the discussion to be taken up by Mr. H. C. Lucas will be inter
esting.
"ti
DISCUSSION .
AIk. H. C. Lucas (Secretary-Treasurer. Philadelphia Electric Company,
Philadelphia) : To those who have studied safe practices in large utility
companies, the question of focSising the responsibility for prevention of
accidents upon foremen has been answered in. the admirable paper you
have heard read.
"
There are two classes of .foremen to be considered: The foremen
properly instructed to the necessity of doing work well and as expedi
tiously as possible, who carries out his orders, always keeping in mind
1118
Eighth Safety Congress
safe practices while so doing-, he is known as a safe man. To such a
man fully realizing the importance of safe practices, and the responsi
bilities of the company Tas relating to his position, no accidents are
chargeable. Accidents may and do happen under him, hut they
are few. There is the other foreman, just as intelligent, just as safe in
some particulars, but who insists on the work being done expeditiously,
safely if possible, if it does not interfere with getting it done quickly.
This is the man we must consider. There is a lack of earnestness when
he talks of safe practices'to his men. He neglects frequently to call the
attention of his men to safety. Labor conditions of the past few years
brought new men in each, gang every week. These men he neglected to
instruct in safe practices. =r
There is another class of foreman I have not considered. He is out
of the pale. Intelligent or otherwise, safe practices have no place in
hfs composition. He simply will not consider them, and therefore should
not he retained.
-
In considering the responsibility of the foreman--It is fair to begin
with the assumption that if proper attention be given to laying out the
work and if proper tools ara supplied to do a given task, and instructions
on safe practices given toJthe men, a very large portion of the proper
duty of a foreman has beeiT complied with.
Where this lias been done, only a direct violation of orders, or gross
carelessness on the part of_the worker is likely to result in an accident.
At first glance. It does not seem fair to charge the foreman with respon
sibility for such accidents. Nevertheless, the foreman who tolerates
careless methods, who permits any deviation by the worker from the
recognized and safe practices of work which have been explained .to
him, must in all fairness be held responsible for sncb carelessness and
disobedience, particularly if the worker is not an entirely new employee.
Too many foremen close their eyes to chance-taking, simply, because
they have seen so many chances taken and gotten away with safely, that they unconsciously acquiesce In rule disobedience, rather than take the
time to censure and discipline infraction of the safe though narrow
way of performing the operation.
How to get the foreman to realize his responsibility' for the waste and
sorrow incident to accidents. Is indeed no easy matter, but one that
requires plain talk from the management. Such realization can only be
expected after man-to-man 'talks with him--only after he has become
an honest-to-goodness safety man himself. Like many other things, it is
a matter of education, and Ho man should be a foreman if he cannot be
brought to a realization that, a job is not well done if there is any sort of accident entering into the performance of the work.
EDUCATE THE FOCCXAS
Talk to the foreman; show him that the accident cost is part of the job; show him that a foreman that turns out jobs with an accident cost tag attached is a luxury that cannot always be tolerated. Show the indifferent foreman that he-cannot compete with a real production man
Public Utilities Section
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who Insists that all work that lie In any manner lias supervision over,
must be done, not only accurately and expeditiously, but free from the
stain of any accident overhead. Show the foreman the record of acci
dents in the plant, and how many he is responsible for in his division.
Create an incentive for him to make his division 100 per cent accident free. Fail not to let him know you are interested In this record.
Every foreman if he Is honestly and earnestly interested in safety
will find his men the same way. It is the foreman tolerant of careless
and unsafe methods who finds his men reflecting his attitude. Such a
foreman must be talked to earnestly; told positively if unsafe practices
continue he will be discharged^ While the bulletin board is effective, the
personal letter to the foreman, as Mr. Easley says, is the most effective.
A weekly letter to 'all the foremen in his department by the head of that
department calling their attention to the accidents that have happened
during the week, the persons responsible, analyzing the causes, and de
termining if avoidable; discharging those foremen and men whose record is continuously bad; laying off for a few days those responsible for
avoidable accidents, and encouraging all to strive for a clean monthly record.
One of the most effective means for focusing the responsibility for
prevention of accidents upon foremen is the safety engineer. In season
and out, every time they meetrhe continually boosts SAFETY. His posi
tion, however, does not empower him to fine or discharge the careless
foreman, but it is his duty to report to the head of that department
any infractions of the rules .he may observe, or that may be brought to
his attention. The head of the department is the man with authority to
fine or discharge, and if his attitude is strict, the observance necessarily
will be.
'
A trained foreman -is the logical instructor of every man working
under him=--he is the creator of dozens of safety enthusiasts where only
one existed before.
^
All this he can obtain by tact--by friendly cooperation. The good
foreman should not quarrel with nor unduly censure his men--win them
the other way--make them realize that accidents are not only unneces
sary, but economically wrong,-that they, too, somewhere along the line
have to absorb part of the cost, and that when they help to minimize or
wipe out entirely such wastes in operation, they are doing real things, and are surely headed for financial advancement.
The foreman who makes excuses for accidents occurring within the
division of work he supervises;'rather than train his men in safe prac tices, cannot t>c considered as a good foreman, and therefore should not
be considered as in line for further promotion.
Safety talks were all right when we started the safety campaigns.
We have passed that, stage. What is needed now is safe practices; safe
practices enforced by reprimand, fines, lay-offs, and dismissal.
Mu. J. B. Dotjqi-as: Mr. Lucas' remarks on discipline are rather new
in this day when men are so scarce, and I would like to ask what pecu-
liar plans the Philadelphia Electric Company has for making men safe
3 120
Eighth Safety Congress
to tlieir employment in case they are fined or laid off for a while. If we did that in the same-town, they would never come back. It seems to me in this time of labor shortage it has been felt very generally that it would be rather disastrous for others to try that idea.
Mr. J. W. East.ev: I brought this proposition up just to see what you folks thought about it. This was our experience as I have outlined it, that when we fined or laid off or disciplined one employee or one fore man who failed to observe safe practices the news scattered so quickly that we weren't required to-lay off many more. The result was to boost the standard of our work. -
AIr. H. C. Lucas: ThesSuperintendent in one of our plants gets out weekly letters to his forehTSn on such points as may seem best. "We are so scattered, occupying probably one hundred and twenty-eight square miles of territory, that while we work more or less out of one store there are foremen who report at the station fourteen Or fifteen miles distant or other parts of the city.
Mb- B. F*. Day (The Philadelphia Electrie Company, Philadelphia) : It seems foolhardy to let a man go in these times of difficulty in. getting foremen but we have found that it is difficult -to penalize foremen to the extent of letting them go t they will not size up' as a safety man and we have never lost permanently any men that we have desired to retain as foremen through that fact. Probably the answer is that the service of the Philadelphia Electric ^Company is more desirable to foremen than many other companies. In ether words, it may be to their advantage to
pay the penalty rather than seek employment with the competing com pany. We try to use men and foremen like men should be used. Our employees are not paid entirely under compensation if they are absent on account of accident, but^in addition to state compensation, they are allowed an amount sufficienb'to bring their wages up to their full amount
and the instances in which we have discovered malingering have been very few indeed. Personallyr r believe that penalizing is a process which must be used very cautiously. We have tried to be diplomatic in the matter and so far have not" incurred any permanent hatred or lack of cooperation from the foremaTfho has been penalized.
BENEFIT ASSOCIATIONS
Mr. J. B. Dougi.as: One ^feature Mr. Day omitted when speaking of the features offered hy hi accompany to employees is their beneficial association. As far as we <Sh learn from our employees, their connec tion with the United Gas anrimprovement Company is very satisfactory and attractive to them but you take two companies in the same city with working conditions being equal as far as they can be, if one com pany has a pension and beneficial system, it 13 natural for a man. if fined, to think the second time before he kicks out and loses what rights he may have in that system, whereas with the other .employer having no such welfare plan, the employee does not give the matter the same concern. I have no doubt that the very excellent welfare that Mr. Lucas has among employees there in Philadelphia has a great deal to do in
Public^TJtilities Section
1121
causing employees if fined to submit to the fine and return to their work
because from what my friends have told me and from what I know of
other ordinary employers, I know that in this day it is almost impossible
to dock a man or fine him or penalize him and expect him to come back
to his Job unless you have some unusual hold such as beneficial associa
tion or something unusually attractive.
Ms. H. C. Lucas: I don't befleve the beneficial, association Is one that
will pay full pay for any accidents for practically unlimited time, espe
cially for accidents on duty, Udon't think that has any hearing on this
at all, neither do I think the service annuities or anything else matters to that extent. Of course, I think that with the older foremen it is
different as Mr. Day and myself are placed in position where we do take
care of them irrespective of beneficial association or anything else be
cause their records of years and years entitle them to that. I think it is the man, the foreman. Any foreman that is just and strict will keep
his men the same way and they will realize that when they are laid
off, they are laid off for a causOThnd that cause was their own. I don't
think there is a bit of difference between Mr. Douglas' men and the
other company's men and I don't think the beneficial association makes
a big difference but the average employee when you lay him off says
that he'll get a Job somewhere else. I think it is the foreman and when
you settle it, as Mr. Easley says; focus it on that man and make him
liable for it, you have struck the nail on the head.
Mr. Wrr.r.s MACi.Aem.A_v: In connection with the placing of blame
for accidents, one method that we have used is to have the safety com mittee, as you call it, go over the accident and see who was to blame
and what was the cause. If the blame is placed by fellow members, rhere isn't the sting to it of the ame being placed by the company-, but
the matter of laying off or firing for cause has been used for years by all
railroad companies quite successfully, in fact tbe only successful system.
Ciiairmax Paigk: We have had some very interesting papers and very interesting discussions and in' behalf of the Section,.! want to thank
those who have put so much effort into making this program so suc
cessful. The next session of this' section will be tomorrow morning at
9.-30 a. ar.
-
The Section then adjourned.
SATURDAY 3CORNING SESSION
HE meeting was called to order at 9:00 o'clock A. M., Mr. Wills
T Maclachlan, Vice-Chairman/jgresiding. Vick-Ciiair.\tax afAcrj.cm.Ax: The first item on the program is the report of the Nominating Committee. As Mr. Fisher, the Chairman of this Committee, had to leave last night, I will ask some one else on the Committee to present the report,
: 1 J'J
-- Eighth Safrfy Confjress
RKRORT OK XOXIIXATING COMMITTER
Mi:.
IVuhy i Beil Telephone Company, Philadelphia, Pa.): Mr.
Klslier a.~=ke<3 me to present the report of the Nominating Committee.
The following members were nominated:
Chairman: Wills--Maclachlan. Electrical Engineer, Consultant Em
ployees' Relations, Toronto. Canada.
Vice-Chairman: -Charles E. Morrison, General Manager, Utilities
Mutual Insurance Company, New York City.
Secretary: H. BiHarmer. Philadelphia Electric Company, Philadel
phia, Pa.
'=S,
We recommend that the various sub-committees be appointed by the
incoming Chairman^ < These candid a tes~"w ere elected.)
-'
('[|aii:ma.v M.\n..\ri[i.AX: I appreciate very greatly the honor you have paid me in this. aiicT possibly after I have had a little time to think it
ovtr I will try to lay before you some of the policies of the incoming
administration.
JZ
The next order oii the program is a paper by Mr. W. J. Burton, Con
sumers' Power Company. .Jackson, Michigan, on "Working Safely on Live
High Tension Lin eg" Some of us who-have known Harry Burton for the past five years
appreciate what he-fs doing in the Instruction work and the developing
of the men in Ws=Company to carry on the technical work for that
Comrany. 1 think that a paper cu this subject by Mr. Burton will be
appreciated by all ofjis. Mr. Burton.
WORKING SAFELY ON* LIVE iriGlI TENSION LINES
H. J. BcrtoSToxscmkik' Power Company, Jackson, Mich.,
Ordinarily live, high tension conductors are dangerous to touch or ap proach, and they can only be handled safely by those who have been properly trained andTequipped for the work. Energized electric light and power circuits should_be handled carefully under all conditions, and In no circumstances is greater caution required than in the Installation and repsiir of high tensioix lines and equipment.
KAZAKHS NOT ONLY Kl.J5CTIUC.Vt.
Some causes of accidents are common to most industries, and the dan ger to the electrical Avorker is not only due to shocks and burns, hut also to falls from towers,rpoles, or other elevated structures. Many conductors are placed underground, in conduits and in tunnels, and there is some times danger from explosive or inflammable gases. The question of asphyxiation of employees must also be taken into consideration. Coal or coke dust, or any deposit on the insulators, in the nature of a conductor, or partial conductorTif electricity, increases the chances of flash-overs and danger to the worker- The weather affects operating conditions--rain, snow, wind, sleet, and lightning generally mean work for the trouble man.
and quite often the most dangerous work to be done is during or innne-
Ptiblic Utilities Section
112i
diately after a storm. ' As there is always a possibility of danger from lightning, induction or live conductors swinging into and energizing the
lines to be worked upon, no lines "should be treated as "dead" or not ener gized unless they are short circuited and thoroughly grounded.
KnuCATINU THE FTiULIC
The use of electricity is'daily becoming more general, and a network of electric wires extends over ami under the streets of our cities and across the fields of our country. The number of injuries due to the public wittingly or unwittingly coming in contact with live conductors is unnec essarily high. Experience teaches us that most accidental injuries can be prevented by education. Persistent instruction to the public would tend to decrease some of these accidents.
In this paper an attemp't will be made to outline some of the precau tions to be observed for the safe handling of live or energized lines and equipment. It will deal more particularly with electrical hazards rather than those common to most industries.
SEI.KCTIOX OF MEN FOR USE WORK
Records show that linemen and patrolmen, that is, the men who handle
distribution circuits and transmission lines, sustain a large percentage of the fatal accidents to employees of the electric light and power companies and particular attention should be given to the selection of men for this
work. In dealing with the problem of safety to linemen, it should be
realized that most of the accidents are due to mistakes, lack of instruction
or the Incompetence of employees.^ Snell accidents can be prevented by
education. Very few of the accidents are due to mechanical or physical
conditions of the property.
^
coi\STiiucrlox of lines
If the construction of the lines isTOf a temporary nature,- the clearances and other physical conditions should be checked up. If It is essential that such lines be worked on while energized, it may be necessary to build special platforms and barrierlr before any work can be done.
Electricity is sometimes generatecLand distributed at from 2,300 to 7,500 volts. In other cases it is generatedlat from 2,300 to 7,500 volts and It is then stepped up by means of transformers to from 30,000 to 150,000 volts and transmitted long distances anX then stepped down again and dis tributed at lower voltage. On account of the great difference in voltage between distribution lines or circuits, and transmission lines, two distinct safety problems are presented- Methods and practices that would be safe when considered in connection wi-h distribution circuits, would be out of the question for the higher voltaTge transmission lines.
Uve distribution circuits can be worked upon safely in good weather when the poles are dry without any Intervention between the worker and
the live conductors, except a good pair of rubber gloves or other com paratively thin insulating guard. When work on high tension transmis sion lines is to be done, long insulating rods, tongs, or similar appliances That isolate as well as insulate must be used.
'
1324
- ~ Eighth Safety Congress
TRAINER MEN ESSENTIA X,
A competent crew o trained men is essential if work on live lines is to be performed safely. Too much care cannot be taken in the selection and training of the foreman who has to take immediate charge of the work and all of the men most be instructed as to the character of all lines and equipment on or near which they are to work. Employees should not be left to learn their work by the "absorption'* method, they should learn by the "Intentional" method, that is, it should be the duty of some com petent person to instruct them. Some foremen consider their duties ful filled when they have briefly outlined to the men under them the work to be performed, but in order to insure safety they, or some authorized instructor, must give repeated and detailed instructions. Sometimes men do not fully understand or they forget their instructions. The foreman should satisfy himself that all of his men are competent and their knowl edge of line conditionarand hazards should not be taken for granted.
PROJECTION' FOR TIIB NIF.N
In addition to being properly qualified to perform their work employees must be equipped with suitable insulating'appliances for the safe testing and handling of live equipment and lines. All insulating tools and appli ances must be inspected and tested regularly and they must be properly stored or taken care of when not in use.
Rubber gloves, when not in service, should be stored in a dry and cool place -where the temperature does not exceed 75 degrees F. The gloves should not be exposed to the light and each pair should he kept In a separate box. If rubber gloves have to he stored for any length of time, it is a good practice _tz take them out periodically and roll or crumple them with the hands.^=They should then be straightened out and laid' away again. This practice seems to revive the rubber and lengthens the useful life of the gloves,- It should be borne in mind that a perfect pair of rubber gloves can be rendered useless for work on live conductors if sub jected to rough usager!irThey should not be worn while climbing as a splinter or a slight abrasion or puncture will destroy or lessen their insulating value and render their use a hazard instead of a protection. Special care should be ^exercised to avoid puncturing the gloves when making a wire suiice. It is advisable to wear leather gloves over the rubber gloves to protect them.
Linemen's shields or_y>rotectors should always be used when work is to be done in tight places on distribution circuits. These shields which are of rubber, or some other insulating composition, are for placing over live conductors that are: in close proximity to the lines on which the work is to be done. These protectors are guaranteed by the manufac turers to withstand all ordinary distribution circuit voltages. They are of great help to iinemeBiand their use should be encouraged. When not in use. shields should He placed in and carried to and from the place where the work is to be done, in substantial boxes. If this is not done, they are liable to be daruaged:by contact with the other tools in the line-wagon.
Linemen's spurs are necessary for climbing wooden poles, and they
Public Utilities Section
112">
should always be kept in firsfrclass condition. The gaffs should be kept sharp and should be replaced when they are so short that they will not puncture into the wood far enough to hold safely. The straps and buckles should be inspected frequently for defects. Spurs should only be worn when they are actually needed for climbing. They should not be worn while traveling-to or from work. Fooling and scuffling among linemen while wearing their, spurs has been the cause of many accidents.
Safety belts are essential far preventing accidents to linemen, and yet quite frequently they, are not used. The materials used in the manu facture of these belts should be the best obtainable and the workmanship should be of the best. They should be inspected frequently to make sure the straps, rings, snaps, rivets, and buckles are in good condition. When using a belt, care should be taken to see that the straps and buckles, are properly secured. before weight is brought to bear on them.
' boots and coats are now used quite extensively, by linemen, se being especially valuable when work is to be done during or itely -after a storm where broken lines or falling wires have to- be /
The ropes used in connection with the work on high tension trans
mission lines should be impregnated with paraffin and kept in a canvas
bag. The insulating rods should be thoroughly treated with paraffin. A.
drying room or oven should be provided where the tools can be thoroughly
dried and then treated. This should be done at regular intervals.
Insulating tools and* appliances should be of the best obtainable and
employees should be instructed! that they must not use anything else as a
substitute. The insulation commonly placed around the handles of pliers,
screw drivers and other tools vised by linemen serves to keep static away
but should 'not be relied upon'for complete protection. Rubber gloves, in
fact, all insulators may lose their insulating qualities and become in
capable of resisting high voltages by wear or by deterioration. If they
are not inspected and tested periodically, their use may prove a hazard
instead of a protection.
.
lSSTSUCriXG EMPLOYEES
First: Employees should be Instructed bow to avoid shocks and short circuits when working on or BBar live conductors. Before starting any work they should be informed by the foreman wbich conductors they are to handle and which to avoid. JThe employees should be acquainted with the fact that If they are thoroughly insulated from the ground and all
other conductors, it is comparatively safe to touch a single conductor, but that contact with two conductors or one conductor and the ground is dangerous and may result in injury. The foreman should caution his men to keep all parts of their body,`as well as feet and head, away from live conductors. The insulation on~high tension wires cannot be relied upon as a protection against shock! and this also should be explained to employees.
Second:' Linemen, before climbing, should be satisfied that the pole or tower is in good condition and5strong enough to bear additional weight.
H2r>
Kigh th Safety Congress
Poles may be tested near the ground line for decay with a bar or screw driver, and sounded for decay at the center of the pole by rapping with a heavy tool or block of wood. When poles or crossarms are apparently unsafe, they should be properly braced or guyed before any dependence is placed upon them for personal safety. No employee should go among any wires until he knows their condition and voltage, and knows that it is safe to do so. Leaning over and crowding through unprotected wires should be avoided.
Third: Sometimes because of leaking insulators, defective transformers or broken ground wires ^caused by storms, or other unusual conditions, poles or towers may be energized or "hot" and difficult or even dangerous to climb. If it is necessary to do work upon a line or circuit and condi tions are such that pole cannot be mounted or climbed without danger, the circuit should be made "dead" at least until protection shields, bar riers, or other safeguards are in place. Employees should be instructed not to work immediately above unprotected live lines or equipment, as a tool, rope, or branch of aTtree dropped across a high tension line might result in a flash with serious consequences. The rule--"work from below"--is a good one and should be enforced- whenever practicable.
Fourth: Underground electrical workers are exposed to special dangers. There is always the possibility of gas in tunnels, conduits, and man holes. and employees should be cautioned not to smoke and to keep all open or exposed flames away from manholes. They should report to their superior officers unusual evidences of gas and should not enter a'manhole opening if the slightest danger is evident. The use of a plumber's torch should be avoided as far fUT possible.
Firth: Numerous accidents have occurred to linemen when working on new extensions to distribution feeders, due to the fact that the exten sion lias been connected or tapped on to the energized circuit before the new work was completed. New work should be finished and all of the crew engaged on the work notified before the "hot tap" is made.
What has been said in the foregoing applies more particularly to disfr..l>ution circuits. The following will apply to transmission lines.
TRAN-SMJSSIOX LINES SOW UASDLED AI.1VE
A few years ago working on live, high tension transmission lines was
considered foolhardy and out of the question except in rare cases and under extremely dry climatic conditions. Today, insulating rods, tongs
\nd similar appliances have been so developed that 140,000 volt transmis
sion lines can be bandied alive with no greater hazard than accompanies
the handling of 2300-volt distribution circuits with the protection afforded
by rubber gloves.
iStr .
By means of the improved appliances, the insulators on live, high ten
sion lines can be tested while in position and the defective insulators
weeded out and replaced with good ones.
LONG I.N.SCLATING KOIIS fSED
Several different methodsT are used to test and change the insulators, the fundamental principle of them being that there is always a long
Public Utilities Section
1127
insulating' rod or other appliance between the man and the live part that Is to be worked upon. Various' patented devices in the shape of tools are used on the ends- of insulating rods for removing and replacing tie wires on pin type insulators and for removing and replacing cotter pins on suspension type insulators. Special long handled testing poles for picking out defective insulators are also on the market. In testing insulators on
live lines advantage is taken of the fact that a difference of potential exists between the cap and pin of a disc insulator. A. wire fork on the end of an insulating pole is=fised in some cases for making the test, placing the wire across the insulator between the cap and pin. It the insulator is good a static spark is obtained and the absence of spark or a weak spark shows that the insulator is defective.
The following is a brief description of one of the methods used to change defective insulators on high tension lines. The insulators are first tested and the defective cafes noted, a record being kept of the pole, or tower and the position of the insulators. A crew generally consisting of six men and the foreman do the work of changing the insulators. First, long .insulating rods are attached to the wire and the line secured in position and held so that it cahnot swing into the poles or towers. By means of rope blocks the rods are made to force the wire upward and away from its regular position^ The insulator is then disconnected from the wire after which the insulator can be removed and replaced or any necessary changes made. With proper tools it is not necessary for any of the workers to approach or place tlieir hands or any part of their body within dangerous proximity of any live conductor. Methods of work ing on transmission lines with, lines alive were described in the .Tune 10 and May 10, 1016, numbers of the "Electrical World."
SPECIAL PKECAUTIOXS TO IiE OBSEKVED IX CASK OF LI.NE TKOVKLE
. Noise and static on teleplioneTines, discharging lightning arresters or an
unusual amount of static on or around lines and insulators indicates
trouble and it may be due to defective insulators or to an "arcing" ground,
on the high tension lines. Foremen should instruct their men to work with extreme caution at such times. It is generally advisable to stop the
regular work of changing insulators until the cause of the trouble has been
located. This precaution should always be heeded on systems with a
grounded neutral.
___
Before any work on high tension transmission lines is undertaken, for the first time, a careful analysis should be made of the job. Each opera tion should be considered and nen should be selected and trained for the different operations they have to perform.
It is interesting to note thatrlinemen who have tried both methods of changing insulators would rather work on live lines with insulating rods between them and the line, than on "dead' lines without this protection. The dangers incident to the accidental energizing of lines that are sup posed to be "dead" are eliminated. Emergency or rush work which always adds to the hazard is to an extent avoided and the work can generally be done in the daytime when the light is good.
Telephone, telegraph, signal, and other lines that parallel high tension
1128
Eighth Safety Congress
lines are always liable to be more or less energized and dangerous to handle. This fact should not be overlooked in instruction given to line men.
TO STJML TJP
The prime requisites for safe working on high tension lines are: Safe construction, a good foreman, competent workmen equipped with proper tools and insulating appliances.
VicE-CrtAtRMAX Macr.Acslan : Mr. Burton, would you come up and take the Chair?
DISCUSSION
Mr. Macuchux: We have .lust heard, and I am sure you will all agree with me, a very admirable paper by a man who is thoroughly com petent to give some of the best advice that could be given by anybody in the Utilities gang in the United States.
In connection with the ^question of educating the public to tbe danger of fallen wires on tbe street, one plan that we have carried out, is to prepare a letter to school children pointing out the danger of fallen wires on the street. This is a mimeographed letter and is sent to the Superintendent of the Baird of Education and distributed through their regular channels to the various school boards and teachers.
We only tried to touch-the one point: The danger of fallen wires on the street. Later on possibly we will touch other points. Another way that we are drawing the attegjuoii of the public to the danger on the street is by using the standard-danger emblem that was prepared some few years ago by the National Safety Council on our poles and substations. We have also prepared ar slide that is to be sent to various movingpicture houses which points out that wherever you see this em.blem It means danger.
NECES.srrv for ixs'tructiox of USKJtKX
All through Mr. Burton's paper there was one thought brought out and that was the absolute necessity of education or instruction for the linemen as to the dangers of working on live lines. That Is absolutely essential and I do not think that enough attention has been paid to it in the past. We have been too prone to bire a Bill Smith because he is a lineman and then put him on high tension work and let him go. I think instruction to linemen is absolutely essential and it also applies to the work of our sub-statiorL men.
Another danger that we - are up against in working on live hightension lines or on primary lines is the danger of the ground wire on the pole. Our* men, in general, are depending upon the pole for a certain amount of insulation and they forget at times about the ground wire being there. One oSZtwo fatalities that we have looked into have been partially due to the presence of the ground wire on the pole.
I will not go into the details of the testing of rubber gloves, the test ing of linemen's shields, ^blankets, and standardizing the belt question, because I think most of y5h have seen the -work that has been done by
Public :Utilities Section-
5129
the N. E. L. A. Accident Prevention Committee in this line. They have out at the present time standard specifications for rubber gloves for work on lines of not more than 3,000 volts. They are working at the present time on the standardized belt for linemen. The preliminary standard has been in operation with linemen now for two or three months and is working out very satisfactorily.
WORKING OX CiVR TRANS MI SSION USES
The point that I wanted to touch upon more particularly was this new phase that we are getting into--the working on live transmission lines. Very few companies have had experience in this and without a word of warning I .think that we will have fatalities, due to the carrying out of the work originated by the Georgia Company, as I understand.
It is quite practical and perfectly safe for the skilled, trained surgeon' -to carry on an operation in a perfectly equipped operating room. It Is
perfectly safe for a skilled, trained lineman with the use of these tools to change insulators, but it must be remembered that this does not apply to all linemen, all types of tools and all types of construction. "Where you have to change an insulator above a live line, I think you are simply juggling with your life.
I think the companies should instruct their men as to the best ways of grounding the line and sliortfcircuiting, because I think we have all come- to tba point where we have very little confidence in the ground chain and very little confidence in our present method of grounding because a number of us have had fatalities, or near-fatalities on lines supposed to be grounded.
I think these two will have ter go hand In hand for a few years:--the old method of short-circuiting the line, grounding it, tagging It .at your substations at both ends, and carrying on work on a dead line, and that of changing Insulators by trained crews with special appliances, and I would like to reiterate that statement on certain types of construction.
After the meeting is over, if you wish to see it, I have a report on the changing of insulators on 44,001 volt pole construction by this method with about forty photographs showing the different details. We tried it os an experiment. We do not^believe It is generally applicable to our lines and we intend to carry oh our present methods as the standard routine for special work.
I would like to have a general discussion on this subject because it is one of the most important that we have before us.
GENERAT. DISCUSSION
Mr. Hermann Spoehree (Union Electric Light & Power Co., St. Louis, Mo.) : Mr. Burton's paper was Almost complete and interesting. There are one or two questions I would like to submit.
To begin with, I notice the National Line and Safety Bureau has been getting out circulars from timeito time and I took occasion to .write to Chairman Paige on the subject because I noticed they showed the line men. not wearing gloves, and in another instance where he was wearing
11 -iO
Eighth Safety Congress
buckskin gloves without any rubber gloves, and whether it was intended
or not. it would tend, I am afraid, to encourage unsafe practices among
the linemen.
---
\V<- have the county division and the city division In our company.
The county division made it a praotice to put their gloves on after they
reached the top of the pole for fear they would snag them in climbing
the poles. In the city they made it a practice to put the gloves on before
climbing the poles. If ymi climb the pole without gloves and pass the
safety strap around the cross arm of the pole after you get up there, it
is rather hazardous to da that without the use of gloves, for, of course,
you have to have a safety belt in order to put the gloves on. I would
like to know the general custom in that respect.
Mr. Burton also referred in his paper to the matter of educating the
public. Notwithstanding- the precaution you take and the efforts to
roach the public, we still have repeated accidents. It is practical to
use motion pictures in pointing out to the public the danger of handling
daugling wires, and probably a newspaper advertisement should be
rc-sort-ti to. I would like to know what experiences other companies
have to offer in that respect.
Mu. F. It. V.\x Doiikx QXtilities Mutual Insurance Company. New York):
I would like to know itTMr. Maclachlan had reference to the distribu
tion system nr high tensimi.
Mk. M.aoi..u-iii..\n : Distribution.
.Mit. Van Dorks: I have cotne across, in my experience, another bad
hazard: that is fire-alaruE contact. In this instance, companies covering
the fire alarm had taken the apex of the pole and run the wires down
about a foot or a foot and a half from the top of the iron conduit, from
the iron conduit to the fire-alarm box and from the fire-alarm box to
the ground. Several menworking on the distribution system have come
in contact with this wire and have been seriously injured.
Another thing. Mr. Burton spoke about linemen's belts. I think every
company should make an exact inspection of these belts. It has been
brought to my notice lately, in three different instances, where the line
men's belts apparently were in good condition but where the snap seemed
to be working very easily and I took the belts and by giving them a
slight twist they would come unhooked every time. That is something
that should be watched vgry closely.
Clin.lJKKX _VXI> K.V l.l.KN WiKKS
.'Ik. U. A. .It>iin.sox (Omaha Gas Company): I don't happen to be con nected with the electric Jadustry but this hazard of the children coming in touch with fallen wireschas come to my attention several times during the past summer. In driving through our city, especially after a storm, 1 have seen children gathering around electric wires that have fallen and it seems to be a common thing for them to do. I have never seen a motion-picture reel on this subject. It seems to me there is a chance for some of the electric companies to get up sucli a reel which could be
Public Utilities Section
USX
shown, especially to the school children, and also In the motion-picture
houses.
^
T also think that during Tie school season if there happens to be any
severe electric storm whereJthis hazard is to be found, that the school
teachers would be glad to fiaiiperate with the electric companies if they
get in touch with them over the telephone and have them make some
announcement just to call the attention of the children to this hazard.
Mr. Scott: The thing that is on my mind in connection with Mr.
Burton's paper is this changing of insulators on transmission lines and
the danger connected with it. The tendency seems to be now on the
part of the operators to work on live transmission lines wherever they
have an execution for continuity of service and this is going to be very
popular in that connection. They don't want to kill the lines. They
don't want to shut off the^thirrent so they rely upon this new method.
Recently this matter was put up to our safety organization for approval
or disapproval.
__
I must confess that I am Afraid of the thing, afraid something is going
to happen and yet after going over it with those who are In charge of
the work and being assured that the instructions are carried out. I feel that it is probably safe. I am afraid, although this has been confined
to a trained crew, that there will he a tendency to ignore that in a
little ivliif'e; they, will say, "Well, Frank is sick: we will take John
today.'' I'want to know how many trained crews Mr. Burton has on his
properties for this special ..purpose and if there has been a tendency
towards breaking the rules and regulations that were especially provided
for that work.
Mrt. Burton: We have two.crews.
Mr. W. H. MumcAX (Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario, Toronto, Canada) : There Js one point that I would like to bring out and that is the education oErthe man.
A few years ago in our Company, on a duplicate circuit. 110,000 volt
lines, we undertook to change insulators with one side dead. We had
trained crews and trained nren, yet, in that summer, within two weeks,
we had two men killed; they climbed the poles and thoughtlessly walked
into the live side. We can't impress that point too much on the men. One thing Mr. Burton said was that gloves must not be worn when
climbing. Gloves must be worn when climbing. We do not allow any
man to wear rubber gloves apithout leather covers.
Another point mentioned -Tvas the inspection of belts and spurs. In
our Company we have monthly inspections of these things.
Mr. Burton also said thadgloves must not be relied on as complete protection. I would like to-aslc Mr. Burton why. All of our gloves are
tested. They receive monthly tests. The men have to use gloves very
often when standing on the ground when the poles are wet and in stormy
weather. If they cannot rely on the gloves as ample protection, what
else have they?
Another question is, how does he recommend keeping open flames out of manholes especially wbeBTt is necessary to tap joints?
1132
Eighth Sofeft/ Congress
The matter of educating the public cannot be put too strongly. Just recently at one of our safety meetings a man said a line was down the other day and Mr. So and So came up to him and said, "I noticed this wire. I knew it was a live wire and I just took my umbrella and shoved it to one side." It was an iron umbrella.
Chairman* SUct.ACHr.Ax: -- Is there any further discussion on this point? Mr. Niesz. have you anything to say on this?
Mr. H. B. Niesz (Commonwealth Edison Company, Chicago): I haven't
any discussion to contribute, but since I have been called upon, I would
like to express, on the occasion of my first convention of the National
Safety Council, three things that impressed me the most: One is the
large number of people in attendance; another is the caliber of the men
here, who are mostly either practical or technically-trained men, and
third, the wonderful enthusiasm that each and every man has for his
work, and if that enthusiasm, that ability Is carried along the lines of
the safety organization down to the ultimate worker, we can't help but
do the things that we are4to do to make work safe for the men and to
conserve human life.
^
Chairman- Maclachlax: ' I will ask Mr. Burton now to wind up the discussion on his paper.
Mr. Bl-rtox: I agree with Mr. Maclachlan regarding the working on
high tension lines. It canyonly be done where the construction is right.
Some types of construction/ that is high tension lines, cannot be worked
upon alive. There are also some types of construction that cannot be grounded safely and works! upon. Fox* instance, if it is in close prox
imity to other circuits, it isn't safe to ground the circuit you are work
ing upon. You are liable, Jf you are close enough, to get against the other line and the hazard is greater with the grounded line than with the line not grounded. It is adfer in that case, if It is at all possible, to
work the line alive and handle it from the end of long poles or sticks,
or other insulating wire and sometimes construction.
appliances.Sometimes it it is safer to work it alive.
"7
is safer to ground the It is a question of the
OEI`EN*PEN*CE ON* RUBBER GLOVES
Regarding putting on rubber gloves, after climbing the pole: The rubber gloves are lessened in' their insulating value if they should get the slightest abrasion and lit you use them for climbing you are liable to do that and such gloveajire not worth much after you get up to the top of the pole. I think the circuit should be killed until the man gets to the top of the pole and then he could put on his protectors and other paraphernalia and go to work.
Regarding not placing complete dependence on rubber gloves: Rub ber gloves are tested, it is true, for 10,000 volts or 20,000 volts or what ever it may be. but it isn't* necessary to place complete dependence on them. For instance, if a fiSSn has a wire that is of 2,300 or 5,000 volts and he is standing on thejvet ground, he should put a board on the ground. Rubber gloves may be used safely there hut he should not
Public UTUities Section
bane complete dependence upon Them. He has just one factor of safety
if he puts complete dependence on the rubber gloves. He should put
the board on the ground, keep away from the ground wires,-use a pole
wherever possible, keep away from all other conductors, then use his
rubber gloves.
--
A man had tested rubber gloves and said, "They are good for 3 0,000
volts." He asked a man to stand on the ground and ground the circuit
on one side and let the other side take on the voltage and then test the
gloves by putting his hands onlhere. You know what it would do. I
wouldn't do it. They may be safe while they are on the testing machine
but not immediately afterward. "SL
Regarding the education of the public. You may be interested in
knowing that we had a 5,000 voST circuit on the top of a pole--about a
fifty foot pole--perfectly straight, with no steps on it and we thought
no one could climb up it except the lineman. An eight-year-old boy
climbed to the top of this pole, thinking there was a bird's nest up
there, and was killed. It seemed impossible that an eight-year-old boy
could climb up there but if you had seen the boy you wouldn't wonder
at it. I went to see him at the hospital; he was burned so badly that he soon died.
CHEWS FOR WORKING ON HIGH-TENSION TRANSMISSION LINES
Regarding the crews for working on the high-tension transmission
lines: The company I represent has two crews at the present time.
We only do work under favorable conditions. We don't use substitutes
when we don't have a complete jcrew. The beauty of this work is that
it doesn't have to be done on short notice. It is not emergency work.
We do not wait until the work gets that bad before, we do it. As soon
as we know it is in- any way defective, we go ahead and change insu lators.
Some time ago we were testing out a line and when we got close to
the`cross station we found some insulators in a very had condition. I
think nine out of ten poles werir defective and the tenth was holding
tip the line. Now the operator had occasion to operate around this line.
Due to "hot line" testing we found that place and remedied it before
an accident occurred. That is one: of the things to say in favor of work
ing on "hot" lines, you can flndThe trouble and remedy it. The work
does not have to be done, therefore, you can wait for the men on the
crew. I Wouldn't attempt to change an insulator on a high tension line
until all my main men were there.
Regarding open flames in manholes: Open flames in manholes should
not be used where there might bilexploslve gas. It is hard to tell some
times whether there is gas; it is more or less of a guess method. There
are some devices on the market,TC believe, for testing for gas in man
holes. I don't: know how logical they are.
2Chairman
Caclachi.an:
I amTSure we are very grateful to Mr. Burton
for his paper. It has opened up- a point that is being discussed in a
.11:14
- Ehjh.ni Safety Congress
groat many companies at the present time and needs to be carefully
gone into.
7
We will now hear from Mr. Walter Wagner on the question of "Prac
tices of Operators and Tagging of Switches. Markings, and Harriers."
T.\r:OIXC. BARRIERS. MARKINGS. AND PRACTICES
OF OPERATORS
Pjjtilai>Kr.t*ifiA
C.Walter
Wag nek,
Electric Company, PniL.vDEi-rma.
Pa.
Safety is a cogentAvord these days, and there is no activity in which
its powerful appeal to determine the course of action is more strongly
relt than in the Central Station industry.
Safety measures in stations serve not only the local station men, but
this protection, with its corollary insurance of continuity of safe serv
ice, involves, directly or indirectly, the safety of the community de
pendent upon electricity for light, heat, and power. The use of equip
ment of greater capacities, the concentration of greater power demands
in limited areas due to unprecedented .growth of load, and increased
voltages, have individually and collectively tended toward greater haz
ards: but, due to the introduction of safety measures, an equal or greater
degree of safety liaspin general, paralleled these changes.
Under the stress of. the war's demands for the maximum and continu
ous production of electric power, safety measures were given all pos
sible consideration, but the application and further development of proper
methods and devices wvere necessarily somewhat restricted.
>row. confronted in this new era of peace by increasing demands for
power from industrial activities, by tbe assimilation of untrained men
in the industry, and with the difficulties of the general labor situation
with its attendant great increase in turnover of employees, those who
ire responsible for Central Station safety today require the guidaince
from an sictive and ^extended discussion of the subjects of this paper.
With such guidance,I7Eliey will be assured of tried practices, which will
make for the greatest practicable degree of safety and efficiency.
Another potent factor requiring an adequate development of these sub
jects at this time, is the fact that the revision of the 1916 edition of tbe
National Electrical Safety Code is now in progress. Tbe United States
Bureau of Stamlards_is concerned with the development of a code of
minimum requirements, and while an effort should be made here, by
papers and discussion; to present the very best practice *t*d design for
electrical safeguards ITfound in the industry today, many of these ele
ments of general progress will serve, through their tncorporarion in the
safety code and by jts distribution, better to gttidc thn**> concerned
with safety in central stations throughout the entire cewmtry.
An adequate presentation of all the important
fe* obviously
not possible here, and it will, therefore, be assumed wtt descriptions
of the more commoffTsafe practices in general use thrugt*oet central
Public Utilities Section
' ll:?5
stations need not be included. iThis will permit the presentation or
some of the more recent safe practices in large electrical systems using
high voltages of distribution. Inpnany Instances, the methods used by
The Philadelphia Electric Company' will be submitted as being-produc
tive of good results.
^
TAGGING AND OTHER EtOCKIHG OPERATIONS
Jn the natural growth and development of electric power systems from
one to many stations, and with the increasing extent of conductor net works, the control by the station operator has given way to the direction of system activities by a load dispatcher. He, as the central authority responsible for the successful control of the entire system, directs the general machine and switching procedure at all stations. 'The extent of detail with which .the load dispatcher is concerned, as compared with details delegated to the station operator, can best be shown by a com parison of their respective dispStch panels. See Plates Nos. 1 and 2. It is evident that the load dispatcher's field is limited to the major ele ments of control, leaving the station operator responsible for those = de tails of switching and miscellaneous control which come within the juris diction of the individual station.
On Plate No. 2 .is shown a system of marking switching locations hy means of colored enameled tags liung on small hooks. In stations, this is the method used to reinforce Jthe operator's memory. The same prin
ciple is carried out on the station panels of the load dispatcher's board.
1136
Eighth Safety Congress
IT*. 2. OKSEP.ATINC! STATION' .DISPATCH BOARD
but substituted for the enameled tags are minature electric lamps, capped with glass bull's-eyes and controlled by jacks located on the dispatcher's desk. No illumination vindicates that the switch is open: when illu minated. a green cap placed over the lamp denotes the switch is closed, and a red cap that the switch is blocked. Manually-operated metal plugs
Public Utilities Section
313?
fitting into recesses are uses! for switching at the less important points.
A reproduction of the entire system, with stations and feeders in rela
tive position^-' is' shown in Elate No. 3. The panel lights and emergency
room illumination can he ^Supplied from a battery at the rear of the
dispatch board.
^
Cycle of Tagging (Blocking) Operations. The circuit or apparatus
upon which work must be done is examined by an authorized represen
tative of the department which Is to do this work. He reports to the
load dispatcher the amount of equipment involved, the.nature of the
tHE PHILADELPHIA ELECTRIC CO.
OPCRATINa DIVISION
Date.#*./' ./.#......Permit No.
Issued
....of vc
Permission is hereby given per..............t~r.T.^Xf...
..Dept.
..at Station......
Also see Peerrmrorit No------zrZZi...------------------------------ -----------------------------
Cleared by..../52*efeSs<e.. -----.Time...t5??<5?.i...M.I Date
Inspected by...!
.....Time
Date
FOR DETAILS OF BLOCKING SEE OTHER SIDE
lJi>. I. FACE OF CARD
THE PHILADELPHIA ELECTRIC CO.
OPERATING DIVISION
Details of Blocking----------------..^sZUrSsl^..____
.....-------------------------------------------------------
Permit closed by Q&s&t&f...Time.i&f.* <gM., Date.^*.i?.!>./^
Immedlartaly upon M|nplllon of the work notify Operator In Charge by returning PtPffllt, properly signed. Operator will then notify Load OUpatchor, repeating carefully Permit Number and nature of work for absolute Idcntltication...
X*L. 4. "-RJSVJ5KS12 STDI5 OF* CARO BLOCKING PERMIT CARD
/9/&cA &&/ /e?r hr/f// &s/ S'+'f/csr
e
w-xt
j ' ~TTTT)
/ S/tOcAr/*7 /S'- Chncf//~ e7s'S*st/yy$r/i
ri.. 5.
.MUCHAMCAI. BLOCKS FOR BLOCKING TYPES OF HANDOI'KUATKn AN'D IIE1IOTE CONTROL OIL SWITCHES
work, and its probable duration. With the reproduction of the system before him, the load dispatcher determines the necessary blocking pro
cedure on the equipment to be worked upon, and enters this information on a permit card bearing a sprinted serial number. This card is shown on Plate No. -1. When it is time to start the work, the load dispatcher directs the operators at all stations involved to do the necessary block ing. The operator at the station where the work Is to be done makes a
copy in duplicate of the load dispatcher's permit, using the same serial number. This operator gives the original of the duplicate permit to his assistant. This assistant, accompanied by tbe man in charge of the work, blocks the necessary ^Jtiipment and the permit is handed to the workman. The operator makes the corresponding changes on his circuit dispatch panel. Then, assured that all stations have properly blocked the circuit invIved, and making the corresponding changes on his dis patch board, the load dispatcher directs the operator at the station
Public Utilities Section
113:)
where the work is to be clone to proceed with the work authorized, hy the permit.
Where oil switches are involved, these would be opened by the usual remote-control mechanism, having the usual pilot lamps to indicate the operation, and the control and power circuits and equipment blocked mechanically and electrically, as follows: A conspicuous and substantial mechanical block--of which No. 20 block on Plate No. 5 is an example-- is placed as a guard over~the control switch to prevent accidental closing. The positive and negative knife switches supplying the control circuit
Station Chester This card issued by
order of Load Despatcher in connection with Permit No. 893 by
request of Pierce,
Operating Dept.
PL. 6. FACE OF TAG
DANGER
REVKRSF SII>K OF TAO
3 40
Eighth Safety Congress
are opened and tagged with a red blocking tag by tlie operator's assistant.
Potential transformer fuses on the voltmeter and synchronizing circuits
of the apparatus are opened and tagged to prevent the energizing of the
apparatus through the insertion of a plug in a voltmeter or synchroniz
ing receptacle.
:
In one present station design, all station compartments are locked,
and but one key will open the compartments of any circuit. The opera
tor then supplies this key to his assistant for access to the proper
switches. His assistant and the man in charge of the work then go to
the necessary disconnecting^ switch compartments, which are plainly
marked with the equipment designation and its phases, and looking
through the clear wire glass_panels of the compartment door, observe if
the green indicating lampjs burning. This is an incandescent lamp
V. TRIF't,!-: I'Of.K KEMCJTE-COXTROT, DrSl'OXXI-XTl.VO SWITCH nl-KrrST-l.VG MECHANISM
placed at all disconnecting switch points in a low voltage circuit posi tively controlled by the oil switch mechanism, and it burns only when the oil switch is in open position. It is placed at all disconnecting switch compartments where switchestmay control conductors connected to the oil switch. As the lamp must be burning to indicate when the discon-
Public Utilities Section
1141
/T7*f<T ij/ /Wtf/rf/
/%7/7 ^ -=v/si^v-ye-Ar
-- /r 1
4 j
<->
J\ t
-^
srr&Are
ssrf'r&S 0*. \
J__
/Yt>/-? j3/orf ouf for bfe&r & ofarrf/srp
PL. s. mechanical blocks iron BLOCKING- various and- remote CONTROL TYPES OFJJiND-OPEOATED OIL SWITCHES
necting switch may be safely pulled by a hook with, an insulated handle. It is an additional precautionary measure to prevent a mistake in the operation of a disconnecting switch. With this green lamp burning, the compartments are opened, the disconnecting switches pulled, and red blocking tags (see Plate INTO. 6) are attached at all points where the equipment to be worked on can be made alive. Where necessary, the further precautions of grounding or short-circuiting are used, and these would also be noted on the permit. Types of remote-control mechanism that have been recently developed, open and close the disconnecting switches on all the phases of -a. circuit simultaneously; this absolutely prevents the accidental opening of a phase of an adjoining circuit. One of-the'means is shown on Plate No. 7. In the closed position, the link-
3 342
^Eighth Safety Congress
ages are on dead center; holding the blades in position, and the operat ing lever can he loekecCwith the switches either open or closed.
Where work is being done on remote electrical control oil switches, the workmen are further safeguarded from accidental tripping of the mechanism by opening a small knife switch in the control circuit at the oil switch, and by the use of special mechanical, blocks, such as is indi cated by No. 10 Block; on Plate No. 8, to prevent movement of the switch parts.
In case more than one department or outside firm is working on the apparatus, or is exposed to hazard by the possible re-energizing of this blocked apparatus, separate permits must .be issued, and as many red blocking tags as there are permits issued must he placed wherever the equipment may be made alive. No tag is to be removed until.all de partments have signed^ their permits and have reported "clear," and tlie work and equipment are checked by the operator's assistant to make certain that everything is clear for service. The operator, upon receipt of this advice, signs the permit, then informs the load dispatcher, and restores the switch indications on his dispatch panel. Whenever he considers it necessary, the load dispatcher may require the additional approval of the district supervisor. When all departments have re ported "clear," the load dispatcher orders the removal of all blocks, and after having directed the making of the necessary- tests and restored the equipment to service; he then corrects the switching indications of his dispatch panels. The equipment with tags removed is then ready for service.
Special tagging of circuits and apparatus for the purpose of identi fication and tabulation of apparatus and cable condition data is in com mon use. In some instances, these are for permanent service, an ex ample being the use of a stamped non-eorr.odible metal tag wired to the lead cable sheaths. Others are designed for temporary use, as, for example, the attachment' of an oil tag to apparatus until Its case is properly filled with oil. -=
HARRIERS (INCLUDING COMPARTMENTS)
Barrier walls are designed, to give separation for conducting parts at different potentials and, "when provided-with covering doors, form com plete Isolating compartments, which give protection to those In the vicin ity from all arcing, shock, and mechanical hazards. TTnlike warning signs, they form a physical protection against thoughtless or accidental movements. This construction is superior to insulation lit that equip ment so enclosed is generally supported on separate insulators or con nected to a permanent-ground, is easily inspected and accessible for repairs and changes, arid incurs no possible shock hazard from de teriorated materials. Simplicity of arrangement of conductors and ap paratus, and the less roam space required, also serve to render conditions safer for station men.
Confining this discussion to concrete construction, the following char acteristics of this material may be noted. It cannot be considered in. any
Public Utilities Section
114:3
sense an insulator, nor is it a good, conducting medium. It serves to isolate live parts, which are otherwise insulated, and to support casings and frames, which must be grounded by other means, even should the concrete be reinforced with steel.
As a rule, barriers should not support live busses or apparatus sub ject to stress due to electrical disturbance, and, where isolating live parts, should have a minimum of reinforcement consistent with mechani cally safe construction. Doors~coyer the openings between the barriers, and are designed to be readily removed for access to the compartments covered. Such doors may be ^painted white pine frames, paneled with impregnated asbestos where they enclose conductor runs and instrument transformers; paneled with clear wire glass In front of disconnecting switches; and built of heavy wire screening where heat radiation ne cessitates this construction, as in front of reactance coils. Such doors
PL,. 9. FEEDER AND LIGHTING. ARRESTER COMPARTMENTS
must be of small size, light-weight, not easily damaged in handling, and rugged in construction. A pair of handles for detachable wall doors, and detachable hinge supports, allow ready removal. "Where covering ceiling runs, the doors are permanently hinged, with latches to fasten them in place. A door having a special panel In which a spring-hinged panel is inserted is placed in--Tront of locked current transformer and oil switch compartments, where an electrical breakdown might cause a sudden formation of gases. --
The standard practice is not only to isolate circuits of different classes --such as power feeders and station-use conductors--but also to separate the individual phases, as shown in Plate No. 9. In this illustration are also shown the special "barriers isolating the lighting arrester, through which cords pass which operate the charging mechanism.
1144
Eighth Safety Congress
iXATlEXNGS ( rDENTIFXOAXIOIT>
The general identification of the character of equipment by those con
cerned in the maintenancerand operation of electrical stations, is based
on a knowledge of the nature of the construction--namely, the method
of isolation, type of barrier, support, and insulation--and of the
general characteristics of the apparatus connected thereto. In a system
where unvarying practice in arrangement of equipment exists, as a fixed
order of phases and number of compartments and apparatus, the rela
tive positions are a further means of identification, especially when clear
and adequate, yet simple,^wiring diagrams showing physical arrange
ments of units, apparatus^ and circuits are at hand, and where the
more hazardous situations^are, in general, made inaccessible by eleva tion or enclosures.
For example: The Philadelphia Electric Company establishes the same
definite reference point at all stations, and all groupings of units, ap
paratus, circuits, and conductors have their sequence of numbering or
lettering determined by this point. Special exceptions are definitely in
dicated.
_
Experience has shown that further insurance of safety is absolutely
necessary, especially in large stations. To make a complete identifica
tion a certainty, markings In the forms of well-illuminated color arrange
ments, signs, tags, and markings of a permanent nature on surfaces of
walls or equipment must be used.
The danger of placing too few or too many signs is obvious; insuffi
cient guidance makes men Uncertain, and too numerous signs tend
ward possible confusion. In the latter case, for example, if signs were
placed at every possible hazardous spot and its absence led a workman
to conclude that tlie location was safe because not marked alive, the
accidental removal of a sigh might be a serious matter. It is now the
general practice for author&ed. persons having access to hazardous loca
tions to assume that everything is alive unless marked, otherwise. Such
rule, together with wisdom in distribution and in placing warning and
identifying markings, niakes for the greatest practicable degree Of safety.
The markings or symbols must be permanent, easily distinguished, leg
ible, concise, simple, and absolutely accurate in legend; and the marking
system must supply a distinguishing number or symbol for every part of
tlie circuits and apparatus.
'
Tlie key to the markingsTjf electrical equipment in a station is given
on the station dispatch boaTd,- mounted, with a single-line wiring dia
gram with symbols indicating the nature and designation of the lines
and apparatus, and with the-provisions for manipulating switch indica
tors. See Plate
2. Such indicators are changed simultaneously with
operation affecting the indicaEfbns.
The standardization of switchboard panels, with their markings show
ing control characteristics and indicating operating conditions, and also the use of ttiimic \viringT.o indicate the relative positions of circuits
and apparatus, are too well known and extensively used to be described
f'ubtic Utilities Sect ion
n-t.i
i-i.. in. nrsawitcH compartments
in this paper. Special attention should, however, be directed to the re quirements of simplicity in designation and maintained legibility of sym bols and legends, and their gobd illumination with the absence of glare.
Markings, either portable or painted upon permanent surfaces of con trasting color, may be used for general identification throughout the
hazardous parts of electrical stations. Entrances should have warnings
--in several languages where necessary--to unauthorized persons, which
11 -1 (\
Eighth Safety Congress
will also serve as a general guide to workmen. For those who must move about in these rooms or enclosures, markings and signs are placed to indicate the hazards which should designate the highest voltage concerned, and the electrical apparatus and circuits and phases of cir cuits must have their character clearly identified.
Portable signs serve well in some instances, especially where special or temporary conditions exist. For permanent construction lettering and symbols are painted, stenciled, or stamped on every accessible side of enclosures and equipment. Care should be taken to see that these markings are so placed that the removal of a part, such as a compart ment door, does not result in the entire loss of identification of the equipment concerned. Plates >'os. 9 and. 2 0 show some of these mark ings used in a high-tension switch-room. The broad, dark band cover ing the edges of wall and celling barriers is bright red in color on a light surface, and furnishes a division marking between the sets of three single-phase compartments of three-phase circuits. In addition to this identification of circuit divisions, special metal red tags with white let terings project from the=barrior walls, which are more plainly shown in Plate No. 10. A workman standing before any set of compartments containing the three conductors of a circuit has this tag facing him on either side, with the circuit designation clearly marked thereon in con trasting colors. This permanent tag has been recommended for use by the sub-committee on accident prevention of the National Electric Light Association.
Where wire glass or wire screen doors are placed over apparatus, they serve to facilitate inspection as to condition, but their use is no excuse for laxity in maintaining the necessary Identifying markings.
PRACTICES OF OPEKATOB9
It is not without pride that we can say that, no other activity has given the matter of safe practices more study and intelligent application; and today many instances caiT be pointed out which make work in an elec trical station, even with its mope complex and higher voltage conditions, far safer than in the earlier stages of development.
This has, in a large measure, been due to increasing vigilance In the c-arly detection of hazards arising from the use of new operating meth ods and equipment. Guided by the experience of the departments and the work of the laboratories, the safety engineers have produced safe guards and inaugurated methods of practice and courses of education, which have proven fully adequate to meet these new situations. So inlerfibred is this factor ofl personal safety with other elements of com pany organization that the measure of success in the proper application of its principles is. to a 'large degree, determined by the success of .the company's management iii general. In turn, every successful effort to make safety more certain is reilected in raising the whole tone of the organization.
"Standardization" and "cooperation" are the key-words in the applli at ion of general station safety organization methods. There must be, of
Public T'tili/irs Section.
1147
course, a clear understanding of the principles Involved: a familiarity
with practices for efficient action, especially in times or emergency: and
a realization and assimilation of the spirit of loyal cooperation with
others. All this must be furthered through frequent get-together meet
ings for conference, study, and general social activities.
Special reference should be made at this time to the importance of'
Safety First courses at the stations, to secure the presence of at! the
station men, and teach prevention and first aid in ramiliar surroundings.
A fixed order of routine according to approved methods--in general, in
the form of published operating rules--is essential to maintain this stand
ardization and cooperation.
"
In addition to the protective practices, which have heretofore been
described in this paper, the following are worthy of comment at this
time:
--=
Rubber Gloves-.- A study of the specifications of manufacturers and
practices of operating companies, and an extensive series of tests on the various makes of rubber gloves,': have enabled the accident prevention
committee of the National Electric Light Association to prepare and rec
ommend specifications for the purchase, testing, and care of rubber
gloves for service on high-tension apparatus not to exceed 3.000 volts to
ground.
______
Insulating Stools: An Insulated wooden stool having extended corners
to prevent stool from tilting. fuse Puller: A fuse puller with wooden handles, for use around high-
tension apparatus, requiring the use of both hands (protected by rubber
gloves) on the fibre insulators c; the two handles.
JLatnp Guard-. A lamp guard with a wooden handle and fibre guard
for the globe.
_
Pliers icith Itisulatcd Wood. Handles- Ordinary pliers with straight,
calc wood handles about eight Inches long, which can be placed on gas
or wire-cutting pliers.
^
'Wooden Nozzle: A wooden nozzle, made of oak, with a guard, for use
in cleaning around electrical apparatus.
Safety Rod-. A wooden rod With an attachment at one end to engage
the handle of a D. C. railway feeder switch, keeping the operator at a
distance, and preventing hazard from poor operation of the feeder circuit
breaker. Permanent Ground for Slalioif Bus-. This feature of station bus de
sign dispenses with the unsafe practice of trailing grounding cables
throughout rooms, and eliminates the use of all temporary ground con
nections. Permanently-mounted disconnecting switches in compartments,
with grounded blades, are arranged to ground' positively any station
bus. A test for possible potential on a bus supposed to be disconnected
from sources of energy is provided as follows: A double-throw knife
switch, carrying a small-capacity expulsion fuse in the grounded blade, is
thrown down to a clip which places it in series with a test lamp in a
lighting circuit. The burning of the lamp indicates fuse integrity. The
blade is then swung up to the clip connected with the station bus, which
j1 no
fchfhth Safe in ( ' (s/rf/rffts
enforce the rule that was to be put into effect- on that particular job, or
dirt it in such an off-hand way that the fellow didn't know that it was an
order but thought it was a suggestion.
X think if we get to work on these three things we can boost lip the
work we are trying to do. Those of yon who followed this paper closely
will agree `with me that it whs a presentation of a perfect system of
guarding against .those dang^s which may be guarded by tagging and
marking and practices in tlve_ ideal central station.
r can't conceive of savinc^&nyihing that would add to the admirable
arrangement presented hcre.iz^li would be impossible for me to do so.
T doubt if the hich!y-train-ri technical men could suggest anything to
improve the points broach: <m: but all the time I was thinking of this
paper, following it. 1 wn- th-in i tug of the large central station in the
large city, then my mind would go to the little plant away down in the
country that wouldn't kttc=what this was if they read it., wouldn't
know what a plant was like tbf if the. would see It and I am thinking
about their gettinc the thought that is expressed in this paper and
applying it in those* siatiruns
are not able to put in this sort of
construction and f-lU.w :
ideas and when I get through that is one
point I would like f*<r Mr
to tom-b on and help me out on as to
how the problem that i- i:-1 here may be answered for these small
companies.
t.orivS K.*t ti"Mt vi
\vi* u**i
loKi \i v v iy
11 u * j *t* i 11
mu i:\i:k(.i/i >;
Xow you always think lh<- company you are connected with has it on the other fellow just a little lift and X am thinking now of the Common wealth Edison Company. Mrtt Wagner's plans for killing the circuits would appear to be id<vil. itrifE could not be Improved upon, but the Commonwealth Edison comjwfvy' lias gone just one step farther than the thoughts presented in this paper In addition to all the things that have been pointed out here with reference to killing circuits, the Edison Com pany provides a padlock mid l**cks the (-[iiipment. The key to this lock is carried by the foreman of the men who are doing the work, or who are at "work on these lines, jand. the load dispatcher who attends to energizing the lines here couldn't energize the lines until the foreman, who has the key comes back and unlocks the block that controls the switch, so. that the responsihilit> for energizing the circuit, instead of being left with the operator dr-the dispatcher, is placed upon the fore man, the mail who is in charge of the men doing tile work In. the case of more than one crew doing: work, two locks are provided and two keys are provided for the separate foremen I don't know' whether that would be practical in all instances or not but it is one of the things hat this Company has adopted^
The Edison Company also is ttying out a leather coat for the operator to prevent injury from flashes^ This coat is made without sleeves and has a hood that conies up ovt-rth<* head and the operator wears that coat to prevent being injured by flashes. Perhaps it wouldn't appeal to you
Public Utilities Section.
n:i
so much but it goes to show liow far you can go in getting absolute pro tection, making assurance doubly assured. I think that spirit in an
organization to do that sort of thing is a mighty good spirit to have,
even though some of the things that are done seem to be going a little
bit too far :Chairman MACL,vcur..vx
I would like to hear a full discussion on
this paper. It is a paper that applies very closely home. Mr. Scott has pointed out the question Of the smaller company; the application of these
ideal conditions that are in the larger company to the smaller. Mr.
Rinke, can you let us have any information on this?
c.i:xi-:n.vr. discussion
Mk. G. R. Rjnki: (UtilitiesrMntual Insurance Co.. New York); It is
rather a difficult point to cover the smaller company as the smaller
operators are very badly handicapped and they haven't had the oppor
tunity to get in touch with the larger proposition.
So far as protecting the plant Is concerned, there is an awful lot to be
done. It Is surprising to seeciiow fully guarded they are when you get
around to them. There are a few ways you can reach those people.
Quite a few of them, it is true, read technical magazines of some sort,
but they seem to lack the incentive to go ahead and do the things that
they realize are well worth while doing.
Mis. W. J_,. Bkuck (Westchester Lighting Company, ML Vernon, New
York) : I would like to hear whether or not some of the men here
have had any accidents in connection with employees coming in contact
with the metal guards- When I talk to my engineers about it they
laugh at me, I am satisfied to be a clown if it stops any one from get-
ing hurt. Why they make guards out of metal I don't know. Just as
an illustration: When I went up to Sing-Sing Prison in our district
about fifteen years ago there^were guards in uniform with muskets and
rifles and here about two years ago when I went up there I didn't see
any guards. They kept thosslprisoners in check with a league called the
Mutual Welfare League. Youiwoulcln't think you were in a prison. Now
I believe there onglit to bexSTome tber xnetliod of guarding sub-station
apparatus.
^
Mu. :Mulligan I will state that in one company with which I am
familiar they formerly had 'iron-clad doors in front of their buses. I
am not aware whether or not they had an accident, but due to the pos
sibilities of an accident these doors were replaced with asbestos board
doors.
a
In one of our stations we have had a number of near-accidents to men
who went to examine the oiLrings in the barriers and at the same time
a flash-over occurred. I have spoken to several men who have missed
these flash-overs by a second. I am wondering what protection Mr.
Wagner has in the examination of oil rings.
:Chairman Maclacii lax X have asked Mr. Wagner to make a note
of these points. Mr. Davis,-have yon something to add to this?
nr>2
Eighth Safety Congress
Mr. Davis: At the sub-stations we lock the switches, as Mr. Scott stated, and the key is carried by the foreman in charge of the work. Cne other point was brought out in Mr. Wagner's paper -with reference to the foreman turning the work off to the leading operator in the station, as I Understood his paper. The foreman does not turn the work off to the operator but the ^operator, after he has reported that the work is completed, checks over the work that has been done to make sure that it is O. K., then the foreman goes to the booth and calls up the load dispatcher and turns the work over to him. seeing that everything he had to do is complete. Immediately after that the load dispatcher checks up with the operator to verify that the work'has been completed and is O. K. and put in service. The same way when the foreman starts on the job, the permission is giveiThim through the load dispatcher to start on the work after the dispatcher has checked with the operator in the station to make sure everything had been properly attended to. The foreman goes around and watches every movement that is made by the operator to make sure that everything is O. K. so that when he goes to the load dispatchers and gets the orders to proceed with the work he is absolutely sure that there is no chance of the line being made alive before he starts to do the work.
In grounding the more modern sub-stations after pulling the disconnect from the live side of the fou, we have it fixed so that we can insert that disconnect in the ground bits, and then after that has been done we close the oil ring to the ground and the oil switch is closed and the foreman carries the key to that loclc.
ll. RI.VKS
Mu. Si-ohiiukr: T want to.say a word in regard to oil rings. During March, of I!>10, I had a letter from Mr. Paige and I sent him some photo graphs showing how it is practiced in St. Don is and those photographs wire for bulletin purposes. The photograph to which I refer shows a small mirror at an angle at- forty-five degrees over the opening which permits the man to see whether the oil ring is turned without the neces sity of placing his head in a dangerous position over this opening or the machine in operation.
Mr. F\ X. I.niXAiin < Public Service Company of Xorthern Illinois) : There isn't much that I can add to wit at has already been said except one point in connection with reaching the small properties. NTow none of our small stations are isolated from our system of transmission lines but we have that class of men whom vou call service man whose duties are to operate the sub-station, read tile meter, control the high tension lines, and do all the general work in his small community. Our method of reaching him and giving liim the information to carry on these various combinations is through our safety meetings. We do pay particular attention to that class of men. We give them all the detailed information we can by dis cussing the different phases of this work at our meetings.
Mr. Bi-kton: Regarding the question of oil rings: The man knows when the cars are near th^station and he can watch his opportunity to
Public Utilities Flection
]
look at the rings which would prevent his getting in such a position that he would be in line with the flashes.
Regarding metal guards: I happen to know to what guards the gentle man refers because I was present at the meeting the other day when he
brought it up, and I would suggest that the ammeter he more carefully guarded; it should be grounded 7S> make it safer. If the metal guard was so close that the man couldn't go in between, it ought to be placed farther away. The metal guards are. better to use because wooden guards would add to fire risks and if it is asbestos it would have to be reinforced with something else. ~~Tf it is anything else but metal it is liable to be injured and soaked with the rain.
Regarding the difference between the smaller stations and the larger
ones. If the smaller station didn't have the apparatus they couldn't
guard the same way as the Iarger--stations. It seems to me it would be
easier to guard the small station than the big one. The small stations
are not guarded as well as the larger, ones because they think the power
is less. We are coming to a point where we have to take more pains in
guarding them.
~
Cii.urmak Maci-.achi.ax: I will ask Mr. Wagner to close the discussion
and answer those points that haver come up.
Mb. Wacxer: I believe I am In the happy situation of having most
of the questions answered.
TT
Regarding the little fellow: I was a little fellow for about twelve
years myself. I really think, if HZ were a little fellow today, I would
guard the small station not directlj'- connected with a larger station in
any way. I would keep in touch with all the developments regardless of
how ideal they may be so far as concerning their own equipment because
the experiences that have been brought out in the National Safety
Council meetings are nationalized in character; no item is over-estimated.
I do not think that too much emphasis can be placed upon the fact that the little company should keep in touch with the larger things that are happening as indicated in this CouBcil.
With respect to the Commonwealth Edison Company, I believe that particular improvement regarding locks is very good. One company goes up one way and another, another-and possibly a complete investigation
of the intricacies would show the same percentage of safety for both
companies. I won't be satisfied uSEil I know more about that particular
locking plan.
-.
With respect to oil ring examinations, that has been answered the way
I would answer it.
__
With respect to substation guards: Where the screens w-ere so close that umbrellas could be poked through we moved them back so this condition would not be so hazardous.
With respect to the plan of checking up the work: We place the direct responsibility upon the station operator, the foreman of the job being directly responsible for him in practically all instances.
Chair max Maci.acklax : I am sure we are all glad that we had Mr.
] 154
^Eighth Safety Congress
Wagner here. We hope that in the future he will give us further papers and come and enter into the discussions.
The .Nominating Committee dodged their full duty and I think they have taken some of the_ideas out of the army and learned how to "pass the buck" along. X got the incoming Vice-Chairman and the Incoming Secretary together and discussed with them the Chairman of the various committees that are to=he appointed. I wish the appointment to come right from the Secretary. In suggesting to you these names, we have had in mind the fact ;that we have electricity, gas, and telephone, and also that the ChairmejJr of these committees should be - appointed from various sections of the country.
With those remarks I suggest to you. for Chairman of the Membership. Committee, Mr. H. E.--Niesz. of the Commonwealth Edison Company; Chairman of the Program Committee, Mr. Hermann Spoehrer, of the Union Electric Eight & Power Co., St. Louis; and for the Safe Practices Committee we suggest that we will communicate with the headquarters of the A. T. & T. Company and ask them to suggest a man from their engineering department to fill that position.
If tliis meets with yaur approval. I would like to hear a motion from tile floor appointing these nien to fill the office of Chairmen of the various Committees.
Mr. O. How.xkii Stk\Qt (Laclede Gas Light Co., St. Louis): I move you that the gentlemen mentioned be placed in nomination for the posi tions that you have mentioned.
(The motion was seconded and carried.)
Chairman MAcr.Acnt.Ay: I declare these gentlemen elected as Chair men of the various Committees and I would ask the gentlemen who are present to wait for a few minutes after this meeting so that we can hold a preliminary Committee meeting.
We are now going toThavc the pleasure of hearing from Mr. Webber, of Chicago, on that, mgst important point. "Spasmodic Safety Efforts and the Harmful Results." We have all had them and I am sare Mr Webber can give us a great deal of information.
SPASMODIC SAFETY EFFORTS AND TTiK HARMRI. RESri.TS
H. M. WntnuB. SrruKJ
DkpmerarcaT w Cnwwm Omkmo
TiXtnfosr CowPAjrt. OsBpcacoo
To tlie experienced safi'tv man this ^d ?=
atmrrrtd at
the start. On the very face of it. tt> reel.
-te awixTnei u. icafety man
knows that no possible gTxd ran come from ee'-ar#*****! efPwf* to bring be
fore the tmpioyees or the putdir the valise of aectanril ywwatton
Whether the safety work is of the pnhtlr or gndwtytal type, the need of
forceful, intensive, persistent, and
effort* fr necessary and
should he of the "hammer and tMita' vartety. Tin Me at* or ever will
make a success of accident-prevention work who <d<e not oncrtintaltv fol
low it up.
Public Utilities Section,
1 IT,.',
To my mind there is nothing more harmful to the general safety move
ment than spasmodic efforts, and this is one of the primary reasons why
so many companies enterfcrg into the safety work make a failure of it.
To make a start today with a-biare of trumpets and possibly continue
for a few weeks or a month anti then forget the work for the next six
months, is a decided waste of effort and a source of danger to the great
safety movement. In every line of endeavor the success of the movement
is conditioned by the degrees of^ effort that are obtained. Thus It is that
the unsatisfactory results or lack of results which follow spasmodic efforts
may end in the dropping of the effort on the part of the employer and
will have a tendency to discourage others who may be contemplating en
tering into this work' We all know that properly conducted safety work
in a plant means the saving of hath lives and limbs, and this is true not
only in our industrial plants buOn public safety work as well. It means
the possible prevention of an accident or death, not only to strangers to
us but possibly to the members of our families.
With so much at stake in the maiming of thousands of people each year,
as wen as numerous deaths caused .through accidents, and with the knowl
edge we have, that by persistent^efforts in properly presenting to the em
ployees, their families, and the^public the value of the safety movement,
it can be plainly seen that it must be constructive, not destructive. Spas
modic safety efforts are destructive and will tear down all of the beauti
ful plans you may have prepared^ before the movement was started.
Does any one believe that the National Safety Council, with all of its
wonderful and glorious success Jn the safety work, would have been any
where near as effective today had the officers and management made only oc
casional efforts to interest the employers, employees, and the public in this
work? "The proof of the pudding is in the eating" and the results at
tained by the National Safety Council have been secured only by hard and
persistent efforts on the part of the entire and most efficient management.
In other words, the National Safety Council did Rot sto tn sleep on the
job. They knew that the subject was a live one and accordingly went out
to make the best of it. It was tSedr persistency add belief fa the value of
the work in hand that helped toward the ffaai bctUlaft* success: which they
are now receiving: and nbtt hy_swc% sftsr'fe
the
movement be
a success.
StTCKSS MAY R* TTR.V VTt TV-pr> V \+l -*
v TV
' Would the railroads and
f t-WSt-v .-wwass^Bg. the steel indus
tries and our large
fcfacmiPBftas art ard-g r=*ww
nwtde wS wonderful
strides in accident-prevenrteql won* fts-w* lww
<>
a showing
In the reduction of the c wT>i?v* r-tveCr swdoff they had
not kept the work alive fty
before the
employees In such a
jSw
No one man
can make a success C the ssgwgy or wcogdow*-urwnww wr* wish nut the
cooperation of every mad. wossuri tvtci *1 -* ^
S* which he is
engaged, and this osvws snchtdr
'-he "WtSv supervisory
force. When he- has n rtWeC
;wT wft tietwwfi ty believe
that safety is a real five 8ssffe~add
***!
can b* saved by
tir,(;
E>)hth Safety (.'oMffress
following oni its dirnie*. mad that the continued success of the movement depends upon each iedirldoal's efforts, then and then only will the safety work in any industry become a success: yet. this success may be turned into a. failure very quicCTy if it is not properly followed up.
Consider for a moment bat would have been the results if only occa sional efforts had been made on the part of the Allies to stop the great German army in its progress during the period of the wax. Does any one believe for an instant that the final success gained by the Allies could possibly have l>een gained in any other way than by dogged persistency and determined efforts to make their entire campaign a success?
If after a brilliant start we then rest on our oars, hoping what we have done will bring forth regnits. we might just as well have not started, and the harmful results of such spasmodic efforts will unquestionably be shown in the lack of interest which the employees take when we again try to put the matter before them. You can't just say to employees or the public that the safety movement is a good thing; that you thoroughly be lieve in it and you want them also to believe in it. You have got to show them that there is something behind the movement. You must let them know that you are not alone interested in it from the Company's stand point, but that you knovrit Is for their own- individual good and for the good of their families. li
One of the fundamental principles of the safety movement is education. It is much more simple to teach a child than an adult, for the child's mind is always in a receptive mood and is constantly seeking information. "Train up a child in the way he should go" is an old and true saying. And in teaching safety, we must train the men the way we want them to go. Jt-.-is hard, however, to teach an old dog new tricks, and so it is with the presentation of safety wdrk to the workmen. You must put it before them in sticli a manner as to impress them, not only with the seriousness of the subject hut in such a way that they will realize that they will be the gainers by accepting It. Show them that it is not from the standpoint of saving money for the organization which you represent that you urge them to prevent accidents7 hut that it is for the general interest of the in dividual and his fellow employees. Teach each man to be a real safety man. Show him how he can assist himself and his fellow workmen by preventing accidents, arid that your interest in the work is wholly In his behalf; but that in order to make a real success you must have his in dividual help. Every employee has a vital interest in his fellow employee whether he knows it or not, and it is only through education that he can be brought to see the real assistance that he personally can render in the pre vention of accidents-
SPASMODIC S.lTlCTY EFFORTS PREJUDICE EMPLOYEES
Spasmodic safety efforts will result in the lack of appreciation of the Importance of safety ideals in the plant -where such spasmodic efforts are made, and cause the employees to feel, that this is only one of the numerous fly-by-night fads which arS" constantly cropping up from time to time, so that when the real safetyl campaign is finally put under way, the safety man will find that he isTfi> against a much harder job than would have
Public l'tUiti*.< Sect mu
^ ir.T
been the case had the movement been started origiiudly to the proper
manner. It will be necessary for him to convince the men that the move-
ment is one for their good, and he will be compelled to put forth greater
efforts to put it across and overcome the serious prejudice which the men
will have by that time taken to the entire question.
When once the employees have become prejudiced against a movement
of this kind, it will be necessary for the safety man to use a much greater
amount of tact and diplomacy. He will have to start a propaganda in the
plant -in favor of the idea before he will be able to secure their confidence.
I believe that where one company in a group has made only superficial
efforts to interest employees In safety work, especially If that company
has a large number of employees, the prejudice that will enter the minds
of the employees of that plant will in time permeate the minds of em
ployees of other plants in the immediate vicinity and cause great harm to
the entire-safety work in these plants. We all know that the greatest
influence in making a shop or job safe is careful work, and bence ft is
that accident-prevention work is a constant battle against habits. All of
us are constantly and persistently fighting bad habits that are easily formed and difficult to break. On the contrary, we are constantly trying
to teach good habits that are hard to form and easy to break. However,
the habit of being careful is not self-sustaining. When you start your automobile the engine roars and -sputters, and every evidence of the vast
amount of energy being expended Is given, and yet, once the engine is
started it gets under way and quiets down; hut there must he a constant
supply of power, and fuel, and a level head if the automobile is to be kept going. In conducting accident-prevention work a similar condition exists. In instilling habits of safety work there must be a constant supply of
power and fuel in the form of inspiration, supervision, and direction. If
the supply of fuel is interrupted, the accident-prevention work is bound
to slow down, and may even stop, and much energy will be wasted in get
ting It started again.
^
SAFETY MOVEMENT ONE OK CONSTANT ADVEKT1S1 NO
Success in safety work is comparable somewhat to the success which some of the large concerns of thi^ country have made through the efforts in advertising, and the success in their line was not made by the placing of an ad today and again in six months, but by constant and persistent advertising. Think for a mom'etrt of the best-selling merchandise tbat you know of. Some of the following, no -.doubt, come to your mind: Heinze's 57 Varieties, Ivory Soap; Waterman's Fountain Pens, Wrigley's Gum, Cream of Wheat, etc. These names occur to you at once because of the steady and persistent manner in which the advertising was placed. You may also be able to recall articles that were extensively advertised for a short period, which are no longer on the market, and you probably can recall these names only with an effort. The purpose of advertising, then, from a sale standpoint, is to impress the name so firmly and so fixedly in the minds of the public that the name will become synonymous for that particular class of articles; so that when a purchase is contemplated the name will instantly leap injEbe mind of the prospective purchaser.
n5s
Eighth Safety Congress
People readily forget, however, and if advertising is not kept up the
advertiser soon loses the advantage gained, and we no longer think of this particular article but simply ask for those articles as a class. The
safety movement is one of constant advertising; the more the better.
During the great world war strenuous efforts were made not only by the
Xationa} Safety Council but by all of the various industries throughout the
country and more especially in the shipyards and munition works, to im
press upon the employees the necessity for safety in order to preserve the man power of the country and thus assist in preventing the slowing up of production.
Today, -with our men returning to their various vocations after spend ing many months in preparation for and in actual warfare, we should not relax in any waf ia the education of the workmen along safety and ac
cident prevention lines. On the contrary, we should use, if possible, greater
efforts to prevent loss of life and limb, for production is needed now as
much as during the^war to help in the reduction of the high cost of living
and thus assist in 'overcoming the general unrest among the working
classes.
S-
In starting the safety movement in the company 1 represent, we began
in a small way amtFTiave kept it constantly before the minds of the em ployees. It was started some, seven or eight years ago by first presenting the idea to our supervisory force at one of our Monday luncheons, having
for the speaker a man who had been interested in the work for some time. From that time to The present we have never omitted a single day to do something to keep it alive and to keep the employees interested. Our
company publishes ^each month a magazine devoted to the employees,
which is mailed to their homes, and from the time we started the Safety Campaign there lias "not been a month that data of some kind pertaining to the safety work has not been published under the heading of "Safety
and Accident .Prevention.'' The articles are not limited to Accident Pre
vention. but also touch on subjects pertaining to the general health of the-
employees and their families. Our pay days are twice each month and the checks are mailed to the employees at their homes. On the first pay
day a bulletin on Accident Prevention or Health accompanies the pay check,
and on the last pay day the check is accompanied by a small calendar blotter on which appear short, snappy, up-to-date Accident-prevention or Health slogans. These calendars are never sent out in the same general form, but changed to attract attention, and we are advised that the employees
and their families have come to watch for them so as to see what new thought or suggestion they contain. We have, of course, held the usual
meetings on Accident Prevention, First Aid, Welfare, etc. These we call only occasionally, nottrequently enough to tire the employees, but simply to keep up their interest.
Having had charge^ of the accident work for my company for the past
twenty years. I haveihad occasion to study the question from all its angles
and to appreciate most fully what the safety movement means and what it would have meant to the numerous employees and their families years ago, in the saving of llfe_antl limb, and how much needless suffering might
Public Ptilitica Section.
11 r>n
have been prevented had we then had the present-day efficiency in the
safety work. From the experience in my own field of endeavor, I know that the con
tinuous, persistent efforts we have made to keep the employees Interested
and advised on questions of safety have paid, and paid big, and that the results accomplished could not have been secured had we made only half
hearted or spasmodic efforts.
C ita
Macuchux : This is the type of paper that we all need
at practically all times. I would like to hear what Mr. Lucas has to
say in connection with the danger and bad features of spasmodic efforts.
- dtscussion
Mr. Lucas: If you slow down_your campaigns you will find that your
accidents will immediately start'Go crawl up. You have got to keep going
all the time, month after month and year after year. I do feel, as 1 said
yesterday, that we have had an awful lot of safety talks. I do not mean
to let up on safety talks. I mearT to continue the safety bulletin and the
safety meetings of all kinds. ----
You can talk to some men until doomsday and it would produce no
effect on them, but take it out of their pay and you will see them wake
up immediately.
Mi:. V. R. Huciiks (Pacific CJSs & Electric Co., San Francisco): I do
not believe in antagonism and when you are fighting and lay him off you
antagonize him. When I find a man a little lax on the movement I talk
to him, and I have gotten a good deal of work out of such men, who were
indifferent to start with. Some~Of our best men today are the ones who
were indifferent on the start.
OirAiitMax MAcr.ACiir.Ax: Due to the fact that I had in my hand the
second edition of the program instead of the final, I have inadvertently
made an error and I will now call on Mr. Buchaca to carry on the dis
cussion on this subject.
-
One thing. X would like to ask those who discuss in the future to stick
to the subject under consideration and after we have taken that up we
will revert to the subject that was under discussion yesterday, which is
extremely important.
Mu. E. .1. Bucuaca (District Engineer, New York Telephone Company, Syracuse, New York): Leading the discussion I presume means starting
the discussion, and perhaps the best way to start something is to dis agree as much as possible with the other fellow, and also call attention
to points upon which there maybe difference of opinion.
Mr. Webber has cited a number of cases to show that best results
come from hard and persistent efforts. He refers to the endeavors of the
National Safety Council, of public utility companies, the steel industry,
manufacturing plants and to the" doggedness of the Allies that won the
war. Certainly -we must agree with him in this.
He says that the unsatisfactory result, or lack of result, which follows
spasmodic safety effort, may ontL in the dropping of the campaign on the
part of the employer and the ^discouragement of those who have been
11(10
Eighth Safety Congress
promoting the safety work. This is indeed true, for it seems to be
human nature to start something new with enthusiasm, gradually lose
interest, and finally drop the matter altogether, unless there is a will
behind the movement to keep it going without regard to obstacles. How
ever. even the will to do safety work opposed by great pressure from
other sources may result in spasmodic rather than continuous effort, leaving the Question still open whether such effort is better than none at
all. There was a great deal of such pressure during the war. and many
managers who would have liked to have kept up the safety work found
It impossible to do Jiore than put on an occasional campaign. Don't you think they accomplished some good?
The influence on the employee is mentioned as a harmful result. It is stated that as a a-esult of spasmodic effort he will show lack of
interest the next time that the matter is put before him; that he will not
appreciate it but will consider it one of the numerous fly-by-night fads which are constantly cropping up, and that this feeling will spread to
other plants in the immediate vicinity and cause great harm to the en tire safety work in ithese plants. I can hardly agree with this, for I
have found that if when the safety work is revived, it is dressed up in
new clothes and approached from a different angle with a good selling
campaign to present it. employees grasp the idea as enthusiastically as they did the first time, and often show a new and stronger interest. They welcome it as an old and helpful friend who works in their behalf.
>Tow we come to The subject of education and training, and here is
where I hope to make my stand in favor of the proposition that the net
result of spasmodic safety effort may be good, that It is better than
nothing at all.
--
Surely we agree with Mr. Webber in his statement concerning the value
of training both the child and the adult in the value of safety, and in its
ways.
t-
May I develop this thought a little further from the psychological viewpoint?
If a manufacturer, for instance, puts on one advertising campaign and does nothing further, Jie is soon forgotten, but nevertheless he has made a few sales as a direct result and has made an impression upon the minds of all those who have come in contact with his campaign which cannot be entirely eradicated by time, and should he put on another at some little time afterwards the old impression will be.revived and the purchaser will feel conscious of having heard of the thing before, which In adveriislng is an advantage, giving the article a certain standing. If he continues these occasional campaigns he will make a deeper and
deeper impression andl his goods will become more and more familiar.
There is a mathematical relationship between spasmodic and continuous.
If the periods between the spasmodic efforts were shortened and short ened. these efforts wnuld tend to become continuous and the results
would multiply until jwe got the well known results of Heinz's 57, Ivory Soap, etc., as mentionSOT by Mr. Webber.
Public Utilities Section
1101
TRAIKINC HMPr.OYEES 'I OTKECOGNIZE RISKS SUIiCONSCIOCSI.Y
In much the same way as with advertising, the purpose of the safety
movement is to make such an-impression on the mind of the employee
that when an unsafe act is contemplated the safety idea will instantly
leap into his mind and cause him to do the safe thing. Putting this
same thought into other wordSj_ accident prevention training is not so much for the purpose of '"educating" workmen or keeping employees
from being careless, or even of arousing enthusiasm, as it is for training
them to recognize risks subconsciously and without hesitation to decide on the safe way and proceed inr that manner. This sort of training is
particularly necessary in public service work where men work singly
or in small groups "without close supervision, often at some distance
from city or village, and where the chances of accident through care
lessness and lack of foresight are great. It is a branch of education just
as advertising and schooling are, and for the best results has for its
object the training of the subconscious mind.
This is" particularly necessary if accidents are to be prevented, since more than SO per cent of all accidents according to statistics are due to
risk-taking, .which the employee may or may not be conscious of, and
less than 20 per cent are due to structural or mechanical defects, risks
of employment, acts of God, or physical deficiency. The employee's own
mind, conscious and subconscious, must be his chief guardian against
accident and injury.
--
If the initial safety campaign were well staged, it "sold" safety to
the employees at that time and made an impression. It is reasonable
then to believe that some accidents at least, with their pain and sorrow, were avoided as the direct result of that first campaign. In view of what has been said about advertisings and safety work and the similarity of
the objects to be accomplished, is it not clear that each succeeding safety
effort, even though infrequent, fends to revive the Impression made by
the initial campaign and deepdff it and stir the employee's self-interest in avoiding accident, at least for a short time afterward? Surely some
accidents will be avoided as the direct result of each campaign and some
from the lasting impressions carried by many of the employees. Can the possible harmful results that might come from spasmodic effort out
weigh this saving of life and ljmb?
FOR SAFETY EFFORT "WHETHER OCCASIONAL OR CONTINUOUS .
In conclusion. I would like tcf say that while I may seem to disagree with Mr. Webber on some points, I agree with him heartily in this, that continuous, persistent effort saves life and limb, pain and sorrow, out of all proportion with the effort expended, dividends that cannot be estimat ed in terras of dollars and cents. However, I am for safety effort whether occasional or continuous, and Wish to leave it with you to decide whether there isn't some net good resulting from even spasmodic efforts.
Chairman Maclachlan: Is there any further discussion on this paper?
I would like to hear some one speak who hasn't spoken this morning.
1162
Eighth Safety Congress
Mit. M. C. Goupsi-keo (General Electric Company, Erie, Pa.): I just
luive one item to atlcL The gentleman who just spoke covered these points
very fully. Although, I agree that spasmodic efforts never can give us
the results that continuous efforts will give and that continuous efforts
are by all means to_be desired, still I am fully convinced that the spas
modic efforts must give us some beneficial results. The man who is in
charge of the spasmodic efforts, because they are spasmodic, may tend
to become discouraged. You may think you have harmful results be
cause he becomes discouraged, but you will find that while one man may
have been discouraged, hundreds of others may have been encouraged
for the time being. ^1 will increase that to thousands that may have
been encouraged, as shown by the safety rally here in the city of Cleve
land this week. Ills a spasmodic effort for safety for one week. We
don't expect it to be-extended for the entire year but you are getting
results in the city oftGleveland from the spasmodic effort and you expect
to get further results when the city of Cleveland and Its Safety Council
go ahead with the work, on probably different basis perhaps, and present
that work to the city and utilize the results and enthusiasm of this
spasmodic effort to ^obtain -definite permanent results in the increase of
safety in the city.
Mit. BriiTox: I think this question of spasmodic effort depends upon the
question of labor turnover In the labor industry. For instance, you may
come back next week or next month and find you have an entirely differ
ent set of men.
^
Mr. A. O. MircuKivr, (Northern Indiana Gas & Electric Co., Hammond, Ind.) : The questioiTof spasmodic effort brings to my mind a peculiar
situation in which 1_ work, arranging safety committees, going to the
property and calling all the foremen together from every department and outlining the plan which we are to follow, telling them what we intend
to do. then during that day, having those men select two men from their
department to complete the committee from that department, and then
having a meeting theTnext day of all the committeemen. I- think in this
particular case they numbered 26 out of 3 50 employees. We had meetings
every week and I wait every day during that week with the different
foremen, half-day or quarter-day with each one, making a complete inspec
tion of the division over which they had control, inspecting all of the line
wagons, the gas wagons," the push carts and all the tools and appliances
thr.t they contained. We wound these meetings up with a general safety
rally to 'which the women anti children were invited and a great many,
in fact a larger percentage than we expected, responded, and giving some
little entertainment Slid- luncheon for that night. During that time we
took the opportunity of telling the women what we were intending to
do amt urging them To use their influence in the work.
I left and was gone about two months before getting hack. When. I
came back I asked the man who was made President of this safety or
ganization how they were getting along and he said. "We are doing
pretty well, we havenlt had any meeting since you left though." It was
vacation time. I said, "When do you expect to have a meeting?" He
Public Utilities Section-
116:;
said. "We are going to take it^ip now, right away," This was the first
of September.
I got around some of those foremen and found they were practicing
safely although they were not having any meetings. That was a spas
modic effort that I know had no harmful results, and I know the work
will be taken up again this fall and they will get into it during the winter
and have their meetings.
^
We completed an organization in another section employing about 250
men some two years ago. It started out. not with a cry of a horn or any
big spill or noise but now they have a very complete organization. Dur
ing their first six months, as I recall It. their efforts were very spasmodic.
They had no regular plan to follow but now they have gotten on a solid
foundation and the work that they have done there has been worth the
time and effort, not only in the prevention of accidents, the saving of
money and the conservation oOuncls but it has brought the men closer
together: it has made them sort of a family, and I find that. In that par
ticular place, the labor turnover has been cut down to a very fine point.
In fact, there are men there who have been there now for two years and
previous to that time`they worked possibly two weeks or a month, think
ing that nothing was being done for them and nobody seemed to care any
thing'about them. That has been changed and it started out spasmodi
cally.
I have been with this Company for about nine years and I know of no
harmful results that have comrJrom a spasmodic safety movement.
Ciiairmax MACi.ACTtr.AN: Is there any one else who wishes to talk on
this?
^
Mr. T. D. Ram sky (Kansas City Gas Co.): The thought just occurred
to me: What is the reason for the spasmodic effort? I was just wonder
ing If it is in the man who starts the campaign. He may have the Idea
that it is absolutely necessary for him to do all the talking and all the
leading. My idea in starting=ra campaign or in starting a movement
would be to get the others interested and get them to do the work. I
think that should be the manner in which the leader should lead;--get
the other men to do the talking^and the acting and - let the leader assist
them and counsel with them.
(! 11 \ntMan MAri.Aem.Ax: Mr^Rosseland is here and wishes to speak
to you for a few minutes.
Mr. F. M. Rossbj.ano: First, I want to refer to the discussion of Mr.
Webber's paper. It suggested tcTrne that there is a considerable difference
in the various definitions of "spasmodic efforts." When I first heard
Mr. Webber's paper I had in mind the spasmodic effort which opened up
with a blare of trumpets., and then stopped, not the work such as Mr.
Mitchell described, which is the usual work, the usual method of con
ducting safety work in a large; company. I think you will agree with
me in that.
=
As a matter of fact, the largfizcompanies seldom have a safety man out
on the job who sees each man a^id talks to him, they have a safety meet
ing about once a month and the safety engineer or the safety inspector
11(34
-=iEighth Safety Congress
gats around and leadsJJve meeting and talks to the men. I wouldn't call that spasmodic safety work. I think we should consider the other angle as spasmodic safety work, that is where it starts up and dies down absolutely.
I have had it thrown up to me time and again in starting out work of that kind, "Oh, yes. They started some of that work two years ago. I didn't hear anything more about it at all." At any rate. It is a decided handicap in getting the Interest of those men. In some instances, I never did succeed. We had sOTae men who absolutely required discipline.
KKGAKDIN'G PRINTING CONGRESS PAPERS IN ADVANCE
Turning to the subject of printing Annual Congress papers in advance-- for some time there has been a demand for this, so that the.papers might he placed on therreglstration desk and elsewhere for members to get and read. The objection to that is, as has been made by some of the sectional officers, the fear that the members will get the papers, look them over, put them in theii^ pockets, and then not attend the sessions.
On the other hand, there is a decided advantage that the people who atlend the sessions may get the papers, read them over, and come pre pared to discuss them more intelligently than they could otherwise.
The National Safety Council is anxious to give the maximum service. We are not anxious to print the papers, however, unless you want them as it entails quite a bitL.of expense that could be diverted to some other good work for the Section. I should like to know what you think about i:. --
.Mr. Scott: I move you that it is the sentiment of this meeting that
the papers be distributed in advance.
(After discussion, themiotion was carried.) Chairman Macr.ACiir.AN: I will now give itr. Webber the floor to wind up the discussion mi his paper. Mr. Wehijer: I don't believe That there is much more that can be said. It seems to rue that spasmodic efforts speak for themselves. I have no doubt that there^ have been cases such as some of the gentlemen spoke of where they liaw started a movement on safety and the result of that particular movement did sink in and that it did carry along with those who were interested and impressed them for the time being. Mr. Rosseland covered that point, however, that it must not stop permanent ly. that it must not stoiT for six months even. I don't believe that, unless you do persistently keep after this question of safety and the accident prevention and keep it before the individual workman, you can possibly get the results that are desired. - Mr. Scott: i move yon that ft is the sense of this Section that we rec ommend to the ProgramTSommittee that at the next Annual Congress we have a paper presented Jn this section on the subject of "Fixing the re sponsibility of penalizing the foreman and superintendent who are re sponsible for accidents.*^The motion' was ^seconded and carried. Mb. MTrnr.iGAx: ' I would like to suggest that copies of the proceedings
- Public Utilities Section
1165
of this Section be distributed among some of our superintendents. We
are not interested in a whole bound volume. Cilurma.v Maclachlax: It is the sense of this Section that the Sec
tion's proceedings be bound separately that they may be available to the
members of this Section.
(The motion was seconded and carried.)
Chairman* Macuciiu.x: Xow ic is jnst seventeen minutes to one. Is
it your wish that we go on with the discussion of various matters, or
should we adjourn within a few minutes, or do you wish to carry on this
afternoon?
ArR. Morrison-:
-- I move that we adjourn.
(The motion was seconded by Mr. Lucas.)
Chairman* Mace.acih.ax:--T want to thank you for the honor of being electe'd Chairman of the Section.
During the year to come, I hope, with the assistance of you all and with the assistance of those you have elected with me. to present possibly
some other phases of the work as they apply to the Public Utility Com
pany.
-_
The work of the Utility Company in regard to pensions, benefits, em
ployees' representation and other such schemes Is entirely different from
the work of a company having thousands of employees in one spot, and I think that we could, with profit to ourselves and to our employees, go
into this question from the standpoint of public utility. Mr. Rosselakd: I wonder if I might just add a word about the print
ing of the proceedings of -the sectional meetings. It will be done and
sent to the membership atscost. We don't like to go to the expense of printing a lot of unused espies and I would request that you who want them write In and tell us so that we may have some idea of how many
to prepare. Chairmax Macsachhax : It has been moved and seconded that we ad
journ and I now declare the sectional meeting for this Congress ad
journed.
Rubber Section
October 4, 1919
MINUTES
E meeting was called to order at 9:30 a. m. to consider the advisaitlfty of forming a Rubber Section. Mr. E. H. Fitzgerald of the Federal Rubber Company acted as Chairman pro tem. The advisability of forming this section was discussed by Mr. W. N. Fitch of the B- F. Goodrich Company. R. N. Watson of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Com pany, S. M. Shott of the Morgan and Wright Company. Dr. Horan of the Hood Rubber Company, and Mr. Rosseland of the National Safety Coun cil. All spoke in favor of jthe section, and a motion that a Rubber Sec tion be formed was offered, seconded, and carried by an unanimous vote. The Nominating Committee consisted of W. N. Fitch, Dr. Horan, and Harold T. Martin. This committee nominated S. M. Shott, Chairman, E. H. Fitzgerald, Vice-Chairman and R. N. Watson, Secretary. Report of the Nominating Committees was accepted and motion was made and second ed that the nominees be elected unanimously. The following men were in attendance at the meeting: E. H. Fitz gerald. The Federal Rubber Company. Cudahy. Wis.: Harold Martin, T_ J. Dwyer, H. T. Greene, and E. Forand, the Fiske Rubber Company, Chi-. copee Falls. Mass.: P.- B. Martens, T. S. Petty. C. G. Dimcombe, A. L. Weyand, E. S. Hoener, N. A. Shepard and SI. F. Letzel. the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, Akron, Ohio; R. N. Watson, and P. A. Belden, The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company; W. N, Fitch, W. L. Schneider, J. C. Howard, E. P. Raiford, A. C. Mack, W. G. Oherholser, E. K. Davis, G. A. Knofler, and R. B. Howre, The B. F. Goodrich Rubber Company; H. G. Pushee, The General Tire and Rubber Company. Akron, Ohio; A. L. Rose, The Kelly Springfield Tire and Rubber Company. Akron. Ohio; S. M. Shott, the Morgan and Wright Rubber Company. Detroit. Mich.: R. W. Fogerty. U^S. Rubber Company. Meeh. Goods Div. Cleve land, Ohio; A...C. Peterjohn, The U. S. Rubber Company, Mech. Goods Div.. Cleveland. Ohio; W. M. Larkin, Jr.. J. W. Towsen. Lycoming Rub ber Company, Meeh. GoodiTDiv., Passaic, N. -T.: R. L. Gould, The U. S. Rubber Company System;- M. Klein, The Federal Rubber Company. Cudahy, Wis.; C. F. Horah, The Hood Rubber Company. Watertown, Mass.; Mr. Rosseland, National Safety Council. Chicago.
Mr. Rosseland of the National Safety Council was requested to inform
1167
116S
Eighth Safety Congress
the Section of the committees to be appointed, their duties, and method
of operation. He suggested the formation of the following committees:
Program. Bulletin. Membership, and Standardization.
JS'o papers having beeiLprepared for reading in the section, a general
round-table discussion was held on the subjects on the program.
The first subject discussed was that of washers, crackers, and mills.
Mr. S. M. Shott of the Morgan and Wright Company stated tha'l their
men were not allowed 10, start rubber through the washers or crackers
with their hands but that^small wooden paddles were used to push the rubber into the rolls. Also the blocks of rubber are cut into a wedge
shape to further facilitate^starting.
Mr. Fitch of the 13. F. Goodrich Company stated that all of their mills
have been placed high and. holes were cut in the floor in front of those
already installed in order=to bring tiie top of the roils nearly as high
as a man's shoulders.
--
Mr. R. X. Watson of the Goodyear Company reported that bars had
been mounted across the front of the washers in a bearing which allows
lhem to revolve, the rubber being run over these bars wtiile washing, and
the men are instructed to keep back of the bar.
Mr. Horan of the Hood Rubber Company reported that individual
clutches are used on all washers and crackers and that the inspectors
have each man try out this safety each day and that the men are
trained in the proper operation of the safety. Foot treadles just under
the edge of the pan have- worked out very satisfactorily and are the
only means of stopping the mill in case a man gets both hands caught.
Mr. Horan also stated that automatic reversing devices were used on a
great many of their niills and work out much better than the dynamic
brake.
ci
Mr. Snyder of the 13. F.Goodrich Company stated that a special screw
is being designed by tile. Farrell Machine and Foundry Company, for
opening mill rolls.
Mr. 1-loener of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company stated that their company was usingJCsignal from the motor pit before starting up
a mill line and that an aiigwering'ring was received for each mill before
the line was started.
Mr. Beldcn of the Goodyear stated that switch boards are mounted
over the motor pits with a platform at least six feet from the floor,
giving a clear view of tlie/iine and assuring the electrician starting the
line that no men are near Jlie mills.
Mr. Shott of the .Morgairand Wright Company brought out the point
that reports of mill line safety tests did not only report that the line
stopped O. K. but also showed the distance traveled by the rolls before
stopping. He further stated that these reports should go to the Master
Mechanic and Safety Department signed by the mill room electrician and
inspector. It was further suggested that a "Safe Practices" pamphlet be published
on the subject of washers, crackers. and mills.
The next subject discussSfd was calenders.
Rubber Section
1169
Air. Petty of the Firestone stated that on all calenders having an
opening center and lower--foils, special gears had heen provided and
rolls had been lowered so that the opening was at least 2% inches, this
opening being wide enough to clear the hand in case it came near the
opening of the rolls. The calenders, at the Firestone are also equipped
with electrical clutch and brake.
Air. Shott of the Morgan and Wright Company reported that they are
using successfully a triangular-shaped casting at the opening .between
the rolls, %-inch clearance being provided between the casting and the
rolls. This prevents a man getting near the opening in the rolls and
the only danger is in getting the tips of the fingers squeezed between
the castings and the rolls. 37
On fabric calenders the casting is split and a one-inch slot provided
for the fabric to pass through. Mr. Watson of the Goodyear reported the use of a 1-inch bar across
the calenders in front of the- opening in the rolls, this bar being con
nected with the bell crank on each end to trip the switch which oper
ates the dynamic brake on the calender so that as soon as a man's hand strikes the bar the calender is stopped. The point was also brought out that many calender accidents were caused by slipping and that the
iloor when surfaced with atrborunduin was not slippery and provided
an effective means of eliminating this hazard.
The next subject was the handling of material.
Mr. Rose of the Kelly Springfield Tire and Rubber Company in
quired if there were any automatic systems of opening molds after
curing. Mr. I-Ioener of the;_Firestone reported that it was done with
some degree of success on a conveyor system with a hydraulic opening
device but that the operation was too slow and they had gone back to a special opening bar with increased leverage.
Mr. Shott of the Morgan aird Wright advised that molds and cores were
not bping rolled in their factory, but that a special track was provided
for hauling same.
ff
The proposition of 'getting^ men to "use respirators in the handling of
compounds or on dusty jobs was brought up and it was the general con
census that the men would not wear them and that some other means
should be provided to remove dust.
Mr. Fitzgerald .of the Federal Rubber Company reported that milk
was being furnished men in the compound and mill rooms twice per
day.
Several companies reported that their mills were hooded and that a
strong suction whs used on J.heni so that there was no danger of injuries
frem compounds.
-----
Poisonous hazards in the rubber industry was next brought up.
Mr. Martin of the Fiske Rubber Company called attention to the haz
ards connected with the use of benzole reporting one fatality among
the women engaged on this work. Some women are more susceptible
than others.
Dr. Horan of the. Hood Rubber Company brought out the point that
1170
Might h Safety Congress
the accelerator Eurotroplne causes a rash on the hands, arms, face, and
neck--blondes being more susceptible than others. This rash can be
eliminated by neutralizing the sweat with borax and this has been done
in the Hood Rubber company by the application of 20 per cent gum arable
solution saturated with borax to the hands and arms. This forms a
shellac-like coating and prevents the chemical from attacking the skin
The meeting then adjourned.
A special meeting of the officers of the Rubber Section was held at
2:00 p. ni. October -1. 1010. for the purpose of appointing committees as
follows:
=
Bulletin Committee: -- W. N. Fitch, The B. F. Goodrich Company.
Chairman: I*. It. Martens. The Firestone Rubber Company; H. G. Pushee.
The General Tire and Rubber Company.
Program Committee:
Martin, The Fiske Rubber Company, Chair
man; II. E. Gilson. I*.7~S. Rubber Company, General Laboratories, Hth
Ave. and 5Sth St.. New York. N. Y.: Dr. Quinby, The Hood Rubber
Company.
Membership Committee: E. H. Fitzgerald, The Federal Rubber Com
pany. Chairman: A. L-TRose, The Kelly-Springfield Rubber Company;
Frank Scott. The Hamlin Company, 21 Cedar St., N. Y.
Steam Railroad Section
October 2-4, 1919
R. C. RICHARDS, Chairman Chairman, Central Safety Committee, Chicago and North Western Rail'
road, Chicago, 111.
JOHN T. BRODERICK, Vice-Chairman Supervisor of Special Bureaus, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad,
Baltimore, Md.
F. WHITTEMORE, Secretary Superintendent, Safety Department, Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis
Railroad, Nashville, Tenn.
IN ATTENDANCE AT SECTIONAL MEETINGS
Alabama tC- Vicksburg--
D. H. Beatty, Superintendent of Safety, Southern R. R., Washington,
D. C.
Atchison, Topeka <6 Santa Fe--
Bert Bertram, Safety Agent, Arkansas City, Kan.
R. E. Blok, Safety Agent, Amarillo, Tex.
Isaiah Hale, Safety Agent, Topeka, Kan.
C. A. Judd, Safety Agent, La Junta, Colorado.
Geo. Moore, Safety Agent, Kansas City, Kan.
Asheboro and Southern--
D. H. Beatty. Atlanta <0 West Point--
J. A. Barnette, Supervisor of Safety, Atlanta, Ga.
Atlanta <- Yodkin--
D. H. Beatty.
Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlantic-- J. A. Barnette, Supervisor of Safety, Atlanta. Ga.
Atlantic Coast Fine--
-?=
John R. Adams, Supervisor of Safety, Wilmington, N. C.
J. V. Miller, Supervisor of Safety, Wilmington, N. C.
Robert Scott, Superintendent of Insurance and Safety, Wilmington,
N. C.
1171
1172
Eighth Safety Congress
Augusta. Southern Railroad--
W. O. Wall, General Safety Agent, Augusta, Ga.
Baltimore Ohio Railroad--
John T. Broderick, Superintendent, Safety and Welfare Dept., Bal
timore, Md.
'
' ..............
W. J. Head, Safety Agent, Northwest* District, Cleveland.
Wm. D. Lenderking, Safety Agent, Baltimore, Md.
W. A. Mitchell, Safety Agent, Grafton, W. Va. .T- C. Morgan, Safety Agent, Baltimore, Md.
T. J. Reagan, Safety=Agent, Southwest District, Cincinnati, Ohio.
E_ R. Scoville. Supervisor of Safety, Baltimore, Md.
Bangor and. Aroostook-- --
M, F. Dunn, General Safety Agent, Portland, Me.
Big Four--
T. R. McCampbell, Safety Agent, 719 Majestic Bldg., Indianapolis, Ind.
Bingham and Garfield---------
C. H. Wilson. Safety Engineer, Garfield, Utah.
Blue Ridge--
~
D. H. Beatty.
J
Boston and Maine--
A. A. Stebbins, Assistant to General Secretary, Safety Department. Buffalo, Rochester Pittsburgh--
John S. Rockwell, General Agent, 155 Main St., W. Rochester, N. Y.
Carolina. <G Forth 'Western-- D. H. Beatty.
J. W. Chamberlain, Safety Supervisor, Knoxville, Tenn. Carolina, Clinchficld tG Ohio--
J. W. Chamberlain, Safety Supervisor, Knoxville, Tenn. Charleston C- Western Carolina--
J. A. Barnette, Supervisor of Safety, Atlanta, Ga.
Chicago C- Eastern Illinois; Chicago, Terre Haute cG Southwestern; Evans ville <G Indianapolis--
J. F. Lord, Supervisor of Safety and Eire Prevention, Evansville, Ind.
John O'Brien, Switchman (C. & E. I.), 227 Lincoln Ave., Dolton, 111. Walter D. Smith (C.T& E. I.), Supt. Shops, Danville, III.
Chicago cC- Forth Western--
Geo. R. Campbell, Train Dispatcher, Eagle Grove, Ta.
Wm. H. Copp, Machinist, S. Kaukauna, Wis. Ered Curtis, Conductor. Huron, S. Dakota.
S. M. Galaty. Safety inspector, 226 W. Jackson Blvd.. Chicago, III.
John W. Herrington, Telegraph Foreman, Baraboo, Wis.
H. C. Lenter. Switchman, Chicago, 111. . C. E. Mabie. Freight Conductor, Chicago, 111.
H. Nelson. Brakeman, Chicago, 111. J. A. Peabody, Signal^Engineer, Chicago, 111.
M. A. Schuster, Air Foreman, 2S5 24th Ave., Milwaukee. Wis. . .Tames Sullivan, Safety^Inspector, 4423 Washington Blvd., Chicago, 111.
Steam Railroad Section
1173
Chicago Western Indiana -- V. R. Walling, Principal Assistant Engineer, Chicago, 111.
Chicago, Burlington tG Quincy-- E. M. Switzer, Superintendent of Safety, Chicago, 111.
Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati < St. Louis. B. G. Chamberlain, Safety Agent, 7X9 Majestic Bldg.,
Indianapolis,
Ind.
5
E. B. Goodart, Safety Agent, Mattoon, 111. C. H. Lentz, Safety Agent, Bellefontaine, Ohio.
A. L. Mason, Conductor, 2362 Adams St., Indianapolis, Ind.
Wm. Van Gorder, Safety Agent, Springfield, Ohio.
Chicago Great Western--------
L. C. Espersen, Claim Agent, Clarion, Ia_
O. P. Larson, Chairman Oelwein Shop Committee, Oelwein, la.
G. O. Perkins, Superintendent, Telegraph and Signals, Chicago, 111
Chicago, Indianaiiolis t Louisville ; Chicago, Indianapolis Western--
J. H. Holloway, General Safety Supervisor, LaFayette, Ind.
Chicago Junction-----T. F. Barry, Safety Supervisor, 837 Exchange Ave., Chicago, III.
Chicago, Bock Island Pacific-- W. L. Bradley. Supervisor, Safety and Fire Prevention, El Reno, Okla. \V. P. McGuire, Supervisor, Safety and Fire Prevention, Des Moines,
la. __ L. F. Shedd, General Supervisor, Safety and Fire Prevention, Chi
cago, III. Wendell H. Stillwell, Supervisor, Safety and Fire Prevention, Des
Moines, la. Floyd P. Wilson, Supervisor, Safety and Fire Prevention, El Reno,
Oklahoma. Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis Omaha--
F. F. Reed, Inspector Safety Bureau, St. Paul, Minn. F. F. Whaley, General Mail and Baggage Agent. St. Paul, Minn. Geo. L. Wright, Superintendent, Safety Bureau, St. Paul, Minn.
Delaware Hudson-- R. C. Helwig, Safety Agent, Albany, N. Y. J. E. Long, Superintendent of Safety, Albany, N. Y.
' H. G. Stevens, Safety Agent, Albany, N. Y.
A. V. Rohweder, Supervisor of Safety, Duluth, Minn.
Duluth Iron Range-- -7r W. N. Henry, Engineerr Two Harbors, Minn.
F. W. Hiller, Conductor, Two Harbors, Minn.
B. R. Moore, Superintendent, Motive Power, Two Harbors, Minn.
Duluth, Missahe tG northern-- W. A.'Cfark, General Car Foreman, Proctor, Minn.
M. J. Dixon, Locomotive Engineer, Proctor, Minn. A. V. Rohweder, Supervisor of Safety, Duluth, Minn. D. C. Sullivan, Conductor, Duluth, Minn.
\
I] 74
Eighth Safety Congress
Elgin, Joliet <C- Eastern'anti Chicago, MiHcaidcec <G Gary--
O. F. Gnadinger, Supervisor of Safety, Elgin, 111.
El Paso iG Southwestern-- - .
-
L. H. Trimble, Superintendent of Safety, El Paso, Tex.
Florida East Coast--
---
William W. Scott, Safety Agent, St. Augustine, Fla.
Great IVorlher?i Railroad et a~l.--
C. JL. La Pountaine, General Safety Supervisor, Room 705 Railroad
Bldg., St. Paul, Minn.
Georgia Railroad--
J. A. Barnette, Supervisor of Safety, Atlanta, Ga.
Great Northern Railroad.--
Geo. P. Buehler, Machine Foreman, St. Paul, Minn.
Gulf and Shi}) Island et al.--
W. P. Withers, in Charge of Safety, Hattiesburg, Miss.
Gulf Coast Lines and Gulf, Colorado and Santa, Fe Lines--
J. G. Fitzhugli, Superintendent of Safety, Galveston, Tex.
Gulf, Mobile and Northern anil Meridian and Memphis--
J. Q. Gaither, Stipervisor3of Safety, Laurel, Miss.
ifawk-inspiUc <G Florida Southern--
D. H. Beatty.
^
Illinois Central--
--
S. S. Morris. Chairman. General Safety Committee, Chicago, HI.
Indiana, Harbor Belt--
----
E. G. Steineck, Examiner and Safety Agent, Gibson, Ind.
Kansas City Southern--
"
D. B. Daley, Superintendent of Safety, Kansas City, Mo.
Lake Erie < Eastern--
--
William J. Poster, Conductor, Youngstown, Ohio.
Long Island--
-
T. P. Brennan, Safety Agent, New York City.
Lehigh Valley ct al.---
--
A. E. O'Dea, Supervisor ofTSafety, Bethlehem, Pa!' Lrmisville G Fashville, and Louisville, Henderson and St. Louis--
R. Li. Pilling, Supervisor df Safety, Louisville, Ky.
J. P. Hamilton. Chief Clerk, Supervisor of Safety, Louisville. Ky. Q
Clifton Lock, Louisville, -Ky,
T. B. Lockart, Safety Agent. Louisville, Ky.
M hmeapolis iC- St. Louis--
O. P. Johnson, Safety Siipervisor, Minneapolis, Minn.
M inneapolls, St. Paul iC- Sault Sic. Marie, ct al.--
L. P. Green. Superintendent of Safety. Minneapolis, Minn,
Missouri. Kansas it Texas. ct al.--
J. W. BJitz. District Superintendent, Smithville, Tex.
C. P. Colby. Safety AgentrDallas, Tex.
J. L. Walsh, Superintendent of Safety, Katy Bldg., Dallas, Texas.
Missouri Pacific et al.------
=
M. MeKernan. Superintendent of Safety. Room 21 GO Railway Exchange
Bldg., St. Louis, Mo. -
Steam Railroad Section
1175
Mobile d Ohio-- Vester .1. Thompson. Supervisor of Safety, Mobile, Ala.
Monongahela--
S
V. D. .Pringle, Train Master, Brownsville, Pa.
Xcw York Central Lines-------\V. Ij. Boslooper, Safety Agent. Detroit, Mich.
A. R. Cooper, Safety Agent. 611 Thayer St., Toledo, Ohio. . F. L,. Diehl, Shop Safety Agent, 330 Aspenwold Avenue, Elkhart, Ind.
Marcus A. Dow, General Safety Agent, New York City. H. W. Ferrel, General Foreman, McKees Rocks, Pa. C. B. Floyd, Assistant to General Safety Agent, New York City. D. J. Hackett, Division Superintendent. Jackson, Mich.
C. \V. Hammond, Division Safety Agent, 831 E. 156th St., Cleveland,
Ohio. A. C,, Hartley, Supervising Safety Agent, Detroit, Mich. J. \V. Johnston, Safety Agent, Chicago, 111. R. E. Laidlow. Superintendent. Terminals, Detroit, Mich. E. M. Mann, Chief Safety Agent, 814 Columbia Bivd., Cleveland, Ohio. F. P. McGirr, Shop Safety Agent. Buffalo, N. Y.
F. P. Neesley.
~-
G. e7 Parks, Mechanical Engineer. Detroit. Mich.
F. K. Pfeifer. Superintendent. Chicago. III.
W. E. Pnsey. Safety Agent. Columbus. Ohio.
H. M. Ready. Jr.. Safety Agent. 90." E. So. Union St. Bay City, Mich.
VV. H. Siufe. Division Superintendent. Bay City, Mich.
M. H. Scheib. Buffalo. N. Y.
E. P. Spangler. Safety^ Agent. Jackson. Mich. J. P. Tinley. Division Safety Agent. "35 Cake St.. Ashtabula. Ohio. E. R- Webb. Division. St. Thomas. Ont.
Xnshvillc. Chattanooga 6 St. Lo-uis-- F. Whittemore, Superintendent of Safety. Nashville. Term.
Xetc York. .Wic Haven cf Hartford-- Frank A. Barrows. Inspector of Transportation. New Haven. Conn, J. A. Clancy. Safety Inspector. Boeton. Mass. F. W. Mitchell. Supervisor of Safety and Examinations. New Haven.
Conn. E.G. Wride, Chief Clerk. Department of Safety. New Haven. Cosa,
.Yrjc York, Ontario <C fYestem--N. L. Satirhell. Safety Agent. Middletown. N Y.
Xorfolk Southern et at.-- ,T. B. Robinson. Supervisor of Safety. Norfolk. Va.
Xorthern Pacific-- Fred M. Metcalfe. Superintendent of Safety. St. Paul. .Minn. E. W. Griffin, Safety Representative. Duluth. Minn.
Oregon Short Line.- Los Angeles Salt r.rtke--C. T. Bailey. Safety Agent. Salt Lake City. Utah. J. C. Clark, Assistant to General Manager. Salt Lake City, Utah.
1176
Eighth Safety Congress
D. K. Rawlings, Safety Agent, 625 West 1st North Street, Salt Lake
City, Utah.
Pennsylvania Lines--
-
T. H. Carrow. Supervisor' of Safety, Philadelphia, Pa.
E. S. Chapin. Jr.. Safety Inspector, Insurance and Safety Department,
Philadelphia, Pa.
T. E. Crosson. General Yard Master, Buffalo, N. Y.
A. L. Cunningham, Division Safety Agent, Pittsburgh, Pa.
W. H. Kassett. Vice-Chairman, Safety Comm., Philadelphia, Pa,
J. J. Henry. Safety Agent.
H. E. Meginness. Safety Agent, Indianapolis, Ind.
E. G. Otto, Altoona, Pa.
H. B. Reynolds, Superintendent, Safety Bureau, Pittsburgh, Pa. J. H. Stadelman, Assistant Engineer, Wilmington, Del.
J. W. Warwick, Special Clerk, New York, N. Y.
H. C. West, Safety Agent. ~
E. J. Wilson, Safety Agent, New Castle, Pa_
Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago tC St. Louis--
W. Conner. Division Safety Agent, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Pittsburgh G Lake Erie et al.--
E. H. Babcock, General Safety Agent, Pittsburgh, Pa.
\\. A. Dean, Signal Supervisor, Pittsburgh, Pa.
A. G. Dunlop, Ticket Agent, Monessen, Pa.
J. W. Holsinger, Assistant Vardmaster, Aliguiffa, Pa.
Pittsburgh <G West Virginia--
R. M. Mall, Principal Assistant Engineer, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Reading System-- S. B. Zartman, Superintendent, Safety and Labor, Philadelphia, Pa.
Richmond, Fredericksburg c Potomac--
D. P. Browder, Safety Supervisor, Richmond, Va. St. Louis G San Francisco--
G. L. Ball, Superintendent oL Safety, St. Louis, Mo. C. H. Baltzel1, Division Superintendent, Fort Smith, Ark.
Southern Railroad Lines et al.--
J. W. ChamberLin, Safety Supervisor, Knoxville, Tenn. SoutKei'n Pacific Lines--
R. M'. Glover, Division Superintendent, Lafayette, La.
H. M. Mayo, Superintendent of Safety, Houston, Tex. Southern Raihoay and Associated Lines--
D. H. Beatty, Washington, D. C.
C. R. Staples, Safety Supervisor, Lexington, Ky. Terminal Railroad Association Of St. Louis--
H. E. Watkins, Supt. of Safety, St. Louis, Mo.
{ '
Toronto, Hamilton Buffalo-- ' i
''
w. J. Orr, Safety and First A.id Officer, Hamilton. Ont.
L'/lion Pacific--
--
Chas. Einlayson, General Car"Inspector, Omaha, Neb.
P. Groome, General Safety Agent, Omaha, Neb.
;
Steam Railroad Section
1177
.H. H. Hawes, Engine Foreman, Council Bluffs, la.
F. C. Hunter, Assistant Safety Agent, Omaha. Neb.
C. W. Moats, Safety Inspector, Omaha, Neb.
David More, Assistant-Safety Agent, Omaha, Neb. F. E. Olds, Brakeman. Oxford Hotel, Denver, Colo.
O. E. Olson, Locomotive Fireman, Rawlins, Wyo.
VV. L. Richards, Locomotive Engineer, 217 TV. 5th St., North Platte,
. Neb.
^
J. TV. Taylor, Conductor, Kansas City, Mo.
Wabash Railroad--
=
D. J. Bailey, Chief Clerk, Superintendent of Safety, St. Louis, Mo.
J. A. McNally, Safety Inspector, Room 142S Railway Exchange Bldg.,
St. Louis, Mo. F. Meyers, Superintendent of Safety, St. Louis, Mo.
V. M. Packwood, Safety Inspector, St. Louis, Mo. Washington Terminal-- Jet
J. O. Tatton, Chief Clerk to Superintendent, Washington, D. C.
Wheeling and LaTce Erie--
J. T. Briggs. Supervisor of Safety, Canton, Ohio.
United States Railroad Administration--
J. M. Hoy, Safety Agent, Potomac District, Hagerstown, Sid.
M. McGovern, Statistician Secretary, Safety Section. Washington,
D. C.
Regional Supervisors of Safety--
H. A. Adams, 1205 Burlington Bldg., Chicago, 111.
C. M. Anderson
H. J. Bell, Chicago, 111.
C. W. Gregg
*
R. S. Jarnagin, Eastern Region. 362S Grand Central Terminal, New
York City.
--
A. Kirkendall, Allegheny Region.
F. A. Wlghtman, South West Region. 2002 Railway Exchange Bldg.,
St. Louis, Mo.
-
Asst. Chief Inspector of Locomotives--
J. M., Hall, Interstate Commerce Commission, Washington, D. C.
Chief Inspector of Locomotives--
A. G. Pack, Interstate Commerce Commission, Washington, D. C-
THURSDAY ATORNTNC SESSION
HE meeting was called to order by Mr. R. C. Richards, Chairman, at 9:45 A. M. CuAiaatAK' Richards: The eighth annual session of the Steam Railroad Section of the National Safety Council will come to order. (The roll was called by roads, alphabetically.)
1178
Eighth Safety Congress
Cjiaikma.x Kjchards: The next order of business is the report of the
Chairman of the Section. It goes without saying that the Chairman feels
highly complimented that the Section should have turned out such a fine
attendance at this Congress.JjT believe that we have the largest representa
tion of any Section at the Congress. It certainly speaks well for you men,
who are interested in safetyTWork, that you are all' ready and willing to
leave your jobs and come here to get what inspiration and assistance you
can and to give what inspiration and assistance you can to others who
are engaged in the same linezof work that you are engaged in, that is, in
conserving that priceless thing, that one thing which we hold most dear-- life. If we can just carry on during the next year as we have during the
past year, and I am verynBire. that we will, with the assistance and
enthusiasm and active cooperation of the Manager of the Safety Section
of the United States Railroad Administration, who has done so much to
assist us in adding to the membership of this Section, nobody knows how
large a representation we will have at our next Congress and how much
good we will be able to do iu^the meantime.
There is one thing that XTwant to say to the members of this Section
as I said to you when you were kind enough to elect me your presiding
officer at the last meeting. "=Tlie Section is yours. It doesn't belong to
the chairman; it doesn't belong to the Secretary; it doesn't belong to the
members of the Executive Committee. Whether or not the Section is going
to be a success depends upon you just as much as it does upon them.
J-ast year, too many of you left everything for "George'' to do. I am
very sorry to say that I got very few suggestions and no advice, and
nobody stood in more need of advice than did I from the members of the
Section as to what we ought to do. I hope that the presiding officer next
year, will get more active assistance and cooperation from you all.
You may be interested in knowing that a year ago, we had 103 railroad
members of the Section with 171,700 miles. This year, we have 127 rail
road members with a mileageTof 206,222. The increase in mileage and the increase in number of roads represented in this Section, of course, is
largely due to the active assistance of Mr. Huffy and the Regional Super
visors of Safety. I am sure that we ail appreciate very much what they
have done to help us.
The Chairmen of the various Committees of the Section will be called
upon for reports of the activities of their committees. During the
progress of this meeting, w7 are to have some very Interesting papers
from some very distinguished gentlemen, some of whom are members of
this Section, some of whonT hre .outsiders. We owe it to these men and
we owe it to ourselves to show some appreciation of the fact that they
have been willing to give tlxgjr time and thought to the matters that are
before us. I don't think r have anything important to say to you except that I
hope that now we have gotten started, we will continue to have a very
interesting Congress. The next business on the rprogram will be the report of the Secretary,
Mr. Wliittemore.
*S5-
Steam Railroad Section
1179
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY
Skcketahy Whittkmore: There is nothing of particular interest that your Secretary has to repSTt at this meeting. The usual duties of the office have been fulfilled. The News Letter has been issued with regularity, and other routine matters have been attended to in the usual form.
Chairman Richards: I want to say for the benefit of the members of the Section who are not acquainted with the work, that Mr. Whittemore has been one of the hardest working, most industrious, most enthusiastic men connected with the Executive Committee, and he has done more work than all the rest of us put-together. I am sure that if you men knew how much work he has done and how much he has been called upon to
do and how little assistance he has had from you fellow's to do it, you
would appreciate more than you do what he has accomplished. The next report will be from the Accident Causes and Remedies Com
mittee. Mr. Carrow is the Chairman of the Committee.
REPORT OF ACCIDENT CAUSES AND REMEDIES COM MITTEE
T. H. CnCarrow,
airman. Supervisor of Safety, Pennsylvania
Railroad, Eastern Lines
J. T. Broderick, Superintendent of Safety and Welfare Bureau,
BAr.TrjfoRE and Omo Railroad
L. G. Be.nti.ev, General Safety Aoext, Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad
The pamphlet published by the Interstate Commerce Commission en
titled "Rules Governing Monthly Reports of Railway Accidents, 1918
Revision, Effective October 1, 191S", contains a set of causes which will be used in the future by the Interstate Commerce Commission for classifying
train accidents and train service accidents, the causes having been devel
oped for the Commission by a Committee representing the American
Railway Association.
-r7
At the first meeting'of the Accident Causes and Remedies Committee it
was decided to call upon the statistician of the Interstate Commerce Commission with a view of obtaining a statement showing the accidents
which occurred during a given period, classified in accordance with the
revised causes. The Committee accordingly called upon Mr. M. O. Lorenz,
Statistician of the Interstate^ Commerce Commission, who agreed to fur
nish a statement covering the month of January, 1919, which .is attached
and will be embodied in the printed report of your Committee.
The American Railway "Association Committee in developing the causes above referred, to made careful study of the accident statistics used by the large railroadsi in the United States and foreign countries and while experience will probably suggest certain alterations and addi-
1182
Eighth Safety Congress
Code \o. 1400 1-101 1402 1403
1401
1405
1406
1407 140S 1409
1410 1411 1412 1400
Cause.
Number of
train accldents.
TRAIN FLAGGING:'
Total failure to flag.......................................... ii
Failure to flag promptly.....................
i
Failure to go back a sufficient distance .................................................................................
Torpedoes, failure to use or to
7
place properly ....... ......................................
Fusees, failure to osse or to place
properly _____________-- .. - _________ -
Failure to carry flagman's equip-
menf
................................................... ..................
3 1
Other Improper flagging............................... 4
Total disregard of flag................................... 4
Failure to be on lookout or to regard flag in time _______
Torpedoes, failure to^regard................. Fusees, failure to regard.............................. Other failures to regard flagging.. Not reported. ...............................................................
1 ___ ___
.... ___
Total _______________ -................................. 32
Damages to
Railway* property.
7,270 150
14,140
2,520
640
5,340 6,980
570
_________ ...........
.......... 37,610
Total non - trespassers Killed. Injured.
___
.... ....
16 Ul,
o
3 . , .T
.... ....
___ .... .... ....
--
10 ....
....
....
.... ___ 31
1500 1501
1502 1503
1504
1505 1506
1507
1508
3 509 1500
1600 1601 1602 1603 1604 1600
1700 1701 1702
1703 1704
AIK BRAKES:
Insufficient air pressilre. failure of engineman to observe ..............................
2
Improperly releasing air brakes____ i
Emergency application, unjusti-
liable ......................................... ..................................... 6
Other Improper handling: by enginoman ...............---. uZj.......................................
1
Failure to test............................................................ i
Application from train other than
from locomotive, unjustifiable___ i
Retaining valves, failure to set
sufficient number ...................................... ....
Failure to have proper percentage
In service ................................................................. 4
Other improper handling................................ 2 Not reported ---------------------------------------------------- ___
Total _____________...__________________________ 18
HAND BRAKES:
-
Failure to control byl~..................................... 55 Failure to secure by......................................... 20 Failure properly to test.-----------------------Other negligence .....3^--........................... Not reported --------------------------------------------------- ....
Total .............................................................................. 75
SWITCHES:
Switch set In wrong position_______ Switch thrown undeF locomotive
or cars ............................-S5S--------------------------Wrong switch thrown----------------------Failure to latch or .secure lever__
28
14
6
3
4,730 160
2.910
410 200
230
............
17,590 3,550
.............
29,780
.... __
....
.... 2
....
__ __
,.
,- . * -
14
___ ....
16
14,500 13,670
28,170
18,900 5,670 4,100 770
....
----
....
--
....
.... __
10 4
__
14
9
__ ,., ....
Steaw_ Railroad Section
1183
Code
ICo.
1705 1706 1707 1708 1709
1710
1700
1800 1501 1502 1803 180*4 1805
1806 1807 ISOS 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 181*4 1815 1816 1817
ISIS
1S19
1820
Number
___
of train acci-
Cause.
dents.
Failure to see that switch points lit up properly-----------..................................
1
Switch thrown before car cleared
Onmages to
Railway property-
Total non--trespassers Killed. Injured.
170
....
Switches run through-------------------------------
Hera.il-running off
--_____--.
Other negligence in connection
with the operation T>f switches
Other negligence In connection with the operation of switches
6 11
6
6
1.560 9,670
9,500
2,560
___ 2
-- 3
Total ........................................................................ 81
52.900
2
12
OTHER FORMS OF NEGLIGENCE
OF EMPLOYEES:
--
Excessive speed or failure to run
with proper caution in yard limits
Other excessive speed In violation
of permanent orders^ Excessive speed in violation of
Opposing trains, failure to identify
Signals for following section. Im
proper display or absence of, or
failure of locomotive crew to notify opposing trains............................. Signals for following section, fail ure to observe ...............................................
Markers, improper display or ab
sence of _________________
____________
Headlight extinguished ____________--
Headlight, failure to conceal ac
cording to rule ........... ...............................
Superior trains, failure to clear.
Meeting point, overrunning...................
Meeting or passing point, failure
to clear switch or other trades..
Otherwise fouling switches...................
Occupying main trade without
Schedule, running ahead of.............. Failure of maintenance or other
employees to put out slow flag or otherwise to protect when obstructing track _ssi,_______________ disregard of slow flag or other protection placed by maintenance or other employees ~............................. Failure of crossing flagman or gateman properly to protect highway traffic ..............................................
Car doors not closed or secured--
45 9 3
i 1 ___ 2 29 3 2
1 --
___
--
35,350 9.5S0 6,130
260 900 _____. , , 7.160 14.600 1.860 5,940
440
......__...
i 1 1
--
1 ___
-___
14 12
1
-- ___
20 3
--
1184
^Eighth Safety Congress
code Mo. 1821 1822 1S23 3 824
1825 IS 26 1S27 1S2S
1820 1830 1531 1532 1333 3 S3 4 1835 1 S3 6 1S37 1S3S 1S30 1840
1841
3S00
N'umber
of
train
acci
Cause.
dents.
Joint failure to^protect and dis
regard of caution or other signal; 13
Joint failure to protect and failure
to run with caution in yard limits
5
Low water in locomotive boiler--
8
Failure of engincman to whistle
or give other warning according
to rules ----------------------------------------------------------
Failure of conductor properly to
2C
Absence of man in front of lead ing car being pushed.
5
Improper handling of cars or loco
motives in switching or coupling 17 Oars or locomotives on adjoining
track not clearing, failure to
observe ......................................................................... 4
Cutting off cars without rider to
control ...............------------------------------------------------ .3
Failure of rider to get on cars to con trol ________________________________________
2
Cutting oft cars it* excessive speed 3
Cars stalling, failure to bleed air Poling cars ----------------------------------------------------------
2
Turntable, failure to latch or sc-
1
Running of locomotive by unau
thorized employee Cars off track "ends Cnot other
3
wise classified)
4
Assigning cars ts yard track oc
cupied by other ears-----------------------------Coupling not 'properly made_________
9 2
Locomotives left with lever not
on center .................................................................--
Negligence of sjtation, mainten
ance. or other employees In
leaving baggage trucks, hand
cars, or other obstructions too
close to traclc.._..----------------------------------------
79
Not reported Total --
2S2 557
Damages 1o
Railway property.
11,290 5.650
14,290
21.950 1,370 7,940
620 1,860
860 610 430 330 840 1,000 4,380 880
55,810 212.330 471,770
Total non-trespassers Killed. Injured.
38 2 19 3 11
8
----
1
.... 2 ----
.... -- ----
-- ---- .... --
1 2
5 85 IS 187 59 460
2000 DEFECTS IN EQUIPMENT:
2100
2101 2102 2103 2104 2105
LOCOMOTIVE BOILERS AND AP PURTENANCES*
Arch tubes ........---------------------------------------------
Ash-pan blowers ..............................................
Blow-off cocks ....-----------------------------------------
Boiler checks
...............................................
Flues ...................................................................................
10
20
Steam Railroad Section
13 So
Oode .Vo. 2106
2107 2108 2109
2110 2111 2112
2113
2111
2115
2116 2117 210(5
Number
of
train
SLUCK-
Cause.
^ dents.
Injectors and connections (not in
cluding- Injector steanf pipes)....
Injector steam pipes
........................
1
Lubricators and connections
Lubricator glasses ......................................._
Patch bolts .................................................................
Plugs (arch tube and washout)........
Plugs in fire-box sheets______________ Rivets -...............................................--.........................
Stay bolts or studs, including crown
and cross stays..............................................
Steam piping, blowers, and steam
valves, including superheater
tubes and safety valves...................... Water glasses and tittings---------------Miscellaneous ..........................'.A..........................
i
2,
i
Not reported ...........................7A...........................
Total ........................................................................... 12
Da mages
to
Railway
property.
Total non-trespassers Kitted. Injured.
z
10
soo 1,030
1,870
1 2
l
3 --
13
2200
2201 2202 2203 2204 2205 2206 2207 22 OS 2209
2210 2211 2212 2213 2200
OTHER PARTS AND APPURTE
NANCES OPE LOCOMOTIVES
AND TENDERS:
"
Air reservoirs or DumpC........................... Crank pins. Collars, etc--_______________ Cross heads and guides........................... Cylinder heads and steam chests.. Headlights and appurtenances........... Piston and piston rodsCSL.____________ Rods, main and side______________________ Valve gear, eccentrics, and rods Other machinery on iolcomotives
and tenders .......................... Pilots, loose or defective______________ Trucks, light weight tin_________________ Drivers, excessive lateral motion Miscellaneous .......................................................... Not reported ..............................................................
Total ________________________________________
4 3
2 21
2 3
5 40
6.190 690
650 6.290
650 390
. 2,230 16.900
-- -- ....
--
__
....
I!
2 1
--
1 --
2
1 7
2300 2301 2302 2303
2304 2305 2306 2307 2308
2309 2310 2311 2312
TRUCKS:
-r=r
Arch bar, bent or broken...........................
Bolster, broken ______________
Truck frame, broken, bent, or
twisted _________________________ Center pin, broken or bent.......................
Center plates, broken or bent
Center plates, dry or rusty
Column, broken .....................................................
Column bolt or nut. broken or missing .......................................s________________
Spring plank, bent or broken________
Journal box bolt, broken^........................
Journal box bolt, missing^........................
Journal boxes, excessive lateral motion .....;.______________________________
73 6
50
3
1
2 2 6 5
...
83,930 2,330
88,620
3.570
530
6,120 540
11,000 7,070
.... -- --
--
--
___ .... ....
1
-- -- --
___ ___ ....
3180
-Eighth Safety Congress
Oort No. 2313 2314 2315 2316 2317 2318 2313 2320 2321 2322 2323
2324 2325 232G 2327 2300
umber
of
train
acci-
On us.
dents.
New trucks, untried-----------------------------------
Side bearing- clearance, excessive 4
Side bearing clearance, insufficient 3
Side bearings, broken or missing-- 14
Side bearings, short__________ Side bearings, other defects of.__ Spring hanger^ broken----------------------------Spring hanger bolt, broken----------------Springs, weak _or broken..----------------------
8 1
1
Swing motion^ hanger, broken---------
Swing motion hanger, roller bar
broken ..........g Tie bar, broken ---------------------------------------------
4
Transom, broken ........................................-- Trucks, light -weight on------------------------Other defects fin trucks---------------------------
43
Not reported -- ----Total -------------------------------------------------------------- 226
Damages to
Railway property.
Total non-trespassers Killed. Injured.
1.620 1,900 9,340
7
6,760 270
340
11,720
25,190 260.850
-- ___
1 9
2400 2401
2402
2103
2404
2405
2406
2407 24 OS 2400 2410
2411 2412 2413 2414 2415 2416 2417 2418 2419 2420
2421
2422
2423 2400
WHEELS AND -AXLES:
Cast-iron wheels,`broken, over
heating
______________________
Cast-iron wheels, broken, other
2
causes ________________________________________ 10
Cast-steel wheels, broken, over
heating --.......................-........................................
Cast-steel wheels, broken, other
. causes ------------------------------------------------------------Forged-steel -wheels, broken, over
heating
&------------------------------------------------
Forged-steel xvheels, broken, other
causes -------ss,------------------------------------------------Other wheels, broken, overheating
Other wheels, broken, other causes Wheels, flanges worn................ Wheels, flanges broken, cracked,
etc. .................s*.------------------------------------------------Wheels, tires loose _______________________
5
46 7
Wheels, tires broken or cracked-- 5 Wheels, flat_.......................................................
Wheels, loose ........................................
10
Wheels, out of gage......................... Wheels, improperly-counterbalanced Other defects in wheels-------------------------
1 ___
4
Axle, bent
..................
Axle, broken _________________________
Journal, fractured or broken, due
to de fects ___-i~_______________________________
Journal, broken, due to overheat
ing ______________
-- 17
23
29
Journal, broken, due to other
causes ------------
12
Other defects inaxles--------------------------------- 1
Not reported -------
64
- Total .....................
236
1.140 41,290
S80 '___
37.670 4,390 1,260
22.620 1.310
3,840
5,520
.
19,330 23,490
___ ___
8,740 1,300 63,880
236,560
_.
--
-- --
2 4
--
--
.... -S
---
1 10
Steam Railroad Section
1187
Code No. 2500
2501
2502
2502 2504 2505
2506
2507 2508 2500
Number of
train
-- acci-
Cause.
S7
dents.
POWER BRAKES AND AJPPUR-
TBNANCES EXCEPT AIR RES ERVOIRS AND PUMPS ON DO-
'
COMOTTVES:
Angle cooks, broken or otherwise defective ..................................................................
2
Hose blowing off, defective threads.
3
Hose breaking or bursting____________ 15
Hose coupling, broken or other
wise defective------------------------------------------
Train line Cbrake-plpe57 broken or
otherwise defective ___I______________ triple valves, lazy, dirty, or other
3
wise defective ______.sl~--------------! Unequal breaking power
1
Other, defects in power brakes___ 4
Not reported ................--....................................... Total ___________________,,__________________ 28
Damages to
Railway property.
670 1.630 6.700
2.380 180
3,270 14,920
Total non-trespassers Killed. Injured.
.... -- 12
--X
.... ri... ---- ----. --
13
2600
HAND BRAKES, BRAKE RIGGING,
AND APPURTENANCES:
2601
Brake beam, broken, disconnected, .
displaced, etc._____--__________________ 37
2602
Brake chains or bolts, breaking
or giving way.------------------------------------------ 1
2603
Brake chains, kinking, twisting,
2604
overlapping, or too long___........... Brake hanger, brokeicor discon
2
nected ......................................................................... 23
2605
Brake rod. broken, "defective, or
disconnected _____________________________ 3
2606
Brake shaft, broken of defective....
2607
Brake shoe, worn, " broken, or missing ...............................................;.....................
2
2608
Brake wheel. loose or defective___
2609
Pawl or ratchet, failure of or de
2610
fect in -S.------------------------------------------------------- 3 Miscellaneous ------------------------------------------------ 16
2600
Not reported -------------------------------------------------
Total ____________________
87
2700
COUPLERS:
2701
Head rod. key of, missing.___________ 1
2702 2703
Knuckle, broken ----------_________________ Knuckle, worn ____________________________
7 2
2704 2705 '
Knuckle lock, broken dr defective Knuckle pin, broken______________________
7 2
2706
Coupler too high ........--
'2707
Coupler too low________....----------------------------- S
2708
Head, broken _________.7,S~-------------,------------
2709
Coupler shank, broken,.-
4
2710
Other defects in couplers__________i_ 26
2700
Not reported --------------------------------------------------
Total ................................................................... 57
51,040 380 360
10,900 12,000
2,070
870 7,040
84,660
"Sk
800 2.760
770 1,920
670
3,200
1.750 15.040
26,910
-- ~ -- -- --
--
-- --
___ ___ -- --
--
-- -- -- --
i
--
2 3
2 T.
2 -- -- "
2 e
1188
Eic/hth Safety Congress
C0(je Ko.
2800 2S01
2803 2S03 2S04
2805 2806 ZSOO
Cause.
Number of
train accidents.
Damages to
Railway property.
DRAFT RIGGING: Draft timbers spreading or break-
Coupler yoke, brok&n---------------------------------Kntl sills, poof condition......................-- Coupler yoke rivets or bolts.
Draft bolts, broken............................................ Other defective draft rigging--------Not reported." .t.............................----...------
Total ....... ............................................................
7 4
6
37 -- 54
*
2.640 1.540
4,080 21,340 29,600
Total non-trespassers Killed. Injured.
.
-- --
-- ....
___ .... .... --
.... 11 -- 11'
2000 2001 2902
CAR BODIES A3TD OTHER PARTS OF EQDIPHBNT:
Cars, end sills of, weak, broken, or otherwise, defective ...........
Gars, ratchets, etc., on drop doors
z
2903
2904 2905 2906 2907 2900
Oars, weak or defective, not Oth
erwise classified ----------------.------------------- 52
Car doors -s-------------------------------------------------- 3
Car roofs --............................................................-- .... Other defects In car bodies.--.---------- 10
Miscellaneous,........................................................... 2
Not reported. .............................................................. ....
TY+r]
... ........... 6$
Total defects in equipment______ 808
3000
DEFECTS IN OB IMPROPER MAIN TENANCE OF^WAY AND STRUC
TURES:
,,
3300 3101
BRIDGES. TRESTLES, CULVERTS AND TUNNELS:
Bridges, structural defect or
3102 3103 3104
Bridges. improper or insufficient maintenance *---------...................---------------
Bridges, capacity insufficient for weight of current traffic....................-
Trestles, structural defect or fail-
-- ....
3105 3106 3107
Trestles, improper or Insufficient maintenance -------------------------------------------- -------
Trestles, capacity in3ufTieent for weight of current traffic................................-
Culverts, structural defect or
310S 3109 3110
Culverts, improper or insufficient
maintenance ........-------------------------------------------------Culverts, capacity insufficient for
weight of current traffic................................... Tunnels, structural defect or fail-
320
25,060 8S0
5,100 630
................... 31,990
703,450
.... 1
.... -- .... -- .... -- -- - -------
1 3 63
5.650
2 _
_________
Steam Railroad =Section
1189
Code No. Sill 3112
3100
____
Number
of
train
~~ acci-
Oause.
dents.
Tunnels, Improper or insufficient
maintenance .....................___________________ --
Other defects in or failure of bridges. trestles, culverts, and
r
tunnels .....................................-- ------------------------ --
Not reported
..........------------------------- ....
Total ............................................................ 1
Da mage.-? to
Railway property.
Total non -trespassers Killed, injured.
5,650
2
3200 3201 3202 3203 3204 3205 3206
3207 3200
TIES AND TIE PLATES!
Ties, broken ............................------------------------------ --
Ties, decayed ______________--....--------------------- 12
Ties, soft, poor quality of timber.. 1-
Ties, insufficient number.........................................
Ties, insufficient size...............................................
Tie plates, broken or otherwise defective ..................................................................
Other defects in ties and jfche plates
1
Not reported ................................
___
Total .1....................................._~TM---------------------- 14
3,320 320
___ ___
2 ___
290 3,930
-- ___
___ 2
3300 3301 3302 3303 3304 3305 3306 3307
3308
3309
3310 3311
3312
3313
3314
3315 3316 3317
3318 3300
RAILS AND JOINTS: W
Broken rail ............................-------------------------- 77
Flow of metal ........................................................ 1
Crushed head .......................................................... ......
Split head ____________--------------------------------------------
Split %veb ................................................--..........................-
Broken base .............................--------------------------------------
Other forms of rail failures, not
due to wear ...................._=ir.......................... Rails, spreading: because improp
4
erly spiked or bracedTM......................................
Rails, spreading' because joints
loosely or improperlyJbolted.......- 1
Rails, spreading, other causes--------- 29
Rails, giving way because of worn
condition ................................
2
Rail joints, angle bars broken or
otherwise defective ------
5
Rail joints, failure at, due to in
sulation for signal apparatus................. Rail joints, loosely or improperly
bolted (except No. 3303).........
1
Rail joints, absence of angle bars --
Rail joints. Improperly compromised 1
Compromise joints, angle bars
broken or other joint~fai!ure....................
Other defects in rail joints......................." 2
Not reported .........................A.......--..........` --
Total _______________________ 123
80,070 230
2 ....
36 ___
1.000
...
_
6.840 12,340
930
1.260
___ ___
....
___
13 T
___
___
150 320
290 103.430
___ '
___
1 3 50
3400
3401 3402 3103
FROGS AND SWITCHES:
Frogs, bolts of. broken or missing Frogs, guard rail defective...........-......... Frogs, guard rail fastenings de
fective .................................--.............................
2 1
1
1.770 150
390
.1190
-Eighth Safety Congress
Code No. 3401 31 or.
mod
3407
3403 tut*
3410 3411
3112
3113 3414 34 15 3410 3417 34 IS 3 I1D
3420
3421
3100
3300
S3 01 3502 3503 3504 3500
3000
3001
3002
3003
3604 3005 3606
3600
Number of Damages
train
to
_
acci-
Railway
Causc.
--
dents.
property.
Frogs, spring defective----------------------------- --
Frogs, spring bolts loose or de fective ...........................................................................-
2
910
Frogs, tving rails broken------------------.-- Frogs, point broken.....'..................................... Oth<-r defects In frogs----------------------------Switch-detector bar, broken or
-- 2 2
430 520
defective ........ Switch, lost motion________________________
Switch lug. broken.-----------------Switch point, bent or sorting--------1--
-- 1
2
6
380 630 3.250
Switch point, broken----------------------------------Switch point. Worn.................................... Switch stand, broken or defective
--
7 4
Switch, throw rod broken_____________ 3
Switch, throw rod disconnected____ 2
Switch indicator, defective------------------------------
Keeper or latch, broken, defec
tive or missing ................................................" 1
Electric or interlocking parts or uppurtenuiicra defective or out
of order, causing false Indica
1,760
2,370 600 590
1.240
tion. imperfect connection, or other fault 3*._______
1
1,640
Other defects in or improper main tenance of switches ______________
21 9,210
Not reported ---.......--_
___
Total ----________________________________ 58
25.S40
Total non - trespassers Killed. Injured.
,1 1 2
6 10
OTH Kit TRACK PARTS OR APFUUTENANQES:
Break .................................................-................ lUisfit ....................................................................... Improperly fastened .......................... Miscellaneous --------------------------------------Not reported ...............................................
Total ..........................................................
INTERLOCKING
AND
SIGNAL SYSTEM;
BLOCK
Signal displaying false "clear" for caution__--..........................................................................
Signal displaying false "clear" for stop ...............,-------------------------------------------------------------------
Signal displaying false "caution"
for stop ....--...................................................... Other improper indications of._____ --*
Improper location of signal___________ --
Other defects in, or impropermaintenance of, signal system.-- ___
Not reported -------------------------------------------------------------.
3700 3701
M ISCKLI.AN KOUS: Guard rail, improperly placed
Steam Railroad Section
1191
Code Mo. 3702 3703 3704 3705 3706 3707 3708 3709 3710 3711 3712 3713 3714 3715
3700
Number
of
train
StCCld:'i1
Guard rail, improperly secured-------
Insufficient superelevation of track
- Excessive superelevation of track
Uneven superelevation of track_____ 5
Improper alinement of track_________ 6
Improper surface of track.......................... Low joints ....................................................................... Track setting-* new fill--,*,.,--................
72 12
7
Insufficient ballast ........s.. .........--. Gage, Improper ........................________________
2
Drainage, imperfect _____________________ . Turntable latch, defective___1................
1
Excessive curvature ........................................ 3
Other defects in or improper main
tenance of way and structures not classified _______________________________
4
Mot reported ...........................----.......................... Total ................................................................................ 112 Total defects in or improper
maintenance of way and struc tures .............................................................................. 30S
Damages to
Railway property.
Total non -ln`spaa.soi\* K11 l^cl - 1 nji r*ri
1.660 1.220 37,760 6,590 5,970
680 1.200
1.030
1.5S0
57,690
196.540
....
Z ....
--
....
3
--
,r-T
6 2 4
Z
-- 12
76
4000 MISCELLANEOUS CAUSES:
4100
4101 4102 4103 4104 4105 4100
IMPROPER LOADING: =
Unequal distribution of load.................~ Car overloaded.....................--l----------------------Load shifting ..........................-----------------------------Load falling on track-------------------------------Other improper loading of car--------Not reported------------------------------------------------------
6 4 17 3 5
35
1.900 3,670 33.140 6.500 2.120
47,330
....
-- z
X .__ ___ .... --
z
-4200
4201 4202 4203 4200
NEGLIGENCE OF NON-
EMPLOYEES:
-
Failure to control cars on sidings Failure tq secure cars on sidings-- Other negligence of non-employees Not reported __________________................................
Total L--.:------------------------------------------------------------
2 2
1 640 640
--
v.. O | [<
4300
4301 4302 4303 4304 4305. 4306 4307
4300
MALICIOUS ACTS OR OTHER
MISBEHAVIOR OF' NON
EMPLOYEES:
~~
Obstructions placed on tracks______ Switches tampered withTM--------------------Signals tampered with___is:------------------Brakes tampered with--is--------------------Tracks tampered with--..--_____________ Incendiarism ____________________________________ Other malicious acts or misbe
haviour of non-employes.-----------------Not reported ______________________
Total ................................................................................
1 4 1 1 1
1
9
S80 2.390
190 240 8,000
__
....
____ .
1
1,200 12,900
--
X
1 2
--
3
3192
Eighth Safety Congress
foil (-
^
No.
Cuuso.
____
4400 OTHER ASCERTAINED CAUSES:
Number of
train
aeei-
dents.
4401
4402
4 403
4404
4405 4406 4407 440S 4409
4410 4411 4412 4 113 4(14 4415 4416 4417
ins
4419 4420 4421 4 122 4423
4424
44 25
4426
4427 4 428 -1429 4400
Bridges, trestles, or culverts dam aged or washed out by rain or floods, etcP -------------------------------------
2
Ballast or Roadbed damaged or washed out by rain or floo'ds, etc.
Accidental fires, equipment dam
2
aged by ...................................................................... 7
Bridges, trestles, or culverts dam
aged or destroyed by accidental
fires ---------------------------------------------------...--......................... Animals on track ---------------------------------------- 2
Switch or frog, obstacles in---------------- 7
Landslides, ^Boulders, etc---------------------- 16
Snow and ice on tracks___________;_____ Obstruction^ caused by other train
9
accidents -------------------------------------------------------- 6
Car roofs or doors on track..........................
AutomobllesiZstruck by train_________ 3
Motorcycle struck by train.......:________ ___
Bicycle struck by train............................................... Trolley car struck by train___i------------ --
Other vehicle struck, by train------------------------
AutomobllctZAn Into side of train................. Motorcycle ran into side of train-..............
Bicycle ran into side of train..........................
Trolley car ran Into side oftrain-- 1
Other vehicle ran into side of train ___ Other grade_crossing accidents______ t
Other obstructions not specified.,.. 10
Worn flags-and worn switch point,
combination -------------------------------------------------- 2
Improper ade bearing clearance
and irregular surface of tracks
combination !_______________________ 2
Improper side bearing clearance
and improper superelevation of
tracks, combination ------------------------------ 1
Improper loading of cars and Ir regularities in track, combina- C'j
tion
---------------------------------------------------------V' 9
Shifting CSXS on orofffloats___________ 1
Dragging ballast with tie------------------... --
Other ascertained causes.........................-- . 72
Not reported ......................................................-- -- Total--------------------------------------------------------------- 152
Da mages to
Railway property.
6,690 530
3.820
1,590 5,090 29,660 7,420 7,230 6.470
210
4,610 580
800
740
5,510 370
67.390 148,710
Total non-trespassers Killed. Injured.
_ --
X ___
1
__ --1 _9
16
13
_.
-- -- --
--
-- 4
--
---- ----
2 21
4 46
4500 4501 4502
450::
UNASCERTAINED CAUSES:
Probable negligence ofemployees 1
Probable defects in or failures of
equipment ___________________________________ Probable - defects in or improper
2
maintenance of way and struc
tures --------------------------------
2
1,210
2.230
500
___ ___
1
___
1
Steam Railroad Section
1193
Code No. 4504
4505
4506
4507 4508 4500
Number
of Damage
-------
train acci-
to Railway
Cause.
dents. property.
Employee having knowledge fatal-
....ly Injured, no other witness______
-----
Employee having knowledge leav-
....ing service before investigation
...............
"Wreck fully investigated, but
44 31.870
"Wreck not- investigated...._____________
Insufficient information
____________ 4
!N"ot reported ...............................r ..............--
___
1.200 _________
Total .............................................. .................... . 53
37.010
Total Miscellaneous Causes_________. 251
246.590
Grand Total, Train Accidents.. 1,924
1.615,350
Total non -trespassers
Killed. Injured.
....
1
____
..--
I 6 71
'
.--T
36
1
39 89 68S
Analysis of train accidents and train-service accidents, showing the classes of trains Involved, and resulting casualties and damage to railwayproperty for the month of January, 1919, as reported to the Interstate Commerce Commission.
Code
Mo.
Class of train
Number of
acci dents.
COLLISIONS:
1 Freight ..........................................................._________ 110
2
Fassenger ___.'.................................
---------------- 9
3
Mixed ..................................................
.............
4 Special ......................................................_________ ___
5 Work ...................................................... =-- __________ 7
6 Yard {Switching) .................... .. _________ 175
7 Not- Included above (single train) 6
8
Two or more freights___
.............
80
9 Two or more passengers--___.................. 10
10 Freight and passenger ________________ 26
L Other combination ....-------- .. ............... 86
T T7ot included above (more than
one train) ---------------------------------------_________ ___
Total ............................................-- ". _______ 509
I>a mages to
Railway property.
Total non-trespassers Killed. Injured.
$58,360 3,850
................. _______ .
2,690 70.080
3,620 127,140
49,380 46,490 48,030
................ 409,640
1 ....
.... 3
.... ....
3 36
5 5
.... 53
10 53
.... 7
26 * ....
33 187
76 5E
.... 447
DERAILMENTS:
~
1
Freight ...............................................
-------------- 995
2 Passenger ........................................-- -------------- 78
3 Mixed -----------......................................
4
5 Work ..........................................................-i...
tf Yard (switching-) .................... ^ ............. 115
7
Other ......................................................-
_________ 10
Total .......................................................
-1,223
957,620 111,940
12,130
1,760 26,170
3,950 1,123,570
8 i
....
,, o 1
12
76 91 12
_..
10
z
191
LOCOMOTIVE BOILER ACCIDENTS:
1 Freight ____________________________afe----------------- IS 2 Fassenger _____________________________________ 3 3 Mixed ___________________________________________________ 4 Special ____________________________________________ ___
15,130
10
5
22
3
1194
iJSigKth Safety Congress
Code
No. 5
6
Class of tram
Work --------------.TM*~--Yard (switching)
Other
-----------
Total ________--------
Number of
acci dents.
Damages to
Railway property.
Total non-trespassers Killed. Injured.
20 15.140
26
OTHER LOCOMOTIVE ACCIDEXTS:__
Freight -------------------------------- .................................. Passenger __________________ ___________________
Mixed ..................................
Special ________________-.......... Work ................mg........... Yard (switching)
Other Total
36 14
1
53
10.770 5.390
170 250 16.580
6 2
MISCELLANEOUS TRAIN ACCIDENTS;
Freight _____--.-- ----------------------Passenger .............................................
Mixed .........-------------- ------.....
95
10 1
Special ........-------------------------------------
Work ...............---.................................
Yard (switching).......................
O th or ...............--.................................-
Total ..................................--
119
Total train accidents------------- ..........-1.924
44.990 4.600 230
640 .960
53.420 1.618.350
1
71
11
4
15 688
TRAIN-SERVICE ACCIDENTS:
Freight
----------------------------------------------------1,624
Passenger --------------------------------------------------------- 7S4 Mixed ---------------------------------------------------------------------- as
Special ----------------------------------------------------------------- --
Work ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 70
Yard (switching) __________----------------------1,136
Other ............--------------------------------------------------------- 23
Total ......~~..............................................................3,665
Grandtotal --------------------------------------------------5,589
1.61S.350
62 160
1
11 6
3 30= 374
1.620 698 31
74 1.119
14 3.556 4.244
TRAIN SERVICE ACCIDENTS
STATE M KXT SUOWISn: TUB N'OtnEB Of CASUALTIES IlY E*KTAIIJEX> CAl'SES RESLM.TIXi: KltOM TRAIN SERVICE. ACCIDENTS ON CUISS 1 EAIUB'AUS AS
REPORTED TO T31E INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION KMC THE
^___ MONTH OK ,1 -VNXJARY, 1919.
Code
No.
--
Causes
'
Total
ToUl Kmjiloyees
Casualties
(hi Duly
KilL-d Injur. Kllhei Injur.
COUPLING OITTINCOUPLING LOCOMOTIVES OR
CARS:
6101 6102
Adjusting coupler, unexpected movement of cars due to slackTM...__________________________...-------------------------------------- .--
Adjusting coupler, unexpected movement of can* due to mistake or misunderstanding in giving or observing hand signal--------------------------------------------------------------
It
----
11
--
Steam Railroad Section
1195
Total
No. Cod
Causes
Total
Employees
Casualties On Duty
Killed Injur. Killed Injur.
6103 Adjusting- coupler, unexpected movement of cars
due to other causes--................................................................:................
1
14
14
6104 Adjusting- coupler, when moving cars were near
ing each other._______________s,,_________________________________ 6105 Adjusting coupler on moving" car, lost footing._____
1 1
21 2
21
6106 Adjusting- coupler with foot, cars moving, not otherwise classified-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
6_
6107 Adjusting coupler with, foot, ^ears not moving, not
otherwise classified _______'___--
--
610S Adj listing coupler, part of coupler fell striking
6109
6110 6111 6112 6113 6114 6115 6116
Coupling or uncoupling with chains or other
emergency appliance _____________ Uncoupling without using lever. lever operative Uncoupling without using lever, lever inoperative Uncoupling lever, manipulation of_________________________ Uncoupling, lost footing.-------------Uncoupling, falling from cars.---------------------------------------------------Foot caught In frog, switch or guard rail_____________ Miscellaneous _____________________---------------------------------------------------------
1 -- -- --
2 -----
1 2
COUPLING OR UNCOUPLING AIR HOSE (OR
TURNING ANGLE COCKS IN CONNECTION
THEREWITH) STEAM HOSE AND SAFETY
CHAINS:
6201 Air or steam hose, angle cocks or safety chains,
cars moved while manipulating..--------------------------.....___
1
6202 Air or steam h.ose, angle cocks or safety chains,
going between moving cars to manipulate_________ --
6203 Air hose, uncoupling, struck by hose because of.
6204 6205
sudden release of air.--------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Steam hose, burned by hot water or steam from___ ___ Miscellaneous ........................................--,-------------------------------------------------------------------
Total
1
WHILE OPERATING LOCOMOTIVES: 6301 Shaking grates or dumplngjtsh pans, lever slip
ping oft --------------------------------------------^----------------------------------------------- 6302 Shaking grates or dumping ash pans, slipping or
6303
6304 6305 6306 6307 6308 6309
6310
Shaking grates or dumpingfash pans, coming In contact with hot parts of locomotives, tools, or coals ~~-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shaking grates or dumping ash pans, not other wise classified 1.--------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------
Shoveling coal, slipping or falling. Shoveling coal, coming In contact with hot parts
of locomotive, tools, or coals--------------------------------------------------
Shoveling coal, -struck hands or body against other parts of locomotives, or other objects______
Shoveling coal, not otherwise classified---------------------------Using fire hook, scraper, poker or pick, slipping
or falling .............................................................................------------------------------Using fire hook, scraper, poker or pick, coming In
contact with hot parts of locomotives, tools or coals --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 1
5 23 19
5
1
30 149
31
6
3 40 18
1 7
28 5
2
1 2
9
__
.._
__ --
___ --
_
3 1
5 23 19
5 1
30 149
13
1 9
4
8 35
31
6
3
40 18
1 7
28
5
2
119G
Eighth Safety Congress
Total
Total
Employees
Code
Casualties
On Duty
Xp.
Causes
2--
Killed Injur. Killed Injur,
6311 Using- fire hook, scfaper, poker or pick struck
hands or body against parts of locomotives, or
other objects ________________________________________________________
33
33
6312 Using lire hook, scraper, poker or pick, not other
wise classified ...ij.................................................-...................................... ....
9 ....
9
C313 Fire hook, scraper,^ poker, or pick improperly-
placed when not In use___________________________________________
10
10
6314 Water plug, operating, lost balance, fell or slipped 6315 Water plug, operating, locomotive moved unex-
38 --
38
6316 Water plug, operating, not otherwise classified--------6317 Water scoop, operating.................................................................................. 6318 Coaling engines --....----------------------------------------------------------------------------6310 Wrenches, slipping on nut, etc.............................................................. 6320 Reverse lever, operating-............................................................................... 6321 .Blaze from fire bojlgu,........................................................................................
....
___ ,
....
....
1
36 ....
4 .... 34 ....
1 .... 36 .... 15 ____
1 36
4 34
1 36 15
6322 Sctuirt hose becoming disconnected or bursting-------
4
4
6323 Squirt hose, valve left open or careless handling.-- --
____
6324 Steam, hot oil. hot water, or other hot sub
stance or objects (except Nos. 6303, 6306 and
6310) .................................................................................................................................... ....
10
.... .
10
6325 Tank manhole, faying into, cover left off or
open ..................................-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
5
E
6326 Coal rolling over coill board or off top of pile---------- ....
21 --
21
6327 Slipping or falling^pn locomotive or tender, not
otherwise classified ....................--............................................................ .
95
95
632S Miscellaneous .......................................................-.....................................................
1
146
1 146
Total ..................................................-..........-----......................................
1
639
1 639
WHILE OPERATING HAND BRAKES:
6401 Brake chains or bolts breaking or giving way.-----64 02 Brake chains kinking, twisting, overlappng or too
6403 6404 6405 64 06 6407
640S 6109 6410 6411 6412
6413
Brake shaft, broken or defective---------------------------------------- Brake wheel, loose _or defective-------------------------------------------------Bawl or ratchet, defect In or failure of................................... Defective hand brakes not included above...................... Bawl slipping or~accIdentally knocked out of
ratchet, no defects ....................................................................................... Brake club, slipping in wheel............................................................... Brake club, struck by, because wheel flew around Brake club, standard, breaking........................................................... Brake club, not standard, breaking.----------------------------------:. Slipping or falling^because of ice or snow on cars
or locomotives -a,--.................................................................................... Dosing hold, slipping, or falling, not otherwise
6414 6415 6416
Using or holding-hand brakes, against air....................... Caught between running boards................-.................................. Miscellaneous ...........--.............................................................................................
Total ............................................................................................................-.......
1
.... .... ....
....
.... ....
1
--
4
1 7
2
2 1 1 1 4
11 9 5 5 2
6
72
36 157
1
--M MM ____
--
.
MM MM
1
2
2 1 1 1 4
11 9 5 S
--6 4 72
- 1 36 7 157
WHILE OPERATING SWITCHES:
6501 Switch lever flyihglup...................................................................................... 6502 Switch lever or ball falling on or catching hand
17 -- 39
17 39
S'icam; liailroad Section
1107
Total
Total
Employees
Code
Casualties
On Duty
Xol
Causes
Killed Injur. Killed Injur.
6503 Slipping- or failing on ice or snow or tracks or
6504 Tripping, slipping, or falling; not otherwise
6505 Caught between locomotive or car and switch
6506 6507
Struck by locomotives or cars.........................................................
Total ..................................................................................................
1 1
9
1 6 28 106
9
X 16
28 1 106
COMING IN CONTACT, WHILE ON OR GET TING ON OR OFF MOVING CARS OR LOCO MOTIVES, WITH ANY PEXED STRUCTURE ABOVE OR AT SIDE OFLTRACK:
GG01 6602 6603 6604
6G05
GG05 6607
Bridges, overhead -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3
Bridges, side members----------------------------------------------------------------------
3
Buildings or gates, not otherwise provided for.--
1
Coal chutes, aprons, docks, elevators, etc., used
for company fuel ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enginehouse or roundhouse Walls, doors, or door
ways ...........................................................t--........................................................................--
Fences, track, cattle-guard,^etc __________________________________
Mail cranes (normal or in ^position for mail de-
G608 6609 6610
6611 6612
Overhang at station or other building.................................. ......
Blatforms_____________________......_______________________________________________
Boles (telegraph, telephone, electric light, signal.
etc.) ______________________________________________________________________
Scale housings ...................................._____________________________________ Signal arms or other parts ' or appurtenances of
___
6613
6614 6615 6616 6617 6618 6619 6620 6621 6222
Snowshed, roofs _____________________ --
Snowshed, walls ._____________________________________________________ ___
Stock chutes or pens....
___
Switch stands. lamps, targets, dwarf signals, etc.
1
Tunnels, overhead \v:l1 Is_________________________________________ Tunnels, side walls___________________________________________________
1 ___
Warning guards or ticklers.^...................................................'._____ ___
Water and fuel-oil standpipes and spouts____________ ___
Wires or pipes, overhead___IT. _____________________________________
Other fixed structures_____________________________________________________
Total _____________________________________________________________________
7
737
33
6 15
1--
1--
5
3--
1
3
E
1
4 ___ .
4
7 ,,.
2 ___
1--
7
2
1
1 __
3
19 1 19
111
6_
6
66 oo
73 6 72
GETTING ON OR OFF LOCOMOTIVES OR CARS:
6701 6702 6703
6704 6705
6706 6707
670S
Handhold or grab iron, missing or losing hold of-
1
Handhold or grab Iron, defective____________________________________
Step, stirrup, or footboard, missing footing or
slipping on (except Nos. 6712 to 6718 and 6726)....
1
Step, stirrup, or foothold, defective..............................................................
Ladder, missing footing or slipping on or losing
hold or rung _________________________________________________________________
Ladder, defective _____________....1
___
Striking hands, arms. fee7 legs, head or body against cars or locomotives..........................................................
......
Stepping or tripping on coal, boards, stone rub
bish. or other loose or refuse material, or In holes
1
23 1 11 50 _
11 _
17 133
___ --
20 11 48
3 11
17 130
11 OS
Eighth S'dfMy Congress
-'lilt
Total
Total
Employees
Code Xo.
Causes
Casualties
On Duty
Killed. Injur. Killed Injur.
C70D 6710
Stepping- or tripping on ties, rails, ballast, etc. (part of track).-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Slipping on ice or snow on ground-
29 23
28
22
6711
6712
slipping on ice or snow on locomotives or freight
cars
----
Slipped or fell ornor oft coach steps, heel of shoe
24
24
catching -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6713 Slipped or fell on or oft coach, steps, foot catching
in clothing ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C7H Slipped or fell on or off coach step3, ice or snow-
on step .....-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6715 6716 6717
Slipped or fell on__or off coach, defective step______ Slipped or fell on Qr off coach steps, train starting Slipped or fell orfi or off coach steps, locomotive
coupling to train ........................................................................................
G71S
Slipped or feel on or oft coach steps, not other wise classified ^----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15 _
3
6719 Slipped or fell on passenger-station platform, ico or snow on platform
_
S
672ft Slipped or fell on passenger-station platform, de
fective platform^------------------------------------------------.-.---------------------------
6721 Slipped or fell on;passenger-station platform, not
otherwise classified _________________________________
6722 Falling, slipping^ tripping, or ankle turned or sprained, not otherwise classified-----------------------------------
S
195
HO
6723 672-5 6725 6726
Missing footing on porter's footstool, misplaced___ Missing footing on porter's footstool, not misplaced Struck by locomotives or cars-____________________________ Oetting on front- end of approaching locomotive___
__
1
1
s.
13
1
12 1
6727 Coining in contact with trucks (baggage, express,
mail, etc.) --
6723 Coming in contact with or tripping over baggage,
express matter, etc.
67?9 6730
Jumping from locomotive or car in anticipation of
a train accident ------------------------------------------------------------------------------M iscellaneous ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total ______________
4
22
71
35
CS3
70 23 570
MISCE1J.AXKOUS NOT ELSEWHERE
6901
OI.ASSIFI ED: Handling baggage, mall, or express------------------------
--
6902 6903 6904
Handling freight or material __________________________________ Turntable, ash ot Inspection pits, falling Into--------Falling off through bridges, trestles, or culverts
6905
not equipped With handrails or footwalks................. Falling off or through bridges, trestles, or culverts
equipped with ran cl rails or footwalks.............................--
6906 Cars coming together, failure to apply hand brakes
6907 tiytiS
in time
-is.--...........................................................................................:
Sudden stopping, starting, lurch, or jerk of loco
motive, car, oi* train (no negligence or defect).
Sudden appIicuUssn of brakes, improper handling
1 1
1 -- --
2
6909 69.10
Sudden application of brakes, air hose bursting, parting or otherwise defective...............................................--
Sudden application of brakes, defective air-brake
--
23 S3 16
1
16 236
3 27
s
_ 22
1 77 16
15 --1
14
2 165
--3 -- 36
_4
Steam Railroad Section
1190
Total
Total
Kmployevs
Code
Casualtie s
On Duly
No.
Causes
`
Killed Inj ur. Killed Injur.
6011
Sudden application of brakes, failure to keep proper look-out ^
13
11
6912 Cars or locomotives on adjacent track not into clear, struck by, while riding on locomotive or car
4
4
6913 Cars or locomotives on adjacent track into clear, struck-by, while riding ion locomotive or car----------
20
13
6914 Fire hook or other tools extending over side of
locomotive or tender, struck by, while riding on
6015
locomotives cars or trains------------------------------------------------------I-oose or swinging freight-car doors, struck by,
while riding on locomotives, cars, or trains----------
6916
6017 691S
6019 6020
Other projections on trains, struck by, while rid ing on locomotives, cars or trains----------------------------------.
Car doors falling off------...------------------------------------------------------------. Stepping from one car to another, slipping or
falling _____________________________---- Crossing over between cars... Stepping or tripping on coal, boards, stone, rub
bish, or other loose or refuse material, or in holes
1 2
30 1 72
49 __
6 9
30
6
48
6021 Stepping or tripping on ties, rails, ballast, etc. (part of track) -------------
28 --
27
G922 6923
Falling or tripping over material, lumber, ties.
rails, etc. ----------------------------------------------------------Falling or tripping over air or steam line, switch
rods, or levers, signal wires, third rail, etc---------------
10 -- 9 __
9 9
6924
6925 6926
Slipping or failing on platforms, stairways, steps,
etc.
_______________________..a..------------------------------------------------------------
Slipping on ice or snow on cars or locomotives-
Slipping on ice or snow on tracks or elsewhere-
5 ___ 16 ___ 37 ___
3 15 37
6927
6028. 6929
6930 6931 6932 6933 6934
Slipping, tripping or falling on top of box or In open cars, not otherwise classified--------------------------
Baggage In coach aisle, tripping over Slipping or falling In coach aisles, not otherwise
classified --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Closing or opening trap doors on cars--.-----------
Closing or opening sliding baggage car doorsClosing or opening sliding box-car doors.. Unexpected closing e'xcar doors, no defectsUnexpected closing .^iardoors, defective keeper
6935 6036 6937
Struck by coach trap doors operated by trainmen Struck by coach trap doors operated by passengers Struck by defective coach trap doors accidently
21 -- .3
Z0 5 5
17
41
1 2
20
2 6 2 15 14
1 2
opening or closing ------------------------------------------------------------------
6938 6939 6940
Adjusting car windows, defects--------------------------------------------Adjusting jar windows, no defects---------------------------------------Coal, coke, or other material falling from cars or
tender _-------------------------------------------------.................................--................--
22
21
6941 6942 6943
Splinters or nails------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Foiing cars-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Iloptnf: cars
IS 8
1
18
6 1
6944 End gate Of car falling on person caught between
6945 6946
gate and post __________-------------------------------------------------------------l4>ad shifting-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Cars or locomotives coming against cars placed
for loading or unloading-
17
12
15 5
3 200
--Eighth Safety Congress
Total
Total Kmpioyees
Code-
Casualties
On T>uty
No.
Causes
Killed Injur. Killed Injur.
6947 Cars or engines coming against cars being re
paired, unprotected by signal..............................................'............. ....
2--
2
6948 Cars or locomotives coming against cars being re
paired, unprotected by signal.......................................................
1
SX
8
6949 6950
Coming in
third rail Coming in
contact with electric current from
................--~............-................................-...................:............... contact with electric current froin
....
.... --
--
6051 6952 6952
eatenarj- construction ............................................................................. Coming in contact with electric current from other
sources ..................................................-..................................................................... Caught between locomotives or cars while stand
ing or walking between parallel tracksTM----------------Caught between locomotives or cars and fixed
.... --
-- o
4--
4
6954 6955 6956 6957
6958
structures except while riding on or getting on or
off locomotives or cars -
Spark, cinder, dust, etc., in eye........-...........................................
Icing cars ................--is--------------------------------------------------------------..........--
Stones or other objects "picked up'' by train--------------
Trains striking tools or similar objects on or at
side of tracks..,,^...................--...................--.......-.............
--
Hand cars, struck by locomotives or cars, when no
damage to railway property results-----------------------------
2 _____ ___ ....
3
5 69
X 3
4
9
*> r- r ___ -- ....
37
5 69
l '&
4
6
6959 1 luggage, paroets. jilc.. falling from racks in cars ....
.... ....
--
6960
6961 6902 6963
G964
Standing, walking, or running alongside trains.
cars or locomotives ...........-................................................................-- --
Falling from locomotives or cars, not otherwise
classified ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Struck by locomotives or cars at private crossings
11 4
Struck by locomotives or cars, not otherwise
classified .................................................................................................................... 105
Miscellaneous Total .........
5 340*
244
33
66 4
138 226 1.431 5S5
-- 28
9 56 -- ~~
91 5
119 .._
101 296 1.195
3
Grand Total
. 432 3.858 153 2,926
Code Xo.
TRESPASSERS CAUSE
STRUCK Bf trais;
X Pedestrians ... 2 Automobiles . 3 Motorcycles -- 4 "Bicycles ........-- 5 Trolleycars ....... 6 Other vehicles
Total ..........
TOTAL
Number
Number
of
of persons
Accidents Killed Injured
-------------------------- 80 ......................................128
3 7
49
46 62
15 124
35 169
2 19 43
267
RAN INTO. SIDE OF TRAIN:
7 Automobiles ..............-TM-.............................. 8 Motorcycles ..................--------------------------------
_________ IS
_______ 1
3 _.
26 l
Steam Railroad Section
1201
Code
TK KS l'Ai>S BBS
So..-
CAfSK
0 Bicycles ________
10 Trolley cars -
11 Other vehicles
Total ----------------------------------
32 OTHER GRADE CROSSING ACCIDENTS.. 33 INSUFFICIENT INFORMATION _______________
Total
Code No.
NON-TRESPASSHRS CAUSE =
STRUCK BY TRAIN:
Pedestrians Automobiles Motorcycles Bicycles ........... Trolley cars Other vehicles
Total
RAN INTO SIDE OF TRAIN:
7 Automobiles _____________________________ 8 Motorcycles D Bicycles --------------------30 Trolley cars _______ 11 Other vehicles ....
Total
12 OTHER GRADE CROSSING^ ACCIDENTS.. 13 INSUFFICIENT INFORMATION ..........................
Total .................. Grand Total
TOTA I.
Number
Number
of
of persons
Accidents KHUd Injured
__________ 24 ................ 4
33
295
129
302
TOTAL
Number
Number of
of persons Accidents Killed Injured
. 60 . 125
....
3 t . 48
243
36 60
....
1
....
15
112
25 166
....
2 39 41
253
17
....
1
2
1
. 21
.--
....
264 559
3
--.
....
....
3
___
....
115 244
25
1
3
30
._
....
283 585
Mk. Carwow: Now I shalL endeavor, as ciulckly as I can, to explain the
system of statistics previously referred to. The main division in the
statistics is between train accidents and train service accidents. There
are a number of headings under which are shown certain details. Train
accidents have involved the use of train orders, but so far as I know,
there has never been any separation as between specific misuse of train
orders. I have often wondered if. in the last fifty years, let us say, there
had been an accumulation disinformation of this character, our system
of train dispatching, our system of rules, would not have been more
rapidly developed.
_
1202
Eighth Safety Congress
ruder train orders, for example, I will mention one or two details in order that you way carry in your mind lhe scheme of the thing.
1. Error in transmission of copying, telegraph. 2. Error in transmission o copying, telephone. One might inquire as to what the difference is. The difference is Just this: Many railroads in the United States operate by the telegraph system. Others operate^ by the telephone system. Suppose it would come up for consideration to install a telephone system in train, operation on one of your lines. The first question that would arise would he whether or not it would be safe. In two years after we have established these causes, you can go to (die Interstate Commerce Commission and ascertain specifically whether operation by telephone is as safe as it is by telegraph
or vice versa. Speaking for our own road, we have telephones in use almost ex
clusively. I recall very distinctly, in the early stages of the game, there was very much uncertainty as to whether or not it would be safe.
The next cause undjsr that heading might properly be: Meeting point, overrunning. We all know about the disastrous accidents that have occurred as the result of overrunning meeting points. Here we have accidents not summarised but in specific detail. A year from today when these statistics are classified, we will be able to put our finger on specific causes of accidents, in other words, we have endeavored to take it out of the realm of uncertainty and put it into the realm of science.
The next classification is fixed signals. There are as many systems of signals in the UnitecL States as there are characters and types of men here today. As to which is the best system, nobody seems to know. Yet there are certain furjdamental principles which are accepted as being satisfactory and safe. I will read the first detail under that. While there are a number, I can't go into very much detail, but I will mention enough to give you the scheme of the thing. The first cause is: Clear signal displayed for occupied block. You men who are familiar with the train operation all know what that means. We all know what it would mean if we should see in th'e United States, for example, an epidemic of 'accidents from clear signal displayed for occupied block. Would It not suggest that we take steps on our respective railroads to put in motion some scheme to correct the trouble?
The proverb that impressed me strongest, perhaps, in my young life was "knowledge is power," but most knowledge Is so generalized that it is not susceptible ofLapplication. It has been my opinion, ever since we undertook to work in this safety field, that our knowledge was too general.
The next general ^heading to which attention is called is Air Brakes. All of us know the danger of improper application of air brakes. We know about the danger that arises from improper maintenance of brakes. \\'e know about the clanger that arises from insufficient air pressure. We know ait about therdangers that are related to the air, but we do not know about it specifically^ Our boys who were formerly with the Interstate Commerce Commission are more familiar with that than we are, but wouldn't it be a . tine thing if we knew exactly what the record had been in the United States for the last ten years?
Steam, Railroad Section
1203
I can tell you frankly that I have developed for specific purposes at
the cost of much time and effort much information that these statistics
would provide without any effort.
Those of you who are familiar with that subject know that car inspec
tion at loading points is one of the most indefinite things on the railroad. Put your Safety Committees on that particular thing, and you will find out
that some stations have inspection very carefully done; you will find that
at others it is not so good. If we can develop statistics, over a series of years, of accidents that are attributable to faulty inspection, then we
will have the knowledge thalL will lead us to understand what to do in
connection with the loading of cars.
Then under miscellaneous we have nialicious acts or other misbehavior
of outsiders, and other ascertained causes which are quite numerous and
which you can all get from the Interstate Commerce Commission's classi
fication.
~
What I have said thus far relates entirely to Train Accidents. I want
to direct your attention just a few more momfents to Train Service Acci
dents, the ones with which the Safety Committees are probably more
frequently bothered, but not by any means the most important. We have eight classifications under what we call Train Service Acci
dents. The first heading is Coupling and Uncoupling Cars. Under this
heading we have fifteen cause's arranged to the best of the ability p the
Committee and giving every detail which will enable the safety commit tee men and the safety agents to lecture or talk bn the subject.
.For example, there were nine killed and 149 injured during the first
month of the year, which would make 108 killed and about 3,800 injured during the year. Of that number, some were due to:
3. Adjusting coupler, unexpected movement of cars due to slack.
2. Adjusting coupler, unexpected movement of cars due to other causes.
The next would be operating locomotives, under which heading there are a considerable number of accidents.
You have been sympathetic in listening to me. All I want to say is this: We do want to put safety on. a practical basis. We want to make everything that we do just as reasonable, just as scientific, just as busi
nesslike, as we can. We wantrto refrain, as far as possible, from unneces
sary work. We want to educate also ourselves, our committees, the
superintendents, and everybody else.
I recommend particularly that young men who are taken into the
service be first instructed to Iistudy and master the causes of accidents.
In that way, I fully believe that in the course of a few years we will
arrive nearer to a- satisfactory solution of the safety work than In any
other way.
^
CirAiKMAN Kiciiahus: I a in sure we have all been very interested in
Air. Carrow's address. He said something about knowledge being power.
Somebody said, a great mans' years ago, that we* get knowledge from
other people's experience and from books but that we get wisdom from our own experience, and wisdonT is what we want.
Possibly, j.f this information, which has been set forth so intelligently
12(14
h'irfkth Sttf* 1t
by Mr. Carro*, can be di*wrmt*Mrt<d an**** at! live members of this Section
and the other section* of I*** srvat O*ww*. are iK all have a chance to get not only knowledge-hot Xdmg.
The next report that we ha-re i* tram the lYogran Committee, of which
Mr. Clark is the Chairman.
REPORT OF r00JkX COMMITTEE
Alu. J. c. Ci.ark i Orr^roa Short
: I don't believe that the Program
Committee ha* any p*rtk(r report to make. We tried to pick out sub
jects for discussion i
axeUse that would be comprehensive and
would catch the vital point* in connection with safety work. We thought
that you mould corn*' here to get a certain amount of information and
inspiration and also to impart a certain amount of information and
inspiration to others. W<- picked the subjects that we thought would
cover the field most thoroughly, but io get the full benefit of your atten
dance here and to make this meeting thoroughly Interesting, it is necessary
for every one of you to speak your mind with regard to each subject
when it comes up for discussion. In the discussion of the various subjects
and In the benefit received by exchanging ideas is to be found the chief
benefit of this meeting. =-
I hope the program will speak for itself.
1('ii.mrmax Rich \nits; t
am sure that
this
Section
appreciates
the
work that has been done by the Chairman of the Program Committee. We
gave him one of the hardest jobs we bad because we knew he was one of
the best workers in the organization, and he certainly has turned out a
fine program which you Wrill come to realize as it proceeds. The next report We would like to hear is that from the Publicity Com
mittee. Air. Pow.
REPORT OF PUBLICITY COMMITTEE
Ala. Mae* i s A. Dow (Xcw York Central R. R.) i I think that the bul letins that have been distributed during the past year ought to serve as
a report of this Committee. However, for your information, I will state
that this Committee has held three meetings since it. was appointed a
a year ago. and niateriai_ has been prepared and submitted to the Council
for seventy-five separate bulletins. Five of those were bulletins that have
previously been issued which were reissued during the year. Seventy
of them were new bulletins. Your Chairman has employed the services of a professional photo
grapher, and we have taken over 200 specially-posed photographs for the
purpose of illustrating Jhulletins, so that every bulletin that has gone out
during the past year has been illustrated with from one to three illus
trations.
--
The Council now ha&jm hand material for enough bulletins, furnished
by this Committee, to carry them through, issuing one bulletin a week,
until the end of March next year. Cuaikmax Richards : r~ I do not think that any of you gentlemen realize
the amount of splendid work that has been done by the Publicity Com
Steam llailroad Section
1205
mittee and the amount of time and thought that has been given to the matter. I a:tn very sure that it this Section will be a little more generous in furnishing suggestions and photographs and ideas to the Publicity Committee, the service that will be performed by that Committee will be as useful and beneficial to the Section as that of the present Committee.
I want to say again in this connection that if you have some specific accident that you want to illustrate or call attention to, something that may be new or unusual, and will furnish that Information to the Chair man of the Publicity Committee, he may be able to Illustrate it in a way which will be very beneficial to all the members.
The next report will be from our old friend Blakemore who served so many years valiantly as the Chairman of the Membership Committee.
REPORT OF MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE
The Committee as formed this year consisted, in addition to myself, of
the following gentlemen:
G. L. .Ball, Superintendent Safety, St. Louis & San Francisco
D. H. Beatty, Superintendent Safety, Southern Railroad
C. L. LaFountaine, General Supervisor of Safety, Great Northern
L. F. Shedd, General Supervisor of Safety, Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific
to whom I now wish to express my grateful appreciation for the coopera
tion th,ey have given.
During previous years, by the most strenuous effort, we had raised
the membership of the Railroad Section from its initial roll of 27 members
to 63, then to,87, then to 103 and this year, as the United States Railroad
Administration had given its approval to affiliation with the Section, I
anticipated no difficulty in bringing into the fold all those other lines
yet outside, but I was surprised to find still a certain indifference to our
appeals; many of the lines approached being reluctant to join because of
the increase in dues, which had been made absolutely necessary by reason
of the higher, cost of labor and supplies, so that withal the membership campaign did not resolve itself into the sinecure which I thought it would
probably be. However, results^ have been produced of which we are very
proud, the following lines having been brought into the ranks:
Arizona Eastern Railroad Company,
Atchison, Topeka and Santa! Fe Railroad,
Belt Railroad of Chicago, __
Boston and Maine Railroad,
Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal,
Central Vermont Railroad,
Charleston'& Western Carolina Railroad,
Chicago and Alton and C. Epind St. L. Railroads,
Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad,
Duluth, South Shore & ^Atlantic Ry. and Mineral Range Railroad,
Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific Railway,
Fort Worth and Rio GrandS^Railway,
Georgia, Southern and Florida Railroad,
Grand Rapids and Indiana -Railway,
J20G
Eighth Safety Congress
Grand Trunk Lines in New England. Green Bay and' Western Railroad, Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Lines Guilt, Mobile and Northern Railroad, Kansas City Terminal Railroad. Louisville, Henderson=and St. Louis Railway. Louisville and Nashville Railroad, .Macon. Dublin and Savannah Railroad, Maine Central Railroad, .Minneapolis. St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad Norfolk Southern Railroad, Northern Pacific Railroad. Northwestern Pacific Railroad, Pennsylvania Railroad (Western Lines). Pittsburgh and WestTirginia Railroad, Sioux City Terminal Railroad, Southern Railroad Lines, Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis, Toledo. Peoria and Western Railroad, Toledo Terminal Railroad, Gtster and Delaware Railroad, Pnion Terminal Railroad Co., Virginian Railroad, Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Northern Railroad, Wheeling and I.ake Erie Railroad, Wichita Valley Railway, a total of forty new members. At the close of last year's work 103 railroads appeared upon our roster, but during this year 14 of them withdrew, reducing the number to 89 as the actual basis for calculating the beginning of the year's work. Today there are 3 29 members, an increase of 40, or 45 per cent. One year ago the memberships represented about 171,000 track miles. Today they rep* resent nearly 210,000 track miles, an increase in mileage of more than
26 per cent. One of the most important factors contributing to the success of this
campaign was the assistance given us by the Regional Supervisors of Safety, not m urging that memberships be taken, but in helping us to fairly present our cause, and I take this occasion to make record of my sincere appreciation, _rr
Now just a word about the future: It takes a bolder man than I am to forecast the railroad" situation for next year, but I think we may safely assume that there will he changes, both in sentiment and in prac tice. ami amid these new aspects may come dangers le this organization which has been so carefully built up. I. therefore, strongly urge that during the coming yeajf_each one of you give to your Membership Com mittee your utmost support. When your membership expires, hasten strongly to recommend jts immediate renewal, and lose no opportunity to use your personal influence further to build up the Section, for thus.
Steam Railroad Section
1207
and thus only, can we feel assured that your organization will come
safely through what promises to be the most trying year of its existence. 2= Remember that it is yoitr organization, and that upon you largely
depends thecontinuance of the association which all of us have found so
pleasant and profitable.
C. H. BLAKEMORE,
' Chairman Membership Committee.
.Mb. D. P. Brow deb (Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railway) :
The administration, as I understand it, has authorized the railroad com
panies to take membership in the National Safety Council, but it affects
us in this way: The authority they have given is limited to miles; a railroad of 100 miles can have but one membership. We have a very prosperous little railroad. zlh fact, we have three that I represent, and
the total mileage is 116 miles. 1 think if Mr. Duffy or somebody could get
a new way of allotting memberships based on earnings rather than on
miles, it would help us considerably. We require more than one mem bership to get bulletins. zzr:
Chairman Richards: Every member of this Section knows that regard less of any membership or any number of memberships they may have in the Council, they can purchase all the bulletins they desire at cost
price.
Mb. Browder:
As I understand the rules of the Council you have to
take membership to get bulletins. Chairman Richards: That is a matter that might be brought up at
the round table discussion Friday afternoon or Saturday, when everybody
will have an opportunity to thrash out these questions.
You have heard the reports of the Committees. They were received in an informal Way. There was no motion made that they be adopted and
placed on file. That is in order now. (On motion the reports Were adopted.) Chairman Richards: The first paper that we have this morning is
that by Mr. Duffy, Manager of the Safety Section of the United States
Railroad Administration. Last night, we were told by Mr. Lee that he
had known Mr. Duffy for twenty-five years, that during that time he had
grgwn very fond of him andTiad great respect and admiration for his abil
ity" and for his manly qualities. The members of this Railroad Section came
to that conclusion very much quicker than did Mr. Lee, because we have
only known him about two years hut we found that out about the first
time we met him. I know you will all he very glad to hear from Mr.
Duffy.
ATMS AND PURPOSEETOF THE SAFETY SECTION OF THE UNITED ST ATE SI RAI UR O AD ADMINISTRATION
A. F. Duffy, Ma.naceb, Safety Section, United States Raii.road Adminis tration, Wasi i r xerox, D. C.
We are living in the greatest period of the world's history. The war, which as- an armed combat, ceased slightly less than a year ago, has
1
hllifhth Sft/f fif C'tHijrtK*
c-hHT!:wJ many <>f the important fundamentals upon which this country
-** bttiir The entire industrial structure was altered to meet war con
dition-*. aind now must be attain changed to meet situations resulting from
ili. i -:<>t ii.u* i`:in- acrolTiplished largely through the indomitable loill t-> < >' or on- tniy anil Navy. We owe a real duty to those men who
rrtutuoe! and to alt iw-ople who In even a small measure contributed, to
thie in M.-ivnim!. t.ut we are everlastingly obligated to those men and
iiiw wnti'.-ti who did not come back from foreign service and to their
tjn.ltto. and fl.'t>i-n<!ctits,,3rhe war taught the peojde of this nation as
tint Mug *!' could have done that the most precious thing in the world
tr..tu a i:mt>.iuiiariati standpoint, and the most valuable economically, is
hnn.aii !!!' ibis crcatvst-of all assets of individuals and of the country it-.r-ti' i take as a matter of course the fact that our duty as safety men
atui
in tin- national developments is clear cut and without eOttivo-
i-aimT! or reservation, t subscribe firmly to the belief that Safety is more
t ban the conservation ofriife and limb, that it will do more than any
single
>f whiih we now have knowledge to create industrial con
ditions and practices and principles which will render the employment of the man who works not only safe, but satisfactory and economically just
from every standpoint.
Safety is basic in any business witere physical hazard is involved, for if you will look about yon, T venture you will perceive that the best
railroad is the safest railroad and the most efficiently and satisfactorily
operated from the standpoint of the people, the Government, the owners
of the properl -- and last but very important, the men who work on that
railroad and \> ho have It in their hands to make it a successful organiza tion or a mediocre enterprise.. No right-thinking student of current national events can fail to discern these indisputable facts.
I can best respond to Gig subject assigned for my address "Aims and
Purposes of the Safety Section of the United States Railroad Administra
tion," therefore, by stating u'ith all the force and honesty of purpose and
sincerity in my command that these facts as I have stated them by way of
prefacing my remarks will be so intensely and indelibly impressed on the
minds of railroad' men arid women that the transportation industry will
be so humanized, and thatrour work will be conducted with so much in
telligently applied energy,~that we shall reach the high attainment which,
llie Director General of Railroads had in view when the Safety Section of
Gie Division of Operat iornwas created, whereby avoidable casualties in
railroad employment will be mete history. And. my friends, this is not the mere theory of an idealist. T have
been a practical railroad man during all of my working life, and I pre
dict. without qualilieat ion.'That when once the railroad men of this coun
try Giorouglily understand what, we are endeavoring to do, why it is
necessary, and what are the possibilities of this work--and they are rap
idly reaching that understanding because of the activities of the Safety
Section and the admirable assistance afforded by you Safety officers and
employees--they will take hold of this subject in such a manner as to
accomplish results whichAyill startle the railroad fraternity.
Steam Railroad Section
1209
The President of the United States has called a conference of represen tative citizens of the country, to be held in the National Capital on Octo ber 6. It is significant that this Safety Congress should be held just pre ceding that important gathering, because Safety is definitely related to every phase of industrialism. And perhaps out of this Congress in Cleve land and the Conference at "Washington, there will come an awakening on the part of the public generally to the need for constructive, systematic, well ordered Safety in. every branch of industry and in every aspect of life- Safety on railroads has been advanced many years by virtue of the recognition which has beer given it by the United States Railroad Ad ministration, and I believe-that contrary to the opinion that some of you perhaps hold that this work has but a temporary existence, its permanency is already assured; it has demonstrated its capabilities and is now at the crucial time when a realization of its fullest possibilities is all but at band. Safety^Today is a real, live, good-business, energetic force for good on every railroad under Federal control, and any officer or employee who does not believe in it, who does not think it is sincere, who does not give it every support and cooperation which might rea sonably be expected, is so"Outstanding an exception that lie had better be careful that some one dobs not find him out!
I1KI1UCTION Of M'CUmNTS IICUINO I'KIMOII OK SIX MONTHS
So that you may understand some of the accomplishments which are now a matter of official record, I desire to call your attention to the fact that during the six months ended June SO, 19X9, as compared to the same period of 191S, there was a reduction of 656 deaths and IS,554 in juries to railroad employees: on Federally controlled roads; that for the same period tliere was a xSduction of 435 deaths and 1,745 injuries to passengers, highway travellers, and trespassers; that during this period of six months a total of 95,365 conditions and 3S,015 practices reported by Safety Committeemen and other employees of the railroads have been corrected and disposed of. JEnd that each railroad under Federal control has now an officer or employee devoting the n.ecessary time to this wrork with a total additional forcerof about 150 field assistants whose sole duty it is to supervise, instruct,-and educate railroad officers and employees to understand that there is A safe way to do all work and that it must be done in that way. It will be of interest to you likewise to know that on railroads under Federal control there are today approximately 2.000 com mittees with a total membership of 32.2S2 officers and employees, de voting their best thought ayrd effort to Safety. When I say that 1 am proud of that record I have in mind that each of you men should also feel gratified with these accomplishments to the extent that you hav*done your work efficiently and well.
I give it as my unbiased opinion that railroads--like many other in dustrial organizations--have not, up to a comparatively recent time, given due consideration to the human factor in industry by recognizing the fact that men and women afe infinitely more important than machines, structures, or appliances of any description. When we contrast the de-
1210
'Eighth Safety Congress
gree of care which is exercised in the purpose, use, and maintenance of
locomotives with the employment, service, and training of the average employee of the average railroad we are disappointed to learn the in equality which exists as between the machine, which can be replaced with money, and the jife, which is absolutely irreplaceable, and which,
when once gone, can never be brought back. Some of us are disposed to be altogether too conservative and reaction
ary In the activities we employ In. conducting this work, and sometimes we are apt to under estimate the value which comes from the financial expenditure required to carry it on. I do not subscribe to the theory that within intelligent and reasonable limitations it is possible to become overzealous or to overdo in a matter of this kind. We must, from the very nature of the work, consistently and continuously develop new plans and methods for creating Spd sustaining the interest of railroad employees, and of all persons subject, directly or indirectly, to the hazard of rail road operation. It is Just as good business, if we must for the moment regard the matter from a monetary standpoint, to expend money for Safety activities as it Jg to make investments for approved devices which will conserve fuel, increase car loading, improve efficiency, or reduce maintenance cost. It is a great deal more important, and, as a rule, will pay materially larger returns.
In deliberating these, matters, however, I urge you not to lose sight of the fact that the aim and purpose of the work of the Safety Section is not to save money, but always'lias been and always will be to con serve human life and limb. If any saving of money is made by reason of a reduction in casualties.--and we all know that a properly managed Safety Department does save money,--surely that result is not subject to criticism, for in order to save money we must first avoid the casualties themselves.
KlinuiMTIOX OK HIT N .^wITl.KMK.XT, THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR IN' RAILROAD
SERVICE
The recognition oCZJ.be human element, then, is the most important factor in railroad service, and its training and education in Safety is the foundation upon which are built the aims and purposes of the Safety Section. And. since the whole scheme of things revolves around the Safety Committee organizations it is to this phase of our work that the greatest attention mug. be given. There is no more honorable position today on a railroad than that of Safety Committeeman. His is a real service to mankind, and he can be proud of that service, if he is doing all that may reasonably be expected of him. If he is not measuring up to his responsibilities^--and they are very real responsibilities, too--it is probably because he has not been properly instructed and trained In Viis work. Our Safety Committee meetings must he so regulated that the members thereof will he not merely interested in their work, hut en thusiastic about it. To this end it is essential that Safety officers or their assistants attend committee meetings frequently in order to Insure
Steam Railroad Section
1211
their proper functioning and to sustain the interest which is so neces sary on the part of Safety Cornmitteemen.
If I were the General Manager of a railroad I would regard the meeting of a general or central safety committee as the most fruitful oppor tunity, with a minimum expenditure of time and effort, to improve the regularity and efficiency of ^operation. So it should he with the Super intendents, Master Mechanics, and other line officers In respect to the monthly Safety Committee meetings which they have with officers and employees. If the Chairman demonstrates real interest in the subject by regular' attendance at the meetings the members generally are very apt to become imbued with the importance and possibilities of the work. Upon the Chairman depends aery largely the success of the meeting, and we would do well to devote a large amount of time and energy to strengthening tills feature of onr organization.
A fact which will not admit of'debate, and which is of prime im portance in the relation of Safety to railroad operation, is that when experienced men are taken ant of the service because of casualties the employment of new or inexperienced men in their stead not infrequently causes additional casualties to occur, because of the lack of familiarity with the work in hand; and Always such a situation decreases efficiency and output, and otherwise costs money and causes hardships. This fact emphasizes too the real necessity for constructive thought and action in -relation to the Safety `education and training of the new man in the service, and of the employee who is promoted or changed from his cus tomary occupation to one with which he may not be familiar.
I'UVIIVlClTY A VAIXAT1I.E A 111 IX ACCIPKXT MtKVKXTWX 'r
Another of the aims and purposes of the Safety Section is to secure liberal publicity. Not of individuals or of the Safety Section or of rail roads, but of the work we Are doing and the necessity for it; of the altogether too large numbensf railroad men who are killed and injured every year In the business ofToperating the railroads of this country; of the appalling number of people who are killed and injured each year while wrongfully trespassingjSn railroad premises, and of the alarmingly increasing number of people who meet death and injury while passing over highway crossings. Publicity is a wonderful thing. It furthered the sale of billions of dollars of securities for the Government during the war, it conserved food, clothing, and fuel for the people associated with us in the war, and performed many other services. It will be of wonderful help in accident prevention if it is judiciously used, not only with employees but with the entire community served by the railroads.
Concretely, this publicity ,,In the case of employees should be in the form of bulletins, posters, pamphlets, casualty statements, and such
other data and information as may be deemed advisable. We must never lose sight of the fact `rth.at Safety is fundamentally a work of the employees wh6 do the physical tasks incident to railroad operation. They are almost entirely responsible for the accomplishments heretofore
1212
Kit/hlh >"//' t `j i 'fin*/rt-<s
made in this great movement and will l>e the strength and power for
good which will come in the future.
The railroad men of America have responded nobly to the activities
of the Safeiy Section or the T'nited States Railroad Administration. But
if we expect them to continue in their interest and enthusiasm it will not
suffice simply to beseech them to stop deaths and Injuries. It will be neces
sary to keep them constantly informed as to the number of casualties which occur, what causes them, and what may be done to prevent a repe
tition of similar casualties. The data, so far as is practicable, should
he prepared in some competitive form so that rivalry will be created be
tween the various units of the railroad.
In the case of trespassing and highway-crossing accidents, it has seemed
to me for some time that we have not applied ourselves to this vital
question with deserved_attention. We are too prone to take for granted
that nothing can be done to check these evils. Consistent publicity,
posters, and the medium of public and parochial schools, automobile clubs, and commercial associations, village, city, county, and state officials
represent available avenues of approach in this matter.
T should lie ungrateful indeed if I did not on such an occasion make
at least brief reference UTthe National Safety Council. That organization,
under whose auspices this great Congress is being held, has cooperated
in every- conceivable maJaner with the Safety Section of the United States
Railroad Administration, They are doing a splendid work, have accomp lished commendable attainments, have contributed very appreciably to the
cause of Safety as a national matter. As the officer charged with the
responsibility of accident prevention by the United States Railroad Administration. I thank them for this cooperation, and assure the Council of an earnest desire for a continuance of our cordial relations. It Is
indeed a pleasure thus to express publicly the appreciation we have for
the Council.
-
The Steam Railroad Section of the National Safety Council for the
past year has been in the hands of our good friend, that great Safety
pioneer. Ralph C. Richards. You know better than I can tell you what
it has meant to your Section to have him in charge of its affairs. We all love and admire and respect him, because, in advance of the thought
of that time, he conceived the plan of railroad safety. He saw a vision
and he has realized anYmibition to do service to his fellowmen, which
doubtless means a very great deal to him, as it does to all of us.
JtlRAM W. JUiLN'AI*
At your last Congresrin St. Louis, this body heard an inspiring ad dress delivered by H irain W. Belnap, the then Manager of the Safety Section, who died in Washington a year ago this month. .1 do not need to tell you about this wonderful character,--for he was a friend to every une who knew him,--except to say that he, too, had a vision--a God given vision of the possibilities of organized Safety. 1-Ie told you men about that vision at St. LouisT he told you of his hopes and ambitions and of
Sfeani linilrood Sect ion
1213
his determination to make-railroading a safer occupation. He told you
what he would do and how he would sustain you in your work. Hiram Belnap was a maff of his word, and because I believed in him
and what he said and did, T took up this great task when he was called
by the Great Father, and with God's help and the help of you men and
of every man in railroad Service in this country, I have realized a stu
pendously large portion of,the vision which I, likewise, have had in this
matter.
--
SAKETY ENDORSED ISY CU.WEyTlOXS UK ItAII.UOAU I'.ItOT UKK H<>< >IIS
It is but natural that certain developments during the past year should stand out preeminently as auguring well for the future of Safety. One of these developments is the truly remarkable interest which has been man ifested in Safety by railroad men, as evidenced by the endorsements of the work of the Safety Section in the national conventions of the Broth erhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen; Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen; Switchmen's Union of North America: Order of Railway Con ductors; Order of Railroad Telegraphers; Order of Railroad Station Agents; Brotherhood of Railway Clerks, Freight Handlers, and Station and Express Employees; Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees; with a total membership of 1,182,000 railroad men and women. I think it would be altogether fitting and proper if these resolutions were in
scribed on bronze tablets' as a perpetual memorial to the work that one
of the departments of tha^United States Railroad Administration has done for an immense body^of the finest workmen of the world. The spirit and intent of these resolutions have been observed almost universal ly by the local. lodges of ^these organizations' the country over. I re gard likewise as a good omefflrthe fine, intelligent publicity which is being afforded this work by the periodicals of these m-ganizations, the railway employees' magazines, trade-jotirnals, and the public press generally.
Another development of significance is the universal approval of the Safety Committee organization and the entire plan for conducting this work as promulgated by the Safety Section. It is encouraging thus to observe as we go along that we are on the right track, and because we are right we are bound ferachieve the goal of all Safety men, whereby the lives and limbs of meH7 women, and children will be saved from railroad casualties, so far as it is humanly possible so to do.
NATIONAL RAir.ROAD ACCjnK.Vr-riiEVKSTIOX DRIVE
I cannot refrain at this :Sme from a brief mention of the National Railroad Aceident-FreventioTir Drive, which takes place on all railroads under Federal control for TiEe period of October 18-31. This is beyond question the most stupenddJDr undertaking of its kind in the history of railroading in this or any other country. We are now afforded an oppor tunity to demonstrate better than it could be done in any other manner the capabilities of this work. Great things have been done in. campaigns of this kind heretofore held in several of the regions, and every one from
1214
T'ighlh Safely Congress
the Director GeneraFof Railroads to the most humble railroad employee -vill be watching the record of the October Drive. Most of you have already formulated aT program and are actively engaged in this matter now. so that I will not attempt a lengthy statement concerning it. My most cherished desire at the moment is that you men will go away from this Congress with ai; determination that you will not merely reduce ac cidents during this Drive, but that you will abolish them, and that when October IS arrives every railroad man in this country will be steeled to the point of determination to win.
The President of the American Federation of Labor, who is remark ably qualified to voice sentiment of world importance, recently said: "Let ns of America face these new labors, then, in the spirit of indi vidualistic mutuality=--in the spirit of real democracy." It strikes me that we people, especially those of us who are devoting our time and energy to Safety--and most of us would, if need be, give our very lives to the cause--can well afford to pause and reflect on the wisdom of these few words. The successful culmination of the unsettled state of affairs in this country as they exist today depends largely upon the application of such principles as these, and we Safety men will do well constantly to keep them in mind and to practice and preach them.
SERVICE, TODAY AT,MOST A CREED
These, Gentlemen, are days of service, not service to oneself, but serv ice to our families, to our fellow workers, to the community in which we live, and to the greatest of all nations. It has been said that a life without service is a life without hope or happiness. Service today is almost a creed. TheT war has made it so- And the new industrial era which has come as a fitting climax to the war has intensified that creed. The teaching that we have had in this direction is the greatest inspira tion that I get from this wonderful work of Safety--that I am perform ing a real service to_ mankind. So it would l)e with you and with every officer and employee of the properties with which you are associated. More especially should it apply to the Safety Committee members. The idea of service must-predominate our every thought and action to the end. which is wholly possible of attainment, that we will demonstrate to all the people that we are men among men, each man being safe himself and having proper regard for the safety of other men.
Thus we will truly make railreading the safest occupation in the world. It can be done. You are the men to do it, and I have an abiding faith in the fact that the railroad men of America are equal to the task.
Chair.max Richartskt You have heard this very interesting and illum inating paper by Mr. Duffy. Is tliere any discussion which anybody would like to make in tliisiconnection?
ilefore we proceed, however, there are two things that the Chair forgot to mention when we were going through our formal arrangements. You will notice that oneSrder of business to come before the meeting was the appointment of sr^Nom mating Committee. It has been customary, I think, since the inception of this Section, to have a. Nominating Committee
Steam Railroad Section
121 r>
appointed by the Chair for the purpose of recommending to the Section
the officers for the ensuing year.
At a meeting of the Executive Committee held yesterday, it was decided
to recommend the abolishment of that practice, and to recommend that nominations for officers for The ensuing year should not be made by a
Committee appointed by the Chair or anybody else but should be made on
the floor and that everybody should have a chance to speak their minds
and nominate their candidates.
With the consent of the Section, the Chair will dispense with the
appointing of a Nominating Committee if he hears a motion to that effect. Mu. A. V. Rohwedek (D. JVC & N.) : Mr. Chairman, I move that we dis
pense with the appointment pf a Nominating Committee.
(The motion was duly seconded and carried.)
Mr. Isaiah Hai.e (A. T. & S. F. R. R.) : Harking back to Mr. Duffy's able paper, I recall the statement that to have real joy one must share
it and that happiness is bornTL twin-, It seems to me that we fellows here
might, as individuals, see to Jt that Mr. Duffy's happy enthusiasm or his enthusiastic happiness might find its twin of enthusiastic happiness in all of us.
Chaibmax Richards: As Mr. Duffy mentioned in his paper, since the
last meeting of this Section we have lost a very enthusiastic and import ant member of the Section, Mr. Hiram W. Belnap. The Chair has taken
the liberty of appointing a Committee, of which Mr. Meyers is Chairman, to present to the Section a rSblution in relation to Mr. Belnap.
Mu. Fred Meyers (Wabash R. R.) : Mr. Chairman and Fellow-members
of the Railroad Section of the National Safety Council: We have pre
pared a set of resolutions, as "bur Chairman has stated, which we should like to have acted upon. here.
In presenting the resolutions of respect to our departed friend, fellow
citizen and co-worker, Mr. Hiram W. Belnap, as chairman of the committee
appointed to draft same, I feel the time very opportune to make a few
remarks outlining briefly some'of our friend's deeds. Brother Belnap was born UlNakomia, 111., June 21, 1867. His father
was an operator and agent for over thirty years on the Indianapolis and
St. Bonis Railroad, now the St. Louis Division of the Big Four. He
learned telegraphy under hisfrifather and assisted in the telegraph and station work for about two years. Later he accepted a position as pas
senger brakeman and remained in that service about six months when,
he entered freight service as"* freight brakeman. He served in that ca pacity for a little over two years, being promoted to a freight conductor
in 1S93. From 1S93 to 1903 "fie was employed on the St. Louis Division
of the Big Four in that capacity. Resigning his position there August
3, 1903, he entered the service of the Interstate Commerce Commission
as an Inspector of Safety Appliance. On July 1, 1911, he was made Chief
Inspector of Safety Applianclrand later Chief of the Bureau of Safety, Interstate Commerce Commission. On February 19, 1918, fie became
.Manager, Safety Section, Division of Operation, United States Railroad
Administration, which position he held at the time of his death, October
12, 1918.
=
iau;
Eighth Safety Congress
Brother Bel nap was a very active member of the Order of Railroad Telegraphers and the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen. He assisted the organization and officers of the Order of Telegraphers in many ways while occupying an official position in Washington. As a member of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen from July 30, 1892, he participated ac tively In all its affairs, having served on the Board of Trustees, also a Vice-Grand Master.
It was while serving the Interstate Commerce Commission that he ren dered railroad men runtold service. His utterances on his specialty of surety work ware inspiring and clear. He sounded the true note, not merely for ideal safety, but pointed out in practical lines the rules of conduct essential fofthe conservation of life, and the promotion of safety on railroads.
Being a natural leader of men, his untimely death robbed tis of a strong and able guide and after years of service in behalf of mankind. God called him home at the very moment his biggest life work was to hear fruit--the organization of safety work on all Government railroads.
The corner stone at Safety First has been laid and to him we owe some lining memorial. We can in a small measure acknowledge this service by placing upon the records of this organization our resolutions of respect.
'He lived and everybody loved him; lie loved and was never alone.
His associates were loved by him. And God loved him and took him home."
RESOLUTIONS Adopted By
NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL
___ (Steam Railroad Section)
At Annual Congress Held at Cleveland, Ohio, October 1-4, 3 93 9
Wll UREAS. The ttreat Arbiter of the destinies of men, on the twelfth day of October. NinSTeen Hundred and Eighteen, summoned to his last, long rest, our friend, fellow citizen, and co-worker in Safety,
MR. HIRAM \Y. RELNAP
Manager. Safety Section. United States Railroad Administration, and a man prominent in the'great humanitarian movement among railroad men in particular, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, ThaLTIn his death, our country lost one of its most tipright. progressive, atid valued citizens, the railroad fraternities, and the Safety Organizationsjpf the United States, one of their most successful, valued, and constructive associates; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the deep sympathy, respect, and friendship of the Officers and Members of the National Safety Council, Steam Railroad Section, through a c<33" of these resolutions, be transmitted to his family.
Steam Jiailroad Section
1217
and a copy spread upon the minutes of this Council in session, as a trib ute to our departed friend. " III
(SignedJIR. C. Richards Chairman, Steam Railroad Section
F. Whittemore ___ Secretary, Steam Railroad Section ---L. G. Bently - ' --"M. A. Dow
Fred Meyers Chairman, Resolution Committee
Arthur V. Rohweder Peter Groome John T. Broderick Thomas H. Carrow ' Fred M. Metcalfe
Committee
I move the adoption of. theselresolutlons, Mr. Chairman. Mit. Ronuirr Sco'rr (Atlantic Coast Line Railroad): In seconding this motion, I would like to say that this Committee has not in the least been extravagant in the language that they have applied to our deceased friend, Mr. Belnap. Mit. H. A. Adams (Regional Supervisor of Safety) : I would ask that in passing this action the audieiiccOTise and stand in silence for one minute.
(The motion to adopt the resolutions was carried by a rising vote.) Ciiaismax Riciiaiids: These resolutions will he shown on our minutes and a copy will he sent to the family of our deceased friend. The next paper on onr program is toy our friend Marcus Dow, on "Value and Necessity of Safety AgentsP.
TIIE VALUE AND'NECESSITY OF SAFETY AO ENTS
,M.\m i's A. Dow, Gbaeral SaSetv Aoekt, New Yoke Central Lines
Safety work, -ever since this life-saving and conserving idea was first conceived, has been in a continual process of development and improve ment, and I think that we can safely say has now passed from the ex perimental stage into the stage TJf scientific development along the lines of proven effectiveness. Wherever safety work lias been inaugurated on a railroad or ill an industrial plant, the first important step has been to place the responsibility for the development of the work upon the shoul ders of some one person. Often-times this responsibility has been placed upon the shoulders of men who were also charged with other duties of such importance as to require the major part of their time, thought, and en ergy. Sometimes the responsibility for safety work fell upon, the shoul ders of men who were competent to carry the double burden, but in any event the idea of requiring one officer to devote his entire time to safety work was not taken into consideration, because of the fact that in its first stages safety work had not developed into a work of sufficient volume
1220
SZ Eighth Safety Congress
required to show the number of employees he has interviewed on the sub
ject of unsafe practices In each department or class of employment, the
number of meetings of employees he has addressed--such as safety com
mittee meetings, noonday gatherings of shopmen and others, or meet
ings of any character. Much of the material he uses in sueh interviews
or personal talks to the men is furnished him from the headquarters of
the Safety Bureau or in the monthly staff meeting which he attends, and tile information which he imparts direct to the men Toy word of mouth
includes the number Jjf men killed or injured by indulging in certain
specified practices and a recitation of the principal causes of injury which
he illustrates by theiuse of illustrated National Safety Council bulletins
which he carries wiih_him. Each safety agent in this manner talks to
or cautions in a definite and specific way an average of 350 or 400 em
ployees monthly. These safety interviews are held in cabooses, yards,
switch shanties, tool houses, and similar places where one or more men
can le reached and the time secured for the few moments necessary for the
interview.
--
HEQtUKEU TO AtTEKD COaOriTTEES
In addition to the foregoing duties of both inspector and teacher, the rat'ety agent is required to attend each division, shop, and sub-safety committee meeting hejd in his territory for the purpose of taking part in the meeting, injecting life into it, and encouraging the members to put forth their best effoiTF in making the safety work effective.
While these safety agents on the New York Central Lines report to the Ceneral Safety AgenLand are members of the Safety Bureau, they work in close eofiperation^with the division superintendent--with whose ap proval they were originally appointed, conferring with that official fre quently and either Receiving or offering suggestions for a- better pro motion of tlte work.
saeei v work r.AHi:r,v nsvciiolooicar,
I have briefly outlined the character of the work of the safety agents on a railroad system which has found the safety agent to he a valuable and necessary part of the safety organization, for the purpose of showing to you that a man oQlivided responsibility cannot undertake such detailed work. Safety work iECJargely psychological. Its function'is so to interest each
individual employee _that he will give personal thought to the work while
engaged In his regular occupation, and so thoroughly to impress him with the benefits to be derived by his cooperative effort, by his careful atten tion. and by his approval that a lessening of the chances of his getting in
jured or causing an^accident will be the logical result. To produce this attitude or frame of mind in the average employee requires personal con
tact and individual^ mouth-to-mouth solicitation by some one who not only has the time tcrado it. hut who also knows his subject, who thorough ly believes in it and ~who has the enthusiasm and forcefulness to make his
work effective.
--
Sfram J/atlroacl Section
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oxv.vt.ri: of work pepexps
safety aoext himski.f
If I may be permitted. I should like to have the privilege of briefly dis cussing. on my own account, a "certain feature of this paper. I believe that the necessity of a safety agent and the value of a safety agent will be proven and will depend very largely upon the character of the work which the safety agent himself Avill perform.
First of all. the safety agent must realize how greatly Important his work is and what a privilege HT is for him to have the opportunity to serve his fellow-men and his country by helping to prevent accidents. If you should ever, at any time,Thy friends, have happened to stand on the bank of a river and you Should have seen another human being struggling in the water and at once all of the instincts of bravery and of chivalry that lie in. the human heart scourged you to action and before you-tuew It you had your coat off and you were in the water, and after a desperate struggle you succeeded in bringing an unconscious form to the shore, which you laid on the bank and saw revive and breathe and live again, you would have thanked God that you were there and had the en viable privilege of saving that life. You could not but have a wonderful feeling of justifiable pride that you bad done something worth while, that you had answered the call of humanity and that when the real test came you had measured up to the full requirements of a real man.
A life saved is a life saved. IDnakes no difference whether a drowning man is pulled out of the water^Just in time to save his life or whether, in a less spectacular way. he is dragged from beneath the wheels of a locomotive just in time to saveThim. The result is the same, and, if I may be permitted to say so, it is"because the safety men of the railroads of this country', during the past year, under government control, have re sponded to the call that so many lives have been saved. Every reduc tion that has been made in an accident record means that lives have been saved, just as truly as if they' were snatched from a watery grave within a few minutes before life would have become extinct. All of you men who did respond to the call, who did respond to humanity's call, who did help to decrease accidents on the American railroads during the past year, had a share in the saving of the live! that were saved, and you are entitled to the same credit and the sama_feeling of justifiable pride as the man who plunges into the water to save a drowning comrade.
Don't you see, then, my friends, that service as a safety man means something more than merely following certain defined rules and regula tions? Don't you see that it means something more than simply drawing your salary as a safety agent?
A S MRVICE OF THE HEART
In other words, can't you see, my friends, that when you are given the privilege of serving this conntry_and your railroad as a railroad safety agent that you are given the sanSB' great privilege as the man on the river bank who heard the cry for help? Can't you see that safety work is a service of the heart, a service Tivliich calls for that spontaneous, ever-
1222
737;f/hth Safety Congress
ready, never-let-go,_ determined effort that you irresistibly put into the saving of a life which you know would be lost without your best efforts?
What a wonderful privilege it is, and how proud we all ought to feel that we have been given the opportunity to share in the credit and in the glory of the achievements in the accident prevention campaign that
is to be made because of our effort in this work.
As I have said, so milch depends upon the kind of work that is per formed by the safety agent as to whether he is necessary and valuable in this work. We must all strive to become leaders in the safety move ment. It has been said, at least you often hear it said, that the great
majority of accidents to railroad and industrial employees ^are of a
character caused by the~fault of the injured person or the carelessness of that person. That is nSt altogether true; at least accidents caused by carelessness ai*e not necessarily the fault of the injured person. The
fault may have been with the man who hired him because he did not
point out to him the unsafe things that he must not do, and did not
teach him how to do his work safely. It may have been the fault of the other men who worked around him and who are careless and whose habits he followed because he wasn't immune to Ills careless, chance-taking en
vironment.
"
It seems to me that a better statement and a more truthful one is that the great majority of accidents to railroad and industrial employees are of a character which can only be prevented when all of the employees and all of the officials get together and cooperate in the task of creating an at
mosphere of safety, an atmosphere of carefulness. Here is where the work oC the safety agent is of the utmost importance. Ever since the time when history first records the^Sleeds of men, human beings have heen known to follow a leader, and good leadership has been the secret of the health and prosperity and success ^df communities the world over, from time im memorial. Likewise has poor leadership left in its wake untold misery, hardship and suffering.
You safety men who give real, honest-to-God heart service in this safety work will be the right kind of leaders in safety work and you will do more than anytliingjglse that I know of to help to create this atmos phere of safety, this atmosphere of carefulness. This, then, I believe is the character of the work of the safety agent which makes him indis pensable. that makes him necessary to the safety movement.
"THE COMMAND IS FORWARD! "
Safety work, my friends, is essentially a progressive work. It is a work which denies the "possibility of failure or retreat. In the great battle of the Argonne Forest, in the recent World War, a young American captain was shot down by a machine-gun bullet and mortally wounded. Two of his enlisted men-picked him up tenderly and carried him to the rear. They laid him on the ground, and his first lieutenant, stooping over him with a pencil and paper, took down his last words. Lifting his head painfully, he looked at the first lieutenant and, pointing a shaking finger
Steam Ttailroad Section
122:*
to the front, lie said, "Lieutenant, the. command is forward* Lieutenant, the command is forward!"
Men. of America I say to you that the command today Is forward. Rail road safety men, the command is forward, forward for country, forward for loyalty, forward for justice, for humanity, for safety. Let you and I who are privileged to act as leaders in the great railroad safety army of America take heed and rem fibber that the command is forward.
Chairman Richards: Gentlemen, after the inspiring address which we have just heard, Mr. Dow's paper is open for discussion.
DISCUSSION
Mr. John S. RocKWKi.r. (Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh): I have listened-with wonderful interest to this splendid paper of Mr. Dow's, and I agree with him perfectly so. far as the large roads are concerned. On the New York Central, on the Pennsylvania, on the Santa Pe, and the other big roads, a safety man should be employed who devotes his entire time to the supervision of the work. Safety agents should he employed to de vote their entire time to the work. But how about the little roads with 400 or 500 miles? We can't have a man devoting his entire time to the superintendence of the work unless we are satisfied to have a cheap man. and it is thought best by many of the little roads to let some other offi cial, some man who has other duties, act as the superintendent of the safety work. So far as our assistants, our safety agents, are concerned, we think it is better to use man tvho have work to do in other capacities. On my own little road, I have four men who act in the capacity of safety agents a part of the time. They attend safety meetings; they go about the road talking with different people. Two of those men are dis trict claim agents and they know every man on their entire division. Three of them, rather, are district claim agents. One of them is a travel ing store keeper who goes about to every shop periodically, almost weekly, examining the materials in stock, and incidentally he is working every minute for safety. There isn't a man or an employee in all the shops on our system who hasn't been talked to toy him on safety.
I think Mr. Duffy will bear me out that the little roads are accomplish ing as great a reduction in the number of personal injuries and deaths as the larger ones.
It seems to me that Mr. Daw should have given us some instruction or opinion as to what should be done on the little roads.
Mr. Fred ML Metcai.ee (Northern Pacific It. R.) : A feature that struck me very forcibly In Mr. Dow's remarks was the statement that the em ployees injured are not always injured by their.own carelessness. Pri marily, yes; secondarily, no. That was emphasized very recently by an inspection trip I made. I fotrffd two very bad conditions. The engineer ing department men were doir^? some work. They had unloaded a lot of scrap from a fiat car right in the pathway of a switch where men were working at night. I saw this pile of barrel hoops and twisted wire and stuff of that sort, and I asked the assistant car foreman who had charge
3224
-- Eighth Safety Congress
of those tracks how long that stuff had been there. He said, "I don't
know, maybe a couple of days." I said, "Have you seen it before?" He replied, "Yes." 1 said, "Was it too heavy for you to lift?" He said, "No.
but I didn't put it there."
Then 1 got tile yard".master. I said, "Have you been around lately?"
"Yes."
"Have you seen this stuff here?"
He said that it hadn't been there the night before. I said, "Do you know that for a fact?" He said, "No."
Then I got the foreman of the bridge and building crew and I said.
"Do you know a'nytliing about that stuff there?" He said, "Yes, some section men had this Jflat ear out and fifled this place up. When we got
the car in we had to get rid of it so we dumped it off there." I said, "You are the foreman of this crew of twenty-five men and you let those men drop tin's stuff there and walk away?" He l-eplied, "Yes." I said, "Don't you see anything wrong about that?"
"Oh. of course, it shouldn't be there." "Why don't you have it moved?" When I asked that^Ihe called two fellows and said, "Mike, Bill, come over here ami take that stuff and throw it away." I said, "Wait a minute. Don't you want to tell those men something?" "What Is there to tell them?"
"Aren't you going tp tell them why you asked them to remove that?"
"Wliy is that necessary? They do as I tell them."
.Mike and Bill came ;over, and I said, "Wait a minute, boys, before you
move that. Do you know why Mr. Bell, your foreman, has asked you to
move that?"
=
"No not particularly."
"Wliy are you goingMLo move it?"
"Because Mr. Bell told us to."
Then I talked to those fellows and showed them why it was that that st iiff should be moved.
"I went down to another place where they were loading some S x 12 timbers and there they.liad placed a couple of long skids leading from the
end of the ties up to^ilie pile of lumber. They had left those two skids there. I got in touch with the man in charge-of the work and I talked to him and the foremSn in the same way. He did not explain to those fellows, when he asked them to iiiove those skids, why they should be moved. I am just stating that to illustrate the lack of education on the part of our own forenfSn in safety work.
How can foremen be good safety men when they don't know enough to tell their laborers wliy they request them to remove obstructions from the path of work? I thought Mr. Dow's remarks in that connectiou were very good in illustrating lluLt particular thing. .
Kasily 50 per cent of the accidents that we charge to carelessness are due to nothing more in>r less than lack of supervision on the part of our supervising officers alip foremen. Our field men that we put on begin ning September 15 were put on solely and wholly to educate the supervis
Steam Railroad Section
1225
ing officers and foremen and also to get in personal touch with the men and let them know what is being^done.
Mr. C. R. Staples (Southerrt-Railway) : I would like to ask Mr. Dow what percentage of his monthly personal injuries is caused by bad con ditions. Just approximately, "what percentage Is caused by faulty methods?
percentage ok accidents cal'skii by KAirr.rY .methods
Mb. Dow: 1 can answer that"in this way: One year's record on our
railroad indicates that 9.65 peF cent of the injuries to employees were
due to defective conditions. We will have to assume that the balance was
due to other things.
Mr. Stait.es: I made my confession of faith in the safety movement
in 1910 and was received by Brother Richards, and in my line I have been
talking safety from that day to^this. I have spent a world of time in the
elimination of Sjad conditions. The perusal of the personal injury reports
from 191.0 up to the present time show me that 90 per cent of my personal
injuries have been caused by bad practices, faulty methods, or thought lessness. I give that to the new members because I hope it will save them
an untold amount of trouble.
Mr. T. P. Brennan (Long Island R. R.) : One of the gentlemen, a
moment ago; spoke of'the small roads adopting the use of the store keeper,
the freight claim agent and men in various other activities in safety
work. You could achieve some things along that line, Mr. Chairman, but
a man who has a divided responsibility or an accumulation of duties that
pertain three-fourths to something else and one-fourth to safety. Is just going to accomplish about one-fourth of what he has to do. In the first place, the man who gives his time to two or three other things is not going to be capable of being a safety agent. I speak as the representative
of a small road of some 500 odd miles, conducting the densest passenger
service in the United States on any steam road.
There are not enough honrs in twenty-four for me to do that safety
work. I may not be able to do the work that some of you younger fel
lows can, but I contend that it cannot be done and done efficiently. It
isn't consistent with our organization. We are organized as a safety in
stitution and not as a claim agent or store keeper organization. I con
tend that it is up to every small road to insist, and it is up to this or
ganization as a safety section toilnsist, that the small roads assign one
man who is solely and exclusively there for one purpose, to learn safety
and to carry it on and not have it confined to courtesy and efficiency and
a half dozen other different things!and coming in at the tail end. I think
it is a thing of which all our small lines should think. The great, big
fellows swallow the little ones up mice in a while, but while we are small
lines, let us stand by our guns.
--
In Long Island we are trying Ael make that sort o fight. I believe in
one man giving his time to the work and not to a half dozen different
occupations.
Mr. Fred W. Mitchell (New York, New Haven'fi Hartford). I would
322(5
Eighth {Safety Congress
like to ask Mr. Brennan If he hasn't any inspectors or any other employees who give their whole time to safety work.
Mb. Brbs.vas : I regret to say that we have not. Mu. X. H. Cakrow '( Pennsylvania R. R.) : I think you ought to mention how many employees you have, Mr. Brennan. Mb. Brkj-xax : We have only about 8,000 employees. Mr. .T. H. STAi>Kr,At7\x (Southern Division, Pennsylvania R. R.) : I am connected with the safety work on the Southern Division, and we have committees on each .one of our four divisions aggregating a total of about 100 men, and we are- trying to impress particularly upon those committees that each one of the men wants to get after all the men on his division as far as he can to get them interested in the safety work. We have a total of 20,000 mefiTon the Southern Division, and we want to get the majority of the 20,000 in the work.
effect of safety aok.xt ox safety committee
Mr. A. V. Rohaveper (D. M. & N.) : We have two lines with about
1.300 miles of track, and I have thought a while about this safety agent
proposition in that connection. We handle a tremendous ore business, and
I have often wondered whether it was advisable to put on safety agents.
I have always beerrafraid of the fact that if we put on safety agents,
especially on the smaller lines where it is possible for the men in charge
of the safety work JLo get around at frequent intervals, that we are going
to destroy the safey~committee idea. For example, if you put on a safety
inspector at your principal points on the line and you put the job up to
him to make corrections and inspections and correct practices and condi tions, the safety committee men are going to feel, it seems to me, that part of their job has been taken away. On the smaller lines, X think it would be a good idea for the men in charge of safety to try to drill into
the men on your safety committees that responsibility of carrying out, as
members of the Committee, the duties that they are to perform. For
example, on the New York Central, I have found that that has worked out
very successfully. In 1916, the D. M. & N., for example, ran about seven
teen accidents per rone hundred men employed, and in the first eight
months of this yeaf it ran 3.S2 per cent, so I believe that our program
speaks fairly well for itself.
Mu. Dow: As to Hr. Rohweder's suggestion about destroying the work
of the safety committee, I will say this: After the division safety agents
were appointed on the New York Central Dines, the efficiency of our safety
committees increased to an almost unbelievable extent. On some of the
committees, the number of unsafe conditions and practices reported month
ly are practically .doubled because of the inspiration that was given to
those committee members through the attendance and the personal con
tact of the safety agent.
1 do not agree with any suggestion that a safety agent will have any
effect other than to increase the efficiency of the safety committee or
ganization.
As to the contention that they are not needed on small roads, of course.
Steam Railroad Section
1227
I can't speak for the small roads Inasmuch as we have about 150,000 em ployees, but I will say that out safety organization of safety agents fur nishes one safety agent for approximately each 6,000 men. I think that takes care of the suggestion that they are not needed in small units.
Mb. E. S. Chapin-, Jk. (Pennsylvania R. R.) : I have had some experi
ence along the same lines as indicated by Mr. Dow in addressing safety committee meetings where' recommendations were made in perfectly good faith by the members of the committee, which were, to a certain extent, impractical, or they might have originated at some other time and place and been met by certain measures which were found successful. In that way, knowing those points, I^was able to advise the members of the. safety committee so that they could intelligently draft their recommenda tions, possibly remove the impractical ones from the report, and point the way in which the other ones should be corrected, without their taking the time to worry about how to do it.
I feel that is a Held where the safety agent, in whatever guise he may appear, can help and strengthen the hands of the safety committee members.
Mu. Brennan: I will add to my previous remarks in regard to the appointment of a safety agent that I took the figures of our little road and I found that prior to the appointment of a safety agent, we had five sug gestions on conditions, on practices and signs that we reduced three to one by going among our committees and bringing before them the im portance of those things.
I might say, for the further elucidation of the question that Mr. Mitch ell asked, that while we have nornien exclusively as inspectors, we assign members of the several committees to those duties, and they feel it is an hcnor to be so assigned to assist in making inspections.
Mr. John T. Broderick (Baltimore & Ohio) : I might say, for the benefit of the members of the Council present, that on the Baltimore & Ohio system, for a number of years, we conducted our safety work without the assistance of safety agents. JTVVe got along, it is true, and made good progress. About fourteen months ago, to intensify our work and to try to accomplish more than we had in previous years, we adopted the idea of the appointment of safety agents, and today we have six and we have had them for fourteen months.LJ am glad to say that those men have more than proven their worth. ^AVe feel that it has stimulated the work of our safety committee men. It has proven very valuable in many ways. Those men are all practical railroad men of experience, and the great good that we are getting from their services I can hardly measure in dollars and cents, and I think the same idea applies equally as well to the small roads as to the larger roads. Were I the representative of a small road, I certainly would press the idea of having at least one safety agent.
Mr. H. M. Adams (Regional Supervisor of Safety): I have listened with a great deal of interest to the paper by Mr. Dow, and the discussion thereupon relative to the proper installation of committee organization has been very interesting. I Know of no point that is of greater interest in getting the results that we are Betting out to attain than, the proper or-
1228
eighth Safely Congress
ganization as to tlie sufficient number of safety agents, let the road be large or small.
T. have in mind one large trunk line in the Central Western region that for several years, with 3 4,000 miles of track and some 50,000 employees, was handled by one-man. Today, that gentleman has five efficient men from the ranks with: him, and he is getting wonderful results. That Is true with all of the large trunk lines with the exception of one in the Central Western region. That particular line has, I believe, four or five field agents, but- the sphere in which those field agents work and the duties that have been outlined to them, carrying out other duties that are not in accord with the safety movement duties, I might say, to be specific, requires them to act as secretaries of the various committees, take care of all the clerical work and thereby relieve the various committees of their duties, taking away their initiative. That is the kind of field work, in my opinion, that will work as having a negative effect on the safety work.
The field agent ijjlthe name and meaning in which he is appointed to supervise, to attend ""and direct, is one of the most valuable assets that this safety section gin create.
3.1k. E. C. StkimTK (Indiana Harlior Belt R. R.): I think we are classed as one of the-smallest railroads, but I feel that it is one of the biggest, little railroads that I ever saw. I think that the average small railroad makes a mistake if it does not appoint enough help to look after its men. just the same as they do on the trunk lines. We have only about inn miles of road, and while I only have about 2,600 or 2,700 employees on that line. I have-Been able to make but three full inspections of the property since last T*ebruary. and it is utterly impossible to think of handling more LhanT2..*00 men or employees and do it properly where you have all the departments to look after.
Of course, we have a good many steel plants there, and they create a good deal of trouble for us. There are lots of other industries there, too, but where I get the most good from contact with the'men on the outside is when 1 can he out on the road, riding with the crews. Those of you who have been in (raft or engine service will know that those men won't put their names to conditions. They want to tell it to you, and you have got to he otit there do get it. That is where I get it, and so when pos sible we get to themrwith the personal touch and work on the conditions as they present themselves, taking that which is seemingly most import ant. I might have arline of work laid out for one day; something might come up at the extreme end of the line; I would drop the whole work and go there and have it corrected.
I think that, the small railroad should have one or more men just the same as the larger ones, because it only requires one good, fair-sized acci dent to pay his salary for a year and lie can't attend to other duties and pay proper attention to safety work. I do the examining of the train rules on our line, and it givjs me an opportunity to talk safety in every examina tion, and that is wlivT welcome .it.
It is only this intensive action and contact, day and night, being out with these men in all sorts of weather, that brings the results that we
Strom Railroad Section
3 229
want. If I don't get out with them late at night, I can see them early in
the morning, and it is at timer like that I find out what is going on on
the railroad.
Mr. Dow: As a further evidence of what the management of the New
York Central Lines thinks of the safety agent, let me say that in connec tion with the forthcoming national railroad accident prevention drive, I
have had assigned me special men for the purpose of interviewing every
employee on the railroad and soliciting his cooperation in - this drive
There are to be five and six and ten on every division, and we will have 4U0 safety agents during the month of October.
Mr. E. Si. Switzer t Chicago. Burlington & Quincy R. R.) : Mr. Chair
man, this matter of safety agents is a very important subject. We have
always had safety agents ever since we started safety work, and I don't
see how we could get on without them on such a big railroad. We have
about 10,000 miles of- track. ITcan't be every place at once, and those men
are my eyes to see with, my voice to speak with, but I think that some ong ought to point out the danger from an overdevelopment of the safety
agent Idea. Most railroads are^ divisionally operated. The unit of opera
tion is the dii'ision, and the mail at the head of the division is the division superintendent, and we bold him responsible for what goes on in tbis
division- The other divisional officers take their orders from him. If we
put a man on his division Who doesn't report to him but reports to
us, who makes an attempt to-do some of the work that ought to be done by that division superintendent, we will find that the division superin
tendent is very willing to surrender that part of his work to this man
because he has a great deal of^other work that is very pressing.
I don't believe that we ought to require the safety agent to attend every committee meeting. I don't think that we ought to require him to do any of the secretary's work, or that we ought to require him to be respon sible for the success of that committee work at all. That is the respon
sibility of the chairman of tliat committee, who is .the division superin tendent or the master medianic^or the superintendent of terminals, as the
case may be.
^
I repeat that I think there Js danger in the overdevelopment of this
idea that we may detract froimfHe responsibilities of those men and lessen
the efficiency of the safety work.
Mr. Harry J. BEi.r, (Regional!Supervisor of Safety) : I don't know ex actly the trend of discussion Oils morning, but Mr. Switzer has so thor
oughly expressed my own ideas that I want to subscribe to what he has
said and to say, in addition, that we have been talking for years about the superintendents and the mastetmechanics being responsible for accident prevention, but we have had The accidents just the same. We have to
have the safety agents, it seems to me, to follow up the work, to drive
home to the superintendent and the other operating and mechanical de
partment officers the fact that they have a real problem in front of them
in `-this work.
'=
The safety agent ought to make it his job to impress the officei'S with his
added responsibility.
--
] 230
_ Eighth Safety Congress
It is up to the safety agent to make it clear that his responsibility in
stead of being lessened by the employment of these men is made greater.
I have attended a .good many safety committee meetings where the
committeemen, to say nothing of the rank and file employees who had not
had an opportunity to serve on a committee, were absolutely ignorant,
as to what the safety committee plan involved, what they were supposed to
do as committeemen and how to do it, what their authority and what their
responsibility consisted of.'
It seems to me that any railroad, no matter how small, would improve
its results materially by the employment of safety engineers or agents, or
at least by the arrangement being made in such- manner as to give the
safety work on a railroad the proper supervision. It seems to me that
in a smaller way it is just as necessary to have safety agents as to have
train masters. We have train masters to see to it that the train opera
tions are what they should be, that cars are moved, that engines are dis
patched properly and promptly, and for the same reason I believe we need
safety agents and plenty of them, but, at the same time, bearing in mind
Mr. Switzer's warning not to over organize. I think there is little dan
ger, however, of over-organization.
It seems to me that when you gentlemen present this information for
consideration before your officers that one of the things that will con
front you is the expense involved in such an arrangement and that we
ought to be fortified with statistics to prove the possibilities of an in creased saving from W financial standpoint by the employment of these
men.
I have in mind a railroad in a Western country that had a material
increase in its accidents in July, and it was figured that from the stand
point of the train department expense involved in that increase, basing the statement on the fact that the average cost of disposing of a case during
1H1S was $260, the railroad lost over $21,000 during that one month be
cause the safety work didn't properly function. Whether it was due to
the lack of employment of safety agents or not, nobody can very well say. When a large railroad, in six months' time, can. save in. its train department expense almost $150,000 on that one line (we all know what it
costs to employ a safety agent and get a good one), it seems to me there
can be no question about the increased efficiency and results that will be obtained by the employment of safety agents from the great and foremost humanitarian standpoint, to say nothing about the hard, brass-tack propo
sition that an operating officer might present in connection with the saving
in dollars.
75-
Mk. Joilx S. Rocicwvn.i, (Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh): I realize
that I have been pretty fairly shot to pieces, but I still believe that in my
own case I am doing better work than I would if I bad hired or should hire a safety agent. We operate 580 miles of road. We have about 7,000 em
ployees. According to;JJe talk here, 7,000 employees would be just about
enough for the employment of one safety agent. Three of these young
men who act for me as inspectors and safety agents were educated and
trained in a school for safety supervisors which is run by our very pro-
Steam Nailroad Section
1231
gressive^ Chamber of Commerce in Rochester. They went through that
course and got their diplomas, ^o they are regularly certified safety super
visors. and they go over the road and attend the meetings of the safety
committees almost all the time. I attend a. good many of them myself.
It is my belief, notwithstanding all that has been said here, that I am getting better results from the use of these men who give a portion of
their time to the work than I Would if I had a single safety agent.
Our safety committees are-very active and enthusiastic. We have
eighteen committees on our little road, and they are very active and are
turning in great numbers of safety reports, great numbers of conditions,
though now they are unable to find any more unsafe conditions to speak
of and they are turning in unsafe practices.
I realize, as I said before, that you have shot me all to pieces, hut I
still think that I am doing my work right. We have had a reduction every month. This year we have had a reduction of practically 50 per
cent oyer 191S. I think that is going some.
Mh. Brexxax: I admire a man who stands by his guns even if he knows he is wrong.
Mj{. H. M. Mayo (Southern Pacific Dines): It is my opinion that the
value of the safety agent, as well as the value of the superintendent of
safety, depends entirely upon hjs influence with the employees. The selec tion of a man as safety agent or safety superintendent who cannot secure
the cooperation and sympathy of the employees is a waste of time, energy
and money.
--
Another thing which I call to mind: Recently, on a thirty-day drive in
the Southwestern region, one railroad, a small one with four or five hun
dred miles of track and possibly 1,000 employees, on which safety work had never been done, "saw its men pick up the spirit of the occasion and come through without an accident reportable to the Interstate Commerce
Commission in those thirty days.
I can call to mind another railroad of some 4,500 miles of track which had no safety agents whatever, yet they made a reduction of nearly 56 per cent in the May drive. On the Other hand, a railroad in the Southwestern region that has been well organized, well maintained and has its safety
agents, made a reduction of oyer 70 per cent in the thirty days of the drive. I think, therefore, that you will find by viewing the situation
from all" of its angles conditions vary, but I still believe, as attested by
Mr. Staples and Mr. Dow, that as 90 per cent of the injuries are directly
attributable to the fault of the sins of omission and commission on the part of the employees, the conditions will nearly always take care of
themselves.
I find, in my limited experience of about eighteen months, that the men
are quick to report hazardous"conditions, but they very seldom report
on their cards or orally at the meetings a condition that approximates an
error of practice. However, wChave other means of getting at that, and through the men themselves, who, instead of recording as the result of
their activities during the month the upturning of evils represented by
hazardous conditions arc reporting from 95 to 99 per cent errors of prac-
3232
-- Eighth Safety Congress
tice on the part of .their associates. In that way, we are .securing the benefit of the constructive development that is reaching out into every
corner of the entire structure, building up a spirit of caution and a spirit of cooperation that' we could not get in any other way.
You must have the men with you, and the appointment of any safety
agent who cannot secure the cooperation of the men is going to be detri
mental rather than helpful, but I believe with Mr. Dow and some of these other gentlemen that a proper supervision is only possible through the employment of outside safety agents or inspectors, and that there is no disposition on the part of the safety committees to delegate any of their authority or activity- to the safety agent who really pursues a policy of suggestion to the men themselves.
In the Southwestern region, we have made it a most successful thing and
have made a most excellent record; yet that record is divided among roads that have safety agents and roads that have none.
Mr. P. Groome (Union Pacific R. R.) : I want to ask the gentleman from
the B. R. & P. what other line of duties he follows besides being a safety
agent.
Zr
Citairuak RicirARxJST He has the same duties that I have.
Mr. Rockwell: Two of my men are district claim agents, and it is only
necessary to point to this gentleman standing here, our Chairman, for
everybody to realize and acknowledge that no better safety man ever hap
pened than he. who is a claim agent as well.
Mr. Groome: We Will all agree on that as far as our Chairman is con cerned, but in our Central Western region, I have in mind two railroads that have heads of safety departments with divided responsibilities. Their
responsibilities are sol great that neither one of those railroads Is repre sented at this meeting so far as I know, and I have had a chance to ob serve the work on those lines and know that is true. I have travelled over their lines and attended some of their safety meetings, and I am
frank to say that if I were at the head of that road I would want to have
a man in supervision of the safety work who would have nothing to do hut
attend to that.
=r
Mb. Isaiah Hale PL T. & S. P. R. R.) : Harking back to my friend's
statement that he has an acting safety agent who is also a claim agent; this thought comes tg=me: When we launched our work on the Santa Fe in the safety line, that work was an adjunct of the general claim depart
ment. My .experiencSTwas such that I would regard it most unfortunate for any condition toHdentlfy the safety movement too closely with the general claim department.
I grant you there tsva notable exception in the case of the North West ern and Mr. Richards. He has carried the work on the North Western to success simply because he Is Ralph Richards, and you would find it very difficult to convince Sue that Mr. Richards' successor will find it easy to carry on the safety work with that same degree of success and smooth ness in working conditions. I am very much opposed to that as a general arrangement.
.Mr. Duffy spoke a*moment ago of the absence of any comparison be-
Steam Railroad, Section
1233
tween, the importance of safety work and the various conservations that are going on on our railroads. He mentioned fuel supervision. The road is a small one that has not now a fuel supervisor. If the conservation of fuel is important enough toJemand the attention of one man's time, or more, then I ask you why is not that greater question of safety also en titled to that same attention?
Chairman Richards: The Chair lias felt great diffidence in saying anything on this question, because, as I stated in the opening of this meeting, I am here to be seendand not heard, but there has been so much said in favor of the division Safety agents and the absolute necessity of having safety agents that I3m almost obliged to say a little something on the other side.
My friend, Mr. Hale, just said that if it is necessary to have fuel in spectors it is necessary to have safety inspectors. It seems to. me that the difference is so clear and plain that everybody can recognize it. We have no fuel committees to look out for dangerous conditions and dangerous practices and things, that need.remedying. We have safety committees on all railroads for that very purpose. It has always been my idea, although I am not so fixed in it that I cannot be changed, as Mr. Rohweder lias well expressed, that there is the danger of lessening the interest of the members of the safety committees and the duties which they are sup posed to perform by appointing field inspectors to look after the work.
The North Western Railroad, as you know, has about 8,500 miles of track and about 55,000 or 602*00 employees. We have only two safety inspectors, and our results so far have been at least satisfactory in the ratio of reduction of accidents.
I feel very deeply all that has been said here today In favor of safety inspectors, and I may go honBS with a different notion, but I think it is only fair to men representinglallroads here today that have no inspectors and those where one man is In charge of the safety work who has other duties to perform, to say that I have always had plenty of time to per form the duties of the head Of the safety department, as has Mr. Rock well, because we have always taken time, and we always will take time. We think It is the most important part of our- duty--:the saving of lives of men who are doing the work on the railroads. Our friend Bell men tions the fact that some great railroad in the West that has a flock of safety inspectors has reduced its personal Injury accounts $125,000 or $130,000 during the last six months. We have not a flock of safety inspec tors. but we have a larger reduction than that in the personal injuryaccount during that same period.
T don't know which is the right way to do the work, and it might be well for this Section to put itself on record as to what it thinks should be done in the way of safety supervision and the management of the safety department, or it might be well for this Section to refer that matter to a committee in order that they^might give it careful thought and investi gation and report at our next session. It seems to me that this very in teresting discussion, ought tOjjresult in something more than talk. Of course, I don't think that we ought to ever try to measure the success
12:34
=Eighth Safety Congress
of the safety organization by the reduction in the personal injury ac counts. because the personal injury accounts for the first six months of this year probably coyer many cases of last year, and you may have
some one accident that, deplorable as it is, might wipe out any great saving that you would jiake in your personal injury account, which would be absolutely unavoidable. Perhaps there is nothing that any safety committee or any safety supervisor or any safety Inspector could do to prevent such an accident that might cost you a half million dollars and increase your personal injury account that much instead of showing a de crease, so I don't think it is fair to measure the success of any safety work on any railroad~Sr in any industry by the personal Injury account. We want to measure it in lives and limbs saved and in the saving of lost time and not in the saving of dollars and cents, because that is the last thing that we want to "think about.
I was impelled, gentlemen, to make these few suggestions because the discussion had been, seemingly, so one-sided, and my side was only heard from once or twice.' 'If it is the sense of this meeting that we ought to
take some real action in this matter, the Chair would be glad to entertain any motion that you idesire to make.
Mis. Hat.k: I recall the remark that the most becoming thing to a fool is a shut mouth. It Is a bold man who 'takes exceptions publicly to a statement made by Mr. Richards, but I can't help but fail to subscribe to his statement that while we have safety committees we have no fuel committees. I don't believe that Is true, because in view of the propaganda which has been spread during the last year along that particular line in. the way of literature and school lectures and moving pictures and one thousand and one different activities, it would seem to me that every en gine man today on every' railroad is a member of the committee on fuel conservation just as ffluch as the member of the safety committee has enlisted his services under the banner of greater safety, and, therefore, the appointment of a safety agent comes as naturally as the appointment of a fuel supervisor.
Mb. -I. -H- Stauelmas:'(Pennsylvania R. R.) : As a rule, the committees consist of members from the Maintenance of Way Department, such as track foremen, some of the train men in various departments, assistant trainmasters, division-engineers, superintendents, master mechanics, as sistant master mechanics, and they represent virtually the best talent on the division, and theirTramifications are much broader than the number who comprise the committees.
Mis. Swrrzi-rii: Mr. Chairman, you have expressed the opinion that this Section ought to take some action and make some motion on this im portant Question. I don't think it is going to result In nothing but talk, as you seem to think, because we. are all going home with more ideas on this Question than we had before, but X don't think that we ought to make any motion with a view to recommending what ought to be done because railroads are^ot all organized alike.
I spoke before about-the divisional organization under which, most of us are operating. All railroads are not perfectly organized on the divi sional plan. Some have an administrative organization, if I may call it
Steam Railroad Section
1235
that, which means that the general officers attend to a great many de
tails which, under-the divisional plan of organization, are attended to
by the local office, and nHtn't see how we can make any hard and fast rule about what we oughfjEo do with this question of safety inspectors.
What is good for one railroad is not necessarily good for another rail
road with relation to this question.
Mr. Rufus S. Jaris-acin^(Regional Supervisor of Safety) : It is with some timidity that I attempt to add anything to this enlightening discus
sion. In fairness to John~Rockwell on the B. R. & P., I do feel it my
duty to tell you just a few things. I have been over the B. R. & P. and
have met hundreds of their employees. Of the 7,000 men he has, I think it is safe to say that 6,000 of them know him personally. I think that
same thing is true, or proportionately true, on the North Western Railroad
in Mr. Richards' case. It is my humble opinion that the safety move ment on the North WestefflTand on the B. R. & p. is a monument to the
personality of Ralph Richards, and John Rockwell.
No man who knows me can help but know how close to my heart is this
question of safety agents. TB*or three years, I rode over some 5,000 miles
of track on four or five different railroads on the New York Central Lines west of Buffalo, attending-safety committee meetings. In those days, I am frank to say that while we were making small reduction in accidents I
would attend committee meetings of twenty-five, thirty, and thirty-five
men, and half of them would attend a committee meeting with nothing to report. It was an example bf the fact that we were spread out too thin, that we didn't have an. opportunity to educate the members of safety com mittees .through our Safety Bureau as to their duties. That necessitated
attention on such properties as we have in the East, and resulted in the
appointment of local safety agents. These men are known personally,to the employees and they reach, within the course of two or three or four months, every employee omthe division.
I shall not attempt to burden you with my own opinion further in re gard to this condition but merely to recite to you a few facts which I am sure the officers on the individual lines will bear me out in stating.
In the New York CentralTLines, safety agents were appointed at dif
ferent times. In. each instance, in the beginning at least, their duties
were restricted to the territory covered by one division superintendent.
In some cases, it was later extended to two and three divisions, one main
line and perhaps one or twcuof the branch line divisions.
Mr. Dow will bear out this statement that after the appointment of a
division safety agent on any"single division of that road over a period of
some three years, during which time they were being appointed, there was
actually a decrease in accidents on that division of at least 25 per cent,
and in every case where no safety agent has been appointed there was an
increase.
"
It has been my good fortune, during the past year or year and a half, to
talk to every Federal general manager of any railroad north of the Ohio and Potomac rivers, and in talking with them, I have asked them, during the course of our conversation, almost without exception, "What do you
Eighth Safety Congress
think would happen, Air. Federal manager. If you could be relieved of all your duties for a single month, even a single week, and go over the road and talk the principles of accident prevention and safety first to as many employees as it would be possible for you to reach?*' Almost without exception, although 13m frank to say that all these men--big men they are whom I have met--have been extremely-modest, they said, "I know the results would be startling." .
My next query was, "If you can't do that, and we all know* you can't, couldn't we come nearer to accomplishing those results by having your representatives appeal directly to the men?" I think the results in the Kustern region through the appointment of safety agents amply justified that statement. I might go a little further and speak of something else. Air. Broderick has told you what resulted when he put six men on the H. & O. I am frank to say that I have never met a bigger railroad man than R. K. McCarthy, General Manager of the Pennsylvania Lines. There was absolutely nothingithat the safety section of the Railroad Administra tion wanted that we tlidn't receive at niy first interview with Air. Mc Carthy. which resulted in the appointment of an extremely high-class man. Hugh Reynolds,"Superintendent of the Safety Bureau, and eight safety agents. Air. Reynolds will hear out this statement. I believe, that almost the day those men were appointed--all high-grade men, train masters, divisional engineers, assistant train masters--their accidents began to decrease fronSiSa to 50 and 60 per cent. I believe that statement holds true today, and no man in this room will contend that even before we had safety agents there was a better operated, a more safely operated, railroad than the Pennsylvania Lines West.
The thought I wantlEb bring to you today is that perhaps of all the rail roads in the United States there are two single exceptions where we do not need or require, i_you please, safety agents, and those are the North Western and the B. R. & P., and that Is because only one thing is re sponsible--the personality of Air. Richards and Mr. Rockwell.
Me. Kia.n W. AIirriti:i.i. (New York, New Haven & Hartford): You men tioned that the nomination of officers would come from the floor. To morrow's program mentions that order of business but it does not specify any time. In order that there will be no misunderstanding, I move you that a specific time be appointed for the nominations and elections. I suggest twelve o'clock, if tliat is agreeable with the Chair.
(The motion to make a special order of business at twelve o'clock of the nominations and Selections of officers for the ensuing year was duly seconded and carried.)
Mb. L. F. Situni) (C.TS.. I. & P. R. R.) : I believe I am right in saying that I voice the sentiments of every soul in this meeting when I say that the paper which Air. Huffy read to, us this morning on this great and im portant subject is a Duffy masterpiece. In that paper, we heard reiterated by Mr. Duffy those high aims and noble purposes that we heard his pre decessor, the late Hirarn W. Belnap, state. We heard Air. Duffy reiterate them at the St. Louis"oonvention, where we realized something of Mr. Duffy's great ability. ^
In connection with that paper, I believe it is fitting that we in some
SJeam Railroad Section
1237
way acknowledge better than we have the great inspiration that has come
to us and the splendid principles inculcated therein, those principles that
will lead to the culmination and the formation, if you please, to the
climax, of those plans s3"=well laid by his predecessor and so earnestly
desired to be carried out By him. I have particular reference to his con
clusion, Gentlemen, whermTie expressed the great work for us to do. But
there is even something greater--his vast personal confidence in us to
tlo it.
=-
I suggest that we now stand in proper recognition of our appreciation of the paper, its sentiments, and the interest of its author?
(.The Section gave Mr."Duffy a rising vote of appreciation.)
Mr. Dtjl'fy: Mr. Chairman and. Gentlemen: You have been magnani mous in your kindness towards me. You have demonstrated by your ap plause and by your generous thanks that you gave me and by the feast that you gave me last night your appreciation, and X want to say to you that I accept it in no personal spirit other than that we have met here in the safety cause in which we are so intensely interested.
Chairman Richards: ^3Ve will now have the last paper on the pro gram. Mr. Doolittle, Supervisor of Safety, Colorado Southern Railroad, was to have presented a paxier on "`Cooperation of Officers and Employees in Safety Work on Railroads." At the last minute, we got word that he
couldn't be here and that he had not prepared his paper. We picked out the man we thought wasithe best in the Section to fill his place. He is our good friend Fred Meyers. Like a good soldier he agreed to do it.
COOPERATION OP OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES IN SAFETY-WORK ON RAILROADS
Frew Meyers, S u i e im xt e x i i xxt of Safety, Wahash Kak.koad
It is needless for me ST emphasize the necessity for harmonious co
operation between officers "and employees of a railroad. We each appre
ciate and recognize thatAhe principle is the foundation of our safety
efforts and achievements.=Man alone amounts to very little, it is only
when lie acts in cooperation with his fellowman that his efforts count for
tlie most.
A
Experience has demonstrated beyond question of doubt, that the greatest
measure of success is brought about where employer or his representa
tive (the officers) and emjiloyees meet on common grounds of fellowship, each doing his utmost to?urther the cause for the benefit of all; each
one a part in unity, purpose, responsibility, and service.
The sentiments of LabdfMthe employee) are today demanding a larger share of Yecognition and j voice in the administration of business af
fairs and a share in the profits. I am satisfied the great United States
Government wants to see the true interest of employees advanced with
justice and equity. The trend toward friendly cooperation between em
ployer and employee has-"been most marked, particularly since the war
\\
123S
Eighth Safety Congress
threw all classes into intimate association tor a common cause, com
munity of interest developed by conflict--A real democracy.
The farsighted wisdom and sagacity of our lamented and beloved man
ager and Chief of Safety Section, United States Railroad Administration.
Mr. Del nap and his democratic, able, and experienced associates and ad
visors recognized these principles. In U. S. R. R. A. Circular Xo. 3, uni
form methods of organizing and conducting safety work, the employees
representing G". per cent of the personnel, thereby giving them a larger
voice in administering the affairs of safety work as well as the larger
share in its profits and success.
His excellent address before this Congress at St, Louis last year on
"What the United States Railroad Administration Expects of the Officers
and Employees'" was a clearly defined and intelligent exposition of the
duties and responsibilities of every employee from the highest officer
to the humblest employee, of the methods and the purposes of this or
ganization which says in effect "get together." I wish he were alive today
that he might share in_ the praise and gratitude of thousands of railroad
employees for the blessings and happiness brought about by the education
and cooperation of both officer and employee in the prevention of acci
dents.
f--
Tiie best part of it dll was the "punch" he put in it and which his suc
cessor has developed -so effectively since, when he said to ail officers
in executive positions'that they shall give safety work their active co
operation: that they shall regard it as of the same importance as other
branches of railroad work; and that they shall take an intensive interest
in it and do everything they consistently can to make it successful.
Again when he said that officers and employees shall cooperate to the
maximum, and that proper effort shall be made to get all to realize that
in safety committee meetings officers and employees meet on a common
level, all being members of the committee, and each having an important
duty to perform in the^prevention of avoidable accidents.
That cooperation has accomplished much is proven by the following fig ures taken from tile Wabash Railroad which I represent. For the first
eight months of 1919 ST per cent of all recommendations and suggestions
relative to unsafe conditions and unsafe practices have been corrected.
Twelve per cent are uTTcler investigation or work not completed, or being
held tip awaiting material and only I per cent of the 4.4S7 suggestions
deemed impractical. jTIie result is a reduction cf 24 less employees
killed and 212 less injured. injured.
For all eases 37 less killed and 271 less
These and many other convincing figures could be quoted indicating
the remarkable resuItsTrchieved under our plan aud methods of organiza
tion of intensified, educational, cooperative efforts.
In passing I am notZ&mnindfuI of the persistent stimulating effect and
guidance of our worthy chief and leader, Mr. A. F. Duffy, and his capable
family of efficient, energetic, experienced supervisors who have never
found the trail too long: nor the train too late to cooperate with officers
and employees in giving the best they had in enthusiasm, loyalty, interest
and service. The rec7ai*d of the United States Railroad Administration
Steam Railroad Section
1239
will ever stand as a tribute^to their guidance and leadership to a cause Eiiat is worthy the desires TO all mankind. I am, as I well know you
are, proud of their acquaintance, association, and friendship. Ciuibmak- Ricijlakijs: The opening discussion of this paper will be by
Mr. Anderson. As I understand it, Mr. Anderson is the originator of the No Accident Week plan.
DISCUSSION
AIr. C. M. Axdehsox (Regional Supervisor of Safety): It seems like Mr.
Richards picked me just asTSBqn as I got here. I have just completed a
month's trip through the Southern region in the interest of the coming
drive, ana have made fronSTeight to ten speeches a day, and in that
thirty-day period of talking to something like 35,000 men. I thought I
had had my share and that I would get to the Council and have a little
recreation, in other words, that I could sit back in the rear of the room and
have no fear of being called, upon.
I want to digress just a moment and give you my experience when I
first started on an individual line some four or five years ago. My en
thusiasm covered me up. ^Fundamentally, I went at the work in the
wrong way. I am very glad to confess it. I started with the employee.
I attended one of the meetings of the National Safety Council five years
ago in Detroit, I believe, and I left that meeting with the thought that
all I had to do was to go Up and down the line, preach safety, possibly
have a few parades, wear a few buttons, and the work would be absolutely
100 per cent perfect. Do youTcnow, it took me six months to find out that
I was wrong. I started out on my railroad with the employees. I over
looked the superintendents,-the master mechanics, the train masters, and many other local supervising officers, and while I was overlooking them, they were looking oveOne.
I would meet a train master and he would say, "How is the safety
movement today?" He would shake hands with me and ask how things
were going. In reply, I would say, using an expression we use in the
South, "Everything's pretty." He would say, "Safety is a fine thing. It's
coming." Then he would wink at,the roundhouse foreman when I hap
pened to turn my hack. It took me six months to find out that I was wrong
and that where I sho'uld have started was among the supervising offi
cers before I even attempted to get out on the line and endeavor to get
the firing line men with me.^s
If you can get 100 per ceifiT cooperation between the heads of depart ments and those whom they supervise, you have an easy job in the way of
malting a success, which mans you will prevent accidents to a great
degree.
s
I want to read to you a very short paragraph from the minutes of a
meeting that was held in ray office on August 35 at which there were
some thirty representatives of the Southern region lines and at which
we had the pleasure of havinjjTwith us our manager, Mr. Duffy. We also
had at that meeting a gentleman who gave me a great deal of assistance
on the railroad from which I came, Mr. John Kimbro, general chairman
3240
Eighth Safety Congress
of the B. H. T. We called upon Mr. Kimbro for a little talk, and he made
a splendid one. I wasiwery much reminded of his remarks when I first
got up here. He said that he was very short on oratory but he was long
on facts.
-
The following is the paragraph that I want to read to you which seems
to strike home strong. --
"Safety is one of the most important things in the railroad service,
and it is different fronViany other branch of the service. I will tell you
why this Is: You can put a man in the operating department, and he
gets the backing of thel management, or you can put him on the road and he gets the hacking of the employees, hut the man in the safety de
partment does not. at first, get the backing of either the employees or the
management until he has made his own record. He has to show that he
is saving lives, limbs, and property before he can either interest the man
agement or the employe, but I want to say to you that there is not a man in the railroad service who is higher in my regard than the man in
the safety department who is in the work heart and soul, and there is no
man who looks smaller to me than tile man' who is doing safety work
just to get by.''
_
The only impression that I want to leave with you and particularly
with those who are young in the safety work, is, do no. make the mis take and think that the--whole proposition rests with those on the firing
line. Start right and getltlie supervising officers educated up to the point
where they feel and know that safety work is above all other things, taking Into considerations of course, general operation. After you have
done that, you will find that it is a very easy matter to get the man on
the firing line to follow."
You remember the old saying, "So is the head, such is the body," and 1 think It applies very forcibly in safety work.
t'HAiRMAs Richards: If there is no further discussion of this subject
the session will stand adjourned.
Adjournment.
""
FRIDAY MORNING- SESSION
HE meeting was cuTEed to order at
X chairman, presiding. Chairman Richards: Uentlemen of the
-10 A. M.. Mr. R. C. Richards, Steam Railroad Section, will
you please come to order so we can proceed with our program.
.Mi:. H. 12. Watkins (Superintendent of Safety, Terminal Railroad Asso ciation of St. Hollis 1 : I would like to-move that this Section request Mr. Hines to have enough copies of Mr. Huffy's address, delivered yesterday, printed to put one in theMiands of each employee on all railroads under
Hederal control.
(The motion was seconded and carried.)
Chairman Richards: The first matter that we have on the program
Steam Railroad Section
1241
this morning, gentlemen, is the paper on "Organized Labor's Interest in Safely Work,'' by Mr. W. G. Lee,
ORGAN* rZED LABOR'S INTEREST IN SAFETY WORK
W. G. I.i:i:, PuksiiikM'. Bkotukriiooij ok Railway Tiuinaik.n, Ct-KVEtAJm, OHTO
Those who know me must have been surprised at the program stating
that I was to read a paper. T: haven't been in the habit of doing that. In
fact, I don't think I could read it so that it would be intelligently under
stood, and 1 have been in the habit for a good many years of just talking.
That is one of the principal ways I have of earning my salary.
What I may say to you as representative of the various railroads under
Government control, and I hope of those roads not under Government con
trol as well, will be said to^you from the heart and sincerely, and in the
hope that it may be the means of aiding some one to save the life or limb of some associate employee.
I have always known something of the value of safety first. No class
of employees, in my opinion, should recognize the value of safety first
more than transportation employees. In fact, employees of the transpor
tation companies of this country, whether it be the most humble em
ployee or whether it he the?gineral manager or the president, should rec
ognize its necessity becauseZYhe terrible slaughter of life and limb that Is honnd to occur is certainly worthy of the closest scrutiny and the
greatest care all of us can give to it.
The organization I represent has a membershij) of something in excess
of 130,000 men at this
The death and disability list occurring an
nually is perhaps surprisingzfb the most of you. While I am as much in
terested in the furtherance 'of any plan or any legislation that will stop,
as far as possible, this slaughter of life and limb as any man in the
service, it requires the personal effort of every man engaged in the occu
pation in order to make it a success. The officers of railroads nor the offi
cers of your safety-first departments cannot' make it a success without
the cooperation of those they claim to represent, and I have endeavored
in every honorable way to eBSourage those for whom I speak to assist in
the safety-first movement at all times.
SAFETY OSfiERS NOT TAKEN SEKIOTJSLY
For a great many years stffety first was spoken of. You would see an occasional article in some magazine. You would find an occasional arti cle from general managers ofr the president of a railroad in substance to the effect that he did not expect brakemen or switchmen to go in between the cars. They must not do it; they must know the equipment is safe be fore they undertake to makeza coupling; they must know that the hand holds on the ladder are in gOBS order before they attempt to climb onto a car. Those were the orders' issued by the principal operating officers of some of these big trunk lines, but the subordinate officials under them.
1242
Eighth Safety Congrr&s
principally yard masters or train masters, men who came in close touch with that class of employees, did not take those orders seriousiy. They seemingly did not believe that the president or general manager of that railroad really meanTt what was accredited to him, and so Mr. Brakeman or Mr. Switchman was constantly speeded up and he only knew one thing and that was that regardless of the weather, regardless of day or night service, regardless of the condition of that equipment, when a cut came down over the hump and he didn't get it, he knew he would be hit with the time check. He bad no time to inspect the equipment. He had no time to see that everything was as'the president of that railroad said it should be before he attempted to handle that car.
AUTOM ATIC-COC1M.KR AX1> AlU-llllAKE I.AWS SECURED
Operating officers "generally wanted the safety-first movement if i.t didn't cost any money, buirfliey hesitated to have certain things that looked to safety put into effect-if it cost money. So with all respect to your Chair man. who, I think was first in that movement on the railroad from, the operating standpoint^ the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen claims .the credit for the real first safety-first movement in this country and that is not egotism when I say it because the records will prove that thirty odd years ago this organisation spent Us money and kept the men at Washing ton to secure the automatic-coupler law and the air-brake law that are in effect in this country now. We were opposed to the finish by interests supposedly being supported by railroad companies. For ten long years we fought that battle~and finally succeeded in getting those laws enacted and some of you baldheads and gray heads who have been in the service with me for forty years will remember something of the work required in order to have those'"safety-first laws enacted. One representative of a
big trunk line in this country publicly declared, as the record will show, that he would not erfuip a freight car or a freight engine on his railroad lit it was possible, by law, to defeat it) with the automatic coupler and air brake. That road is equipped today, and I am confident that those in charge of that property could not be persuaded, under any circum stances, to go hack to the old condition. There are many reasons for it and you will excuserjtlie seeming egotism in my saying that the Brother hood of Railroad Brakemen and Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen were the first, to my knowledge, and I want to see records produced to the con trary. who spent their money and attempted to do what we think was a safety-first movement".
My experience as 'ffE' officer of the Brotherhood, now in the twenty-fifth year, is that we were compelled to enact State and Federal legislation in order to secure some of the now recognized safety appliances, safety conditions that are entail of these railroads.
It took a great deal of time and money to do it because it was cheaper in the old days to pay! for life and limb than it was to equip the property with the best recognized safety appliances of that time. I am proud of I he fact that that daytlias passed.
Steam Railroad Section-
1243
Somewhere in your progfCm 1 noticed a question something like this
tlut is to be considered at ybur round-table talk as I understand it: Is
it advisable that the safety committees' recommendations should be carried
out or that the committees rshould have authority to cause their recom
mendations to be enforced?^
Now, to me, that seems to be the only legitimate solution of the safety-
first question. If you are going to have safety committees of good men,
of select men. on these railroads, who express and make recommendations as to what should be done tcrsave life and limb, then it is absurd tojine
because it is not safety first ilmoney is to be considered.
"
I Have always believed and-shall continue to believe that any business
should furnish the revenue properly to operate that business and it is not
a question of money, hut it Iwa question of how can we save a life, how
can we save the limbs of these employees and of the travelling public,
and when it is determined that if a certain thing is done, even though it
costs a few thousand dollars to do it, your committee should have the ab
solute authority at least to have that put into effect or to know who is responsible for continuing the slaughter.
I was scheduled to talk to you from 9:30 to 10:30, according to my un
derstanding of the program; but a safety-first movement came along in the
form of Sheppard, Presidentof the Order of Railway Conductors. He
dropped into my office accidentally, not knowing of this meeting, but on
other business. I said to him, "You are it. You will go along with me and I will cut my time in two with you and you can impose on those people half of the time I am supposed to abuse them." So my good friends.
I want merely to say to you .that the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen is for safety first all the time.__In this gathering I find a number of mem bers of my organization from various parts of the country. They know that they have been told through the official publication, through the offi
cial circular, and verbally by myself and other officers to encourage and
assist in the safety-first movement wherever possible, and in that way try to stop, as far as they can, this slaughter of life and limb in the service.
We know that as long as these railroads operate, we know that as long
as these trains run twenty-four hours In every day and night, boring holes through the darkness as they" do, regardless of the weather, regardless of who is in charge of that switeli_or that tower, we know accidents are hound to .happen, we know men will be killed and' crippled. At the same time
we must recognize that the careless fellow who gets out and lets them
hit. has no more scruples thawthat careless fellow, who, as a brakeman told me. when he didn't go injjrnd give the slogan to slow down, let them hit and broke a couple of cars.^and said, "To hell with them; I don't own
them." That is the spirit thaQaakes a safety-first organization and com mittee necessary.
There are men in the service, in all classes of employment, with rail
roads, who should, not be permitted to have a job with the railroad. If
they work, they should not berpermitted to bold a position as responsible as the brakeraan's position evefT, or any other of the more humble classes
of employees, because every oneTof those units have direct connection with
1244
FJitjhih Safety (Joyre$.<;
the main wheel of the machine and the slightest bobble or mistake may ('ause many deaths or much injury.
My good friends, I anT proud of the opportunity to come before you a few minutes and, in the name of the organization I represent, assure you that I will continue, as long as I am with the organization officially, to do all in my power to encourage our membership to help the safetyfirst movement for their 'own sake, if not that of others.
Before closing I wahtTTto extend an invitation to all of you who may have the desire, to come" up to the twelfth, floor of the American Trust Building If you have a few moments. You will find the International of fices of the Brotherhood Ton the entire floor.
We are fortunate today in having Brother Stone as he expected to sneak In at the door and hear what I had to say and then roast me afterwards.
I am going to surrender the floor so that Mr. Sheppard or Mr. Stone can say a word to you.
Chairman Richards: I am sure. Mr. Lee, that the members of this Section appreciate very Mich your taking the time to come over here and make your very interesting address. tVe appreciate your drafting Sir. Sheppard to come in to^accupy part of your time. I take great pleasure In introducing Mr. Sheppard, President of the Order of Railway Con ductors.
Mk. N. E. Sickpi'ahd: First of all, I desire to express my appreciation r of the honor and pleasure of being permitted to be here on this occasion and to say a few words to the safety section and to those who are so much interested in whatrto me is very essential for the welfare of men and the proper operation of railroads. I did not expect to have this pleasure because when Fjwas first notified of the meeting, my other en gagements were of such tL character that I thought it would be impossible to be here. I am very TTfucli interested in the work that is now being done on the railroads by men Interested in this safety movement, for various reasons. First, it is humanitarian, doing a world of good for man. the most important factor in all creation. Next, it is materially assisting the railroads dS their ability to handle the vast amount of traffic that is committed^to their care. Third, it enables the railroad brotherhoods to maintain insurance or mutual benefit departments at a much less cost than theyycould otherwise be operated.
It there were the same number of accidents and as many casualties In this day as there were twenty-five years ago, the rates of these various brotherhoods would be very much higher. They are so little at the pres ent time that they are .the wonder of the insurance world. Men in old line life insurance will not believe at first and cannot understand why these brotherhoods are able to have the rates they do. It is the work of men like yourselves in dio<'`>peration with others who are interested in their own welfare whoJrave brought about a much better condition on the roads. Therefore. atTa representative of the Order of Railway Con ductors. I take p!easure5n this occasion of expressing to you the best wishes of that body of men for your continued efforts and additional suc cesses in this worthy work in which you are engaged.
Steam Railroad- Section
1245
Were it not for tlie constant admonition and constant supervision that
men like yourselves give to these problems, many men would unconscious
ly get into more dangers than they do. Our sense of caution as energetic
railroad men lies dormant.--Usually we are more concerned in getting
results than we are of considering the consequences, and when this
safety idea was first promulgated, it was somewhat of a joke, as I think
you will all agree with me:: Men in the brotherhood looked upon it
askance and they were fearful that it was done fox* advertising purposes
only, and there was a time .when the dollar was greater than the idea,
but 1 think the time has come when it can safely be said that the princi
ple involved now is being maintained regardless of cost. The railroads,
I think, without exception, are doing their very best to make it possible
that you can get the utmost results through your safety section and they
are not counting the cost as they formerly did. so much so that I know on some of the railroads men will be disciplined if they disobey some of these
safety rules. I remember when some men were disciplined how they com
plained to the organization but they received no support or encouragement
from the organization. They were told, "It is for your good and you get
in line and support the idea." It is said of railroad men that weaklings die and cowards resign.
I
think that is largely true. JLdidn't resign: I got another job (laughter),
but were it not fox- that very faculty, these railroads could not be op
erated today. Were it not forjthe williixgness to sacrifice life and limb or
take the chance, these railroads could not handle the traffic that is given them today to handle. "
I remember when I applied for a position as a brakeman the train
master said to me, "Are youjnot afraid of getting killed?" but I didn't come here to get_killed."
I said, "Yes,
That is the spirit of the average railroad man. More than that, it is
the inherent quality of Americans in any occupation as exemplified in the
recent war. When the Americans got started over in France they never
waited for the safety section; they kept going, just as they do in rail roads. Therefore, I hope that yon will not relax your.efforts; that you
will get encouragement from all sides and support in every direction.
Without taking any more of your time. I wish to say in conclusion that
1 thank you for the efforts ybu are making in behalf of the conductors whom I have the honor of representing. As an officer of that organiza tion I will do my utmost to assist in every possible manner and may this
humanitarian work continue-as long as railroads are needed and may men
grow up to call you blessed.^ Chairmax Richards: I arrrsure we all appreciate very nxucli what Mr.
Sheppard lias said about endorsing the safety first movement and doing
all be can to push it along and make it even more successful than it has been in the past. Assistance coming from such quarters as those we are
hearing from this morning isWery gratifying to all of us and I know will
do us much good.
^
I think. Gentlemen, we are=peculiarly fortunate in having with us this
morning a man whom everybody knows, whom everybody i-ecognizes as
one of the labor leaders of the country, and I have taken the liberty of
1240
JUighth Safety Congress
drafting him to say just a few words to you and I hope he will bring
a message that will be convincing to u All. I take great pleasure in in
troducing Mr. Stone,
Mr:. Stoxk: I only came to hear my friend, Mr. Lee. talk. As nsaal.
he quit when he got half-way through and left the time for the rest of us. Some one has said that If you listen to any great orchestra and listen
to one particular instrument, you will always hear a discord. Composers
of music say that is necessary in order to blend into a bimooioas
whole.
~
1 am interested in the safety-first movement as any other man should
he who is interested in conserving the lives and limbs of the railroad men
of this country. We waft to do everything we possibly can to uphold the
hands of the men who arSZdoing that work, and yet you know, and I know,
when we call things by their right names, that a whole lot of this safety-
first movement has beeiFa joke from start to finish and it has been the catch phrase for advertising purposes instead of a real safety first move ment to save the lives oflinen. There is no way to get around it.
Safety first doesn't mean anything to me if you have it printed on every box car and caboose and every roundhouse and every street cross ing if. at the same time,-you are sending 'power out in rotten conditions
to help cripple our merr. On one particular road (T am not going to name it although it has been
very prominent in the .safety-first campaign) I am sure if you would wake up one of those officials in the middle of the night the first thing
he would say is, "safety Jirst." Yet on that particular road, I recall that one of our crack engineers, a man who stood without a peer in his pro fession. a man who wasrJbandling one of the limited trains of this coun try. and yet. who gave: His life because a hand-bold on tbe side of his
cab gave way when he leaned out to look at the hot tender truck and
dumped him in the middle of a track in front of a fast passenger train,
and yet that hand-hold had been reported time and time again by men who ran the engine. We paid $4,500 insurance and that man sacrificed his life for the sake of aTwo-inch i.crew to hold that ra^ on the cab. The work on that was done like lots of it--with a pencil. They O. K.'d it and the work wasn't done. Ybu are never going to get the results with your safety-first committee until you have power to force your recommenda-
lion and then, and not Until then, will you get the results we hope for
and anticipate.
-------- .
-rnfc: \[a.v first axo xot the dollar first
Clentlemen, the time has got to come some time in this railroad world when the man counts fori more tliaft the dollar and you have to put the man first and not the dollar first. I take the position that no money, no outlay that you can make, is too much`if you can save the life or limb of just one employee. There is not a single law on the statute books. State or Federal, safeguarding tbe men, or laws for the improvement of the service that haven't been put there by the combined force of these railroad organizations aiiB against the combined power of capital to de
Steam Railroad Section
1247
feat them, and unfortunately assisted by a few of our friends, who are
members of our own organization.
I recall when (he air-brake law was put into effect. I don't go back as
far as Brother Lee. I was Wowing corn when he was doing these things,
but I remember when it went on the books, and I know the effort of our own members to defeat it. It has been one long sti'uggle to put these
safety laws on the statute books and we all know just as well as we know we are living that under tlie so-called Federal operation (it wasn't Fed eral operation you know; the Federal Government simply paid the hill)
the safety laws have been lost sight of in many cases. We have a num
ber of operating officers throughout the country who are honestly and conscientiously trying to carry out and enforce the safety laws. Unfor tunately we have another group of officers who don't intend to carry them out and the only way to make them be good is to have them come
into court and say good morning. When you do that, that is the only
thing they pay any attentioiUto and as long as they don't have to do it, they don't Intend to comply with safety laws. Our violations of safety laws are increasing right along at the present time. Our violations of the hours of service law areTncreasing on. some particular roads. Why? Because they are not being enforced as they were under private control.
There Is one group of men! you can try moral suasion on and get re sults. There is another group of men you have to use a club on if you get anywhere, and you men can make all the recommendations you
please with your safety committees on some of these roads, but you can not get results because you c5 not have the power to enforce your recom mendations. There is no usgjto print "Safety First" on a locomotive and then send her out leaking steam so badly that the man can't see where he is going. There is no use to do this or that or the other and talk
safety first and have your committees and know that you are sending out men with power every day on that particular road that isn't fit for service and isn't fit for menZto work with and isn't safe. I believe some
one asked Mr. Duffy, "Whafcrwould they do in a case of that kind?" I think Mr. Duffy replied thatTf the road foreman-O. K.'d it that relieved him.
It may relieve the road foreman but it doesn't relieve the peer fellow who took her and probably newer got back with his life.
We are with you first, last, and all the time in enforcing these laws and
making safety first a real safety first as it was intended to be in the be
ginning.
i
In conclusion I want to extend to you an invitation, the same as Broth er Lee. The Brotherhood of3.ocomotive Engineers has a building over here that we are proud of. Come over and see how a labor organization Is really handled in the HestiTquarters.
Chairmax Richards: Gentlemen, all of the time that was assigned to Mr. Lee wasn't used. I think he has a few statistics that, I believe, would
interest this audience and I ram going to ask him to occupy the rest of the time and give us the benefit of that information.
Mr. Leu: I think each of us who are connected with the transportation
1248
-Eighth Safety Congress
organizations should use our every effort In cooperating with your organi
ze lion after the roads are returned to private control. In my opinion,
it will be more neoesferv to have a perfect organization then than it
really is now. because now Mr. Tyler. Mr. Hines, and those gentlemen
who really have the final O. K. to place on these things (I know bow
they feel in reference fo safety first have encouraged and permitted and
ordered the expenditure of a great deal of money while the reads were
under Government control, and I doubt whether the same degree of suc
cess could be looked for on some of the lines if under private control.
Therefore. I think we should use our every effort to try to build up a
machine known as your safety-first movement that will be continued suc
cessfully when the roads are returned, as they certainly will be before
very long.
,,:
It may be of interest to those here to know that the men I speak for
generally are the younger employees in the transportation department
operating the trains and we may consistently look, for a majority of the
casualties to come to. that younger class of employees because of their
inexperience, yet the records of my organization do not bear that out. It
is not. generally speaking, the young fellow who has only been In the
service a few months or a few years, but it is the old timer, as we call him,
who steps in the way ofla train or goes in between them without looking,
or accidentally gets killed or Injured in some way in the performance of
his duties. I hope you will impress upon those men, particularly, the
fact that as they growTlder they should become more careful.
A cell IK.XT COSTS" TO Ititll'ITI Kl: HOUII UK It \ I I.ICOAIJ THAlXMliX
Iii the Brotherhood ot Railroad Trainmen it may be interesting to you to know that during the year 1017 we paid for 627 accidental deaths in service a total of $0.74.-1110. During the same year we paid for 40S total and permanent disabilities from accidental causes an amount of $627,200.
During the year 191$dwe paid for accidental deaths in service of 691 men a total of $1.051,COT. In the same year we paid for 36S total and permanent disability accidents an amount of $556,000.
In 1019. up to September IS, we paid Cor 4S7 accidental deaths in serv ice amounting to $S7576TT0. accidental and total permanent disabilities during the same period Of 255, amounting to $425,S00.
That is not showing very much of a decrease, but when you take into consideration the war conditions, the traffic congestion, and the many things in transportationTThat the men had to contend with during that time, I think that this year, 1919, is going to show a percentage reduction over either 1917 or 191ST It may be Interesting to you to know that the one organization, and the other three insurance departments along the same lines, (and perhaps their deaths and disability expenditures have been as great proportion ately) which I represent paid for 1,295 deaths: in 191S, 1,458: that for the three years mentioned, 1SH7, 191S and until September IS of this year. 91 of those deaths were used by collision, 146 coupling cars, 250 falling from train. 150 knocked off cars, 23 getting on or off train, 451 run over
Steam Railroad Section
1249
switching, 211 wrecked, a total of 1,322 deaths during those three years
traceable to those causes juft mentioned.
In the disability payment" of claims during the same time: Collision,
10; coupling and uncoupling, 97; falling from train, 104; knocked off train, S2; getting on and off train, 52; run over switching, 394; wrecks,
27. In other words, 766 mSh have been paid for who were totally and
forever disabled from performing the duties of a trainman.
Of the accidental deaths and disabilities only, mentioned here, you will
notice that 451 deaths were caused by running over while switching, and
304 disabilities while switching; so that indicates that more chances are
taken by these men switching cars than in almost any other occupation
pertaining to the movement of trains. I know how those things are dose. You old fellows who have been in the service know that we used to pride
ourselves on seeing how fast they were going and still be permitted to go in between them and pull the pin. It is a wonder that many of us, who put in the years that wd have, are here today.
You may be interested inrknowing that during two months, January and February of this year, the organization that I represent paid in ex
cess of one and one-half -millions of dollars for members of its organiza tion dying from the result at the Spanish influenza.
I am proud of the fact that our fellows who drew from two dollars a
day and up saw far enough in advance to permit the accumulation of a little fund out of which these death and disability claims could be paid, out of which an emergency such as that could be taken care of without an extra assessment on tbe"organization. It is a fact that every one
should be proud of and it proves again, to my entire satisfaction, that organized labor should be more interested in the safety first movement than unorganized men could possibly be, because they must put up the
money to take cave of these death and disability claims to- which. I have
referred.
~__
During the terrible influenza epidemic that swept this country, the record of my office shows that thirty-four years was the maximum age
of the hundreds of men who Were swept out of existence on account of the '`flu.'' It seemed to have taken the younger element, and so the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen and the Brotherhood of Firemen and ISuginemen were hit the hardest, of course.
In addition to that came the-war, or it was going on at the same time,
and let me say this in closing^: No class of working men in this country
is entitled to more credit forfloyalty than the employees of these rail
roads in this country who gave their services to the war. You hear all about loyalty to the flag and to the colors, and I have seen in years gone by, published statements coming from supposedly eminent gentlemen who said that organized labor, in"~their opinion, would not be true to the
colors, would not be true to their country if this country got into trou ble. and were opposed practically to the Government. I am proud that never again can the statement be made with any accuracy to that effect, because on November 1, of last year, eleven, days before the armistice was signed, the organization iJihave the honor to represent had 15.166
1250
_ Eighth Safety Congress
members in the army and navy of this and other countries. A majority
of the railroad men who went into the service volunteered to go.
On the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth of September last year, Messrs.
Sheppard, Stone, Shay, and myself, were called to Washington and met
with the representatives of the War Department because we were asked to assist in getting together another unit of 65,000 experienced railroad men of all classes for use in France by June 1, 1919. We read, or heard
read. General Pershing's requisition from France, asking for 65,000 more
experienced railroad men because it required a unit of that number of
experienced railroadThen for each fighting unit of 1,000,000 men In the
service. We had in France at that time a unjit of 65,000 experienced
railroad men, and they wanted another unit because on the first of June they expected to have two units of a million men each fighting, to say
nothing of the thousands and hundreds of thousands of men necessary
behind them to take care of the issue. I mention that merely to con
vince you, as it didThe, that even General Pershing and the War De partment did not know, on September 25 and 26, 1918, nor did they have
any idea, in my opinion, that the whole thing was going to be exploded and the wir he over Oil the eleventh day of Jloveinber. That shows what good guessers they were, and on the ground, too.
In. closing I want to thank every man who gave service to his country, whe ther he worships Trader the Union Jack in Canada or under the Stars
and Stripes in this cdfintry. He gave his all. We, who stayed at home,
contributed our mite to the fund to pay the dues and assessments and in
surance of every one of those men until they were honorably discharged
fi'om service.
~
On the first day of September there were something over 3,000 mem bers of our organization still in army service and we are paying the premium on their insurance until they are honorably discharged.
We, who stayed at home and are gray-haired and couldn't go for various
reasons, contributed our mite to take care of the Insurance of those men, and it is creditable, I think, and I did not hear a complaint from our membership. I did --receive numerous communications saying, "If it
costs us who stay at home $5,000 a month apiece to take care of the in
surance of those men who went away and are giving their all, we will
willingly pay it."
--
That is the spirit ofjoyalty and, still, some gentlemen in the past have
said, "Labor organizations -will not be true to the colors." You can form your own opinion, and I am not saying that with the slightest discredit to those who do not belong. I have no criticism to make.
These four transportation organizations are not closed shop organiza
tions. They have never asked for closed shops. They have always tried to make their organizations so good that the majority, at least, of the
men of their class would see the necessity of affiliating themselves with
it rather than a compulsory feature connected with it. These four Broth erhoods have been often criticized by other so-called labor organizations because of our methods^ Now, Gentlemen, we make mistakes: we have men who have imaginary grievances; we have our little fights with subor-
Steam Railroad Section
1251
dinate officials and sometimes with the National Conference Committee
representing all the roads, but ft hasn't been very bitter.
Chair wax Richards: I am sure we have all been very much interested
and very glad to hear from Mr. Lee. Mr. Sheppard, and Mr. Stone, and 1
want to say to these gentlemen that we thank them very much for coming
here. We want them to bear in mind, however, that the safety move
ment didn't just happen; it isn't something that just befell. It is some
thing that takes time to make perfect. It took them many years to get
these laws that they have talked about, which we all know, now, are
good laws, on the statutes. It took them many years to educate people
to the necessity of having such laws and that education must come be
fore we can get laws.
I do not believe that there has been any movement started in the an
nals of our history that has spread so fast as the safety movement in this
country. If we will all only have a little patience, the accomplishments
that will stand to the credit of^the safety movement during the next ten
years will be surprising to alXUbf ns. I am sure that with their assist
ance and the enthusiastic cooperation of the men who are in thi3 room
and the men who are to follow yon during the succeeding: years of our
organization, we are going to sfirprise the world in the reduction of pre
ventable accidents.
The next matter on the program is a question that I know we all will be `
very much Interested In.--"Safety Suggestions--How They Should Be
Treated and ItHsposed Of", by Mr. Carrow. from Mr. Carrow now.
We will be glad to hear
SAFKTY cmiMITTEK SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDA TIONS: ITOW THET SHOULD BE TREATED AND DISPOSED OF
THOXAjt FI. C*wnx. SVTTKMXTSO* OF SAFETT, PCXJtSTtVA.VtA RaXLBOAD, I.rvKM
The membership of the- Steam Railroad Section of the National Safety Council is composed of representatives of nearly all railroads in the United States and since the subject under discussion will be treated In a general way and from the standpoint of all roads, a reading of the fol lowing statistics, which indicate the size of the railroads of the entire country, the volume of business handled, the number of train accidents, fatalities and Injuries and not only the possibilities of safety work, but the necessity for making safety work efficient, will be helpful:
Property value Of the railroads-.TM--------------------------------------------------------$ 21,000.000.000
Number of miles of track ......................................................................................
400,000
Gross revenue (1918) -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------4,923,319,604
Number of freight tons carried 1 mile C191T) 294.040.446,000
Number of passengers carried 1 mile (1917)........................... 39,739,682,000
1252
Eighth Safety Congress
Number of railroad employees ---------------------------------------------------------------
Number of different occupations________________________________________
Number of derailments, collisions, and other train acci
dents (1.9171 ------
------------------------------------------------*------------------------
Cost of derailments, collisions, and other train accidents
(1917) ....................................................................................................................................? Number of passengers, employees, trespassers and others
killed on the railroad (1917)..........................................................................
Number injured (1917)------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Payments on account of injuries to persons including em
ployees, yearly (estimated)__________________________________________$
2,000.000 300
19,435
15,181,810
19,087 194,S05
30,000,000
In the very nature of things railroad work is hazardous and since the beginning of train operation safety has been of necessity a funda mental consideration, the formulation and application of safety rules and regulations and the Introduction of mechanical safety devices having been an Importantlfeature in the progress and development of the busi ness. It was not until recent years, however, that safety committees, composed of officeisr and employees from all classes of service, were in stituted as a meads of enlisting the cooperation of all persons engaged In railroad service in a concerted effort to prevent accidents, and on ac count of the scope of the safety committee work and the short time the committees have been operating, the field for developing a better under standing of the subject abounds with possibilities.
The May report of the Safety Section Railroad Administration shows a total of 2,051 Safety Committees on the roads under Federal control, consisting of 10.471 "Officer Members" and 21,592 "Employee Members", or a total membership of 32,063. This provides one committeeman for
every 62 employees^ engaged in the railroad business. Upwards of 300,000 suggestions and recommendations covering danger
ous conditions and dangerous practices are being made and recorded yearly by these Safety Committees and fully SO per cent of all recommenda tions thus made are being complied with. But an examination of reports shows a marked difference in results accomplished with respect to the number of recommendations made, the character of the recommendations, the manner in which they are stated and the time elapsing between date initiated and the date complied with.
A single illustration will make this observation clear. A Division Com mittee report for January showed a total of 55 recommendations, all but two having been complied with. The report of another committee con tained 23 recommendations, only two of which had been complied with. The inefficiency of the committee last referred to is typical of many others and is primarily due to ignorance of safety work or indifference, which can be eliminated only by the adoption of suitable methods for teaching
the details of the subject. For this purpose the following tentative out line of the physicall characteristics of the railroad, the items covered by recommendations, the corrective measures necessary to comply with rec ommendations. the purpose of recommendations, the departments respon-_
S team Railroad &ection
1253
sible or "involved and a separation of recommendations, as between con ditions and practices, is made Tn the order mentioned.
CLASSIFICATION OF THE rEHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RAILROADS AND'RULBS' AND REGULATIONS
The first step necessary to fievelop a definite understanding of safety work is to get clear in the mind the various divisions of railroad proper ty and the rules and regulations governing operations, which are shown as follows:
1. Tracks and appurtenancesr 2. Buildings, bridges, tunnels, poles, etc. 3. Machines, tools, implements, and equipment 4. Engines, cars, and trains 5. Fire apparatus 6. Signs 7. Illumination 8. Rules, regulations, laws, methods, and practices (various depts.) 9. Miscellaneous
The next step in the processis to develop a general knowledge of the specific parts of the railroad that may be related to safety under the above divisions. The following classification, which Is based on an analy sis of eighteen hundred and tHirty-six OS36) recommendations, is pre sented for this purpose.
Tracks and Appurtenances
Code No.
1001
1050 1051 1101 1102 1104
1106 1107 1105 1110 1150
1153 1156 1157 1159 1200 1250 1251
Detail of Ilecomroemlatlons
Number of
KccommcmlaLions M rule
Air line and appurte-
nancos In yards...................- -1 --
Ballast--track .............................. 3 ^
Bells--alarm .................................... 7 --
Crossings. Grade--Public 10 _
Crossings. Grade--Private 1 ___
Crossings. Grade--Gates
"
operated by hand................. 1
Circuit breakers........................... 4
Curvature of tracks________ 2 ^
Crossovers ............
1^
Cribbing .............................................. 1
Depressions, ho.les or
-
hills in tracks_______________ 28 _rzn
Derail 36
_
Drainage _______
10
Ditches ____________________________ 4
Driveways ..................................... 2 ^
Embankment ___
3 --
Pence--Inter track................. 3 _ .
Fence--To prevent walk-
ing on track................................ 1 _
-,nle xo.
1252 1253 1300 1301 1302 1!05
1700 1701
1702 1703 1704 1705
1706
1707
170S
Ifetall of Kttrmmm!atiH~
X'tittiNr of
lUiotnnKinda* timt* Made
Fence--X. O. S.............................. 1
Frogs ................................
2
Guard rails ........................
3
Guard rails--blocking .... " 3
Gradient of track.................. 2
Jlanliolt-s or other open
ings ------------------
6
Obstructions--Ballast .... 3
Obstructions--Car repair
parts ...............-................................. 2
Obstructions--Ties ________ !)
Obstructions--Kails ........ 4
Obstructions--Lumber .. JS
Obstructions--Rubbish
and refuse material___5b
Obstructions--o t h e r
Company material........... 54
Obstructions--C o a 1 on
private sidings.............. li>
Obstructions--O t Ii e r
stock materia! on pri
vate sidings................
jr.
12o4
-- Eighth Safety Congress
Nft. 1709
1750 1751 1752 1753 1760 1701 1S50 1S51
Peta.ll of lU-commcndxtlonfl
Number of Recommenda- '
Uuns .\f*do
Obstruction^^-- Rubbish and refuse on private
sidings __~ ......................... 23
Paving ............ -.......................-
Planking or Wringers____10
Pitt*--IiisiM'Ction ................. *5
Pits--Ash ....-- ......................... 3
Pits--X. O.
........................... 7
Post'-->Tarker^\,........................ 3
Rails ..................................................... 3 l.iail clamps...*^-...........,,........... 1
I01 1902 1903 1904 IU05 1907 1910 1912 1914
1313 1 955 1356 1356
1053
1960 1961 1100 3105 ::iP9
Switch lovers-^......................-- 10
Switch stands ............................ 7
Swhch lights - ..........-- - 6
Switch locks ^.....................
4
Switch latches'".................-- .. X
Switches--X. XX. S................ 16 Stop-blocks--^ffeumping) 36
Siding's--Imiustrinl .......-- 3
Sanding* of mils by en-
ginemen .......v.... --------- _ l
Splices ........
Ties--Defective" ____________ Ties--N\ O. S....-....................
Track too high or too
low at station plat
forms .............................................
Track too high or too
lorv at other places .... 9
Ti'ack skates __ Tracks--X. O. S
2 04
Walks or pathways.............. 23
Washouts ......-----........................ 1
Miscellaneous ........................... 1
Total ...............................................52S(39%)
Buildings, Bridges, Tunnels, Poles, Etc., Including Floating Equipment
2201 2250 2251 2252 2253 2254
2255
2256 2257 225S 2300 2303 230-1 2305
.Males--Material-, piled in 5
Building's--BargiT .................. 13
SwalTBuildings--
..................... 25
Booths .....................................
Bins or boxes....--.................. 3
Bridges or trestles--
N. O. S..............___________ -- IS
Bridge-Warnings--(Tell
tales) ...............--=---.........-- 4
Boards--Is. O. S...___________13
Bulletin Boards^-.----------------- 5
Bridges--Poot or vehicle 2
Ceiling ...............-3SS----------------- 1
Counterbalance weights 3
Culverts .....................................
Coal tipple _______________
5
7 2
Code Xo.
Pctail of ltecununendations
Number of Recommends -
tjons Made
2306 Coal chute _______........
3
2307 Chutes--N. O. S.....________ i
2308 Columns .....................................
1
2309 Cribbing .....................................
i
2350 Doors ..............-.........................
30
2351 Doors to open outward.. 4
2353 Docks or piers...................... I
2400 Elevators ..............................
6
2450 Rloors ........................................
41
2452 Flues ..................................................... i
2454 Fences--(Other than on
14
2155 Footwalks on bridges or
trestles _______ ___________.... 13
2500 Gates ________________________
12
2501 Girders _____________________...... 3
2550 Heating facilities. ------ ... 2
2551 Hydrants_______ ___________
1
2652 2750 2751
Inclines ..........................:
.
Lockers .........--.................... ..
Lamps--Station ...........
~
1 *
2
2800 Manholes or other open-
ings (other than on
track) _________________________ 1
2S01 Mail cranes------------------------------- 3
2802 Materials--Unsuitable-- 1 2900 Obstructions -------------------------- 4
2952 Planking- or stringers------- 7
2953 Poles -------------------------------------------- 17
2954 Posts ....................................... 4
2955 Pipe--Steam --------------------------- 9 2957 Pipe--Water (cold)------------ 2
2958 Pipe--Water (hot!-------------- 5
2959 Pipe--Drain ---------------------------
2960 2962 2964
Pipes--Air ...............................--... 3 Pipes--N. O. S._ --------------- 39
Painting Bridges--Short
Clearance------------------------ -
2965 Platforms 45
3050 Boot--Building -----
12
3053 Bailing--Stairway ...........- 9
3054 Bailing--Platform -------------- 7 3055 Railing--Bridges, Cul
verts .....................
20
3056 Bailing--Netting to be
applied ......................
2
3057 Balling--Turntables --------- 3
3060 Railing--N. O. S................... 17
3061 Runways ...........------------- 10
3062 Radiators ----------------------------------- 1
3063 Backs
1
3100 Stairways or Steps____ 44
3102 Screens--Window ------------- X
3X03 Screens--N. O. S------------- 1
3104 Stoves ------------------
2
3105 Stove-pipe -------------------------------- 2
3107 Signal wires------------
6
3110 Signals--Manual --------------- 2
Steam Railroad Section
1255
j;o.
EJctail of Recommendations
MTurahef_of
Kecomtgend*lions Slnii1
3X11 Signals--N. O. S.................... 10
3112 Signal--Lights ---------------------- 6 -3
3113 Sewers ...................................
6 _--
3114 Sheas _____________
4
3115 Signal wire boxes----------------- 2
3116 Spouting --------
3 7_-
3117 Signal bridges ........................... 2 3150 Toilets and lavatories.... 15 ~~
3152 Turntables --------------------------------- 3 --
3153 Trees and shrubbery____ 5 zr
3154 Tunnels ----------------------
2=
3155 Toeboards ...................................... 1 --=--
3156 Traps--Steam ..........
4r
3250 Ventilation
2--
3300 Walls--Buildings ______
1- -
3302 Windows
4--
3303 Water plugs _______________- S "^1
3305 Wharf--Coal .....____________ 6 -
3306--Wires--Telephone --------------- 2
330S Wires--Ground
trans-
-=
mission _______________________ 5
330!) Wires--N. O. S....................... 11
_
3310 Wires--High tension __ 2
3312 Walls--Repairing
........... 4
"
3313--Water tubes ___________________ 2 --
3309 miscellaneous ............................ 9 --
Total ---------------
*
64SC35J&)
_
Machines, Tools, Implements ana
Equipment
;2=_
3400 3403 3450 3451
3456
3466 3467 3468 3511
3515 3517 3520 3527 3528 3529 3550 3555 3556 3557 3600 3650 3656
Air compressors ................ 3 ----
Air hammer ______
1 ---
Belts
IS
Belts--Safety -- Window
cleaners' _...............
Blow-off
valve- dls-
charge pipe ............
I 6
^ ^
-- 3
Borer--Wood ............-................- 1 --
Bushing ________________________ Bells Counterbalance
1 3
-----=
^
weights ----------------------------------- 2 Crane--Walkways ----------- 1 Cranes--Magnet---------------------1 Cranes--N. O. S. --!------- 15
-- _
Coal Tipple----------------------------1
1
Cupolas ----------------------------
1 --
Cotter pins- --------------;---------------- 1--------
Derrick <see hoist) ----- 4
^
Drill Pre33 .-- ----------------------. 7
------
Drinking fountains --------- 3
____
Drop Pit tables---------------1
-
Emery wheels-----------------------7
Fan----------------------------------------------------3
First-aid kits on en-
--
gines and cars ..................... 2
z;
Noml^r at
,\o,
t><*Xai) at
Kt^-JiuiuendatioM
Kmnn/affiitu
Jjons Made
3657 First-aid kits In build
ings and elsewhere .... I
3660 Flag3--Blue ---------------------------- 8
367S Fuses In electric cir
cuits
1
3679 Furnace ------------
3
3650 Flasks ............
1
3651 Fli-wheel ----------------------------------- 1
3652 Fixtures ......................................
1
3701 Gangplanks ...........................
1
3707 Goggles ................................................ 6
3721 Guard rails .....................-............ 3
3722 Grinder .......................
5
3750 Hammers ....................-.......
4
3752 Hand tools -------------------------- 3
3759 Holst--Air ................
3
3763 Hoist--Electric ------------------- 2
3765 3770
Holst--Geared ----------------------- J Hoist--M- O. S.------------------- 4
3850 Jack handles ------------------------ 2
3S51 3856
Jacks ---------------------------------------- 1 Jars--Battery -----------------------. 3
3950 Ladder--Stationary --------- 20
3955 3960
Ladder--Portable ---------------- 5
Lathes ..............
4
396S 3969
Lights--Red ___________________ 1 Lamps or lanterns ............ 1
4004 Motors (Electric) .............-- 5
4005 -Machines---v. O. S................- S
4100 Oil cans ------------------------
1
4105 Oily waste ------------------------------ 2
4106 on ------
2
1154 Planer--Metal ...............--
4156 Planer--Wood ................
1
4232 4233 4254
Refuse box ------Rubber Mat --------------------------Rollers--Wooden ...........
1 1 1
4255 Rings ____2.......................................... 1
4300 Saw--Band ....................
--5
4302 Saw--Rip ..................................
4
4310 4313
Shafting ------------------------------------ 1
Shaper--Metal .......
1
4315 Shears and punches .......... 2
43 IS 4319
Slotter ---------------------------------
1
Steam hammer --------------------- 1
4322 Switch--Electricknife-- 1
4323 Stretcher ............................................2
4353 Toe boards___________________ 3 4355 Transfer plates-----------------:--------5
4356 Trucks------------------------------------------------9
4357 Turntable------------------------------------ 1
4358 Telephones .........
.... 7
4359 Transfer tables ------ 1
4360 Tractor .........
1
4361 Tool Buggies --------------------- 1
4426 Shower baths ---------
1
4453 Ventilators _______
1
4454 Vise ------------------
1
1 Eighth Safety Congress
No. 4503 4504
4505 4506 4599
___
(Jctatl of ItocuminvricIutionA
N'umUr of
IttwiiinieiKia* tlr>nMaf*
"Wrenches --------------------------------- 1
Wetding
machines --
Electric ---------------------------------- 1
Wash basins -----____________ 2
Whistles--Emergency -
1
Miscellaneous _______________ S
Total .....................................---.255(14%)
Engines, Cars and Trains
4 600 1602 4G03 4626 4627 4650 4052 1655
4656
465S 4659 4660 4661 4662 1726 4729
477S 1800
Air brakes .....733...................
Apron--Engine ....................
Ash pans _______________ ___
Belt cords ______....___________
lilowor pipe ..^7.--_______
Car doors ...........------------------------
Car roofs :................--.................
Car ini property ion ileit
--other Ilian coal____
Car improperly loaded
--coni ............. --- . ..
Couplers .......................................
Cabin doors --........--_____--__
J'uIIman cars - -
Chains--safety
Curtains
.. . TTibt..-..
FooUiO:u>l ____
--..........
i^oroi^n cars---inspection
of ................................. ... ....
Hospital cars --Tfe------------.
Improperly placed^at sid-
intrs--cars ............................
Z 1 X 2 *> 2 i
%
3 *9 5 4 2 M I
1 2
3
4:>r,o 4S7G
4^77
4951)
41*75 3050
Knuckles __________-------------------
J.iyhtiS on rear ot n-
gim* or <-.*4
--
H<-;*? liishtT4 on r*'~r of
engint-it
_
Overflow pijH-s lVccmtoliv*s*<k......................
lV.Jinsr
Side st.-ik*-* ui' iwajl >f Jrt jrr"uj . .
springs <..t>
.
Sw
h rw > *
1
n
2
4 3 1 2 l
1
r.or.6 jJquifl ho>M' -- cih'iwt
5057 5077 5079 r.isi
handling .. . -- ~ .
s?<pirt
d*'fvT*vr
Trap door.'* . . _lzl . ,
Tul>os--> W'T .
tVatfr
**<*- -*>n
2 o <>
4
locomoti
. r.
I
.'>152 Wreck trains 5299 Misc4l:*uKvK
~~ ^ ....
4 4
Total
63 * 457 y
<~n>le Ny, 5310
5320 532S 5329 5335 5337 5360
5390 5392 5410 5499
Eire Apparatus
PetitU of Ttecoinnientiatioii!.
Xumber of Becommcnda*
tlond Made
Chemical fireengines.... 3
Extinguishers________________ 8
Fire ladders1
Fire pails 7
Hose _________
3
Hose truck ________________ 1
Metal-lined boxes______.... 1
Sand pails ------------
1
Stoves--Coal 1
Water casks _________________ 4
Miscellaneous ...............
2
Total __________
33 (2%>
5515 5521 5530 5551
5557 5586 5590 5591 5592 5595 5611
Signs
Danger or caution ______ 4
Exit
3
Grade crossing ______________ 1
Keep light and fire away 1
Look-out for locomotives 1 Repainting signs ---------------- 2 Short clearance_____________ 3
Smoking ............................................ 3
Speed Restrictions_________ 2
Trespass _____
1
Whistle bonrd.................
2
Total __________________________ 23 Cl%)
Illumination
5710 5740 5755
Lights on coal wharf........ Lights at inspection plt-s Lights along pathways___
1 1 1
5756 575S 5759 5760 5761
Lights in buildings_______22 Lightson bridges__________ 2 Lights on platforms ______ S Lights in yards_____________ 2S Lights in tunnels __________ 2
5762 T.ights on piers docks ______
and i
3763 lights for work pits........... 3
3764 Lights on stairways____ 7
7 765 " I/KVtneiivt h-ad lights-- 3
5775 ml lights ................----------- 4
3795 St itch lights ..........................- 1
.'.796 Search lights on wreck
trains .............................
1
: 7t*9 Miscellaneous __________ --
Total ..............
S5 (5%)
7**50 7250 7251
7350 7350
M isceltaneous
Hand lamps In lockers_ I
Liquid soap...........................
2
Letters to employees on
safety ____
2
Newsboys on trains ________ 3
Refuse ................... ... ................... 1
Steam Railroad Section
1257
Code ^o.v
7600 7601 7602 7650 7750 7751
7800 7801 7S02 7803
Detail of ^ Recommendations
Number' of
Itecomnrenda tionsMade
Safety buttons ...................... 1
Scrap iron --------------------------- 2
Smoke raiser --------------------- 1 -
Torpedoes and fuses .... 1 _Z\
Vehicies--N. O. S................. 2^-- Ventilation of passen-
ger cars ................................. 1
Water for locomotives.... 3 _
White-washing .................... 1
Water for drinking---------- 1 Watchman --' miscellan-
7990 Miscellaneous ......................... 6 -
Total ................................................... 25 tT%)
Rules. Regulations, Laws, Methods, and Practices
8050 5051 5052
S100
8101 8102
S103
8150
8200 8201 8250 S251 8253 8350 S'SOO 8401 8600
Blue
fines -- L'se
of
(Hooks ofRules 26>_____ G Men on head cm--(Cook
of Rules 102) ...............
2
Bells--Engine -- ringing of when starting on-
gine ---------------------
5
Cars--Placing at sta-
t io nm to best advantage .............................................. 3
Cars--Crossing over or
crawling under ............... 2
Cars--Inspection of. in-
eluding lading -- at
originating point _____ 1
Cars--Steel or wood
mixing in trains indis-
criminateiy
1
Drying ladies--Causing
injury to men (Fouti-
dry) ............................................ I
Employees engaging in
horse play ----------------------- 3
Escort for female em-
ployees 1
Eire drill --------------------------- 2
Flagging -- (Book of
Rules No. 99)------------------- 4
Fires, engine, cleaning
in yards ...............................- 1
Hoops for messages and
train orders ________
3
Ice and water--Placing
in cars ....................
1
Instructions for newly
employed men __________ 1
Material or freight--
Handling of :.................... 3
^="
^ __ " __ t =s= ~ = = -- ----
-7
,.L
,,__ __
_-r ^ --- =5
Cu.le Xu.
Pciuil uf Ki-conuiiiMKlaiiutiS
Siiicl^r nt
Kemmmi'niU-
tton Mule
8601 Members of safety com
mittees to make in
spections
prior
to
meetings ................................. 1
8650 Xew men to be placed In gang known as
safety gang ......................... 2
S750 Persons
unauthorized
allowed in ticket of
fices ..........................................- 1 8850 Rivets--cutting from
cars .............................................. 1 SSS2 Riding on steps of cars
or locomotives .................
5900 Sciuirt hose -- improper
use of .........................................
5901 Smoking in ears marked
inflammable, etc............... 3
S902 Spitting in or around
buildings or cars .......... 1
8903 Sand on slippery doors.. I
8950 Toilets or pans on pas
senger cars--failure to
lock or place ....................... 1
8951 Trespassing ............................ 36
S952 Train operation--X. O.
S. .......................
17
8953 Trackmen clearing track for approaching
trains ......................................... 4
8955 Throwing material from
engines or cars.................. 6
8956 Trains--getting on or. off at other than regu
lar station stop--pas
sengers
3
8957 Trains--Getting on or
off at other than regu
lar stop--employees __ 5
8258 Trains--Getting on or off improperly .................. l<
S959 Trains--porters,
mes
sengers, and food ven
ders getting on or off 1
8960 Track--employees ting. on --------
sit 1
S961 Trestles or horse used
under cars .......
1
9050 Violation of shifting
rules ...........................
7
9100 Whistle to be blown--
warning to employees 5
9102 Whistle--misuse of ------ 2
9299 Miscellaneous ............................... 17
Total ...........................................,,...ll74 (%> Grand total ..................1S36
1258
Eighth Safety Congress
CORRECTIVE MEASURES NECESSARY TO COMPLY WITH? RECOMMENDATIONS
After observations of dangerous conditions or practices have been made, the next step in the procedure is to apply corrective measures, 15 classi fications being made under this general heading, and the original total of 3.836 recommendations being used as the basis for calculating the per centages, as follows;
Installation of Guards
Number of KecoiumemUtJotis-
140 ( 8 per cent)
Under this heading are included all recommenda tions covering apparatus on the track, in buildings or around machines, used primarily for personal pro tection. As the safety work has progressed; such recommendations have gradually diminished. But there are yet many places on the railroads where guards are necessary; but have not been installed.
Application of Minor Parts
Under this heading are included all recommenda tions that involve the application of small parts which are comparatively inexpensive, such as nuts, bolts, lights, counterweights, etc.
43 ( 2 per cent)
Other Extensions, Additions, New Construction, Etc. 373 ( 20 per cent)
Under this heading appear all recommendations covering new work and particularly recommenda tions that cost considerable money, such, for exam ple. as the installaMon of derails, stop-blocks, foot bridges, buildings, stairways, etc.
Change^ of Design or Kind
Under this heading are included all recommenda tions covering change in the design of equipment or parts of equipmenCUr the substitution of one kind for another. Some Bf the items involved are derails, lids for man-holes-or openings, stop-blocks, doors, machines, tools, etc.
71 ( 4 per cent!
Change in Arrangement
Under this heading are included recommendations such as change in^ layout of track, or switches, lights, signals, doors; etc.
69 t 4 per cent)
Increased Clearance
147 t
Under this heading^ are included all recommenda tions for increasing the distance between tracks and structures alongsideJlhe track.
S per cent)
Steam Railroad Section
* ---
Change in Location (Except to Increase Clearance)
1259
Nuaiw of R<cuauaod(loiu 5" < 3 per cent)
Under this heading are included ail recommenda tions covering change, in location of tracks or ap purtenances, buildings, machines, etc.
Removal .
Ifi6 4 9 per cent)
Under this heading are included all recommenda tions for the removal of obstructions on the track, objects that obstruct tjhe vision or anything else that Interferes with operation or renders the work unsafe.
Repairs, Adjustments, Replacements, Etc.
4-12 f 24 per cent)
Under this heading are included ail recommenda tions that cover the general deterioration, wear and tear of railroad property.
Providing Tools, Implements and Equipment
Under this heading are included all recommenda tions for any sort of tools and equipment that may he necessary in making the operation more safe or effi cient.
49 ( 3 per cent)
, Rules, Regulations, Laws, Methods, and Practices-- 221 i 12 per cent) Observance o-f
Recommendations under this heading include all reference to the enforcement of rules, regulations, laws, methods and practices now in effect.
Rules, Regulations, Laws, Methods, and Practices-- InOtroduction o----f--
Under this heading are included all recommenda
tions for new rules, regulations, laws, methods and
practices.
=_
42' f 2 per cent)
Prcviding Additional Help
Under this heading are included recommendations for Crossing Watchmen. Police Officers or any other assistance.
Dissemination of Information
Under this heading are included all recommenda tions for disseminating information, such as letters to employees on safety or correspondence with Sup erintendents of Schools, local authorities, etc.
7 ( 1 per cent) 3 ( 0 per cent)
3 260
Eighth Safety Congress
Miscellaneous
Number of Recommendations 6 ( 0 per cent)
Under this heading are included all recommenda tions not shown above.
Total .............................--.............................................................................................1,836 (100 per cent)
rirrtrosK op safety committee recommesdatioss
Tn order to pass intelligently on Safety Committee recommendations it is necessary to define the purpose to be served by complying with them. This is an important feature of safety work and while the duties of a Safety Committee relate primarily to safety there Is no restriction placed on helpful suggestions whether for safety or not, although a line must at times be drawn as to what should he considered as within the scope of committee =Work. The following classification is made in this connection, the original total of 1,836 recommendations being used as the basis for calculating! the percentages:
Safety Only
Number of RrroRnwndatlons 1,068 ( 5S per cent)
A very large percentage of all recommendations are made primarily and exclusively for safety, such, for example, as the erection of a foot bridge, the instal lation of a derail, the adoption of a safety rule, etc. In other words, if it were not for Safety, action in connection with suchT recommendations would not he necessary.
Safety, But Regular Operating Requirement
634 ( 35 per cent)
Under this heading^are classified all items that re late to safety but which should ordinarily be attend ed to in the same manner as any other feature of the railroad business, that is, by the departments in volved. For example the cleaning of a yard, the re pair to a platform, the installation of a mechanical guard, etc., are duties that rest upon department heads and should be attended to, as a rule, before the Safety Committees have an opportunity to observe such conditions.
Other Than Safety
Recommendations That appear under this heading
are those that in noTvay relate to safety, such, for
example, as measures for the' protection of property,
the damage to whiclr creates no hazard but merely
entails expense or measure for cbnvenience or general
efficiency.
~
21 ( 1 per cent)*
Steam, Railroad Section
1261
Fire Protection
ZCunsbcr of recommendations 63 ( 3 per cent)
Under this heading appear recommendations relat ing to the protection of property from fire.
Sanitation, Health, and Welfare
Under this classification appear all recommenda tions for the removal of conditions inimical to health and for the adoption of methods calculated to improve the -welfare of employees, such, for example, as rest rooms, drinking fountains, removal of filth, etc.
50 ( 3 per cent)
Total
.1,836 (100 per cent)
DEPARTMENTS RESPONSIBLE OR INVOLVED
The following classification is made with a view of directing attention to the department and finally to the individual in each department that may be responsible, if any responsibility exists, for the presence of dan gerous, conditions or practices,_the original total of 1,836 recommendations being used as the base for calculating the percentages:
JCoaber of RecnmmMidations
General Management--Transportation Department ____ { 0 per cent)
Under this heading are included all recommenda tions relating to the movement of trains and train, rules, that require action of the General Management.
General Management--Maintenance of Way Department
........ (
Under this heading are included all recommenda tions relating to the track, signal system, bridges, tunnels, etc., that require action of the General Man-, agement, such as change in standards or the adop tion of general rules and requirements.
0 per cent)
General Management--MotiveTPower Department
12 ( 1 per cent)
Under this heading are included all recommenda tions relating to engines, cars^or machinery and re quire action of the General Management, such as change in standards, upkeep at equipment and the formulation of general rules and requirements-
Division Engineer
823 ( 43 per cent)
Under this heading are included, recommendations relating to the Maintenance ofJVay Department on the Division and, for the most part, relate to new con struction and repairs.
1262
--Eighth Safety Congress
Train Master
Number of .Recommendation* 113 ( 6 per cent)
Under this heading are included recommendations relating to the conducts of conductors and brakemen and to the introduction and enforcement of rules and safety regulations.
Master Mechanic
600 < 33 per cent)
Under this heading are included recommendations relating to the construction and maintenance of en gines, cars and machinery, and the enforcement of rules and regulations relating thereto.
Road Foreman of Engines
-1 { 1 per cent)
Under this heading are included all recommenda tions involving the performance of enginemen. and firemen, particularly the enforcement of rules and regulations relating to the handling of locomotives.
Division Operator
IT < I per cent)
Under this heading are included all recommenda
tions involving telegraph and telephone employees
and the condition of the telegraph and telephone
lines.
*
Supervising Agent
13< i
7 per cent)
Under this heading are included ail recommenda tions relating to safety at stations, such, for example, as the condition of platforms, manner of handling and stowing freight, etc.
Police Department
Under this heading are ^included ail recommenda tions Involving the enforcement of laws, the pro tection of property, breaking up trespassing, etc.
43(2 per cent)
Floating- Equipment
Under this heading are included all recommenda tions involving boats of all kinds.
S ( 1 per cent)
Joint or Indeterminate
There are some recommendations that cannot be classified by departments. These should he placed in the general classification. Joint or Indeterminate.
59 ( 3 per cent)
Total
.1,836 (100 per cent)
Steam Railroad Section
1263
CONDITIONS AND PRACTICES
Seventy-five per cent of all recommendations cover dangerous condi
tions and 25 per cent cover dangerous practices, -while less than 10 per
cent of all fatalities and injuries are attributable to dangerous or de
fective conditions, indicating that great progress has been mads In providing physical safeguards and surrounding railroad operation with measures to'protect life, limb, and property. And while there should he no diminution in effort to Improve physical conditions, the exercise of greater precaution on the part, of individuals is the source from which most results may be expected.
SUMMARY
In the foregoing .there has been presented a general outline of the
salient features of Safety Comffiittee work. Attention has been directed
to the general parts Into winch the railroad may be divided: the items covered by Safety Committee recommendations, under ea*-b parr; the meas
ures necessary to comply with them; the Departments responsible for the
presence of dangerous conditions and practices and lastly a separation
has been made between conditions and practices. -
Within these general classifications there must be developed the detail*
necessary to place safety work In the realm of a specific science and aa
we progress along this line, are shall better nsderstasd how to treat:
and dispose of Safety Committee suggestions and recommendations, a
feature of railroad business that is sure to increase In importance aa the
years roll by.
__
Chairman Richards: We shall be very glad to hear from Mr. Hale. think he is on the program to discuss this paper.
I
DISCUSSION
Mb. Isaiah Hale C Safety Superintendent A. T. & S. K. R. R_. Topeka) : I suppose I might get up and say that the first thing that should be done with a recommendation made to a committee is to determine the merit in it and if found meritorious to put in motion the machinery that would correct it. One trouble with those recommendations is that they are allowed to hang fire too long and another is tbat when a local committee, for Instance, passes that recommendation to a division or a higher com mittee, although the action may be taken with reasonable promptness, the advice that the action has been taken is very often not conveyed at all or, if it is conveyed, it is relayed in getting back to the committee and the man from whom the recommendation came.
Mr. Carrow tells you that 75 per cent of their recommendations have had to do with conditions. I want to congratulate him. I am nothing, if not honest, when I tell you that I do not believe that our recommenda tions on the Santa Fe will run inTust that proportion, but T think a large number of them have'to -do with conditions.
I do not mince matters nor use ambiguous phraseology in telling our committees that so long as we come into those meetings and confine our
1264
-- Eighth Safety Congress
selves to talking only about defective conditions, we are not entitled to
walk out and kid ourselves into thinking that we have really accomplished
very much because what we have accomplished is of a negative or, at
least, a questionable value.
The management of the Santa Fe has been most liberal. We did not
have as much preparatory work to do when we started our safety work
nearly eight years agcT as was the case on some railroads, but I really
know of no meritorious recommendation that has been made that, if it
was possible, has not been, favorably acted upon. The management is
still willing, as Mr. Carrow's management is, to do everything humanly
possible to safeguard conditions, but on the other hand, we must change
the ratio between the recommendations that have to do with practices
and those that have ttdo with conditions. We all agree that at least
90 per cent of our personal injuries to employees come from some irregu
lar practice.
We are not entitled to come into our committees, even on- air. Carrow's
basis, and spend 5 per^:ent of our time talking about the other 10 per
cent of our causes.
I believe, along that particular line, that If we don't get the men to ap-
Iireciate that ratio between the avoidable and the unavoidable injuries that are due to practices, and to talk about them, not only in committees
but out among ourselvesTwe shall fail in the accomplishment of our chief
objective.
;
I am very frank in saying that, so far as the Santa Fe is concerned, we
are constantly striving 'toward that end. Just what the result will be,
we cannot prophesy, but the future looks mighty bright because just at
the present time we are making a very enviable showing, and it has simply been due to the fact that the men are waiting up to that pungent fact to which I have just referred, that if we are to make real headway
in our safety movement, we must get the Individual man, of course
keeping the physical condition of the property as nearly perfect as money
and time will permit itjto be kept. Chairman Riciiarus: Is there any one else here who has the temerity
to discuss this paper? t =
STANDARD SET OF RULES
Mb. Frank A. WichtjEak (Regional Supervisor, St. Louis, Mo.): I notice that Mr. Carrow Touches on rules. We have found with some eighty corporations ill one region, consolidated into nine groups of rail roads working under the standard book of rules, so-called, that no two books quote the same language for the most important safety rules under which the men operate.
Rule 22. our flagging rule. Rule 210, our thirty-one train order rule. Rule 26. having to do with the repairs of cars and rip tracks. There Is a misunderstanding in our groups where different roads are operating under the same managenflnt and I am advised, after receiving a large
number of transportatiorcrand maintenance books of rules from other regions, that the same conditions exist there, and I do not think that the Railroad Administration could be of more assistance, in any one thing, to
Steam Railroad Section
12G5
the safety section than if they would get out a standard boolc of rules for the maintenance and operation of steam railroads under Federal control,
and I move you that this Railroad Section recommend to the Railroad Administration such action as would meet with their approval.
(The motion was seconded!)
Cuaikma.n- Ricmakos: It'fias been moved and seconded that this sec
tion recommend to the United States Railroad Administration the publi
cation and distribution of a standard set of rules. Is there any discus
sion?
___
Question.
^
All in favor signify by saying aye, contrary no.
The noes have it. Motion lost.
ELECTION OF OFFICERS
CiiAnutA.v Richards: We are to have a special order of business at
12:00 o'clock. It is now 11:33. We won't have time to Hear any further
papers, but before we enter olT that special order of business there ought
to be some general" understanding about the question of nomination of
officers of this Section for the ensuing year and the rights of the men
present to vote.
~
The Constitution and By-laws of the Section I will read to you be
cause it practically leaves it to us as to how we shall take the vote in
electing our officers.
"Section No. 5- Nominations:of officers shall be made by a Nominating
Committee--"
,
We decided yesterday that wf wouldn't have a Nominating Committee,
that we would have the officers^nominated from the floor.
"--of three appointed by the Chairman of the Section, which Committee
shall report at the Annual Meeting its recommendation of officers,
which report shall be followed at the meeting by the election of officers
for the ensuing year.
^
"Other nominations for officers may also be made -by any members at
this meeting.''
You will notice that in this Section of the By-laws there is nothing said
as to how we shall vote for thd officers, whether we shall vote by roads,
each road being entitled to the number of votes that it has memberships
in the Council, or whether we shall vote as individual representatives of
the Section.
--
It has always, I "think, been .customary heretofore, for every man who
was attendant upon the convention, whose road belongs to the National
Safety Council, to have a right, to vote for the officers for the ensuing
year: so unless there is some `abjection on the part of the members of
the Section to the following of that custom which has always been in
vogue, the Chair will rule that everybody here who is connected with a
railroad, which is a member of-J.be National Safety Council, will have a
right to one vote .Cor officers and that no one who is not present will
have a right to vote by proxy or otherwise. If that isn't satisfactory,
the Chair will he glad to entertain any motion that you desire to make
12t>(>
_
r
- -- Eighth Safety Congress
-=
as to the manner in which this election shall proceed. Each man shall
have one vote.
'~s-
I want to announce that I am not a candidate for re-election and
couldn't accept the office if it was tendered me.
Is there any objection to the plan as outlined by the Chairman of talcing
the vote?
--
Mb. C. R. SiaclkS (Safety Supervisor, Southern Railway): I move
that plan be adopted.
(The motion was seconded and carried.)
Chairman Richa riis : We will proceed to the election of officers for
the ensuing year, aff3 we shall be glad to hear from any gentleman who
desires to place in nomination any man for Chairman of the Section for
the ensuing year. --
Mb. John S. Rockweu. (Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railroad): Mr.
Chairman. I have the great pleasure of presenting to the consideration
or this convention for the Chairman for next year a man whom yon all
know, a man who has been one of the closest students of safety in the
t'nited States. That man has shown us today his ability in the wonder ful address he has given, and without further remarks I place in nomina
tion Mr. Thomas H. Carrow, of the Pennsylvania.
Mit. Bbknnax: In Tising to second the nomination of Mr. Carrow, I
think lie has demonstrated, I might say, that we have passed beyond the
initial stage of safety^ and have entered the field in the scientific line.
In doing that thing lie has conferred upon not simply the men who are
engaged in transportation service but upon the whole human race a lasting
obligation.
^7
He has invented a compass and a chart for us and I think if we follow
that chart, ultimately developed into a scientific practice, we shall have the privilege of knowing that we have working at the head of the organiza tion one of the noblest men in practical and real knowledge Of railroad
practices and conditions in the whole world.
Mb. J. O. Ci-abk: Mr. Chairman, during the past year I have had the
very great pleasure ofTrather close association, with a superintendent of safety on a certain Hit in the Central Western Region. I have come to
admire greatly this niah's ability, his personality, his energy. It seems
to me that during the coming year we are going to face a rather vital
situation with regard
the Railroad Section of the National Safety
Council.
--
I think we should have a man at the head of our Section who is able and
willing to work and work hard for the Section, a man who has the per sonality to put himself, across, a man who has the energy to work all the time, a man who lias the initiative to work for the best interests at all
times. I believe the man I am about to nominate has these qualities and
T am convinced that ha will not hesitate to do anything that is within his
power to put across the work of the Steam Railroad Section of the
National Safety Council.- I wish to place in nomination, Mr. Fred Meyers
of the Wabash Railroad.
Steam Railroad Section
1267
Mb. Webb: I rise to second that nomination.
Mb. E. R. Scoviixe (Baltimore & Ohio) : So that there may be some rivalry in the selection of the Chairman, I rise to nominate a gentleman
who has had several years' experience on one of the trunk lines of the East as a superintendent of safety and welfare, and who is now the Vice-
Chairman of the Steam Railroad Section of the National Safety Council,
Air. John T, Broderick.
-r
Mr. Carrow: I rise to second the nomination.
Chairman Richards: Are there any more? If there are no further nominations, the Chairman will declare that the nominations are closed.
We have before us now the names of Mr. Carrow, Mr. Meyers, and Mr. Broderick. Shall we vote by ballot, or how?
Mr. Carrow:
word.
Mr. Chairman; I must interrupt for a moment to say a --
Mr. Clark, my dear friend from Salt Lake, not eloquently but sincerely has undertaken to delineate the character, the sterling worth, of a gen tleman connected with a big railroad. My aspirations for the Chairman ship of the Steam Railroad Section are always subordinated to the inter-"
ests of the Council, and for that reaso.n, and knowing my lovable, ener
getic friend, Fred Meyers, as I'Jo, knowing that he has sat with ns in the dark days when interest was lagging, knowing that he has put forth every intelligent effort that a good, virile American citizen could put forth to forward the cause of this great movement, I take pleasure in withdrawing
from the nominations and in leaving the field open to Fred Meyers. Chairman Richards: After the very magnanimous talk of Mr. Carrow,
which makes us feel prouder than ever of him, the question still remains as to bow we shall take this vote.
(It was voted, upon motion duly made and seconded, to take a rising
rote.)
--
:Chairman Richards It has been decided to make it a rising vote. All those in favor of Mr. Broderick will please rise.
(There were eighteen votes fgf Mr. Broderick. The balance were cast for Mr. Meyers, who was elected Chairman of the Steam Railroad Section oc the National Safety Council.)
Mr. Fred Meters: Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: I am deeply grateful for this honor. I appreciate very heartily the election to the Chairman ship for the ensuing year. We have been favored, in the past year, by having in the Chair one of the pioneers, one of the finest and one of the
best men in safety that I know7^He was signally honored, last night, by being elected President of the National Safety Council. That is a tribute worthy of this great institutionr We all know Ralph Richards, and we
love him. I can only say that in my service as Chairman for the follow ing year, I will endeavor to do may very best. If I can secure the same
help and cooperation that was given the Chair the past year, I will assure
you that we will do as well as, i! not better than, we have heretofore.
126S
Eighth Sft/cii) Congress
Cuairmax Richards: l take great pleasure, now, gentlemen, la turning over this Section to tBe new Chairman.
(Mr. Meyers took the Chair.)
Mr. Sxxedd: (This convention of the National Safety Council, and par
ticularly this Steam Railroad Section, to my mind, seems to have been
fraught with good things, things beyond the anticipation of most of us,
and yet we were looking for something high, noble, and splendid. I be
lieve that when they elected that grand old man, that Christian character,
who lives for others first. President of the National Safety Council, that splendid organization simply showed again that it was composed of men
of the highest character, men of the keenest perception.
I am going to suggeU that we all rise and give Ralph Richards, that grand old man whom "we all love, three cheers. God bless him and fur
ther his every effort.
(Prolonged applause mid three cheers for' Ralph Richards.)
Mu. Ru iiAirns: That~1s all very kind of you. Gentlemen, and I thank
you.
"
Chairman Mkykk: Gentlemen, we will proceed to the election of a Vice-Chairman. Nominations are open for Vice-Chairman.
Mr. Stapi.ks: I deslrejn place in nomination the name of a man who is not as big as Mr. Meyers physically, but wrho is just as big in his energy
and his efforts, a man wlio has devoted years of his life to this work, and
for the last ten years fie has worked twenty-foUr hours a day for the safety movement. I place in nomination Mr. Robert Scott.
(The motion was secojfiled by Mr. Shedd.)
Mr. Ct.Aiuc: I move that the Secretary be-instructed to cast the unani
mous ballot of the Section for Mr. Scott as Vice-Chairman.
(The motion was duly seconded and carried, and the Secretary cast the
unanimous ballot of the Section for Mr. Scott as Vice-Chairman.)
Mu. Roukut Scott: Gentlemen, this is an honor that I very much ap
preciate. I don't know that my shoulders are broad enough to wear the
epaulets, if I had a haleTconstitution and a physique like my friend from
the Santa Fe. if 1 were endowed with oratory like my good friend from the
New Vorlc Central, if I had the power to shed tears like my good friend
from the Rock Island,
were rich enough in Irish wit like my good
young friend Richards, t Vvould make the welkin ring. liut. Gentlemen,
this is the age of service.- Thab'Tias been the keynote to everything that
has been said here during_this convention, and if service means anj'thing
to the Steam Railroad SeeBon of the National Safety Council, I am here to
render it to Mr. Meyers.
Mu. Waists (Dallas, TexaST^ Sir. Chairman, because of the natural mod
esty of your Regional Supervisors, we do not like to talk about our
selves, but there is a time when I think either baslifulne3s Or undue
regard for others has to be put in the background.
I say this because I wanfjyou to understand that in bringing to you the
man I am about to name,nit isn't because we are trying to get some one
Steam Railroad Section
from this particular region; it is because we are in a great and wonderful
work. I want you to elect him as your Secretary. He is a man who has
served those around him.'Vho has won their honor and confidence, a man
of literature, an editor, a newspaper writer, a thinker, a man whose heart
is in the safety work, wlio has occupied responsible positions, who can
serve us better, perhaps, than any man in the United States, Mr. Henry
M. Mayo, Superintendent of Safety of the Southern Pacific Hines, of Hous
ton. Texas.
_
(The motion was seconded by Mr. Shedd.)
< L'pon motion made by~Mr. E. Richards, of the Cotton Belt, duly sec
onded and carried, Mr. Mayo was elected Secretary by unanimous ballot
cast by the Secretary.) ~
Mb. H. M. iLvvo: Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: I think you might
have spared my modesty, at least, because you must realize that we people
down in the Southwestern region are modest if nothing else. While I feel
that JT am under intense obligations to my friend, Mr. Webb, for the most
delicate manner in which he called attention to my qualifications for this
high office, at the same time, I was blushing all the while he was doing
it. It is my natural innate modesty to blush when somebody accuses me
of something I don't possess.
1 very heartily appreciate your electing me Secretary of this Section.
I promise you that to the best of my ability 1 will do my duty and.
more, if possible, but I also want to call up your sense of duty in this
particular. I know that *my friend Whittemore went up against this
same thing. Your Secretary represents you. You boys have to come
across If you want to make your Secretary a success and hence your
Section.
Mr. Carbow: I make a motion that we rise and express our apprecia
tion collectively for Mr. Richards and for Mr. Broderick, who have acted on
the Committees in a quiet but in a very enthusiastic way, and for Mr.
Whittemore, the efficient Secretary, who had to do most of the work, and
any others who have contributed to thesuccess of the Eighth Annual Con
gress of the Steam Railroad!Section of the National'Safety Council.
(A rising vote of tkanks was given to the retiring oflicers.)
(Because of the latenessTxff the hour, it was voted to adjourn, and to
hear, immediately after convening at the afternoon session, the paper on
"Methods of Selecting Committees and Maintaining Interest in Safety"
by Mr. Robert Scott, which was to have been delivered at the morning
session.)
. FRIDAY AFTERNOON SESSION'
HE meeting was callecfTto order at 2:00 p. m. by Mr. FTed Meyers. Superintendent of Safety, Wabash Railroad, the newly elected Chair
man of the Steaqi Railroad Section. Ciiairmax Mevcrs: Our program indicates a round-table discussion for
this afternoon but. in view of the fact that a special order of business cut off a completion of the morning session we will, if It is your pleasure, pro-
1270
Eighth Safety Congress
ceed to complete the morning session, there remaining one subject by Mr. Scott.
METHODS OF SELECTING COMMITTEES AND MAINTAINING=INTEREST IN SAFETY
Rokkrt
Scott. Suiuuuntkxdent ok Insuhakce and Safety,
Coast Link Raii.hoaij, Wilmington, N. Cak.
Ati.a.vtic
Before touching upon the methods of selecting committees it seems proper that some consideration should be given as to what is expected of them. Safeguarding and education represent the - essential elements of any safety organization, which naturally requires efficient planning, direction, and supervision.
While safety committees of foremen or men from the ranks have dem onstrated their value as STmedium for detecting misplaced guards, poor housekeeping and minor structural defects, tlielr value as an education al factor is also worthy of utmost consideration.
The writer has, during his brief experience in accident prevention, ob served a tendency on the part of safety committeemen to confine their at tention to the obvious mechanical and structural conditions, which should have been remedied by the foremen or supervisors, instead of studying the broader and more productive field of dangerous practices. Even when directed to consider^ only the latter, it has been the experience that their reports were stEfl almost entirely given over to recommenda tions regarding supposedly unsafe conditions. In other words, there is always a tendency to superficial inspection which is difficult to overcome.
Mention is made of this JKith a view of laying emphasis on the import ance of exercising care in selecting committees. It should ever be kept In mind that men selected /for this work of safeguarding and educating must themselves be capable of becoming "Safety men" and also be able to impart to others the knowledge they have gained by experience.
After selecting as head ot the organization a man who has an abiding faith In the necessity for the work, it is apparent that next in importance is to place upon the committees only such men as are believed would prove loyal to the cause and can. grasp the real meaning of Safety, i. e.. that it deals with human nature. and human relations more than with structural or mechanical conditions.
In the formation of committees one aim should be to have them well balanced. While such qualifications as loyalty, level-headedness, and en thusiasm should be common"!0 all members, attention should. be given to the peculiar fitness of committeemen with respect to temperamental characteristics as well as special training along some particular line of work.
It is believed that ii safety committeemen, or safety workers, as they might properly be designated,-are of the type mentioned in the foregoing paragraph, they will create an atmosphere of intolerance of careless and reckless habits in the territory in which they work. Not only will they be active aids to' the Safety Department, but they will serve in various ways
Steam Railroad Section
1271
as the connecting link between the management and the rank and file
men--between staff and labor. These are the men who will come to the assistance of the management in time of stress; who will come forward
with information beyond the officials' vision, and who. in countless ways, will promote the unity of the entire organization.
While It is possible to lay down some general principles to be followed in the selection of committees, the real work of picking out individual
men must necessarily be left to the local chairman, who in most instances
is the supervising officer and usually has an intimate acquaintance with
his men.
--
f.K.VBl.U. SAFETY COM AUTTKK
This committee should be composed of general and division officers,
chosen In such a manner that the different departments of service shall
be represented on that c-oroinittee. The Chief Operating Officer usually
acts as Chairman. Jt is desirable that this committee shall have general
supervision of the Safety Organization.
One thing that it might be well to point out is that the General Safety
Committee, as well as .other safety committees, possess no executive
power but are purely advisory.
It may not be found practicable to have representation of all branches
of service on the General Safety Committee, but it is especially desirable
that the heads of such departments as Transportation, Maintenance of
Way, Mechanical, and General Claims shall have places thereon, since
these are the men who are held responsible for the results obtained, while
the General Claims Department is in fine position to keep in close touch
with personal injuries to employees and others.
The selection of this, as well as alt other safety committees, should be In the hands of some one who has Intimate knowledge of safety work,
its aims and objects.
=
IHVIMw.N >KKTV < f?M M ITftA
A Division Safety Committee, composed of division officers, with the Superintendent as Chairman, and one or more representatives of each of the different classes of service, should be formed. The same good judgment should be exercised in selecting members to place on this committee as in the appointment of general committeemen. The DJvision Safety Committee can be of much assistance to the General Com mittee, provided it has the proper conception of its functions, and will with intelligence and zeal seek to perform these functions.
SHOIVSAFKTV COMMITTEE
At all shops employing more than several hundred men a Safety
Committee, composed of the principal officers of the shop, with the rank
ing officer as Chairman, and one or more representatives of each of the
different classes of service, should be formed. If tbe shop is under the
jurisdiction of the Division Superintendent, the Committee should report
to the Division Safety Committee, otherwise to the General Safety Com
mittee.
--
1272
Eighth Safety Congress
Too much cart- cannot be exercised in the selection of men to serve upon shop committees; this is not so much on account of the problems encoun tered in safeguarding the ^machines, but rather because of the necessity for having intelligent and enthusiastic committeemen who will take It upon themselves to insirutETand advise new employees or older ones who are not inclined to follow safe methods in the performance of their work.
I I-. It VII X A I- SA l-'ET Y CO At At ITTK K
At each large terminal
Safety Committee should he formed, com
posed of the officers in charge, with the Superintendent or ranking officer
as Chairman and one or more representatives of each of the different
classes of service. If tlie_terminal is under the jurisdiction of the Di
vision Superintendent, the Committee should report to the Division Safety
Committee, otherwise to tire General Safety Committee.
This Committee, like most of the others, should be made up of men
well qualified to act as leaders and who. by their exemplary habits, en
courage safe practices on the part of others.
.UmmOXAL SAFETY COAI AUTTEES
Where conditions rciuirailocal committees may be organized in yards,
roundhouses, smaller shops.~large freight houses, etc. In all cases the
same general principles as outlined above should be followed in selecting
committeemen.
=
AIAIATA I .VIA'C lA'TKBEST
Upon taking up the work for the first time some few months ago 1 sought interviews with the-foremost members of this Council so that 1 might learsi something about Safety from those who liad made accident prevention a specialty instead of a side issue. Without exception these men told me that the very nature of the work was such that it could not be carried on successfully unless accompanied by intense active interest on the part of all concerned, and I am now able to testify to the correctness. of this after almost a year of experience.
Much has been said and written on this phase of the work in recent years, and many of you are already familiar with the various methods em ployed by progressive snfely _or gan izations in propagating the germ of Safety so that it will eventually overcome tile Accident germ. About all that is left for me to do jusUTiow in the treatment of this subject Is to reiterate some of the things that have already, been told you, and to place thereon the stamp of approval of one who has found them effective.
:.vn:RES'ri.\G THE OFFICERS
Needless to say. no accident prevention work can he successfully carried
on without the hearty support' of executive and supervising officers. As
a rule, however, difficulties
not encountered through failure to gain
such support, hut rather through failure to make this support clearly
manifest. Officers on roads, especially those on which much safety work
has been done, naturally feel that their men know that they do not want
Steam Railroad Section
i2?n
accidents. They may- be mistaken, however, in the depth and permanency of this impression and in Hny branch of the service there may be newer or less perceptive staff men to whom a direct expression of purpose would bring enlightenment, as well as others who would derive from it encouragement to renewed efforts. It is satisfying to feel that our ex ecutives are backing us inJEtir daily work, but when we are made to know rather than feel--when we realize that they look to us for results--the work goes forward.
The first and essential step, then, in inaugurating a safety educational movement, or in "waking^up" the men, should be a clear, unequivocal statement by the management as to where it stands. .Vow, as to how this can be brought about is the question for us to consider. It is well known that these men are intensely occupied with problems requiring immediate attention. In other words, the things that to them seem most pressing. Therefore, properly to maintain interest in Safety among the officers it Is necessary that the man in charge of the work of accident prevention must be possessed of a compelling personality and that he will with diplomacy, tact, and perseverance keep the subject of Safety ever before these officers, and present to them such Jnteresting facts as will not only command attention but will actually cause them to become and remain deeply interested in it.
There is no more siiceesgffil way of doing this than by the use of sta tistics, either in statement T'orm or by graphic chart, showing the com mon causes of accidents and the class of employees suffering injury there from. Data of this character soon begins to reveal that if accidents are occurring in any given locality with greater frequency than at other places where the same work Is performed, investigation and study of the conditions surrounding the method and manner of doing this work is in order and may make "Tt clear that some special treatment is neces sary.
Again, if the staff or supervising officers are allowed to leave the whole matter of accident prevention to the Safety Department, there will lie very distinct limits to what can be accomplished. 'The more efficient a. Safety Department becomes, the more likely is such a. situation to arise. The change takes place imperceptibly, but the educational work Is in the
end devitalized, accidents do not decrease, and the Safety Department Is
directly blamed for not accdTOplishing what was never within its power to accomplish. Freedom from accidents cannot be brought about by a repetition of direct atta-ks':xrondueted by the Safety Department; it is attained only through work by the entire organization, inspired by the enthusiasm and efforts of the Safety Department. Let this be clearly made known to all officers oT the road to the end that their interest may be gained and held to a reasOTrable degree.
It goes without saying that any operating officer of a railroad will be come interested in the promotion of safety work just so soon as some one has convincingly pointed out to him that the prevention of accidents
means not only the prevention of untold mental and physical suffering, but also a great economic saving. He should be informed that accident prevention has passed the experimental stage, since it has been demon-
1274
eighth iittfeff/ Congress
strated beyond doubt that personal injuries, just like disease, result from some cause and that just so far as these causes are determined and elim inated, in the same degree: will accidents disappear.
Sometimes it is necessary to put before these officers the more serious side of the question, i. e.. their moral responsibility for the safety of, men working under their direction. This refers both to remedying un safe conditions and to seeing that workmen are properly instructed as to the safe way of doing their work, and pointing out any special hazards connected with the plant ta* its operation.
Officers should be constantly and forcibly reminded that accidents destroy that which has been created, and that accident prevention pre serves not only property but human life a,s well.
INTKUESTlA'n thi; emit.oykks
The most convincing argument that comes to my mind just now in
connection with awakening interest among rank and file men in the
cause of Safety is the onethat has been used a great deal of late. Ask
any man in train, shop, or: roadway service, ``Who suffers most as a re
sult of personal injuries brought about by unsafe conditions or dangerous
practices?" There is but "Orre answer, and when this is brought home to
them they invariably begin to think, and this is the first step in the right
direction.
Another important lliingjs to impress upon all employees the fact that
the safety organization embraces every man connected with the road,
and that all of them arejspected to do their part In carrying on the
work of accident elimination.
Xe.xt comes the task of educating the men as to how all thi3 can be
done without undue interrtnrtion of their work. It can be accomplished
by personal appeals to the men by head of the Safety Department or some
well equipped representative. It can also be done by the distribution of
literature on ihe subject, but this method is not so effective as the former
one.
~
jtfow. after having aroused the interest of employees, a more difficult
problem arises as to how this interest can be held. I am convinced
this cannot be done by following any one scheme, but can only be success
fully accomplished by the employment of a combination of methods such
as the following:
(a) Well prepared bulletins^posted on Safety Bulletin Boards.
<b) Safety Rallies, with a good program, effectively advertised and sup
ported by hearty cooperation of officials.
<c! Introduction of special papers on live topics at regular meetings by
employee members.
(d) Acknowledging receipt of all suggestions by letter, and advising
those making them oLdisposition in each case.
(e> By having safety discussed at Brotherhood Meetings of Labor
Organizations.
3s
(f") By judicious distribution of safety propaganda through the means
of Ttmolnvee's Magazines or Circular Letters.
Steam Railroad Section
1275
tg> Through the employment of a Motion Picture Car, accompanied by a capable lecturer.
(h) By personal work among the men: this to be done only by those peculiarly fitted for converting' influential unbelievers in the doc trine Of SAKETjY.
(f) By the rotation of committees, thus bringing new life into the or ganization.
fj> By issuing Membership"Cards and safety emblems to all members of safety committees.
(k) By awarding medals or trophies to either individuals or committees, divisions or shops, foESpecial accomplishments in connection with
- the Safety Movement.
Among the things that have been used with the greatest'success is the Motion Picture Car. accompanied by a lecturer, on account of the benefit
that accrues from placing the importance of safety before employees and their families, also In enlisting their Interest and support In accident prevention. It is almost universally agreed that education in safety work Is more vital than anything else, and that the majority of accidents on railroads cam only be prevented when employees have had instilled into their minds the important principles of safety. When the human ele
ment can be made as nearly cose hundred per cent safe as our mechanical
devices and as our physical conditions have, accidents will be reduced to a minimum. There is no better way of making an indelible impression upon a person's mind than by exhibiting a picture of conditions. In many ways in everyday life motion pictures have proven to be of great educational value, so It Is in aBcident prevention work, and even more so for when a railroad man sees a. picture of an accident it seems to write the conditions and circumstances more deeply in 'his memory than any thing else could .possibly do. --
SAFETY SUPERVISORS
It will be noted that nothing has been said about the travelling agent
or supervisor, and bere I would like to touch upon the value of the
service that is capable of being rendered by these men. We are all
aware of what personal work means in any line of endeavor where the
human element is to be dealt with. These representatives of the Safety
Department are in position to do a great deal of good in maintaining
interest in the work of the department both among employees and officials,
and it speaks well for- any safety organization that has seen to it that
only men of clean character, high principles, clear intellect, and a keen
knowledge of human nature, coupled with practical railroad experience
are selected to handle the field work. These men can either do or undo, and they should have a clear conception of their responsibilities, for it
rests upon them to do a large part of the moulding of sentiment In favor
of Safety. It is their task to seek out the unbeliever and convince him
of his error, likewise to look tip the lukewarm and do the needful, as well as to locate and make use of the enthusiastic leader who can be used on
a committee to good advantage in maintaining interest among the rank
and file.
--
1270
Eighth Safety Congress
These field men are close to the pulse and can in many ways aid the
head of the organization in diagnosing special cases of lack of interest
and are often able* to suggest the remedy. While, as for getting valuable
cooperation at the hands of supervising officials, there is no one better
able to do this, since onjiccount of frequency of contact which brings
about a dose relationship, they can convince foremen that service and
super vision that permits men to get hurt is a mockery not to be tolerated.
They can encourage foremgi'to give their workmen the things that money
cannot buy and thereby satisfy their craving for human recognition, since
they arc bound to pay back in kind.
in conclusion let me say that I consider it a distinguished honor to be
called upon lo take part in the proceedings of this Council, find I want
to acknowledge it here and now with grateful thanks. The high, calling
oC our task is indeed an inspiration to me and should be to all of us.
F-verv obstacle we meet ojffght to spur us on with renewed and stronger
vigor. The daring of ourJBnterprise to create safety where peril has so
long thrived should bring^us to a clearer realization of the value of our
service. Let us be firm in the conviction that the principles underlying
our work are correct, for we know beyond doubt that ouv cause is a just
and noble one. Therefore.^let us apply the acid test by endeavoring more
than ever, if possible, torniake this idealism a realism. It can only be
done by the application ofsuch common-sense methods as are capable of
being applied to our present physical conditions and to human relations
as they exist today.
^
Oiir common enemy is C.i.kssnkss. and Carelessness has slain, crippled,
and blinded more men, has made more widows and orphans, has left on
the face of this earth more hands outstretched for charity than all the
great wars or other calamities lhat have befallen mankind. Let us fight
it with all the intelligence we are capable of developing and with the
full strength of our manhood to the end that the world will be a better
place for our ha\*ing lived in it.
Chairman Mkykiss: We will have a discussion on the paper, led by Mr. Peter Groome, of the Union Pacific Railroad.
IDs. Ptm.it Groomk : In view of the fact that this subject has been
entirely covered in a very `able manner by Mr. Scott, I am going to leave
off the discussion of thisTpaper.
Chairman Mi:yi:i;s: I will now turn the meeting over to Mr. J. T.
Broderick. Supervisor of Safety, Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, who will act
as Chairman of the round-table discussion.
ROU2TD-TABLE DISCUSSION
Chairman Brouickick: It is my privilege to have the task of acting as Chairman of the round_-table discussion and I am very glad to enter upon that work.
The first subject on theulist is, "Prevention of Accidents at Highway Crossings." Mr. Reynolds! of the Pennsylvania Lines West, has very kindly consented to open the discussion on that subject.
Stcanir Railroad Section
1277
PKKVKNTIOX OF ACCIDENTS AT H I Oil WA Y CROSS L N'GS
H. 15. Rkv.volds. SiTPEBiXTiixuiiXT. Sai ktv Buhkau, West
Penjsylva.nj v
Lives,
Up to the present, and for iCconsiderable period in the future, highway
crossings have been, and will be, a necessity in the operation of rail roads. This is true becauserof the item of expense involved in their elimination.
When the present roads were first constructed, the financial aspect bore the same relation to their elimination as it does in this day and age. In fact, the financial burden v.;ould have been so great as to have
precluded their building had an attempt been made to do away with them when they were first constructed.
My source of information reveals the fact that there is approximately
one highway crossing for each mile of railroad in operation. I am also
informed that the average cost of eliminating these crossings Is in excess of $50,000 each,' whfcli^jvhen considered in connection with the
thousands of crossings, indicates very clearly why the--financial burden is too great to permit of an immediate correction of the condition. How
ever, all railroads are constantly engaged, as far as their finances will permit, in effacing these crossings at points where the need is most
urgent, and we may expect, at some time in the future, a practicable solu
tion of the proposition through the doing away with of all grade crossings. This may occur solely through the efforts of the railroads or through the initial assistance of the Federal or State governments, bached by an
awakened public, demandingJfhat the needless slaughter of human ba-
ings be stopped.
_
The railroads are privileged, to share highway crossings with the
public through the medium of legislative enactment, and each has its
responsibility to bear in the prevention of accidents occurring thereon The time for mutuality of action has arrived, and to my personal knowl edge, the railroads stand ready and willing to meet the public far be
yond the halfway mark. The Trouble today lies almost wholly with the indifferent manner in which the public in general views the situation.
We are all aware that accidents at grade crossings are increasing at
an alarming rate. Rarely do 3ve. peruse our daily paper but what ov.r
eyes are greeted by a news item, generally local, conveying the informa tion that one or more lives have been snuffed out in a grade-crossing acci dent. A majority of us ai*e wont to consider practically all of these hap penings as being due to' somEJauIt of the parties involved and more often this is the truth. HoweVSr, a careful consideration of all the fac tors having a bearing thereon indicates that quite frequently the fault
lies either with the railroad of its employees.
The railroad company Is often primarily responsible on account of faulty construction, poor maintenance, or because of some condition it has. permitted to exist, such as shrubbery alongside the right of way
that obstructs the vision, or because of large advertising signs so ccmmon to all railroads, tliat afford the same condition. I might add at
1278
Eighth Safety Congress
this point, that we have corrected the latter condition on the Lines of the Company I represent by having a careful-survey made, and requesting the owners of all signs that interfered in any manner with vision to re move them. They have furnished us excellent cooperation in this re spect. and. as a result, there has been a rearrangement of these signs at all points on the system.
Carelessness on the part of the railroad employee is also an im portant factor. Quite Tiequently wf learn upon investigating an acci dent, that the enginemaii failed to sound the whistle or ring the bell. Oftentimes, in towns or cities, lie was travelling at an excessive rate of speed. We also learn that other members of the train crew are often responsible, due twtfieir failure to protect properly a crossing in backup movements, switching operations, etc. We are also confronted with the fact that in numerous instances employees whose duty it is to protect crossings are inefficient or fail to have a thorough understanding
of the requirements of their positions. Such shortcomings on the part of the railroads and their. employees can readily be detected and cor rected by the applicationTbf the means which lie within the authority of railroad officials. CnforOTnately this is seldom brought to notice until an accident has occurred.
MOST (iRAUE-CROSSING ACCIDENTS ABE PREVENTABLE
We are all acquainted with the fact that most accidents at grade cross ings are entirely preventable, some being due to conditions or practices for which either the railroad or its employees are responsible. However, you will agree with me when I state that the vast majority of such occur rences are due to practices-Indulged in by the public, especially the trav elling public. Naturally The public has a right to use grade crossings jointly with the railroads!- but from the reports which reach us, we are forced to the conclusion that at least a considerable part of it is unwilling to concede the railroads SHy rights whatever, when they themselves are desirous of using the highway. This quite frequently leads to disastrous results as far as they arfcouceraed. We are all familiar with the fact that it appears to be an inherent trait of human nature to endeavor to beat a train over a railroffd' crossing, disregarding the first principle of self preservation. No ddffbt you have witnessed, the same as myself, some one hurrying over a crossing, either on foot or In a vehicle and stopping on the opposite 'Hide to watch the train pass by. This same spirit seems to be rampantTin most of our fellowmen when in the vicinity of railroads, and no doubt accounts for the actions of the individual, who, when crossing gates are lowered, will pass under them, in the full belief that he is quite able to take care of himself.
Another trait of humaif"nature that Is responsible for thousands of deaths yearly, both In industry and in everyday life, is the failure to "Stop, Look and Listen/*' iiT the presence of impending danger. This one
trait alone is probably responsible for more accidents and casualties, at highway crossings than any other. This failure on the part of the in dividual is usually traceable to the fact that the party involved has his
Steam Railroad Section
1270
mind occupied by some one subject to the exclusion of all others, which
momentarily permits him ter disregard his immediate surroundings.
Perhaps he is involved in an interesting conversation with some one, or
if alone, perhaps he is revolving some proposition over in his mind, and
endeavoring to reach a conclusion. Another Important factor, from the
public standpoint, is the permitting of children, by careless and indif
ferent .parents, to play about or on railroad premises, thereby Inviting
disaster.
*
NI NETY-F'IVE PER CENT INVOLVE ACTOMOWI.ES
The largest proposition of- all, in considering highway-crossing acci dents, is the automobile. Since the advent of the latter vehicle accidents have increased yearly by leaps and bounds, and will continue to increase until some remedy, not yet applied, is placed in operation. Statistics indicate that more than six million automobiles are in service today, and that the rate of production will add to this number more than one mil lion cars per year for an indefinite period. With the addition of each car to the everswelling ranks, the potential source of highway crossing accidents is increased in the same proportion. I can state from a knowl edge of the accidents occurring on the Lines I represent, that fully 95 per cent of all the crossing accidents involve automobiles. This percen tage will increase rapidly under present conditions, as the automobile in dustry is fast crowding other means of conveyance off our streets and highways.
Before prohibition became aT reality, we frequently heard that a ma jority of crossing accidents to automobiles were due to the driver being intoxicated. No doubt this Whs oftentimes true, but the fact remains that such accidents are still occurring and their diminution is scarcely noticeable. The one factor, in all such accidents, which stands out above all others, is the carelessness of the driver. It has been my experience that no matter how careful a-fnan may be in the ordinary affairs of life, no matter how strongly he may denounce someone else for the careless and reckless manner In whieh_he may drive an automobile, he himself win be noticed to be as careless or as reckless within a short time after coming into possession of such a vehicle. This, of course, is not true of every* individual who owns an automobile, but my observations have led
me to the belief that it is applicable in most cases. The ability to drive
a car seems to breed a speed mania with its attendant disregard of those principles which make for personal safety.
It is my belief that such a condition exists only through the apathetic attitude of the general public.^Let the public be aroused to its respon sibility In connection with these accidents, and I feel sure that within a. remarkably short period of time such calamities will be decreased be low our fondest hopes. No man can hope successfully to compete against an aroused public opinion with its attendant features, laws, etc. But how is the public to be awakened? No matter how great the slaughter it seems to be an impossibility to prod its slumbering form into action.
No law that can be devised rls stronger than public opinion. No law that will ever be enacted will cure this evil unless it is backed by public
12*0
I'Jifjhth Safehj Comjyc*.
opinion and strict enfoi'temt*nt. While laws have been placed on the statute books of variouslfitates to regulate traffic at highway crossings, some meritorious, some \CTrthless, yet they have failed of their purpose, due to a lack of enforcement. We are aware that one reason for this is the apathetic attitude ofilhe public, but did yon ever stop and consider that the various railroad companies are in a way responsible for present conditions, and that they^too are almost as indifferent as the public? Naturally we cannot expect to enlist public support unless we make an effort to secure it.
rim ituxois law
Recently the legislature in the state .of Illinois placed on the statute hooks of that CommomvSlth an excellent law designed to prevent the many highway-crossing ^accidents occurring within the confines of the state. This law provided a heavy penalty for anyone operating a ve hicle who failed to stop before crossing railroad tracks, and assure them selves that they would beraafe in proceeding. There has been no decrease in grade-crossing accidents within that state, so I am informed, because the law is neither obeyed nor enforced. Recently while attending a meeting of the safety supervisors in the city of Chicago, the application of this law was brought ivp for discussion, and a canvass of those present indicated that not a single railroad represented at the meeting, was making an effort to enforce its provisions.
Inasmuch as the railroad companies of this country are as vitally in terested. if not more so, Than anyone else in the elimination of gradecrossing accidenis. it seen!! to be a queer condition, indeed, -when they fail to even furnish their moral support in the enforcement of such an excellent law. It is rjuite^understanclable why the public falls to Inter est itself when the railroad companies make no attempt on their part to see that laws in which They are vitally interested are enforced, havts such as the above would prove of wonderful value if enforced, but under present conditions, they are valueless, as far as their immediate value is concerned, although IheyTire an excellent thing to have on our statute books when the time comeSzthat action will be demanded by an outraged public.
We have been installing" at some particularly bad crossings wigwag signals, a signal with which no doubt you are all familiar. The peculiar maneuvers of tills signal_rarely fails to attract the attention of the driver of any vehicle approaching it. and has proved of considerable value iii preventing injuries at crossings where they are located, espe cially among that class offrpeople who are absent minded, or are oblivi ous to their immediate ^surroundings on account of something else occupying their attention. However, these signals have hut very little effect, if any, on that class^known as chance-takers, who regardless of any learning's, are always willing to risk their own judgment and trust to the mechanical perfectness-of their vehicle to carry them to safety.
We have also in a few Instances, at particularly bad crossings where the view is obstructed on account of natural conditions, erected warning signs a few hundred feet-_rom the railroad right-of-way. However, as
Steam Railroad Section
12S1
this is a condition that properly should be -looked after by tlie stas^e authorities, I do not feel that the railroad companies can properly at
tempt to construct and maintain such signs, to say nothing of the necessary expense entailed.
CROSSING GATICS ON 1.0NG ISLAND RAILROAD
I have been tpld that the Long Island has practically solved the propo sition of crossing accidents on that particular road. My information is to the effect that a crossing gateThas been devised, the principal feature of which is a telegraph pole.used as a barrier, -which is lowered on the approach of all trains. I am informed that this arrangement has proven to he very effective in keeping vehicles off the track until the train has passed, for the reason that the barrier is of sufficient strength to wreck the machine or vehicle, and prevent Its passage. This method, no doubt, ~ would prove effective in thickly-populated districts, where of a necessity crossing watchmen or towermen are stationed at all- crossings, but of course would have no effect at Tither points. A similar arrangement could be used to advantage in our cities as it is a daily occurrence for drivers of automobiles to drive through the present gate maintained by the Company I am representing. jjiuch drivers seem to have no respect either for gates or flagman, as twice recently flagmen who were endeavor ing to perform their duties and ^attempting to save the driver of an oncoming machine from his ownrfolly have been deliberately run over and seriously injured.
There is a factor in the automhbile world that is actually assisting to better present conditions. I refer to the various automobile clubs and organizations. Most of these bodies are fully aware of the seriousness ' of the situation, and are endeavoring `in every possible way to impress upon their membership the necessity of using care. These bodies have also erected at their own expense thousands of warning signs and have distributed tons of literature. Xo Tloubt their influence has had a won derful hearing, nevertheless they have not as yet solved. the problem. However, they are worthy of our msst serious cooperation, and we should assist them with every means at our command.
kuccate tttf: pvulic
Another feature that has been overlooked is the publicity end. We take up our morning paper and read that some unfortunate individual has been killed at a grade crossing and the subject immediately escapes us, and is forgotten. We consider it as an incident in the country's affairs and let it go at that. If we could furnish the daily papers with well written articles at different times, TO be published as a news item, set ting forth the needlessness of such accidents, their great number, and the methods' to be pursued in theirDrevention, I feel satisfied that such a procedure could not fail to make- an impression upon the public and assist in crystallizing sentiment. :z-
Some one has well said that "The public school is the hope of the future." Such a statement is true, to a large extent, in the elimination
12*2
Kif/hth Saft'tf/ Oottgroxx
of carelessness of oUF future citizens if proper methods are employed to
influence the young,and plastic mind. I know of no better opportunity
to advance the interests of Safety than in our schoolrooms. I feel sure
that when the day comes that Safety will be made a part of the curricu
lum we will notice a great falling off in the number of personal injuries
suffered unnecessarily. This is true with respect to the highway-cross
ing proposition, the same as in industry. Form careful habits in youth,
and they will remain with you throughout life. In this connection we
have been advancing Safety in the public schools, served by the lines I
represent, at every point- and upon all occasions possible. In f/.ct, we
have been so successful that we were able to persuade the great com
monwealth of Indiana to incorporate a course of study, devised by us,
in their teachers' manual, to be made a part of the curriculum. We are
also meeting with considerable encouragement at all other points and
our safety agents finite frequently address large bodies of teachers or
school children.
To my mind education is the great feature in the prevention of cross
ing accidents. Laws^have proven inadequate. All other means have
either been total failures or only partially successful. Our hope lies in
the education of the public, backed by proper laws that are vigorously
enforced, both by railroad companies and public officials. We will never
be entirely free from such accidents until the grade . crossings are
entirely eliminated, which will be at some distant date in the future.
However, it Is my belief that by a proper consideration of the principles
1 have enunciated in otitis paper, and a serious attempt to apply them,
we will be able to make a wonderful reduction in this distressing class of accidents. We should keep the subject before the public and continue
to prod its sleeping form until the great body is fully awakened to its
responsibility and duty, after -which, I am sure, that adequate action
will be taken successfully to meet the situation.
CitAiuMAx Buodkrictc:
Gentlemen, you have heard the interesting
paper prepared by MeReynolds. We are quite anxious that some of
the other members here give us the benefit of then* experience in this
line. Will some member please start this discussion?
Mu. :IIisu.vxa.v Mr. Reynolds spoke of the crossing gates that had been
devised by the T.ong Island Railroad. Mow the safety organization has
recommended that welsadopt those gates for general use where it is
possible to n:=e them because wo have only five hundred miles of railroad.
We have to take cars' of nearly 500,000 automobiles. registered in the
state of Mew York besides the visitors coming in to see us. Of 371 cases
of grade-crossing accidents for the year ending September last, we had
35>3 that ran through the gates. A number were run down while crossing
man stood there. Thermly way to do is to put something there to stop
the machine.
The majority of people who drive cars don't drink to excess. They
didn't do it even beforSEthe 2.75 limit was put on.
During the war, men from Camp Mills and Camp Humphries and some
of the aviation camps driving these big army trucks would drive right
Steam Hailroad Section
I2*:i
on when they were In a hurry.- Several trucks have been smashed and
a few men killed. Some of the accidents can be excused because they
happened at night and they didn't know there was a grade crossing
there.
~
Mr. H. E. Megi.v.vess (Pennsylvania Lines West): I can't help but
feel that one of the greatest, if not the greatest, weapons we have be
fore us today to fight this enenly of carelessness is through our schools.
Since I have been identified with the Safety Department of the Penn
sylvania .Lines West, I have done considerable work in the schools. As
Mr. Reynolds mentioned in his paper, we have been able to get the
schools of Indiana to print in their annual for the instruction of teach
ers, a course of study In accident prevention from the first to the eighth
grade.
"
I didn't knovr just how to git it to the parochial schools, so by in
quiring of a friend, I found that all of the parochial schools in a certain
Sisterhood were taken care of hy the Sisters of St. Mary of the Woods,
Terre H^ute, Indiana, and by calling at that school and explaining to
them wn-at we were trying to do. I .was asked by the Sister in charge
to come to that school and give^the Sisters, who would be there at the
summer normal course, a talk on safety and she assured me that they
would put the safety course of study in their schools. I had the pleas
ure, one evening, of addressingreight hundred teachers of that Order
and those Sisters are teaching safety, to 25,000 school children in their
schools between Chicago and Boston. This Sisterhood teaches in a dis
trict which covers the area between Chicago and Boston. In addition
to 'that, I was asked to come this Fall and talk safety to the pupils of
St. Mary's School. St. Mary's School is a school for girls, and the Sister
told me she thought a safety talk would help them considerably.
Mr. e. M. Switzeh (Chicago, ^Burlington & Quincy Railroad): We
must get more publicity. It is a^Ierious matter and the most Immediate
publicity we can get is through the local newspapers. I don't mean, the
big city newspapers. I mean the country newspapers. We all have hun
dreds of them along our line. There is a man on my staff, a safety agent,
or safety inspector, as we call him, who lias a knack at writing and who
lias been around to the local newspapers on our lines and he is able to
get an editorial in any of those papers any time he makes a visit. We
had ^editorials, I think, in all of^our papers. Now I don't know how
much publicity that gets but it certainly must get a great deal.
You might think that the publicity that Is given every time one of
these horrible accidents happens ought to serve the purpose but It
doesn't because the newspaper reporters, in reporting an accident, do not
print the true cause, and the impression is very often left that the acci
dent wouldn't have happened had the railroads elevated their tracks
or put their tracks In subways oYjdone something else that they didn't
do. The underlying fact that the automobilist was careless and did
not stop, look, and listen, is passed over.
I would like to suggest that all the railroads take this matter in hand
and go at it something in the way=we have gone at it. The amount of
publicity that you would get would be tremendous. You would have
.12*4
E igh Ui. Sa/e t y C a ng reus
no difficulty ai all in getting local newspaper editors to publish an ar
ticle either as a news item or as an editorial. You will find, that those
men are very glad to get an article of that sort and they will be glad to
cooperate in so important a movement.
'~
I would like ta-propose that we get busy and get some more publicity on automobile highway crossings.
Ms. 75. S. ChaCTS (Pennsylvania Railroad): One thing which has im pressed me in studying grade-crossing accidents, is the fact-that when
grade-crossing sighs are erected they are put right on the right-of-way along side the erasing. Now we know when we put block signals on. our railroads, we place those signals so that a man seeing one would
have time to stopl" before he got to the danger point, and I believe the
signs should he such that they could be seen at night. Mi:. .7. O. Kmuii:ii (CJ. C- & S. Fe): I would like to state that we have
on a campaign in the state of Texas for the prevention of automobile ac
cidents. We have^had sent out 335,000 letters to individual automobile
owners. This letter is sent by the Texas Automobile Dealers' Associa tion. It states the number of accidents and solicits support for the pre vention of these accidents. This same letter is being sent to the various
states in the South western region. There has also been appropriated SI0.000 for the Southwestern region for newspaper publicity--full page
in the form of advertising. We feel that a great deal of good will be
accomplished by this.
Mis. Wt-:ni:: I want to agree with Mr. Switzer in what he said a while ago. We tried that editorial proposition and we only had one incident
where we had any difficulty at all. My experience lias been, in all the country papers thalTIf the editorial is made live reading, they are glad to get It. We did That from one end of our lines to the other and right now we are in the middle of a campaign which I believe has wonderful
possibilities in it.
About a week ago we put out a letter personally addressed and per sonally signed. IJBrst got the names of all the clergymen on the lines
that I have the hoifor to be associated with and then I signed these let ters myself and sent them to the clergymen. The answers that X have
received are absolutely wonderful.
One great preacher in New Orleans, who has the largest Sunday school
in that territory. tZDd us he was not only going to preach, a sermon on
that subject but UeNvas going to lay it before his Bible class and follow it up in every way he could: that he was with us heart and soul.
The response of Jjie ministers to that appeal has been marvelous. We
have learned that the personally addressed and signed circular going to
the men as a letter will bring results.
Mr. Axdersox: IE the Southern region we inaugurated a very unique
scheme by getting^Jlie interest of the ministers in this grade-crossing
proposition. Possibly some of you have heard of the success of some
of the lines in the~Soutlier region. When I have finished X would like you. to call on some of the gentlemen' here who represent lines in
the Southern regioirund let them tell yon of their experience in this cam
Stcatn Railroad Section
I2sr>
paign. We also have a grade-crossing committee, ut* which Mr. Beatty of the Southern Railroad IDT Chairman. If he happens to be in the room
I would like him to say ^something as to the activities of that com
mittee and just what they have in view and what they are going to do
In the way of handling publicity towards the grade-crossing proposition In the Southern region. "
I would like you, Mr.^Chairman, to call on Mr. Robert Scott of the Atlantic Coast Cine, one of the roads that conducted the minister
campaign, and I believe he^Wili tell you that it was very successful. CiiAiitMAy Bhooeiuck: Mr. Scott, will you enlighten us on that?
Me. Scott: I addressed a personal communication to between 4,500
and 5,000 ministers along our line of road, and it was a startling revela tion to me to find how these men, engaged in a pursuit so entirely dif ferent from ours, so readily responded to this cause.
In addition to calling upon, the ministers, we gave all of our activities
along that line as much publicity as we could through the newspapers. Mr. Switzef referred to the~ country newspapers. We found these pub lications very anxious to ggj our copy. They wanted something to put tn. their papers that would be of interest to their readers and we had no difficulty a.t all in getlinglhem to publish everything we sent them.
Mb. Wedu: I would just like to read for the benefit of the gentlemen
present this particular letter from a minister:
"My dear Sir:
,
"Your letter of the twentieth is very much out of the ordinary. It is
at once official, brotherly, and instructive.
"Bike every other pastor, during the last two years, I have received an immense volume of mailjfrom various official sources requesting me
to do my part in putting overdrives. To all of those I have tried to re
spond as best I could, not torneglect the essentials of a divine calling.
"You are the first man to get right down by my side and discuss things
in the real phase of life.
^
"Very unfortunately I havefbut little success with that class of people
with whom you are most concerned. As a rule, the very same automo bile which carries people to death and destruction on your tracks, car ries those people out joyridinirat the preaching hour on Sunday morning.
"Only a few days ago I was sitting by my window where I had a full view of the crossing. The fast train at noon was running in from the West. There was not even a freight car on the road; there was not anything to obstruct an open View of two hundred yards down the liue, yet two men in an automobfIe,rushed onto the track right in front of the engine and were knocked off.
"I willjhe glad at any time to receive your letters and help you all X
can."
That is typical of the letters we have received. The original has only been out some four daysjX.
Mit. Axderbox: Any one who would like to get a copy of the letters that we have issued to the ministers, can secure these by writing to me or to Mr. Scott.
12St>
Eighth Safe iff ('ongrcss
Mb. Webb: We would like to add that for the Southwestern region and we recommend that some of the things-we have down there would do some good.
-Mb. W. J. Obk (Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo Railroad): I want to endorse what the gentleman said here in regard to signs being always near the crossing. I wish to say that some years ago our traffic man ager, Mr. Martin, suggested that they should be placed a distance from the track. We find that has been done in some cases. N'oiv he wants me to suggest having a board or a mark of some kind put across the road way so an automobile coining down a. side street might see it. Recently we had a young hoy killed coming from the side street and crossing over our tracks. He should not have crossed there, of course, but he came down there and ran in front of a' passenger train and was killed. The Ontario Safety League sent a moving-picture man down there to make a picture of how the accident occurred. A boy took the 1 place of the boy who -was killed and rams far as he could that the engine wouldn't hit him and then they put aTlummy tip there and the engine came along and ran over the dummy. Those pictures are going to be shown in our schools around in Hamilton and other places, and, of course, in Hamilton the hoys all know this particular place and we believe it will be a source of profitable education.
Jin. JSei.i.: I just want to say a word in regard to the matter of loco motives giving proper signals. I have iu mind the engineer sounding the whistle nine seconds fronTTtlie time he starts to sound it at the whistling post until he gets through, on the theory that any one near the crossing Will be bound to hear itr^:
Mr. J. A. Peabody, signal engineer for tbe Chicago and Northwestern Railroad, has come to our meeting to gather what information of value he could, and like all Northwestern men, it is rather difficult to get liim on his feet but I believe Jie would be very happy to tell you some of the things he has learned in listening to this very interesting discussion.
ALk. J. A. Pkabouv (Chicago & North Western Railroad): Perhaps, first, from a signal standpoint you would be interested in my viewpoint, or lack of viewpoint at tlie present time because I haven't got my views in proper shape yet as tOL what should be done in the protection of a crossing. Some one here has already spoken about an approaching signal or advance signals to a crossing. That has been called to my attention several times and I rather ^Opposed it, and when so stating I want you to understand that a crossing bell or a wigwag at a distance from the cross ing, it seems to me, is aZvery good thing. You can place that at the crossing and still give the indication at. a distance of two hundred feet, which is ample as a ^general proposition. I believe the wigwag has come nearer giving such information at crossings where they are very busy or in the vicinity oflfowns. The bell is not a good protection be cause with our larger andlinelosed automobile it is almost impossible to hear it until you are very"close to it and even then, bundled up in the winter time,and in the closed cars, it is doubtful very often if it is heard at all. In order to be econtsfhical in our expenditures, I feel that we very
S leant Ilaiiroad Section
1287
often install but one signal wigwag or bell at a crossing instead of two.
That is particular^ true where a crossing is at an angle to the railroad.
We could well afford to puFThc extra money In for two.
This point Of education-by publicity or through the schools has at
tracted ray attention a ^great deal. I have jheard, and I think it
must be true, that prohibition was brought about largely through educa
tion in the schools and Sufflay schools. I don't think that fact has been
brought out very clearly as a general proposition, but I do believe it is
a general fact and it has taken nearly two generations to accomplish it.
Now on the Long Island Railroad they installed these poles. .1 went
down there some four or five years ago to look at the first crossing that
was so installed and they had a barber pole effect which has since been
adopted all over the country and everybody in that region knew that
those poles were there and they stopped for them. The crossing man told
me that from the time they Were installed to the time I was there, which
was only a short time ago, there had been no crossing accidents, whereas
before they bad been tin able to stop the automobile or the joy-riders.
Now that was fear that caused that: fear of an accident to themselves.
A short time ago I Went out to look at a crossing where it is felt that
more protection should be installed. We had crossing bells and had had
them there for some years. An automobile drove up with ten people in
it, three wome.n and seven children. The crossing bell began to ring and
the women immediately started across the crossing to beat the train.
Now that is madness and nothing else and we have got to cure the peo
ple of that madness.
~
If through publicity we cffn create a public feeling which will cause
our legislators to pass laws Which will require not that the railroads but
that the public prosecutors shall prosecute these who disobey our flagman,
our gates, or our signals, and attach something to it like a good heavy
fine, we possibly will get txbedienee to these things but until then it
looks as though we would not.
Mn. D. K. R.uvr.ixcs (Oregon Short'Line): There was an experiment
conducted on a road in Los Angeles of placing the bell from the track
2~,0 feet. Out of ten passengfFs that came by with their cars, there were
nine, when the bells startedTfc ring, immediately stepped on the gas in
order to beat tile train over.^Tn the month of May, there were 447 gates
broken off on the Southern Pacific. The people come down to the gates
and immediately drive through them. In Corona we had a motorcycle
that tried doing that; this taa was a motor policeman. He rode through
the gates and was killed, breaking off one of the gates. I think the solu
tion is a good heavy pole or afi iron roller gate. They have been trying to invent a roller gate to roll the same as a door.
Mr. Skeud (Rock Island): The Rock Island has not been lax in its
efforts to do something to .prevent such accidents. We have placed
signs, we have, distributed literature and we have done many things to
overcome them along educational lines. We seem to have made appeals
in vain. One of the real satisfactory results, or rather arrangements
that we have is at Cedar Rapids in Iowa, Moline in Illinois, and just re
1288
Eitjhth S'tff (if Conyrcfs
cently in Sallisaw, Oklahoma. We have men on the crossings with, police
authority and we are having very little trouble at Cedar Rapids in par
ticular, and Moline where this arrangement has been in effect for some
time. The crossing meiTat Cedar Rapids and Moline are uniformed men
and given police authority while in the performance of their duty, on the
crossing with power to arrest, and they use it.
The Common Council, of Sallisaw, Oklahoma, have recently enacted an
emergency ordinance limiting the speed of automobiles approaching
crossings in that city
eight miles an hour, giving the crossingmen
police authority and even going further, giving our switchmen police au
thority v.-lille in the performance of their duty, switching and doing other
work on the crossings. I believe therein lies the real solution of a great
deal of trouble. I Curthe?_believe that we should look to our property and
put our crossings in gppd shape. The automobile driver soon learns
where the good or bad--crossings are. I believe there are times if he
knew he could go he would go. If it is rough, he finds it out and natur
ally halts a little. Tlierpld horse and mule would do the same thing
when he came upon tlie hump..
The American Railway Association made certain recommendations re
garding the placing of aitBitional signs. I know I am not alone in the
thought that we. as railroad men should not absolutely advocate that we
go beyond our property ami place signs, and. as the gentleman said, or at
least as I got his meaning, that that should be done by somebody in
authority of the right-of-way of the railroad. I am mighty proud to see
that Illinois has followed-practicallv the recommendation by the special
committee on grade-crossing accidents of the American Railway Associa
tion, and I know the otheif railroads in Illinois have been ordered by the ftililies Commission to place a sign at what they term extra-hazardous
crossings. This sign is TSSated at a point on the public highway desig
nated by the Utilities Commission representatives and a representative
of tiie railroad. It is jusfla half disc containing the word "Stop." The
.law places a penalty on the driver who fails to stop, and then farther
back on the public highway they place a warning sign; that Is a disc
with four sections with "railroad" up in either the right or left hand cor ner. The great trouble is that the law is not enforced. While we are
willing to do everything iiUbur power, it does look a little bit like strain
ing a point when we liave"lo see that the slate of Illinois or any other
stale enforces its railroad laws. While we may have to do that. I am
noL against it. hut Mr. SvvjEzer has a splendid Idea; ho didn't tell it hut
i am going to.
We are going to have a lot of copies of that law printed (of course this
applies only to the state o-Illinols) and circulate those copies generally,
putting them in the hands'gf our agents at various cities and towns along
our big railroad, asking tljsini to get them in the hands of automobile drivers and automobile associations and in the newspapers. I believe
when we do that we ha vesperformed a real service.
When you begin to talk about talking to school children, or any other
children for that matter, you get way down into the depths of the souls of those fellows on'the Rock Island lines who are handling the safety
Steam Railroad Section
12S0
work--myself and my four capable supervisors. There is one'of them in
this room now who has personally talked to upward of a thousand teach
ers assembled by themselves at county conventions and other places, and
between 75,000 and 100,00(E5chool children, and never lost a minute from
his work. His talks were cordially received and later commended.
In some of the schools fin had to ideally break in. In one school, in a
large town on our railroad, the principal said he didn't believe he. needed
him, hut he would let him talk to the small children and hear what he
said and if he liked it he would take him up to the bigger children.
Xow I do not say this pessimistically, but I believe that we need some
thing more than literature, more than preaching, more than personal
appeal to reach the fellow Who, like myself, is controlled by his bad hab
its. He is a speeder and fielis going to remain a speeder until he goes
across one of those telegraph poles unless we do something through bar
riers or legislation to stop It.
My thought is tills: X.et's_put our crossing in the best possible shape
and then we will have done a great service. Our engineers have been
`instructed that in addition to using the regular crossing whistle--2 long
and 2 short blasts--when they see an automobile approaching the cross
ing they sound the slock alarm to give the automobile driver the benefit
of the doubt at least and notuwail, supposing that he is going to stop, be
cause many of our good engineers think that the man will stop when he
will not stop. Our idea is to give him the benefit--what you lawyers
-all (if there arc any lawyers here) "The doctrine of the last clear
chance." You will pardon me if I made a mistake, but unless some Of
you are lawyers you won't know the difference. In other words, we are.
going to carry the burden as Tar as we can and we have asked ourS-^nen
to do it. They will do it all right. We are going to help as far as we can
to carry the burden of the other fellow.
:CiiAiitM.vx Brohkiuck Mr. Fred Custis. of the Chicago Xorthwestern
has requested that this question be presented before the body: "What is
the best method of protecting road crossings at grades and rural dis
tricts, where gates, bells, and other devices are not practical?" Does any one wish to say anything on that point? If not. we will move on to the
next subject.
~T'
Gentlemen, as you all know 'about the National railroad accident pre
vention drive that begins on October 18 and is to continue until October
81, inasmuch as that is a paramount subject at this particular time, we
thought it proper to bring it up before this body, and we are going to
ask Mr. Duffy f.o say a few words on the subject and then invite a general
discussion from'ihe members pTesent.
Mb. Dnrv: I was so gratified with the no-accident prevention drive, first in the Southern country, and later in the Southwestern country, fol
lowed later by the Central and Xorthwestern countries, owing to the good
efforts of you gentlemen in your respective countries, and the great num
ber of lives arid limbs. through_your efforts, that you saved, that I con
ceived the idea of putting on a national railroad accident prevention drive,
and the "Washington office laid their plans before the Director General of
1200
ETyhth .S'ufety Cottr/res.t
Railroads which he approved and sent a letter out to the Regional Direc
tors.
7^
Now, then. Gentlemen,-it is up to you. We have started what has never
been undertaken in this, or any other country--one of the largest safety
drives. The whole nation will be stirred by your personal efforts, and I
have abiding faith, in every one of you good fellows whom I have met
at the various meetings TLbave had the pleasure to attend. I feel that T
have made no mistake; that even though you may not be first, you may
not be second, you may not be third, you may be seventh In the race,
but when you are all through with your best efforts, I am satisfied that
not one of you is going^to renege blit will give every cooperation that
lies in your bodies.
I might say that we have written to the forty-eight governors of the
states and we have a reply from each and every one of them that they are
going to give 11s their earnest cooperation. Some of them have sent men
to Washington, and other governors have men on the way. to confer with
us in what way they may be of assistance to us. so you can rest
assured, as far as the Washington office is concerned we have done our duty. Now, boys, I knowjyou are going to do yonrs.
Chairman "TIBkoukkick: am sure you have all listened with a good deal of interest to whit Mr. Duffy said about the national drive. We would like to hear from some of the members as to how they think the
most gratifying results jgsuld be obtained in conducting this drive. I
think it would be useful and helpful to all of us.
Mr. Switxkr: Before lee do that, Mr. Duffy has asked for our coopera
tion, our enthusiastic cooperation. May X not express the opinion of this
whole section to Mr. Duffy that he will have that cooperation? Chairman Bkoukkick : tflVe will give a rising vote of evidence to that. (The audience arose.!
Chaikm'an' BttonrcmcK:
want some of the members present to give us
their views now as to how they are going to conduct this campaign in their particular territories
Mn. S. M. Gai.aty (Chicago & Northwestern): There is one matter I wanted to bring up here in connection with this drive and that is it
seems to me if we are all going to do our best that we need all the assist ance we can get; all the /publicity that we can get.
The thought occurred tiTme while Mr. Duffy was speaking of the gov
ernors, if it wouldn't be: possible to get the President of the United
States to issue a proclamation, calling the attention of the country to
what we are going to dozahd asking the people for assistance. The gov
ernors might do the same in their respective states.
Chairman :Bkookiuck ~=ioxi have all heard the suggestion made by Mr. Galoty. Does any one wloit to second that and put it in the form of a
motion?
(The motion was seconded by Mr. Herrington.)
Chairman Brodkhick: You have heard the suggestion and it has been seconded that the President of the United States issue a proclamation ask
ing for the assistance of the whole country in putting forth this great
Steam Railroad Section
1291
undertaking: of the national railroad accident drive In order to make It an unqualified success. -=
11k. H. M. Mayo (Southern Pacific Lines): Mr. Chairman, the ques tion arises -whether the resolution' should go from here to the President or whether we should not take it for granted that the representative of the President, the Director General, who has already taken action in the matter, would be sufficient.
.Mr. Gautv: I might say that my idea for that would be to have it transmitted in the form of a motion to the Director General and the President and have a proclamation issued in a formal way.
Mr. Cariiow: That is perfectly proper, Mr. Duffy has heard the request, and he will take the proper and immediate action to get a proclamation from the Director Generali
Chairman- Broderick: ~Arvy further discussion on that subject? Will some of the members present give us their views about how they are going to conduct this ^campaign? Mr. Mayo: It is possible'that I may voice the views of a great many of the people here in suggesting that they do not like to divulge the methods that they are going to put into effect because each line is practically going to make an effort to get the high point in this contest and they may not want to give away their thunder. That might be a rather selfish way of looking at the situation. So far as our region is concerned, our cards are on the table. We would be glad to tell yon everything we have done and everything we propose, to do, but I am' merely suggesting that it may be embarrassing to have figured out a splendid scheme for getting the first place in this campaign, and then to be called upon to cough It up. Mr. J. B. Robinson (Southern Railroad): It may be that some of our brother workers have thunder up tlieir sleeves but I don't think it Is the right spirit for any safety-worker to have anything under cover. If I have an idea you are all welcome, to it. I wish I had a whole lot of them. Mr. Switzer: Mr. Chairman, I don't think any of us are trying to con ceal anything, while we all'jvant to be first, we are willing to let anybody use anything that we can use. and if you are interested, I am perfectly willing to say what we are going to do and what we have already done on the C. B. & Q. Railroad.
We have a letter from the regional directors announcing the no-acci dent drive, and we have a letter from our Federal Manager announcing it. I have a letter from Our General Manager announcing it; so it has plenty of authority back of it. I liave drafted a letter, which our General Manager signed, addressed Tto officers and employees, making the an nouncement and asking faETtlie cooperation of all. That has gone out and has also been posted everywhere we have safety bulletin boards in every section tool house, round house, freight house, etc. That will be Col'owed bv another letter which has been drafted and which the General Manager has signed, addrelled to the man in charge, asking, and even directing, that they shall give their cooperation in making this a success and pointing out how impPFtant every individual man in charge Is to the success of this movement. That letter will go to all officers, fore-
1292
Eifjhth Safety Conyrt-ss
men, conductors, locomotive engineers, section foremen, and to every man
who has charge of othensren, and attached to that is a receipt which the
man in charge will sign'and return so that we will know that no man in
charge of other men has-been overlooked. That is the method we used
last time. It was very effective. Now that puts It up to the Officers and
foremen.
32
The whole scheme is tbjput this thing up to the man in charge of the
work. That was successful before and I believe it will be again.
Mr. J. C. Ce.auk: Coming from a region that has made the best record
so far in 110-accident drives and representing the road that secured record
No. I in that region, I want to say just a word. You can put out all the
bulletins and circulars arid everything else of that nature that you want
to and they will do good, I believe, in advertising, hut in order to make
a success of a drive or to3hake a success of safety work in any way, you
have to get right down anil work. You have to get out among the men,
get the cooperation of every officer, every employee on the road. You
can't do that by written words. You have to get out .and do it by personal
contact with the men andl believe firmly that the organization that can get right down to the men, secure their interest and their cooperation,
is the one that is going td win first place In the`coming accident-preven
tion drive.
__
Mr. Rowe (Lackawanna): We, in addition to the things which Mr.
Switzer lias spoken about---having letters written by the Federal Manager
to beads of employees, etc,, have required that from the Federal Manager
down, every supervising officer, etc., must call in at a special meeting all
employees under his jurisdiction and give them a personal talk upon the
safety drive. We believe that the personal contact is absolutely necessary.
We are going to have over 700 preachers along the Lackawanna Rail
road preach at least one sSfmton, many of whom have promised to do so;
we are publishing editorials in out' newspapers along our line, we are
calling noonday meetings mf all our employees wherever twenty-five or
more men can be gathered? together, we are advertising a special train
to run over the entire system, ours being only a thousand mile system,
that train being composecLof a suitable number of cars properly deco
rated with advertising, we?IEre going to have a brass band upon the train,
we are'going to have somafgood speakers who can talk for two minutes Cl don't know whether I am in that class or not. I will be told very soon),
and we are going to do everything possible to bring out the interest of the
people in our community.
Mr. Fred Meyers: I might tell you a few things the Wabash intends
to do in reference to carrying on this drive. As Mr. Switzer stated, we
have out letters from our General Manager., the superintendent of motive power, the superintendentSof maintenance of way. asking the men for
their cooperation. In addition to that, we have issued a number of press
notices to he published in all the papers along our line every three days,
beginning about October 5r--We have already secured the active coopera
tion of the preachers and jwe have set aside Sunday, October 19, for a
sermon on safety in all the churches. In addition to that, we have pro
dteani Hailroad Section
329:5
vided the celluloid buttons for 11 the employees. We are not going to
hold any rallies but we are going to hold noonday shop meetings in all
our principal shops and local division points. We have already circu
larized the membership of the various organizations and those gentlemen
have responded most heartily, saying they would give their active sup
port and the question of safety would be discussed thoroughly, and par
ticularly this drive, at all lodged meetings that are to be held up until
that time and during that period.
We have also arranged to putZout a train order daily to all transpor
tation employees, a different order will be issued at twelve o'clock every
night and the enginemen and trainmen have been requested, after they
have read this order, to throw it off to section men. We hope, gentlemen,
to make 100 per cent.
XOc. Mrrcirm.r.: Our policy is going to be to reach every individual em
ployee to make him realize his obligation to assume his responsibility for
that period. We have started very much on the lines outlined by Mr. Switzer. The Federal Managerjas put out a circular letter that has
been sent to every officer, employee and assistant. We are going to see
that it reaches every one of thern^and then we are going to follow it up
through the heads of each department clear down through and see that
those policies are In force.
Mk. Richards (North Western) : Now you have beard about the many things that are going to bervLone. Our new Chairman has told us
what they are going to do on the Wabash. We are going to do all those
things, including the furnishing of celluloid buttons to every employee
on the system, but it seems to me the place to start the drive, the'way we
are going to start it, is to hold meetings in the various states in which we run, have every superintendent, master mechanic, division engineer,
foreman, trainmaster, and men that have supervision over men get their
employees together and tell them what we want to do so that everybody
will have a good start and understand the theory upon which this drive is going to be carried and then to get them to go home and carry the
message and see if they cannot bring out the results that are 'wanted.
One of the things we are going to furnish them at that drive is the
statement of the accidents that oiraurred in their territory during the same period in 1918, and also a statement showing the accidents by divi
sion and occupation during the naccident week drive so that they will
know exactly what they are up agSIhst, how many accidents they had be
fore and what they have to do to improve their record. We are also going
to send to every supervising officer on the railroad, a letter from the Cen
tral Safety Committee callingi attention to the matter, and also letters to
every member of every safety committee on the road.
Mr. Siiedo (Rock Island) : I think most of us, at least, are going to do
the same thing. The first thing wtare going to do is to follow out the
wishes and the outline of the organization. I take it from Mr. Duffy's cir
cular that he wants us to put our awn initiative into the drive as far as
possible and not expect some one Mb outline It and hand it to us. We
12?H
Eighth Safety Congress
are going to carry iu out the same as we did before. We were not first, nor seventh, but werflid a good job.
We are going to get the greatest publicity possible. Ovir General Man ager has already issued a circular, a personal letter I should say, in structing the men who are in charge of men to go out Avithout delay and
explain the movement, the idea and the desire to them. We want 100 per cent and we are going to try for it. We are going to reach the preachers, the school children and everybody else. We are going to lay a special emphasis o:ff getting Bill either by the hand or by the nose and get something into his head from our head by coming in personal contact just as far as possible. We expect to have a good record.
Mh. Stonk (Brie Railroad) : 1 am proud to say that our organization at the present time is very enthusiastic about the drive. We are going to conduct our safety drive along the same principles that we have con ducted them in the last six months and we have had a record second to none of any road in our Eastern region. Our method of conducting drives is to select men for our committeemen who are practical and who are men that have aLbearing -with their fellowmen.
M.it. Staui.ks (Southern Railway): Did I understand Mr. Meyers to say he is going to issue a safety bulletin in the form of a nineteen order?
Hit. Mkykhs: Yes. _
.'lit. Sto.vk: Don't-von think there is an element of danger there?
Mu. Micynus: Absolutely not. Bo you think the same of a slow order? 'in. Pirn-a: Ghwmk TUnion Pacific): Xlie Union Pacific Bine, I believe, was second in the Central Western region in the last drive and we are going to hold all our safety committee meetings, forty-eight in all, before this drive comes off. --We will hold meetings in all our shops and in all our terminals where the master mechanic, general supervisor, and super visor of motive power"wiIl address the men. We are going to try to get in touch with every man. The trackmen are an element nobody seems to think much about hut we are sending our general road master over the line to talk to every action foreman and every lineman in the track gang and also the bridge gtlng. We are reaching everybody and I am going
to serve notice cn these men from other regions that when the vote is
counted you will hear from the Central Western region as in the first
rank.
"~
Mu. R.wvi.i.vos: During the last drive we went ever the entire system
with motor cars of the Salt Lake. Los Angeles, and V.vegon Short Line and
we got in touch with every man on the road, the station agents and all
the section men and in this drive we have the cooperation of the superin
tendent. the trainmaster, and the master mechanic and we are going to
take the inspection carTmcl go over the entire line and stop and talk with
every man we come tor on tlie riglit-of-way. We also have a number of
stickers that we are placing on every letter that leaves the office, and we
have bulletins besidesjtlie Xational Safety Council bulletins which will be
posted during that week.
x
.'lit. J. A. Mc.Nhi.r.Y ("Wabash Railroad) : I see a. chance to slip over two
extra minutes. The hois just sat down and they cut him pretty short. I
Stem)! I!nilrotul Svcfiun
12!>r.
. wauc to say. that the Wabash Railroad is going to do something this time
that we did before, that is we blow the whistle for a period of one
minute at the shops and it caulSs the people to wonder what it is and
when they ask questions they soon find out what it is for. It is a daily reminder to the employees.
We have the superintendent dTmotive power issue instructions to the
master mechanic and shop superintendents to hold a daily inspection of
tools in the shop, not only previous to the no-accident drive but all the
time, and we have men going over the road on motor cars making talks to the section men along the Iihlfand we have also taken it up with the
automobile drivers of the country by having posters made and placing
them in the garages and other places, and there is one other thing we are
going to do. We are depending on the women to help us out in this no-accident drive. We are going'into their lodges and auxiliaries, telling
them the object of this drive.. TnPview of the fact that the Interstate Com
merce Commission are showing 'that 27 per cent of the accidents are
caused by quarrels in the family "before the man leaves, 'we are trying to
get these w'omen to follow the old proverb, "Always leave them laughing
when you say, "Goodbye.'*' Thai is what we are getting into the safety movement on the Wabash; we are^going after the women. God bless them
and help them always.
Jilt. Is.vlAir Hai.k (A. T. & S.
K.) : With the possible exception of
the special train and the brass hand. I do not know of anything that has
been spoken of here as being under- way or going to be undertaken that
the Santa Fe is not going to undertake. We expect to make.: some noise
working cn this drive on the theory that "the wheel that does the squeak
ing is the wheel that gets the grease."
.Mr.1 AXiikkson: I want heartily to endorse what Mr. Richards, of the North Western Railroad has said about having meetings of heads of de
partments and their subordinates! Start it right. That is one of the
fundamental and most importanflhings to do. Now the point I want
to bring out that has not been touched upon is this: If you all recall tho man who served at our Section last year, whoever >he was. got up And
made a talk to you all and. he appealed for a clean-up week. I want t->
say to you if you want to get: reUTresults in this campaign, have your
clean-up -week just prior to your national railroad acrident-prevention
drive and then when you begin talking and preaching safety to the men
in the yards ami on the line of roads, you have something to show their,
in the way of clean yards, clean rights-of-way. and clean shops.
Mit. Aktiii*i: Kikkkmiai.i. (RegfOiial Supervisor of Safety. Allegheny Region): We have had many exuBples of publicity during the last year
or two, more than we have ever had in the history of the world, through
these campaigns that were conduct!. During the war ail the literature
put out by the Red Cross. Liberty Loans, etc., wouldn't have gotten them very far. in accomplishing What they intended to if they hadn't
gotten right down on the ground__Lo the man. They got hold of them individually and talked to them. Some men said, "I can't buy a bond."
hut through a little persuasion ami explaining the matter to them they
3 206
Eighth Safety Congress
bought bonds and they got away with it. We can do the same thing in
this safety campaign; tell the men right on the ground what we want
them to do and enlist their cooperation and we can get that cooperation
in any degree and I=5m sure the results will surprise us.
Mu. Brennan: Irani impressed with the remarks of track conditions.
I might say that on The Long Island we have been having mid-day dis
cussions, with moving pictures fas a great number of our track men. are
Italians and not familiar with the English language) on track conditions.
We are circularizing all the churches and schools, and the Genera! Man
ager is sending outJCo every employee in the service a letter enclosing
the celluloid button and we are going to go on driving with every possible
effort. We have a small road' and we hope to get good results.
II*. T. F. Barry OCTiicago Junction R. R.): In connection with our
activities in the no-accident campaign we have shown our employees that
they are in the right place by starting a clean-up campaign. In two
weeks we loaded, up X00 carloads of dirt from our right-of-way and it was
stilt going on when Lieft.
.Mis. H. M. Hawks Clinion Pacific) : 1 speak as an employee. The way to put this drive over is~to show these men you are going to do something,
none of this camouflage. 1 have heard agents get up in here and say their
roads are perfect and representatives have told me that the conditions are
rotten. Clean up yOUT own back yard and then look at your neighbors.
Mi:. F. C. H on ter I Union Pacific): I believe it is the duty of every
safety man and every 'safety committeeman to see that his house, as far
as safety is concerned"; is clean at all times. I fear that our committees
are not doing what they should Tor themselves, l.et us watch that condi
tion and impress lipmrour committees that they must have a clean house.
I know my friend.ZHawes, is not talking about the Union Pacific at Council Bluffs. We have called attention to transfer lines not receiving
the attention that they should and if any of the directors of safety on
those roads have received those suggestions I hope that they will get
busy in order that wezrnay maintain our organization in its full capacity
on our line.
-~=
Chaikmax Broderick": The time is getting very short and we have sev
en! 1 more subjects to discuss. The discussion of, "How to induce mem
bers of Safety Committees to report unsafe practices among employees"
is next. Won't someone start the ball rolling?
now ro i.vnrci: mi.mnicks ok safety committees to report uxsafe practices
AMONG KMPIJ)YKKs
)lii. Prank E. Oi.ps'TEl'nion Pacific) : Now you are getting into a ques tion iliat deserves n lot of attention from the most conservative members of this organization. *Ulow to get employees to report unsafe practices among employees?" That sounds like you are going to jeopardize some man's position in Ira iff service. Those things have taken a great deal of my attention. I haven't reported many a man but have personally con sulted and talked and pleaded with him and tried to teach and show him
$tC(L>n h'n ih'Or/`f Sn-ttrrti
12!>7
the necessity of not practicing what he was doing, such as sitting on the brake staff and doing oilier things which we all know are very dan gerous and hazardous. I have done that to no avail and I have felt at
times in my own heart thatrsueli a man is a detriment, not only to my organization, but to the railroad that is advocating safety first and to
competent employees. What can you do with those men? You know they are unsafe and not competent and you can plead with them until the
dawn of day, finally you will see them with a foot off or a hand off, or they have fallen and broken their back or their leg.
It seems to me that the operating officials of the different roads should, in some way, take those men, after their examination is over and they are entitled to receive their^switclikev and their book of rules, and give them a Idiison upon those unsafe practices which they are bound to go
out and commit immediately in order to class themselves as old-timers or as old-lieads.
I would like to hear from somebody on this who has had more railroad experience than I.
Mb. Wk.niiixl H. Stii.i.wkiJT tChicago. Rock Island & Pacific Railroad > :
We^ have no trouble whatever to get employees to report unsafe practices
on the part of other employees. The committeemen come to the meeting
and do not hesitate to say,-^i saw John Brown yesterday riding on the
pilot step of a locomotive, contrary to the instructions, and I talked to
him about it and I saw hinr^o it again this morning: now I think you
should talk to him."
~
We work along those linecand we don't have any trouble because they know it is,all done for safety^first. They are not going to be disciplined but they are going to be talked to.
Mb. Orb: Every fireman and. every brakeman employed come to me for instructions in safety first. We have first aid boxes on all our trains and
they are instructed in the use of those boxes.
Chairmax Broijkkick: subject?
HalTany other member anything to say on that
Mb. Mayo: We have fouSH a great deal of difficulty on our lines to secure reporting practices by members of safety committees. However we are getting by that to a very large extent by providing each member of the safety committee with, two forms which lie uses each month. This
form is a record of what the^ndividual committeeman accomplishes dur ing the month. They give a?Tecord of the unsafe practices of employees during the month. They domot furnish the name, we do not care about
that. . They report somethingHike this: "Saw a brakeman kicking draw bar over with foot. Cautioned him. Promised he would not do it again." That is merely an illustration of the manner in which these forms
are used and they are bringing to us practices that we never would have
gotten any other way.
i
Mb. V. M. Packwood (Wabash) : Now my experience along that line in getting men to turn one another in has been a pretty hard proposition.
We carry no discipline whatever. Whenever I catch a man doing an unsafe thing I turn in a safety card and the superintendent will write
129S
Kiyhth ^ufctu Coiigrcss
that man a letter. In that way we are advertising to those men that there is no discipline and it is not held against them.
Cii.wit.MAX Bitoni-'itiCK: It there is no further discussion on this sub ject we w ill pass to the next. "Best method of conducting `No-Accident' Campaigns. Should train accidents be included?"- Will some one start the discussion?
I'.UNI \l KT lion OK OINlim I N<; "No AffinKNT" CAMl'All'.NS
I might say that the B. &~V>. has conducted, what we term, no-accident campaigns. One is going ojllriglit now. It started on July 15 and will terminate on October 15. We are including in that campaign, accidents
of all characters with the exception of injuries to what is designated as other person's injuries. As you all know, railroads don't have full con trol over accidents happening to other persons. We are not including accidents of that class in the totals but we are including wbat are com monly known as train accidents and a train accident is charged when tiie wreck train is called oiiJt help put things right. If the wreck train is not called out, then it is Ttot classed as a train accident. With those train accidents we are also including the casualties to employees.
Tim Eastern lines conducted a similar campaign which ran for three months and terminated on ZSugust 31. In both cases the results have been very gratifying.
'Hie last report of the Western lines that I received before leaving Baltimore, as of SeptemberTS), the last record made up, showed that of all those accidents, train accidents as well as accidents to employees, they had a reduction of fifty-nine and seven-tenths per cent compared with the same period of last year. That is conducted on the basis of gross ton mileage for the period of thlsJyear compared with last year, and the divi sion making the best improvement will get the pennant flag that will be offered as a prize in addiiiomo a dinner that will be given to one hun dred employees from the division winning that particular prize. Those one hundred employees will be arrived at by selecting thirty-three em ployees from the maintenance of way department, the maintenance of equipment and the transportation department, and the division officers and the, general officers will be invited to be present. It has caused a great deal of rivalry. The divisions are on their tip-toes and endeavoring to win llie prize and make the best showing.
That is what we have done and if any oilier roads have had similar ex perience we will be glad to hear from them.
If there is no discussion onlhe subject, of course, we will pass it along and go to the next one.
Mr. andkissox: R jgardingHthe question, "Should train accidents be included?" I believe the Railroad Administration means personal in juries and casualties and train accidents.
Citatum ax Buomkiucic: Oflcourso, if it is a personal injury as a re sult of a train accident, that Would be included, but of course there are a lot of train accidents wherecfhere are no personal injuries involved.
Steam Railroad Section
1299
Mr. H. A. Adanis: Ho733understand that you mean by accidents: One wreck, two wrecks, three wrecks, etc.
Ceairmax Broderick: 31 mean where the wreck train is called out to
clear it up.
7
Mr. H. A. Adams: The question was whether or not that should be in cluded in computing this no-accident campaign.
Chairman Broderick: "Ts'ot in this particular campaign. It wasn't in
tended to apply that way.
AIr. W'err: I personally do not think the train-wreck accidents would
come within the original scope of this thing.
Chairman: Broderick:
this subject?
Dees any one else wish to express liis views on .
The next is. "Should Stilety Agents be clothed with authority to require
correction, of unsafe practices?"
Mr. Mitchell of the New-Haven road has kindly consented to start the discussion on this subject. =
SHOULD SAFETY AGENTS BE CLOTHED WITH AUTHOR ITY TO REQUIRE CORRECTION" OF DAN GEROUS PRACTICES/
Fred W.
Mitcmhi.i.. SciM-atvisou or Sai-kty. N'nw York. Xkw HaliTKOitD tRaiu:oan, New Haven, Conn.
Haven, and
Mo person will' questionirxhe necessity for effectively correcting unsafe
practices or conditions with the least possible delay.
The rjew Haven Road's^ safety work is conducted on the basis that supervising forces understand that safety is the first consideration and
that their responsibility irTIhis particular is as exact as in any other and
can be subordinated to no others.
Safe practices are inseparably yoked to safe conditions.
The safety agent must be interested in both.
Forbidding the use of defective tools without providing suitable ones,
lias no place in a Safety program. Xeither has the criticism of wrong
practices without pointingrhut the right ones.
His work is humanitarian and is based on the second commandment
"Love thy neighbor as thyself." Therefore the safety agent's work in
cludes the giving of adviceNar words of caution to the uninformed or the
reckless.
He should have permission to talk to employees on duty with a view
of promoting confidence ih~T.be work, but he should not abuse the privi
lege or become annoying.^
He needs no authority To command correction of unsafe practices or
conditions except th rough ^he proper supervising officers. His knowl
edge that they prevail, reported to those in authority takes the burden
from him and places it with responsible officials working under definite
instructions. But the fac=that he (the safety agent) is no longer re
sponsible does not relieve him from following the matter to a conclusion.
UtOt.i
fji{/hlit Safely Contjvf-ntt
He should suggest and recommend, not direct and compel.
Cooperation is what wef3vant not cofipposition.
So man can serve t%vo masters--the foreman is responsible to the gen,
eral foreman, the generalIlforeman to the master mechanic and to no
other. Any attempt to compel recognition of direct orders from a safety
agent except through the supervising officer, tends to demoralize effective
supervision and delays the correction of wrong practices and conditions
through a possible feeling til antagonism to usurpation of authority.
'Vhen our safety inspectors visit a shop, roundhouse, terminal or yard,
they note all things unsiifQml suggestions or recommendations made by
employees toward safer working conditions,' and before they leave the
plant they submit a copy TXf these notes to the official in charge who Is
expected and required to handle the suggestion promptly.
A copy of the notes is also sent to my office and each item is followed
up until final disposition is made.
The safety inspector is informed of the action reported and on his next
visit sees that proper handling lias been given.
U'e are getting the rigiit_kind of cooperation by following these meth
ods. Working harmoniously with all departments has done so much in
advancing our work that I/feel any changes would he detrimental, and I
there'ore am opposed to clothing onr safety agents with authority to cor
rect unsafe practices exeepf~through the proper supervising officers.
In fact. I think we can xmswer that in just about two words: They
should he clothed with authorityto correct the unsafe practices. The question is. how should they correct it? I don't know what the train
ing of most you representatives has been and what department you
came up through, but I came up through the operating department and
I believe our theories are correct. There is one thing you will have to hear in mind if you are going to get the cooperation of the operating
officer: T was talking to the general superintendent on our lines the
other day and he was discussing certain positions. He referred to a
trainmaster and he said. "That trainmaster is the fellow who can roll
Uie most wheels."
==r
That is what the operating.officer has in mind first: Move your track.
The first thing the trainmast lias to do is to "roll the wheel" and that it
the first, thing to which lie is going to give his attention. I believe we
have got to recognize the practical side of the safety efforts as applied to
the operating department.
CtrAiKM.vx :Bkoiikhicic Does any one want to discuss this subject?
Mji. Biti-;>:y.v.x: I think it is self-evident to every railroad man that
when you make a suggestion it is made for a particular reason and that
the element of courtesy should enter into the solution of the matter.
X think, as Mr. Mitchell saicb you should cooperate to a certain extent
with the foreman: otherwise, you will antagonize him and your best
efforts will be in vain.
"
Citaiismax JJuouKKirK: If "there is nothing else on the subject we will
pass to the next one.
Mr. J. C. Clark is to starnhe discussion on that subject.
StemtT It ailroad Srrt i</n
1301
TO WHAT EXTENT SHOl'LD SFPER V RSLNE FORCE'S BE HERD RESPOXSJRrTE FOR THE SAFETY OF ATEN I'NDER TITEICTiT R EOT WEPERVISFOX?
(. C. Ol.Al.'K. ASSISTANT TO G KNKKA l. MaA'.VCKB. OlCKOO.V SiroitT Link AXIl hns
Anrf.ias .vni> Sai.t T.akr Rmi.wiahs
The supervisor's forces work under different conditions in different de partments on a railroad. Take the mechanical department in the shops and the men of tlte various gangs work under the direct supervision of a foremaii. The foreman is in apposition to see what each man does almost every minute of his working Time. That same thing applies in the case of section crews and in brirtgeaiul building department crews. In cases of this kind where the individual workman is under the constant and watchful eye of the foreman."T think that he should lie liel'd responsible for the safety of those men for the reason that he is able to determine, by personal contact, the men who are safe and the men who are unsafe. If he has a man whom he. considers unsafe for the work he is doing, he should get rid of that man, transfer him to some other department where he is not hazardous or else relieve him from the service entirely.
On the other hand, we have trainmasters, for example, who have super vision over men' scattered ovel^tlie entire division. It is not possible for a trainmaster to watch constantly the performance of all the conductors, brakemen. engineers, firemen, and other employees in that line while they are out on the road. He soonliecomes familiar with very foreman: he knows in a general way what men are safe and what men are unsafe. Of course, it is his duty to correct the unsafe methods of the men when they come to liis attention, blit- it is not possible for him to know, con tinually what these men are 3Poing. Therefore, in the case of a train master or other supervising officer who has men scattered over a large territory. I don't believe it is possible to bold a supervising officer responsible to any great extent for the safety of the men .under his super vision.
The question of securing safety men is one that is of vital importance to all the railroads and in all the departments. It seems to me that we should go at the selection of employees in a more scientific and definite manner. As a rule, the employing officer takes the man whom he thinks can do the work. That opiniorr is based very often on previous records which he secures from other companies with which this man was work ing. but there" is no test given, so 'far as I know, by any railroad in the I'niied States to determine the- capabilities of a man. It is possible to apply intelligence tests to test liew men who come into the service, but. of course, that wouldn't determine whether he has good judgment, it woyldn'c determine whether HeFis capable of leadership but it would determine the general intelligence of the man.
It is not so difficult to train a man of good sound intelligence, in a safe and efficient method of doing work. If we have a man who is not up
u \\ w
Io02
Eighth. Safety Congress
to the average of intelligence. it makes tile task of educatits*- ttiul man immensely more difficult.
In the recent draft of men into the United States arzny. waefc an in telligence test was Inaugurated and put through. More than. j.iw>.rto men wer e given thLsJintelligence test. After these men had to the various regiflBeuts ami sections of the army and navy, the- Srcr-
tary ol' the War Department, who had charge of this test, asked the officers of various tSBmpanies. and the various' units in ail the depart ments, for a rating of these men. This was in order to cheek up the re sults of the intelligence test luid they found that in about SO per cent of the cases their intelligence test showed the same results as the report of the officer in cliargerfJE the man.
It seems to me that the whole question of organizing" an efficient rail road organization depends upon getting the right man to begin with: next, it depends upoTi the proper education and training of that man. The education and iffaining is largely up to the supervising force, al though there shouhL.be an educational department in every railroad to follow up. particularly, the education of the employee. In any event, the supervising officer iallie man who has the best opportunity to train the man. Tf the employing officer has the good- sense and the good judgment to select intelligent men, energetic men, who have a common school education at least atfd who are capable of development, the supervising officer will, in i'O per-cent of the cases, do good work; where he is given, good support, he wilL secure good results.
When it comes tortile direct question, though, as to what extent the supervising officer should be held responsible for the safety of the men under his direct supervision, it is hard to give an answer. Very often the supervising ofnceDma nothing whatever to say about the employment of the man. He asksrfor a man to fill up his gang and they s.end him some one. lie didn'LIiire him; lie doesn't, know anything about where he came from, but he lias to take him in a great majority of the cases. Where tiiat condition exists. I don't believe ft is fair to put too much on ;lie supervising officer!
Cit ai itm ay BuoPiutieTU: You have all heard Mr. Clark's talk on this subject which was very enlightening. Has any one else anything to say? We will be very glad, indeed. lo hear from any one present.
Mr. Baltzeli. I understand, lias a proposition to bring before this body on the subject. "Reaching the children in schools in educational work."
Mu. C. If. Bai.tzi-u.i~._(St. L. & S. F. Ry.J ; l am a division superinten dent on the Frisco Railroad down at Fort Smith. Arkansas.
Tin's is the fourth year that I have had an opportunity to attend these wonderful safety meetings. I was. just wondering how many other division superintendents had visited this Congress this time. It does seem to me that every division superintendent throughout the country should make a special^effort to attend these meetings because the division superintendent is certainly the mainspring of the whole proposition when ft conies to safety on his division. rc he is a real honest-to-goodness safety, mail, it is goilig to be a safe division: that goes without saying.
Steam Jtailroarl Section
KJO-'i
The division that I had up tcTthe last three years was between SpringHeld and Memphis. When they began the safety work on the Frisco Railroad, my division won the safety-llrst prize three years in succes sion. That in itself was a mighty good showing.
Since I have gone over to KOBE Smith on the Central Division, we have continued to make a splendid IThowing in the reduction of personal in juries. and in the May drive Throughout the Southwestern district, my divixion made tha best showing uf any division in the territory.
I am strong for organization in oil the departments, and especially in the safety department. I believe that vour safety committee should be selected with the utmost care and if you find that you have made a mis take after careful consideration and a fair try-out of the man. don't keep him on the team. Get the rightflcind of men. but you must be tolerant and patient as it takes a number of years to bring about satisfactory results in safety work. We see it now in a way that we didn't recognize it in the first year by any means and' it" is growing stronger and stronger. Not only the railroad companies, tout the industries throughout the land are recognizing this wonderful worJT in safety.
t:K.\rt(l.\i Till-: wmSi. 'iin.ni:!-:> in s\n-riY wuhk
1 want to tell you briefly the,plan that 1 put into effect at Fort Smith some time ago. Our division Tiieets once each month; I have a good strong committee of about thirty men ( you can't have too many if they are the right kind ) : we move ffdm one point to another on the division, and towns along the line are making bids for these meetings, we have applications five and six months ahead to hold these division . meetings at the various towns. We hold our regular business meeting in the morning, and at one o'clock I make arrangements with the superintendent of the schools to have my entire committee there with the boys anfl girls in the assembly room, or if it-jpikes two rooms we use two rooms, but we reach all0of the school children in that town.
I introduce my committeemen and tell them, "This is Bill .Tones who runs r> and C. He is an engineer and Tom White here is a conductor." and so on sill the way down. 1i3ls interesting to them and then we point out to them, in a way.that they-"thoroughly understand, the dangers that surround them when they C.\re ofTthe right-of-way, the danger of hopping trains, passing under the cars, in and around and about them, etc.
i have a printed slip that I place on their desks and X say to them','"I have a printed slip on every oirSTsf your desks and I want you to fill in your name, your age. and this date, and 1 ask you to pledge yourselves in the interest of safety, and tSUuse your influence with other boys and girls to do the same." We gather those slips up and T make those chil dren a part of my auxiliary committee.
Right now I have 1.01)0 high__school boys and girls who are on my
personal committee. You can'fTjeat it. They go home and tell about the superintendent and'his committee who came to the school house, what they talked about and the folks at home say. "If the railroad men are taking an interest in my boy and my girl like that I am for them."
1 :i04
h'fghth Safe!!J Congress
Jn the evening we Give a meeting, as most committees do. If there is
a band in town we have it out and we make it a kind of a community picnic.
Make your meeting ^attractive to your committeemen and not have that
old thing thrown tip to you. "Well, here is another date for a safety
meeting." Make it so attractive that when these dates are set the men
will look forward with pleasure to that particular meeting, and those
men must, be trained by the superintendent and others to never let go
of the job to be a safety man day and night, always on the job.
T want a rigid investigation conducted, perhaps, by myself. I want the
foreman of the job to fell me all he knows about this case, what he did to prevent such an accident to one of his men. If a section man gets
hurt. I want the section foreman to tell me what he did to prevent the
accident of that man. ^
When you get your section foreman, your bridge foreman, your train
master. aiul every mart in charge of men to really and truly work for safety, not. only once itrn while, but every day and every night, they are
going to get results.
Another thing. I put It up to my committeemen, like this: When you
see a man taking chances, doing things in- full violation of the safety
rules and principles, caution him against those things. If that man gets
hurt or killed. 1 want -you to feel that you are responsible. You helped
contribute to that man's injury or death. Now make that strong to the
fellows in their meetings, in a general way you understand. Make that
thought predominant constantly, that they are their brother's keeper
and that they must get to, the sr.vx. In the right sort of way, the man who
is violating the rules, before it is too late. We niake it a very friendly
game but we certainly gBt results.
I must not take up atiy"more of your time, hut it is a real pleasure to
me to see so many newTfaces and some of the old-timers whom I met in
Philadelphia. New York, and St. Louis.
Mit. J. J. Hkssv t Pa. TL R. Lines): I make a motion that the associa tion give a resolution oirthanks to the superintendent for coming down
here and addressing us.
(The motion was seconded and carried.)
Mk.
Gentlemen. I thank you very heartily and kindly and I
wish you could see my "safety committee when I tell them about this
resolution.
"'
Cxi.mrmax :Bbopukick "Gentlemen, is there any business any of you
would like to bring tip before this session closes?
Mb. CttApi.v: Gentlemen. I know we are all tired, but I want to take a minute to place before ydST for your consideration and for your action, a
topic which. J believe, deserves our future consideration and that is
whether there is a need in the Railroad Section, for a man or for a com
mittee. if you please, toi/give expert advice on general questions which
may bother us. To illustrate my point, I might say that on one of our
divisions we had an accident which resulted fatally: A workman was
adjusting the cross-head of a locomotive, which was under steam.
Steoin Railroad Section
1305
equipped with a valve gear. --In so doing he had the bar and the cross head and he pulled against the lap and lead lever. That moved the valve. The cross-head came back anflAie was killed. That was a very peculiar accident. We had four of those accidents and we found we were up against a real proposition,
It was put tip in. the fornT of instructions to the motive power de partment that in case a wofkman was repairing a valve gear on a locomotive so equipped, that he should disconnect the valve. The fact that we knew about those accidents enabled us to forestall other acci dents potentially on other divisions.
Isn't it possible that some Tjf us In this Railroad Section have had
problems which have baffled is? We do not know that these problems are going to arise but if we cafi get some information from some central source which will point the wajr where danger lies we can perhaps head off potential accidents. My thought was that there certainly is material in this Section for such informatton. The proper method of getting that material or information would-be to publish it so that it will be of use to all of us. It seems to me it would be worthy of consideration.
Cjiaiicm.vx BnoDKKiCK; Gentlemen, do you wish to discuss that sub ject? If not. and if there is il0 further business, there is a gentleman here by the name of Mr. .T. jD. YTames. He has some sort of a patent belt for preventing accidents that lie wants to demonstrate before this body of men in this room.
(Mr. James gave a demonstration of a safety belt.? Adjournment.
SAITHDAY ATOKNIXC SESSION
HE meeting was called to order at
X the Chairman of the Section. Ciiaibmax Mkvkrs: The first thing on an address by Mr. G. T,. Ha FoutTtaine.
A. M. l>y Mr. Fred Meyers, our schedule this morning is
i.MPOUTAXCK OF PROPER INSPECTION OF TOOLS USED
r.\ SHOPS and by MAINTENANCE of ay AY GANG'S
G. X.
La
FovxtaiGk.vkkai. SaT'ktv Supkhvisoii, road. Sr. Pait,, Mi.v.w
Gki:at
Nokthkiin
R.ui.-
When I first learned that I Trad been designated to present to this meeting my ideas upon the importance of the proper Inspection of hand tools used in shops and by^iiiaintenance of way gangs as a means of accident prevention. X was considerably disturbed, to say the least. Because the question had been so thoroughly and fre quently discussed from every passible angle, I was rather inclined to minimize its importance and to^feel that there was no possible further suggestion in the matter worthy of presentation to a body of expert Safety Men. but as T delved intcrXhe subject, I began to realize that, par-
fciyhth Sufoh/ f'onr/ress
adoxlcallv speakingyflls importance luv In its apparent in -.*grsinmrthat merely because tlm question inis been so widely diseas.-ed w* are att u> "lay it on the tableland quite Jose sight of it in the pre? of the mr-T** formidable phases of our work.
The Interstate Commerce Commission records for the yc-ar IT inform ns that fifteen railway employees were killed and fifteen thousand t hundred and ninety-SrS were injured during' that year while using hand tools, and certainly a very considerable portion of tho'se accidents w *rc due directly to defective and worn tools which would have been li~cv. (red and the unfortunate results cf their use prevented had a proper In speetion been made. =?r-
Of tbe entire number of persons injured, the shopmen were h-* h-i est sufferers, with fivfF killed and eleven thousand four hundred flfty-oninjured: maintenancif^r way employees were second, with a total rf three killed and threerihousand two hundred twenty-three injured.
In view of the obovs facts. I have come to believe that the subj.-ot 1worthy of careful thought and. in my opinion, the only meins of elimi nating or at least reducing to the lowest possible minimum this ever present source of accidents is by a well defined and carefully planner method of inspection.'-
METHOD OF INSPECTION
For the purpose ofTormulniing a definite plan of inspection, all hand tools used in shops and engine houses may be roughly divided into two hisses--those which are circulated in general use and those which are regularly assigned to individual workmen.
In connection with the first class. 1 would suggest that every shop or engine house employing-any considerable number of workmen maintain a tool room in which alT hand tools of general use be assembled at the (dose of the day's work. A competent man should be placed in charg? of
this room with the care atul inspection of those tools as his sole duty; he should maintain liisustock in a good, serviceable condition at all times, and any tools worn ta_an,v appreciable degree, such as a chisel with a burred or mushroomed Tiead or a wrench with rounded jaws, the further use if which invites oiTO or those minor accidents, should bs repair-*! or replaced at cnee. I slimild be impressed upon this man that the primary purpose of his being employed is in the interest of accident prevent! m. and that the responsibility for any accident resulting from the use of a worn or defective tool which left the tool room in that condition must li-* directly with him. We Tall know from experience that the average work man becomes calloused to repeated warnings and cannot be relied upon to inspect bis own tooTsl but by thu. making one individual re sponsible for their proper inspection, I believe we shall have done much toward reducing our minor accidents.
In respect to those tffiols regularly assigned to shop employees, we en counter. 1 believe, our ^greatest difficulties. The.-e tools are kept in pri vate lockers, and in a gTSht many cases are subject to no other inspection but thdt of the employes: himself. You will find as a rule, although he is known to be. a conseiefilious and thoroughly dependable workman, that
Steam Itailroad Section
KS07
his tools have been gathered during a long period of selection and he re
gards them with not a little pride--they have served him long and well
and he resents the inspection which may question their further servicea
bility. He is perfectly aware of their little imperfections, but is loath to
replace the old with new, feeling that the tool that he may get in ex
change will not he to his personal liking. While it is true that he may
continue using the old tools to the end of his working days with never a
mishap, the chances are strongQ-hat sooner or later one of those imper
fections of the tool will result iif an injury to the user.
It is this ever-present possibility of accidents that demands our atten
tion, and to meet that possibility^we must have frequent and thorough in
spections. Since the majority of workmen cannot be relied upon to in
spect their own tools, that duty must devolve upon the shop foreman.
Here again, of course, safety depends upon the attitude of the individual.
The foreman can accept that duty in its higher light, as an opportunity
to render real -service to those inrhis charge by removing potential danger
in the form of Imperfect or worr tools, or he can accept that duty as an
unpleasant task to be performed _>vith the least possible inconvenience to
himself.
___
To my mind, the foreman cad make the most effective inspection of
tools while they are in actual use"because of the opportunity this affords
him tactfully to demonstrate and explain the elements of danger in the
imperfection, thereby teaching the employee by example, as well as pre
cept. which would leave a lasting and favorable impression with him.
This is much more desirable and "productive of good, in my opinion, than
the inspection of the tools in eaclTTindividual locker, as the latter method
does not care for the educational feature, which is of paramount value.
Also such an inspection may be f^arded by the workman as ail intrusion
upon his private property, even though such an assumption is entirely
unwarranted.
"="-
The inspection by the foreniamTdight well be supplemented by a com
petent Safety Committee, such a;s now exists in practically all well-or
ganized shops. Inbued with the proper spirit, the members of the com
mittee can make frequent inspections of their fellow-woraer's tools with
their own daily experiences as, a-guide.
tools tjsed ax ar.Mjfrgyastce of way gangs
The importance of keeping th^fools used by the maintenance of way gangs in good, serviceable condition is just as essential as that of every other department upon the railroad, and what I have said in connection with the method of inspecting todls assigned to Individual workmen in the shops, will serve equally well with the maintenance of way gangs. The foreman of the gang should ^inspect the tools daily and know that they are in first class condition before permitting the employees to use them, and should be held strictly responsible for all accidents resulting directly from the use of worn or defective tools.
This inspection by the foreman should be especially severe during those seasons of the year when *`green."_jnieji are added to his gang. Many of these men are absolutely inexperienced in the use of tools of any kind.
1306
Eighth Safety Congress
and defective tools inTtheir hands are a cause of far greater concern than
such tools would he II their use were confined to experienced men.
Not only are such Inspections an absolute necessity in the interest of
safety, but they all should contribute much toward economy and efficiency.
A well conducted method of tool inspection serves a double purpose:
Safety and Efficiency, the two great factors of modern industry, which go
hand in hand. Jf a tool is to do the work it was originally designed to do,
it must be kept in its original entirety. The more it lapses from thai
state, the less efficienC"and more dangerous it becomes.
Tn conclusion, I can only reiterate that which we already know so
well, that in this clas of accidents, as in all others, the human equation
Is the greatest problem--a problem that can only be solved by educating
each man to supervise not only his own surety, but that of his fellow-
workman as well, by convincing him that the principles of safety are de
signed only for his benefit an^l that his failure to observe them may worn
as great an injury to ibis family as to himself--by instilling those princi
ples so deeply in his mind that their practice becomes automatic and in
stinctive. When men have been, educated in safety to that degree, then
and then only will safety supervisors take, their place in the sun, along
with the other great contributors to the welfare of mankind. Only when
that millennium of safety and efficiency arrives may the safety man relax
his ceaseless efforts and contemplate with pardonable pride the perfec
tion of his work.
^
Chairman Mkyt.rs: We will now have discussion of this very able and
constructive paper by Mr. Broderick.
DISCUSSION
Mr. John' T. BkoukrICk (Supervisor of Special Bureaus, Baltimore &
Ohio R. R.. Baltimore!! Mr. La Fountaine has covered this subject very
thoroughly. We all appreciate the great importance of having tools of
all characters, in the-railroad shop, in the proper condition. We all
kno\t that by their proper maintenance and care they do contribute to
the reduction of a great many accidents. Different roads, of course, have
different methods of taking care of tools.
I suggest, Mr. Chairman, that you call upon Mr. Clark, of the X>. M. &
N., who. I understand) is a practical mechanical man and can tell us
something on this subject that will be beneficial to us.
Mr. W. A. Ccark (General Car Foreman, D. M. & N. Railway): I
want to compliment Mr. La Fountaine on touching upon and covering
a very vital and important subject that is not generally recognized as
being as important as: it is.
Speaking as a foreman in charge of shopmen, I can say that I have
found the statements That he has made to be correct. I find that the
key-note of safety lies^with the foreman in our department. Our super
visor of safety adopted a system of calling the shop foremen together and
holding weekly meetings. Over some of these meetings I had the honor
of presiding.
rir
We made a -special point of emphasizing the necessity of the foremen
Steam Railroad Section.
1309
checking the condition of the tools and equipment that the men are using, also calling to their attention the fact that they are. responsible not only for the output of the work in the shop but for the safety of the men in their charge.
It took us some time to get them to realize that that was a condition
that we wanted them to observe at all times and under all conditions of
service.
^
I might tell you that we have found that certain materials that were being, used in the manufacture of certain tools were not suitable. That was taken tip through our Safety Department, and through the Purchas ing Department a better grade of steel was furnished for the manufac ture of chisels and wrenches, thereby materially reducing the accidents from battering of mushroSHi faces and chips flying from chisels, chisel bars, and punches. We also found that it was very necessary to make a
daily and a close inspection of hammers, particularly sledge-hammers. We found that the grade of material which was used in the hammers
was not that which was suitable. From a lot of them, little slivers and small pieces of steel flew. off and men became injured. Through our Safety Department, that matter was called to the attention of the Pur
chasing Department and the conditions were improved. The same is
true of the grade of materials--the wood or lumber--furnished in the
handles of hammers. A lot^of hammer heads flew from the handles. We
were successful in obtaining a better grade of lumber and more care in
fitting the sledges in the handles. We reduced our accidents along that
line.
. -=
In addition to our foremen having realized that they were responsible
and expected to make a camful check, we put on one of our men--a tool
room man--who was thoroughly familiar with conditions of all'our tools
and the shop requirements.^ He is required to and does make a daily
inspection of all tools. He tSBt only goes through the lockers but he goes
through the shops and examines the different tools that the men are us
ing. In that way, we discovered that we could check up a number of de
fective tools that the foreman did not always find otherwise and which
the men did not report.
--
I wish to emphasize Mr. Lf Fountalne's statement that the men do not
think of their tools or examine them or pay any attention to their con
dition. We found that it was not until a man. was injured or one of his
fellow workmen was injured that he made any comment or report as to
the condition of the tools he was using. Then, invariably, his comment
would be that the tools were' defective, showing that he knew it before
hand. In some cases, workmen have said that the foreman told them
to use those tools and do
that way.
I don't wish to take too much of your time, but to any and all of you who have charge of men anfT to the safety supervisors, in particular, I
want to say that there is no Jnore important part. In my opinion and In my experience which has carried me through various departments of railroad work, that will pay larger dividends or do more to reduce acci dents in the shop than the careful and close inspection of tools.
l.iio
Eighth Safety (,'ongrcss
.Mrs. \Vk\dku. H. Sni.i.vi.i.r. (Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R.) :
This matter of tool inspection is of vital importance to safety supervisors and superintendents. It may assist some of the men to get information as
to how the different supervisors are handling ibis matter. As Mr. La
t'ountaine has recommended, a committeeman or some one designated
by the foreman, who is a member of the Committee, inspects these tools
in our plant. At one of our shop safety meetings last Monday, where
between of>0 and 600 men are employed, the Safety Committeeman who
bad been instructed by the general foreman to inspect the tools reported
that a year ago he found thirty-three defective tools in the hands of work
men who were working wiiUTIheni. He immediately took steps to have them
taken away. Tlie month previous xo this meeting, the Committee inspector
found, in one of our sliopSp'Where a workman had taken a fiat file and
made a chisel out of it and isSls pounding it with a hammer. Another had
taken a round file and was using it for a punch, pounding it with a ham
mer. Those things have been eliminated. Through a campaign of edu
cation on the part of the safety committees in that shop, and with the as sistance of tlie general foretjrau. that kind of work has been stopped.
As regards tools in the hands of the maintenance of way men: Our
mai lenance of way department supplied the hand car tool houses with
a Keystone grinder. I think the first intention was to sharpen their tools with this Keystone grinder, hut our safety supervisor immediately
got busy, when he found they iiad them, and insisted that they should also trim down the heads <rC *hcir track dinl that were flattered. It is being done with good results
I merely mention these v>
if the experience* that we have had.
Possibly lots of others have--had tbs- **-**** ev*-rienee. and I think we ought to give such information to tfw sj&prrv-ijwrr*
Mr. E. S. Chai'jv < Pennsylvania ft 11. I have fo*tad from inspections
in sixty or seventy different-shop*, -ftwvt the blacksmith's tools are the
ones that need dressing. suidTs*- i- the t*n wto f Imbsv dressing the tools
that belong to the rest of the follows
Another i*o5nt of attack tha* I have found in this question is the sub
ject of the t<*ol rm tu with ; lit vgtrte bouse The engine house tools are
used by all gangs in all sort- of wr-aib-t- indoors., outdoors, and frequently they do not r<ivc th- atiftiium -that they should. As an aid in that
connection, tin- nl*rl> tool room Is greatly to be commended. You can
tell when you walk into a tool n-Htrn ff That man has his tools in good
shape. If he has them arranged so that he can see them readily and
can pick them out without any hesitation, he is in a position to know
whether or not they are in go<i shape. If they are piled in the corner
or on racks, racked up t.tie Iwhixid the other, he can't, see them and they do not receive the inspection they should in his odd moments of compara
tive leisure when the tool room window is not busy. If we are to give
proper attention to this subject generally, we must give the tool room
our careful inspection. 1 never make an inspection without going over That point.
Mr. -f. A. M. N\i,t.v < VTahasH R. R.V: Mr. I .a Fountaine hit the nail
STeam Hail road Sevi ion
1813
square on the head when he said that a good bit of responsibility should
rest on the foreman in Tigard to the tools. In view of the fact that
there had been some accidents in the shop on account of defective tools,
we found. It necessary to put this proposition directly up to the superin
tendent of motive powerion the Wabash Railroad, and it was through
the safety section that we had the superintendent issue an order to the
master mechanics an'd shop superintendents over the road to cause a
dally inspection of tcols tdHie made, as well as a monthly inspection of all
tools that the men had in their lockers.
We are holding the tool room foreman, where we have one, responsible
for the condition of these tools. In small places, where we have a helper
handing the tools out and Taking them in. we hold the foreman responsi-
. t>ie.
5=
At the opening session "St the Steam Railroad Section, iir. Richards
requested that if any ot us have any accidents, he would he glad to have
us relate them as they might be of benefit to the rest of the people. I
have in mind one or two. 'TThere was one occasion when we had a man
from tile laboring ranks (he was not a skilled mechanic) who was placed
on a job of wrapping steaufipipes, that is, all the steam pipes on locomo
tives and throughout the shop. We had one main steam pipe running
from the boiler in the blacksmith shop over to the machine shop. It
was a six-inch pipe. It crosBed two tracks. It would not clear a man on
top of a can The Safety Committee turned in a card to the effect that
this wouldn't clear, so they- had that pipe raised and they used an ex
pansion joint. It was in the -summer and there was no hurry to wrap
the pipe. The foreman waited until such time as he could have a few
spare moments for a certain man to do this work--the man I mentioned
who was not a skilled laborer, and he put that man on the job. He got
up there on a twenty-foot scaffold and was wrapping the pipe. When he
got up close to the'joint, unfortunately the joint blew out; the man fell
off the scaffold and broke his^thigh bone. He was a man of about forty-
two j'ears of age and had five children.
The question came up yesterday in regard to carelessness and a state
ment was .made that S7 per cent of the accidents were caused by care
lessness. Was that accident due to the carelessness of that man or was
it due to lack of efficient supervision on the part of the foreman who
would let a man work on a stgam pipe under pressure? The only informa
tion he was given when heiwent up there was to wrap the pipe. The
steam should have been shut off before he was permitted to work on it.
No man should be permitted-to work up on a high scaffold on a steam
pipe with the pressure on. --
I have in mind another acSdent--the only one of its kind that I know
of on our railroad. A man was turning down a brass bushing on a lift
shaft box. It was sweated together, and it was made long enough so that
he could make two out of the one piece. You know what a piece of brass
sweated together will do wheiTit gets a little warm. He took a clamp hnd
used a three-eighths stud, puffing one on each end. He put the nut flush
with the stud and ran the nuts down on the other end of the stud, Ieav-
l:J3 2
Eighth Sufttg Co tigress
ing about an inch anti three-eighths of that stud sticking out in the cen ter oi this bushing. Then he started to file right-handed. He had on a new jacket. It buttoned at the wrist and turned back, leaving a little
gap in the sleeve. This Mud, revolving around, caught in the jacket; the jacket was new and it didn't give; it wrapped his arm around and broke his arm at the elbow, tore the muscles in each arm. injured him across the back over the ishoulders. and the tool be was working with flew up and made a hole iri his neck so that when he was given water to drink it wonld come out through this injury in his neck.
it so happened that within two or three weeks after the injury he was back in the shop working around, although at first it was thought he wouldn't recover. That is another ease where both the man and the foreman. I believe, were careless. The man should never have put a clamp of that kind on with a stud of an inch and three-eighths, and he should not have filed it right-handed. The foreman should never have permitted a man to allow that condition to exist if he had an opportunity to see it.
Besides the daily inspection, there is one member of the Shop Commit tee in the department where the inspection is made. They have the machinist on the Shop Committee go through the shop with the tool room foreman and through the tool room and make this inspection. The boiler maker in the boilerTsliop goes with the tool room foreman and makes the inspection on the tools of the boiler makers.
We have been able since April 1. (that was the day this order was issued by the superintendent of motive power i to hold this daily inspection and reduce tile number of accidents by defective tools C" per cent.
1 went over the road on TC motor car and made a j>ersonal inspection of maintenance of way tools, and it was intleed surprising to find the conditions of the tools in that department. In five weeks. I caused to be turned in to the supply department JSi-1 defective chisels, spike mauls and wrenches and crow-bars. That was over 200 more than had been turned in to the supply department in the previous eighteen months.
Another thing you meet fix regard to the tool inspection is to find the man occasionally who knows it all. 1 rectill one Instance of a man who w;ts doing a small piece of work with a saw. a band saw. He was wear ing g!ov<*s that came out over the end of his fingers and dangled. The wind from the saw was moving the ends of the gloves. 1 waited until lie got through because I was afraid if I spoke to hint he would hurt himself- When he finished. I said. "Brother, don't you think it would be better for you and for your lingers, the only ones you have, if you would remove your gloves when you are sawing? I wouldn't take that chance in a hundred years." He saJd. "Let me tell you something, kid' I bought this saw nineteen years ago.rhnd I have run it for nineteen years. They didn't furnish me with one-vviien I came here so I bought my own and put it up myself. I pretty nearly know what I am doing. And let me tell you. if they exit my fingers off, they are going to pay me." I tried to talk to him later, but he wouldn't listen to me. The next time I went back there. 1 talked to him again. The third time I went back the
Steam h'ailroacl Section
1313
fellow in charge down, there gave me a card from this man with five
items on it and they were all good ones. Today, he has his saw guarded,
and be told me that that glovejtuff was off.
Mb. William D. L.exderki:s'G (Baltimore & Ohio): In connection with
the paper just read, :we have instructed all our tool room men to make a
careful inspection each day. IE fact, the tools, as they are passed back after having been used by the man in the shop, are examined before
being placed Jn the racks. If they are found defective in any way, they are laid aside to be sent to the rproper department for such corrections as
may he necessary. The matter of chisel bars, cutters, punches, tools of that kind which formerly gavsL considerable trouble and which, we all
know caused many minor injuries and sometimes very serious injuries, is being taken care of now to such an extent that it is scarcely necessary
for the safety agent, in passing Through the shops, to call attention to de
fective tools. There was, however, a time, and that very recently, when
maul handles and sledge-hammer handles were giving us considerable trouble.
My understanding was that jjecause of the conditions which the war brought about, proper materials were hard to obtain; I mean materials
which otherwise would have had ample time to season were placed in
ovens and dried, and in that way the life of the wood was sapped out.
After having had a number of maul handles break, the engineer of tests
told me that such things, under Avar conditions, were not to be overcome then, and we have found since Then that the materials received for this kind of work are very mucli improved.
The matter of mauls was also giving us considerable trouble. I recall two cases where an entirely new eight-pound maul was taken out and two licks struck with, -it and the maul fell into four pieces. That was due to Imperfection in the manufacture. We immediately traced up the entire purchase, and we found many of them that wouldn't stand the test- We found some had been shipped out on the road to the various
shops, and upon inquiry in the various tool rooms where they had been
used, I found they were giving trouble. In one place, seven of them had.
completely crumbled just as though they were made of clay. Most of-'
this has been eliminated.
.--
We find that our tools from ohe end of the system to the other are in
much better shape today than they have been for a long while, and it is simply due to the fact that, tBE men who heretofore were willing and
satisfied to use a tool in any condition are now realizing the importance of having all such tools dressed and placed In perfect order before using. I have seen men who, in fact, when somebody would try to slip a tool
through with a burred head, would flatly refuse to take it out and work
with It. That is t'rue because the .spirit of safety has gotten into the men
themselves. They begin to realize more clearly that the safety movement is one' for their particular benefit and they appreciate it.
Mr. E. Richards (Cotton Belt lkoute) : I want to ask if the use of emery wheels or Keystone grinders for dressing up burred chisels is con-
1 Eighth Safety Congress
side-red satisfactory.- My experience is that when you grind a burred head on an emery wheel or any kind of a grinder, it camouflages the burred head and the crystallized particles are still present. Little flakes will fly when you strike it. That manner of dressing burred heads, I And, is not satisfactory, it has to go to the shop to be heated and an nealed before the tool is safe.
Mr. W. H. Srii.j.wkEt. (Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R.) : Two of our roadmasters requested that goggles be furnished track men and sec tion gangs to use while doing this work. The matter is now before the
general committee.
."Vue. Lex deriving: The matter of dressing tools is one that possibly too
many men think lightly of. Xo tool that has been used long enough to be battered at the head and have burs should be put on an emery wheel and dressed up. It should go into a forge and be properly annealed be fore being sent out for use again. Otherwise, the crystallized heads will do the very thing we want to get rid of, and the only way to treat them is hv putting them into a furnace and properly annealing them.
Me. CnvriN; When I was Chairman of the Safety Committee of one f our shops t>efore I was in this game thoroughly, the question came up as to how far -down they should permit a head to be hammered before the punch or cutter was discarded. It was found that if a man had a favorite cutter or a favorite sized punch for a certain Job. he would take that lwck and ask that it be dressed, and he would do this so many turn-* that he would be working with a half inch of metal if you would !.*t him A limit was made in the neighborhood of an inch and a quar ter or sti Inch and a half, depending upon the size of the tool, below uh U !>! ronld hot be redressed.
^urxtion which has been discussed here is the matter of tool iDfir(itm Tliis was brought up in our shops and the practices are not exactH uniform, but in general, regular inspections are made either by wane man appointed by the foreman or the master mechanic, as the case misrht l-. or by some member of the Safety Committee. The responsi bility of the -condition of the tools is kept upon the foreman no matter a ho makes the inspection.
Mu. ('. W. Mhvts (Union Pacific): I am not a blacksmith, but I have watched the tool game pretty closely. This thing of grinding burs off of chisels is not dangerous at all. If the proper material is used to start with, the chisel will stand burring over as far down as you can bur it and hang on to it. However, if the tool lias been burned in the blacksmith's fire, the metal beconiesTiard and the sparks begin to fly right away, which is a dangerous thing.
Where the men are; using files and one thing and another around through the car department, there is only one thing to do and that is to have the safety supervisor keep track of them. If you leave it up to the foreman, he will let gotad enough alone. He will he in a hurry today and will pass them up thfnking that he will ta^e care of them tomorrow. Tomorrow never comes?7 Have the supervisor of forces hold the man who
Steam Railroad Section
1315
is using the tools responsible, and if he -won't use good tools, get rid
of him.
---
As a general thing we inspect our tools every day. Of course, there
are regular monthly inspections made, but every day is the time to keep
these tools in proper shape. Tools that are continuously being used are
bound to get defective, and there is only one thing to do and that is to
keep them lined up.
--
Mb. F. C. HtrirTEK (Union Pacific): With reference to the mainte
nance of way department tools, we have a pretty good scheme on our
road. We run a supply car over six divisions once a month. That
supply train is accompanied By the stoi-ekeeper, the roadmaster, the
supervisor of signals, ''the trainmaster, the superintendent, one of the
members of the Safety Committee or Department. We find that by giving
a thorough inspection of everything the conditions have improved. One
of my first trips on a supply train developed the fact that there Were a
number of defective tools in the maintenance of -way department. I im
mediately interested the general roadmaster on that division in the
matter of safe tools. I had the pleasure of going over that division a
month ago with the supply train, and it was impossible, by the closest
inspection, to find a defective tool on his division. I feel that that man
has done a great thing to protectjiis men in the matter of unsafe tools. I
think that we can do that on nvery division. There has been an im
provement in the matter of repair tracks. One of my first inspections of
the repair track developed the fact that there is something about all rail
road men that makes them want to collect and accumulate something
from somebody else. Repair track men, in a great many cases, will pick
up chisels and things of that kind that we are unacquainted with in that department and will use them. On my first inspection, I found a number
of defective tools. I got next to the Safety Committee, the foreman, the
sub-foreman, and demanded an Inspection be made at the end of each
day after the work was over of all the tools. Not only that, but when
ever a member of the Safety Committee was going through that part of
the terminal or wherever the track foreman was moving about on the
track, he would pick out a set or & few sets of boxes and go through the
tools thoroughly. I find that that has made a great improvement in the
condition of tools.
Recently, I looked through' twenty-five boxes of tools with the result
of finding three burred chisels, probably the effect of work during the
day, but the men had put them back in the boxes and expected to dress
them up that afternoon, while eight months ago, there were more than
that. I believe that is a scheme that .can be used universally. If a man
is up against a surprise test at any time, not knowing when he will be
called upon to account for the condition of his tools, you are going to
have a better condition than y.ouz will have under a stated inspection
period.
=
Mb. D. K. E-mvlisgs (Oregon Short Line): In regard to the repair track, I would like to say that on my first visit to Pocatello I got in touch, with the general car foreman and his assistant. We went over
1316
Eighth, Safety Congress
the repair track to make an inspection of the boxes. About the third or fourth box that I got to was enough for the men to know all about it, and it spread over the track like wildfire that we were making an in spection of the tools. Wherever we found a tool short, we supplied it,
and wherever we found a hammer in a handle that didn't fit, we had a man put a new handle in. We improved their tools, I would say, 90 .per
cent. On the next inspection, every man on the track was asking, "Are you going to inspect our tools today?" We said, "Yes." They said, "Our boxes are open." W'ePwent through every box on the track and supplied them with new, good tools and equipped them to such au extent that they were mighty glad thatrwe went over their boxes. In doing that, we got in closer touch with every man on the repair track. I took the name of every man on the repair track and talked to him personally. There isn't a time now when I go over the track that these men don't come to me and say, "Come look at mf tools. Tell me if I can make any improvement." They are keeping their boxes clean; they are keeping out the oily waste and the things that are hazardous and cause fire, such as an accumula tion of dirt, grease, and the like in the boxes.
I have the cooperation of every one of.those men along the repair track. I have been in close touch with them, and today I think I could go over the track and make an inspection of something like 240 boxes on the track and I don't think that oat of the 240 I would find 200 bad
tools other than those: burred in the day's work. At Milford, on theXos Angeles and Salt Lake, after holding a second
or third meeting in the Milford shop, one of the men of the pipe shop came to me and said, "You gentlemen are preaching safety first and you are telling us about what to do. I wish you would come to the pipe shop and look at tbe tools we are working with." After the meeting was over, I went to tbe pipe shop. I am sorry to say that I did find a bad condition there. I talked to the man in charge of the shop, and we went to the store department and found enough material there that had been in the store department for nine months to repair every one of their tools and put them in first-class shape. It showed them that we were actively engaged in the things that were necessary to make it safe for them to work.
Mb. Cabbow: HonHong ago was that?
Mn. Rawlings: In January of this year.
MU. F. S. Baecocx (. Pittsburgh. & Lake Erie) : I would like to ask the previous speaker^whether his inspection of tools includes inspection of jacks. I would also like to ask what method of inspection he pur sues in going over these jacks and determining whether they are in proper shape for lifting a load.
ADi. Raxvlixcs: All of our jacks on the repair track are inspected monthly. The jacks have all been painted red. They start in at the bottom, and they put A ring around the jack for each month, that it has been inspected. When: we come to a jack in the seventh month that has
only six stripes on iff7 we take it out and send it to the shop, and we
have a man at the shop who does nothing hut work on- jacks. We use
Steani Railroad Section
1317
nearly all Norton screw highspeed jacks. They are taken down and the
threads are examined and ail the levers and latches and ratchets are
gone over to see that they are perfectly square on the ends and not rounded. The jack is then oiled; we put a special grease in the head o the jack that keeps it moving all right.
Mb. Babcock.: With reference to the ratchet jack, I want to say that on several engines, shortly after the jacks have been inspected, we have had. men hurt by a slip of the: ratchet, the handle flying up and striking
the man's jaw or some part'of his body. We try to make the best in
spection possible, but sometinTes there is a defect in the ratchet which is not detected in the inspection. It is pretty hard to determine a de-.
fective jack until you really give it an actual test under load. Do you
do that?
~
Mb. :Rawlings Ordinarily^ if a jack should kick or anything else happen to it, it would be taken out of service. The men would report it
themselves. We make this monthly inspection, oiling and., testing, but we don't test under load other: than in service. If there is anything de fective, it is reported. We have a card that goes on the jack immediately
if it is defective, but whether it is defective or not, it goes uuder in spection. The jack is taken down and oiled, the cases are taken off the
side and the ratchet is takerofl to see that it is square on the end and not rounded. Sometimes they become round on the end. That very often causes a slip.
AIr. David Mohe (Union Pacific) : I want to tell you how far we have gone into this tool inspection,: Our general manager gets a tool report
from every shop on the U. P. every morning. The greatest trouble we
have is among the men. There are two men in this country that we have to fight, and we have to fight them hard. One is the ignorant for eigner who doesn't know anything, and the other is the self-satisfied,' con ceited American.
We sent a man over the road to put safeguards on every machine that he could possibly get his hands on so the operator couldn't possibly hurt himself. He went up to onefold man's machine and put a safeguard
on it. The old man looked afrthe machine and said, "I don't want that
on there. I have run that machine for thirty years and I don't require
it. I know how to run that machine." When the safety man was gone, lie took the guard off and threw it away. He was the self-satisfied,
conceited American. The consequence of that is this: The guard was put back on that machine again and he took it off again. Two weeks from that day, our self-satisfied, contented, conceited American came up minus two fingers. He forgot what he was doing. Xow we can't tolerate
that. A man of that kind shouldn't be retained. We don't want such men.
The other fellow is the ignorant man. We have one man in our car
shop who was injured with Tools twenty-seven times in ninety days.
That was a fact. He was an ignorant man and you couldn't talk to him. That was some years ago, when I had charge of the safety work In the
U. P. shops in Omaha. I just "know that to he a fact because I cheeked
131S
- Eighth Safety Congress
up on it. I got the doctor's records and I got the records of the accident
clerk and they couldn't fool me. I have the record of every employee on
the l". I*., whether lie is a safe or unsafe mau. and I can tell how many
times he reaches the doctor. One morning, when I was in the doctor's
office, he told me that he had had this same fellow back again. I asked
to have him dismissed. lie said. "What is the matter with me? Don't
you think I'm a goodjuan?" 1 said. "Yes. you're all right, but suppose
all the employees on The V. I', were to be injured twenty-seven times in ninety days. We could not get enough doctors to attend to 32,000 em
ployees." We don't want that kind of men.
1 will tell you another thing that we have, and I will ask you to con
sider it. At one of our terminals, we have a novel method of checking
up accidents. This isnlie way it goes: we post as follows: "For the last
so many days, we have had no accidents in this plant." I look at that
every time I go to that terminal. I go and see what is on that board. It
is up there where everybody can see it. There were sixteen days in
that plant, one time, when .they had no accidents. One day they had an
accident, and they all Wanted to find the guy that broke the record.
At tlie bottom of that board Is written "Safety Committee". Nobody's
name in particular is put on it. It just reads "Safety Committee". That bulletin creates enthusiasm in the boys and they help us.
rn.tiRM.tx
We have with us this morning Mr. Hawley, Gen
eral Secretary and Treasurer of the Brotherhood of 1-ocomotive Firemen
and Engineers. Mr. -Adams tells me that he succeeded in getting him to
take part, this morning, in our program in place of Mr. Shay, who is
the President of this organization, and whose presence is required else
where. We would be very glad to hear a few words from Mr. Hawley. Mn_ A. J-. II i\vi.i.v: Ws I look among the members present, T see some
of those whom I met years ago when I was engaged in the Interstate
Commerce Commission work in the inspection of safety plans. I was the
fourth inspector appointed. I stayed with the Commission eight years until I accepted my present position. I believe that I had a very good
opportunity of seeing The advancement in the work of trying to protect
the railroad employee's I know some railroads were in very bad condi
tion. and I believe it Only needed a little stirring up on the part of the
government to have those railroads begin to look after their equipment. At tlie time 1 left the^Commission, the improvement in the condition of
cars and engines on the railroads over which I traveled was so noticeable
that the average employee was speaking about the advances that had been
made in looking after^Tlie interests of the employees in so far as the
safety feature of it wasrcoucerned.
We closed our convention in the middle of July, in the city of Denver.
There were about S40 delegates present. They unqualifiedly went on rec
ord unanimously in faVor of the Safety Section in connection with the
railroad employees, somtliat if the work is continued, as we hope it will
be. you will have the--hearty cooperation, in so far as the officers can
prevail upon the members, of the Brotherhood. I hardly feel that it will
Steam Sailroad Section
1319
oe necessary for them to put forth much of an effort. I do feel that you
will have the cooperation of all those who are members of the organiza
tion which I happen to represent this morning.
I talked with a good many^f our delegates at the convention in con
nection with the, safety movement and the safety feature of it, and those
who had taken a prominent "part seemed to be enthused over the man
ner in which the safety features were being handled. They seemed to
feel that all that was necessary was a continuance of what had already
been done and what had already been put into effect, and that there
woulfi'- be Jess injuries and less deaths on account of neglect or something
of that kiud irf connection with the employment.
It has been over ten years since I left the service of the Commission.
I am going to take this opportunity of saying that my experience during
the years that I was with the Commission showed that there was a lack
of the railway companies furnishing the proper repairs in order to main
tain equipment as it should beunaintained.
Inspectors, as they pass through this city, whether they be new or old,
generally drop into the office ltd shake hands with me, and I naturally
ask them how things are going. They tell me that many bad things have
been eliminated. If that is true, no one can say that the work is not re
dounding to the benefit of all The railway employees. That was one bad
feature that we found during my time with the Commission. If the rail
road companies will furnish the necessary supplies in order to make re
pairs when they are needed, I Jeel satisfied that the accidents will be re
duced very materially.
--^
All that is necessary, I believe, in order to make the Safety Section a
pronounced success is a hearty cooperation of officials and employees. I listened with interest to the remarks of the gentleman from the Union
Pacific with reference to the cooperation of everybody, and especially that
feature of liis remarks where fie said the bulletin was up there where
everybody could see that they had gone for such a long time without an accident, and how everybody got around the board when they found one
accident put up there. That shows that there is an interest being taken
by nearly all of the employees, and if that work is continued that interest
will grow, and I feel satisfied irtvill redound to the benefit of all railroad
employers in so far as accidents are concerned.
I ani glad that I have had this opportunity to say a few words to yovi,
even though it came unexpectedly. I sincerely trust that the work in
which you have been engaged CIOs past week will result in much benefit
to every one, that you wilhgo to your homes carrying with you the thought
that there is renewed vigor on the part of everybody to try and reduce
the number of railroad accidents, no matter how large or small they
may be, and if you carry to everybody the thoughts that have been ex
pressed to you by tlie many who have addressed you and the thoughts
that have emanated from youf"own body, I feel satisfied that as time
goes on, you will find the accidents reduced almost to a minimum, and
the railroad "employees will feel that there is an interest being taken in
them" by the officials. They wilt come back with the same interest and
1320
I-Jirjhth Safety Congress
will try to avoid evertsaccident, and soon you will have good reports of a month or more passing without any accidents.
--IChairman Mf.ykrk: know we all appreciate the very interesting remarks made by Mr. -Hawley. We are very glad to have had him with us this morning, and we hope that he will be with us again.
The next number on-the program is a paper by Mr. .T. 3L>. Walsh.
HAND AND MOTOR CAR ACCIDENTS
-T. I.. Wai.sk. Sn'KinxTExPEXT of Safety, Missoi-ri. Kansas and Texas R.\iT.!to\n of Texas. D.\r.r..vs. Texas
When railroads wererput in operation it was soon found necessary to
provide some means for getting maintenance material, tools, and men
to and from the work, and the means at first provided was a small car
somewhat similar to the push car of today. This car was awkward, slow,
and required considerable effort to operate. From this beginning hand
cars were developed on~tlie principle of a windlass transmitting the power 10 the wheels through a belt. Improvements were gradually made,
developing the present-day hand car with a walking beam, transmitting
the power to the wheels through gear. These improvements increased
the speed at which the ears were operated, saved time and labor, but also
increased the number ot accidents and injuries.
About twenty years -ago when the gas engine was brought out, experi
ments were begun in lifting these engines to push cars, and improvements
made until we have today quite a selection of more or less efficient motor
cars which provide the modern means of transporting maintenance men and material. Motor car manufacturers are spending considerable time
and money in perfecting^ their cars and are of course anxious to put out
the safest practical car "possible. As this is very much to our advantage.
I would suggest that railroads will materially benefit by cooperating
with these manufacturers to develop a safe car. and that this can probably
best be done by periodically giving the manufacturers a synopsis of the
number and causes of motor car accidents, probably through the Safety
departments.
^
"With the increasing cbst of labor and the pressing need for increased
efficiency In all clepartznents of railroad work which is to be brought about by increased svipervision, the field of the motor car, already a
wide one. is being extended very rapidly. They are not only now being
used to advantage by track department employees, but by telegraph
department linemen and repairmen, tie inspectors, stock claim adjusters,
maintenance and valuation engineers, ear inspectors and repairmen,
painters, fire patrol menT signal maintainers, as well as by superintend
ents. roadmasters. supervisors, train masters, and others for whom it Is
necessary to get over the line, making frequent and irregular stops. The
gasoline motor car is to the hand car what the automobile js to the
horse-drawn vehicle, andL I believe it will be but a comparatively short
time until all rnilroads^will ..adopt the motor car as standard' over the
hand car. for the reason~that "the motor car has demonstrated its value as
Steam Railroad ' Section
1321
a time saver, as well as a laborsaver. A. section or a bridge gang pump ing an old style hand car eight or ten miles to work have but little energy left for their regular duties, and in addition, the prospect of the return trip when the day's work is finished. `
Injuries incident to the operation of hand and motor cars on the lines
I represent for the year ISIS wire about 5 per cent of the total. I find
in classifying 275 of these fatal and non-fatal Injuries that the principal
causes were as follows:
--
Collisions
--
Train and Motor Cars .....................................................
Train and Hand Cars...............v....................................................................
Motor Gars ........................
-ss.............-...........................
Hand Cars .......................................................................................
37 16 11
4
Derailments
'__
Motor Cars ..............................i*-.....................-.........................
Hand Cars ..........................................................................._..........
35 9
5S
Falling From
Motor Cars :....................................................................................
Hand Cars .....................................................................................
15 18
41
Getting On and. Off Motor Cars ....................................................................................... Hand Cars .........................................................................................
46 2
33
Lifting Motor Cars ..................................................................................... Hand Cars ......................................ss............................................
13 32
48
Persons Struck By Motor Cars ...................................Sjfe...................,..............-...... Hand Cars .........................................................................................
15 24
45
Other Causes
39 S
275
Total Motor Car Accidents.................................................................170 Total Hand Car Accidents.................................................................105
The greater number of serious^Injuries are sustained in motor and hand car collisions and derailments, and It will he noted there were 102 such accidents, injuring 37 per ceTft of the total. The great majority of all motor car accidents are causedTBy main failure, that is the failure to comply with the operating department's rules, lack of ordinary care and
3 322
z Eighth Safety Congress
good judgment in operating the car, or in operating a car that is in defective condition, which could have been noted by a proper inspection, and corrected. Thisiis the human element which has been mentioned so often and which can only be corrected by education.
When efforts are made to reduce the number of hand and motor car accidents, the first consideration is usually given to the rate of speed at which cars are operated. When accidents occur, such as collisions and derailments, the rateiof speed at which car is being operated certainly has a great deal to dblwith the severity or extent of the injury sustained, hut the speed of the car Is not usually the primary cause of the accident. While division inspection cars might be operated safely at twenty or twenty-five miles per hour between stations on straight track, I think tiie general rule for Section and B & B cars should provide a maximum speed of fifteen milesrper hour between stations, and a maximum of ten miles per hour over road crossings, through yards, over frogs and switches, in cuts, on curves, and during foggy weather.
ORGAN IKK MUTUIt CAR DEPARTMENT
Railroads adoptingZthe motor car as standard for the maintenance of way department, and others having oceasiori to use them, should organize a motor car department, in charge of experts to keep the cars in repair, to make frequent inspections, and adjustments from time to time, and to educate the employees using the car in its proper maintenance and safe operation. The^xpense of such a department should he offset by less delays and great efficiency in cars in use.
On some railroads it has been the practice''in the past to allow foremen to purchase their own motor car or gasoline engine with their personal funds, and in the latter case, a foreman usually fits the engine to a dis mantled hand or push car. and creates a home-made motor car. This practice I think should be prohibited, as it is wrong in principle to require the einployees^to purchase their cars, and it leads to bad practices on the part of the foremen in many cases. Instances have developed where a section forc-nVyn made a monthly charge on his men for taking them to and from their work on motor ear, in order to reimburse himself for the cost of the car. Other bad practices have also developed in this connection that haverprobably cost the Railroad Company more money than the purchase of^a car would amount to besides encouraging dis honest methods among employees. In addition to this, hand and push cars are not constructed sufficiently strong to stand up well in service under the strain and pounding to which they are subjected when equipped with gasoline engincsZ These home-made motor cars in many cases are not properly equipped with the necessary safety devices, such as seats, guard or hand rails on the front of the car, toe-hoards, and proper hand breaks.
The service for which a motor car is intended should of course be taken into consideration when car is ordered. Thus, the car intended for use of the superintendent, supervisor, or trainmaster in making inspection trips on the district, might well be fitted with an automobile type body, free running engine, electric starter,- electric lights, signal
if Steam Railroad Section
3323
horn, etc. These facilities however greatly increase the cost and weight of the car, and make its operation and maintenance the work of expert mechanical ability, which we cannot expect among the rank and file of our maintenance of way employees.
For general use the motor car should be as simple as possible, fool proof, easy to operate and maintain. These cars I think should be of the direct connected type, two-cylinder engine with its few parts to get out of order and adjustment. If possible to attach a speed governor restricting the speed to a maximum of fifteen miles per hour to these cars, one that cannot be easily disconnected or tampered with, one that is simple and will not causeSfengine trouble, would suggest that all cars for general use be so equipped. There should be a curved band rail or. guard extending to the floof=in front of car, and also a toe-board, to prevent tools and material JErom bouncing off and derailing it. The wheels should not be more than sixteen inches in height, and the floor of the car should he extended Hush with the outer edge of the wheels to prevent men getting their feet under the wheels in attempting to board the car from the side. Last but not least, each car should be fitted with a positive acting, effective hand brake.
The surest method of keeping hand and motor car accidents to a minimum after adopting a practical, properly-equipped car as standard, best suited for the purpose intended, is I think, to promulgate a practical set of rules covering their inspection, maintenance, and operation, and see that they are strictly complied with.
I will not attempt to outline a complete set of rules or instructions in this matter, as they would necessarily vary under different conditions, but the following are some ofllhe points that should be covered:
suggestions Foii inspection, jiai.ntkxaxce. and operation
Some member of the gang using the motor car, other than the foreman, should he assigned and trainedTto operate the car, thus leaving the fore man free in going over the Tine to make necessary inspection of the track, bridges, right of way feiices, etc., and also allow him to act in the capacity of conductor. The foreman, of course, should be equipped with the current time table and standard watch.
Kach member of the gang should be assigned a certain regular place on the car, overcrowding avoided, and expected to keep a sharp lookout for trains in each direction. Certain members of the gang should be charged with the duty of flagging in either direction if necessary, and equipped with the .necessary flagging equipment. The men charged with the^responsibility of putting the car on the track and taking it off should-be assigned to a regular position, with reference to the car, instructed and frequently drilled in the most prac tical and safest manner of handling the car, somewhat similar and for the same reason that boat drills_were held on our trans-Atlantic steamers during the submarine warfare. This will result in less confusion, and increase the" cooperation in cases of emergency.
Certain members of the gang should be assigned the duty of starting
1 :}2-i
Eighth Safety Congress
ihe car from the rear, the other members of the gang taking their seats
on the car before it is^ started.
Instructions should be issued and the men trained in. the safe manner
of loading tools and material on the car in such a way as to avoid chance
of it falling off and cafBSIng derailment.
Motor cars should not be operated at night except in cases of emergency,
and then only when lfrbteeted by a red light that can be seen from both
directions.
--
Employees should be prohibited from standing on the car or attempting
to mount or dismount from same while in motion.
If truck or push car is attached to the motor car, it should be coupled
close, and the men pushing the car to start, must push from the rear of
the truck or push car.- The truck or push car should never be placed ahead of the motor carf
Motor car should nolTbe set off on public highway as serious injuries
have occurred to drivers because of teams being frightened.
When necessary to apply brakes in emergency cases, warning should be
given to all occupants of the car to prevent chances of tneir being thrown
iff by a sudden slacking of the speed of the car.
Motor cars should nob follow a moving train closer than one thousand
feet, nor follow anotherTnotor or hand car closer than five hundred feet.
The use ot motor car should be confined strictly to Company business
and should not be taken .off the section on which it is assigned, except
on instruction-from superior officers, or in case of storm or emergency
making it necessary toTiIe report at nearest telegraph office and secure
instructions.
Motor and hand cars should be thoroughly inspected by operator daily
before starting to work.rnnd necessary repairs and adjustments made. The gasoline motor ear has come to stay, and I believe ail the railroads
using them have issued rules and regulations governing their operation,
hut there is a general neglect in enforcing them, and little attention is
paid to maintenance forces until a serious accident occurs, when for a
short time the matter has more or less attention, followed by a gradual
relaxation, until another'accident occurs. We must bring about a realiza
tion that an injury orTdeath. among our maintenance forces is just as
serious as in any other^department of railroad, service, and. make a con
sistent effort to prevent'-them through safety education.
-- DISCUSSION
Mr. 1>. V. Si i.i.ivan FFh M. & X. Railway) : I notice that Mr. Walsh
has said nothing about cars carrying torpedoes, which I think every car .
ought to carry.
"
Mr. .1. O. Ct.AitK t Oregon Short Line) : If I recall Mr. Walsh's statements
correctly, they were to the effect that the car should carry full flagging
equipment which would include torpedoes.
Citairman- Mkyrrs: t would like to have this discussed by Mr. Johnson.
Mr. O. F. Johnson (M- & St. L.): This paper gives in a very clear and
concise mariner the way motor car accidents occur and how they should
Steam Railroad Section
1325
be avoided. I will make a fewTemarks as to how that Is handled on our
railroad. I might state, for yon? information, that we have approximately
265 hand and motor cars on 1,600 miles of railroad. One hundred and
sixty-three of those cars, or 69 per cent, are equipped with motors. The
balance, or 31 per cent, are common, ordinary hand cars. On only about
one dozen of these care that I mention are the motors owned by the rail
road company.
"~
It has been the practice for years to have the section men, the foremen,
and possibly some of the meh7 purchase their own motors and install
therh on the handcars by removing the handles and part of the frame.
This worked out fairly well. However, in a good many cases, we find
motors are attached to hand cars that are not in very good condition. As
a result we have accidents. The motors we have on our railroad at
the present time comprise probably twelve or fourteen makes. I think
you will find that quite a number of accidents are caused on the railroads
in tne United States through the fact that the car body is not of suffi
cient strength to handle the motor. Like a good many other lines, we
make car bodies in the shops.^nd sometimes we have found that the
section man used a battered up car and before we knew it some accident
happened.
The paper that has Just been read has a classification of 275 fatal and
non-fatal injuries. The principal causes shown under the following classi
fication are:
=
1. Collisions. I might call your attention to a few accidents that
have happened on our railroad.. In one case, the car was running about
twenty miles per hour in a fog: Two cars collided. We found, upon in
vestigation, that one of the care had no light on the front end, which, of course, is against the rules of our company.
2. Derailments. In one casepa- car struck two dogs on the right-of-
way. That is something that could have been avoided by proper care on
the part of the men. In another case, a car jumped the track due to the
fact that the man operating tlig^car was an unfamiliar person wi'h the
route and the track was also more or less rough. In another case, they
ran into an open switch, throwing the men off. This could have been avoided by care. We had one accident where a car was derailed on ac
count of a loose wheel and because the gage of the track was a little too
wide on a curve, in other words, wider than standard gage.
Here is one case where a car jumped the track due to the fact that
the engine was placed on an old hand car body. The body was badly worn
and should not have been used. The foreman used his own judgment
about using an old hand car body, and instructions were gotten out to
discontinue that practice. U'e had one more case due to mechanism out of
order on a motor, and as a result it was necessary to operate the car full
speed in order to move over thea^iilroad. The section men took a chance
and as a result they had a derailment.
a. Kalllng from car. We have had several accidents from that. While
riding on a hand car in front ota gas car, a man tried to stop the hand
car by holding on to the gas caFand was pulled off on to the center of
3 32G
-- Eighth Safety Congress
the track and run over by the gas car. That Is rather an unusual stunt.
4. Lifting. The ^section man and laborer were putting a ear on the
track. While turning^the car around on the track, the man assisting the
foreman, dropped his end and as the result the foreman fell over.
5. Persons struck by. We had one case where a car was struck on a
public crossing. There was a cornfield on the west side of the track and
an automobile was coming along. The section man bombarded over the
crossing and struck Jhe automobile.
6. Other causes. ^We had several cases where the men got on the
motor car from the front end instead of the rear, which resulted in three
reportable accidents.!^
In this room, there are representatives from almost every railroad in
the United States. Every railroad has a different set of conditions with
which to contend. Scane roads have tracks that are ballasted with rocks,
others with slag, others with cinders, some with dirt, some with mud.
Whenever you find those conditions existing on railroads, those roads
are in line for accidents that would not apply to the hard-grade railroads.
A good many railroads have a heavier rail than others. They have straight tracks, very-lew sags and hills. -In the Spring the roads get
rough and a man has to exercise a great amount of care to keep his
motor car on the track.
For some reason of-other, we have had quite a number of motor car
accidents within the past six months, and I believe a lot of other lines
have had the same trouble. I am unable to tell what Is the cause of it.
Except wliat few rules are in the operating rule books, our railroad has
gotten out no special rules in the way of a booklet, except that we have
issued one or two bulletins.
I will call off a few of the instructions to our men: . Inspect cars be
fore leaving tool house. See that tools are properly loaded before start
ing. See that men arfseated on the car, both motor and trailer, so rheir feet will not get caught in frogs or switches. Have pushers get on from
behind and not from sides. Do not overload the car. Run car yourself.
Do not permit others to operate it unless they are capable. Obey flagging
rules. Watch the speed. Fast speed spells danger. Approach highway
crossings at slow spegB. The more obscure the view the more need for
caution.
--
Unsafe practices: Trying to beat an automobile or team to a crossing.
Trying to get to a crossing either ahead of or against an approaching train
in order to get an easy place to get off. Racing cars one behind another
and running them toorclose together. Pushing a carload of either men or
materials ahead of tlie motor car; the load should be pulled behind al
ways. Leaving a car on the track any considerable length of time while
doing work in the vicinity. Taking parties out for joy-rides or carrying passengers. Parking Cars on a public crossing, and many other practices.
1 don't know wbatzinformation I can add to what bas already been
said. The subject is 41 big one, and I know that there are others whr.
would like to discuss the matter.
One other thing, first; There are ni> hard and fast rules that can come
Steam Railroad Section
1327
out of the book of rules that is issued, and any of the special rules that are gotten out in regard to handling motor cars, except that all men should use extreme good judgment the same as they do in other work, should be well applied to see lhat everything is done along safe lines.
Mr. SriccwELt.: I would like to ask a question. I assume from Mr. Walsh's paper and from this gentleman's statement that they are using a motor car that is direct connected, that the men have to push and then jump on after they get the exhaust started. There are cars with belt transmission where they crank the car and they don't start until every body is on, and they can go at any rate of speed they want to and there is no 'danger of anybody setting caught in attempting to jump on. "What I would like to ascertain is this: Do the gentlemen present Ond that there are a greater number or accidents in the use of either one of these styles of cars?
There has been nothing said about an audible signal, approaching high way crossings. We have had a great many recommendations to equip our motors or motor cars with the Klaxon horn. I have opposed it, claiming that with a Klaxon Joru on a motor car, at crossings in the city, if a horse-drawn vehicle or- automobile were to approach and hear a Klaxon horn, they would assume it was another automobile on the highway and wouldn't look up and down the railroad track. It has been contended that we should equip them with a bell. I claim that we ought to have a gong. I think we ought to have something different than those used ou automobiles and loud enough to be heard quite a distance away.
Mr. Johnson: I might say that we have no audible signals on our motors except those on two Ford cars that we use for our superintend ents. Those two particular cars are equipped with, a whistle signal like the automobile signals.
Practically all of our motors are direct connected. In fact, all of them are, and it Is a case of getting out and pushing.
Mr. Weiii:: Following up what Mr. Stillwell said, we are tremendously interested in this thing. We have bad a regular epidemic of accidents the last three or four months, due not to the speed of the cars but to tools falling off. At the last meeting of our general committee, the gen eral superintendent was instructed, together with, the chief engineer, to design a standard for our motor car equipment, looking to the proper safeguarding of that feature. jAfter digging into the matter. I find that there are two or three different kinds. I would like to know from some of these men who have the cars already if they find satisfactory that type that has an arch over the front with a bar running through the center to the back, high enough for the men to hold to, and then an arch at the rear, closed In, or a standard at the rear.
The point was raised that'the man getting on after pushing the car, unless we left it open at the rear, would find it difficult to get on and in case of an accident it would be. difficult for the men to unload.
I want to know what has been the experience of these men. Do they have the safeguard at all? Ihirhaps you who are running and using a perfectly guarded car can tell whether the type of motor car in use i3
1328
Eighth Safety Congress
successful in keeping the tools on. the car as they have it guarded,
whether those cars have provision made in the shape o a receptacle or
some other way for the tools, or are the tools placed on the car depend
ing upon the guards in front and rear to keep them from falling off,
and whether the installation of such guards, particularly in the rear, would interfere with the men getting on and. off the cars.'
We are designing it standard to be used on our line. If there is a suc
cessful .standard, I would appreciate knowing it tremendously, because
we are paying for the fact-that we have no real guards on our cars at
the present time.
Mk. Clark (Oregoii"Short Line): I would like to answer that question
partially at least. Lfew years ago, we equipped our motor cars with the
hand railing. We used it complete in front. In the rear we had just an
arch to the box that houses the motor; that left the platform at the back
free.
Just a word of warning: After we had equipped a large number of our
cars with this hand failing, which was designed by one of our owu men,
we found the device was patented and had been for sale by a railway supply firm. You might get into trouble if you don't observe that point.
With regard to the_free-running engines,- we have a large number of
Buddha engines or cSfsYvhich have a friction drive and are free-running
engines. We have a large number of Sheffield cars that are direct con
nected. I haven't analyzed our injury reports to determine if one car causes more accidents than the other, but looking at it from a practical
standpoint, I think there is no doubt that the free running engine is
preferable from the safety standpoint.
There is another point that Mr. Walsh brought up in his paper that I think is of very grSHJt importance. A year ago this month, we had a section man killed. It. happened in this way: They were starting but
to work in the morning, and the foreman was running the car. While
he was doing that, heTwas watching the track. They came to a road
crossing, and some of tlie men saw a team approaching on the highway,
but they supposed thatithe foreman would see the team also. The driver
of the team saw the motor coming, hut he got up so close that the end of
the tongue, or probably the neck-yoke, was so close that it struck one
of the men on the car." It knocked him off ahd he was killed. It broke
his back. There is a ease where, if the foreman had had some one else
running the car or some man assigned to look out for what might be on
the track ajid- approaching on the highway, and give instructions, the ac cident might have been averted.
That is just an illustration of the point Mr. Walsh brought up, and I
think it is very important.
Another thing that IZ^Pish 10 mention is the speed at which motor cars
are operated. Mr. Walsh showed that out of the total, there were SS
per cent, I believe, due to derailments and collisions. It is very prob
able that some of the^taollisions could have been averted if the speed had not been excessive~and no doubt a large proportion of the derail
ments were due to excessive speed. On the line that I represent, I am
Steam Railroad Section
1329
convinced that the speed--the high speed--at which the motor cars are
often operated is the cause of a great many injuries. 1 have found- that it is
practically impossible to get the men to hold down their speed. They
are in a -hurry to get homer and in a great many cases, we have them
call the dispatcher to find out what trains are on the road. It frequently happens that the dispatcher^will tell them that a certain train wilt leave
a side-track maybe eight oT"ten miles away at a certain time, and they
will run at excessive speedTLo make that distance first, because if they
don't get there, they will have to take their car off and cause a lot of
delay.
--
There is a governor appliance that will, if applied, give the necessary
* power to climb hills and also get a maximum speed, holding the speed
down. I have seen one of them. In order to go on record, ami possibly
get some action on this important question, I wish to offer a resolution.
RESOLUTION'
`WHEREAS, The largely increasing number of accidents and personal
injuries result from the operation of track motor cars, and
"WHEREAS, A large number of such accidents are the result of ex
cessive speed in the use of these cars, therefore, be it
"RESOLVED, That the Steam Railroad Section of the National Safety
Council, assembled at Cleveland, October 1.-4. recommend and urge that
motor cars be so constructed and built that they will not exceed a speed
of fifteen miles per hour, and be it further
"RESOLVED,, That a copymf these resolutions be placed In the hands
of all the principal manufacturers of track motor cars."
I move the adoption of thisrresolution.
(The motion was seconded By Mr. Robert Scott.)
Mb. Gko. L. Wiuui-rr (Chicago. St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha*: I
would like to ask Mr.' Clark if there is not an engine manufactured now
that makes it impossible for_Ehe section foreman to exceed fifteen miles
per hour. We have such an engine on our line, and-it is impossible for
them to exceed that speed, jt is the Fairmont, manufactured at Fair
mont, Minnesota.
*=
Mu. Wai.sh : Mr. Chairman, we have those same engines, hut we
find that they are easily tampered with. If the section foreman wants to
go thirty miles an hour, he caff do it. We must get away from the use of
a governor that they can regulate. We must get something automatic that
cannot be monkeyed with. ---
Mr. Clark (Salt Lake City}: All this is a gas engine proposition.
Every tractor that is manufactured has a governor on it. I happen to
own one and operate it myseilTand I know that the governor is effective
and cannot be tampered \vith_easily. You have to take the whole case
of the engine off in order to:get at the governor. I have looked at the
governor on a good many gas Engines, and I know that there are several
kinds that are effective. They- are inside the case of the engine, so
that you can't get to them without taking the engine down. They are
1330
--Eighth Safety Congress
not sensitive; that isj^they are not easily out of adjustment. If you get
them, set once, they will run as long as the engine will, practically, with
out being adjusted orJiampered with at all, .and it would be impossible
for the ordinary man to get into that governor and make any changes.
Mi. Cakrow: Mr. Chairman, I have followed that resolution very care
fully, but I am afraid that I didn't digest it.
(The Chairman reread the resolution.)
Mr. Cakrow: 1 have"had something to do with this subject. I was In
touch with it several years ago. I don't know anything about it from
a technical standpoint^but I do know there are many divisions on our
railroads where we operate the motor cars by train orders, and fifteen
miles an hour would be simply out of the question under such circum
stances.
-
It seems to me that the resolution has some features to it that might
involve some delicate :points. I doubt the propriety of subordinating ef
ficiency to that extent. I can't see where a motor car, if it is going be
tween points on a straight line on a good track, could be benefited by
that. I don't think the efficiency of the railroad operation should be curtailed unnecessarilyTby curtailing the speed of the motor.
As I said, I am not speaking with any definite technical knowledge, but
thai ss just the way tlie_matter appears to me from a general impression
Of it.
^
Mu. Ror.Kirr Scott (Atlantic Coast Line R. R.): I was partly respon
sible for this resolution. I would like to clear up just one. or two little
points. We don't want to sacrifice efficiency, but we do want to Intro
duce safety in the operation of motor cars.
On our line, we have had some very bitter experiences during the past
six months, whereas up to that time we had enjoyed almost absolute freedom from motor car accidents. Those who followed the reading of
this resolution very closely must have observed that we are not making
this thing mandatory rar any manufacturer or on any railroad. We are
simply attempting to have this resolution passed for the moral effect
which it will have in the reduction of these motor car accidents.
Mr. Davjh Mork: On'our railroads it hasn't been a question of speed
that has caused the accidents, but it has been two other things that were
brought up. One is a question of man failure, and the other a question
of a. car not being built^rueehanically right. We have proved that. There
is a car that is centrally driven, with au engine in the center of the car,
delivering the power tO-tUe two wheels or two sides, and there is the
side-driven car. Our accidents on the Union Pacific Railroad have been
altogether caused by the side-driven car, which Is a mechanically im
perfect car. I can provsrrthat to you. It is a question of the engine driv
ing the car on one sideband having a. tendency to push the car off the
track: to overcome that in that style of car, they have a concave wheel
which has a tendency to.liold the car on the track. The outrigger wheel
is set at an angle of .j,spnich to curve that car over to the side on which it is driven so that the car is kept up against the wheel.
We had an accident airLindeiuvood, about seven miles east of Lawrence,
Kansas, where a car was"derailed and a man fell off. We made an investi-
Steam Railroad Section
1331
gation and found that the concave wheel got in between the point and
the stock rail, and the three men sitting on there were of sufficient weight
with what was already on the car--950 pounds, we figured'--to bold the
concave of that wheel between the point and the stock rail and throw
the outrigger wheel off. One man fell off and his leg was broken.
It is a. mechanical proposition with me. I took that car out with the
supervisor. I told his man to just push it straight along and let us see
what effect that had. There was a little recess between the point and
the stock rail, and that car followed the same process that it did when
the man fell off. These cars right themselves at eighteen feet, six inches.
We took that car, made a mark, measured off eighteen feet, six inches and put the car to the outrigger wheel, and at eighteen feet it was righted
That car was properly lined for business then and there was no defect
We had another case in Kansas where a man took one of those cars
of that type out to test it. He had another man with him. The two of
them sat on the seat, andT"one of the men, unfortunately, turned around
to face the back suddenly"; his weight lifted the outrigger wheel off the
track and it shoved the car off; he fell off and was killed.
I am here to say to voaTnen who are discussing this question that a side-driven car is not a meehanically perfect car, and until you get a cen
trally-driven car, you are going to continue to have these accidents.
Take the other side--the man failure. Up here on the Kansas Division,
to show both sides of the question, we had some foreigners- Unfortunately,
we have to have those men for that kind of work. Coming through there,
the Rock Island runs on our track. These foreigners were out on a motor
car. They had a time table and they knew that the Rock Island train
was on time, but they got off of the car, like fools, and stood there argu ing as to whether they should take it off the track there or at a point about two feet further away. The engine struck the car. That was an
accident due to ignorance S bull-headedness.
We have analyzed these statistics. Mr. Groome, who has all the sta tistics of motor-car accidents" on the U. P., will no doubt find some of them
listed under too-high speed. That isn't the trouble on our railroad;
neither is the trouble due to tools falling off. It is a case of mechanical
imperfection in the cars us.
In the case of a joint that is %-Inch higher than the rail: I have tried
this out at twenty miles an hour, and when you strike that high joint, '
the outrigger wheel will jump out from % to %-inch. The faster you go,
the higher it jumps and the^greater danger there is.
I took it up with the Fairbanks and Rand agent. We will have to
change that imperfection in the construction of the car before we reduce
our accidents on that line. ^
Mr. Phakk E. Or.os ( UniofiPPacific) : I just heard the remark that motor cars on a line were operated"under train orders. I would like to ask Mr.
Carrow if the men have passed the standard rules and regulations ex
amination.
Mr. ` Carrow : - Yes. Mr.; Murphy can tell you about that.
Mr. Murphy : They are operated under train orders'and the persons
stand the examinations.
-
.1332
Eighth Safety Congress
AIh. Cakuow: ItTias been some years since I handled that question; I
presume that everywhere between New York, and Pittsburgh and on many
of the larger branch lines the motor cars are always operated under train
orders-
----
Aljt. Gkoo.uk: It 7s a fact that we are having too many motor-car acci
dents on our road, and almost all of them, if we trace them down, reveal
the fact that they gpe being operated at too-high speed for the load they
are carrying- Men start out and when they see a train coming, they open
up to beat it. _ We'have tried, without much success, to get a car that
will reduce to a speffl'of fifteen miles an hour, but we seem to have more
cars that will run forty-five or fifty than fifteen, especially going down
the mountain gradesr The men like to run and get home.
We have a number of minor accidents, men falling off the cars and
getting their feet or their hands run over. The thing we have to do is
to get a car, as Mr. Clark indicates in his resolution, that will not exceed
fifteen miles pel' hour.
I know there is sdffie discussion about operating a motor car by train
orders. I don't think that a track motor car ever is operated by train
orders. We have an ^uitomobile car that runs on the track--an inspection
car--and that we handle with train orders. In such cases, there is al
ts ays a man with the car who has passed examinations on. train orders,
i think that on Mr. Carrow's road that is the kind of car they are re
ferring to. It would be utterly impossible for a man to handle a motor car
on train orders.
~
Mu Murphy: We do handle all our motor cars on single track with
train orders, and other motor cars, too.
Alii. MKTCAr.Fi-:: There isn't a question that we discuss more frequently
at these gatherings Ilian this motor car question. To my knowledge we have discussed this same question in about much the same way for four
years, and we are in "exactly the same place we were four years ago as
far as any real actionals concerned.
Personally, I don't believe that resolution submitted by Mr. Clark is
going to be good. It is a question that each individual railroad has to
handle for itself. Oh the Northern Pacific, there are more employees
injured on motor cafS^than by train accidents; that was the case last
year. Every motor car involving injury is made a special report to our
general manager, wliolp last April, appointed a Motor Car Committee,
composed of the mechanical superintendent, mechanical engineer, signal
engineer, the engineer of maintenance of was' and, I think, the general
foreman of the telegrgph department, so they had all the departments represented operating motor cars.
The purpose of that Committee was evident. It was formed upon my
suggestion. There areTneehanical defects that caused those accidents, and
we all know what they are pretty well. A great many of the accidents
are due to the improper construction of the car or of the engine. There
are. of course, a greaf many accidents due to carelessness on the pari
of the foreman and the operator of the car, but I think what this sec tion ought to do Is tbedraft some sort of a resolution, if you want to
Steam Railroad Section
1333
get it through collectively. Jihat could be presented by the safety repre sentative of each railroad to his general manager, giving the general managers an opportunity to see what united action ought to be taken.
We are furthering our activities with that Motor Car Committee by temporarily putting on inspectors of motor cars. We have one to every two divisions. Each man devotes his entire time to going up and down the road on those two divisions and keeping things in proper shape.
Mr. Webb: I understand the purpose of Mr. Clark's, resolution to be that we go on record as endorsing the installation or use of motors which will make the maximum speed of the car fifteen miles per hour. The fact that there is a road that works under train orders and has different operating conditions seems :lo me ought not to cut the little fellows out who haven't those conditions.
If this Section of the CouTrcil goes on record recognizing a hazard due to undue speed and suggestion remedy in the shape of the installation of a motor, if there be such, geared to a maximum speed of fifteen miles per hour, I believe that will give me. personally, moral support to go to my gen eral manager and say that the safety section discussed this thing general ly and went on record as in favor of installing that kind of a motor. There are probably a good many ;pf us who do not work under train orders, some of whose accidents are due to speed and which could be helped by the passage of such a resolution. I think that the resolution as pre sented is a most excellent one. It will not interfere in any way with the Pennsylvania standard. Jt doesn't undertake to establish and make man datory any* standard at all ^anywhere, but it suggests, recommends, en dorses this action. I, for one, should like to see the resoHition passed.
Mr. Adams (Reginal Supervisor of Safety): It seems to be the con sensus of opinion, tliat a great many motor-car accidents are due, to ex cessive speed. That fact is conceded by all. That being the case, why wouldn't the moral support of this resolution work and redound to the great benefit and not take away, as Mr. Webb has stated, any of the rights of the Pennsylvania system,_I can't conceive why the Pennsylvania sys tem, even though they do .Operate their motor cars-under train orders, would want to- run at such a speed that would carry with, it hazard. If the train order does give them a certain right of track but at the same time permits them to go at a rate of speed that would carry with it hazard, it seems to me it is not practicing safet}*.
It occurs to me that this resolution is a valuable one with regard to this motor-car accident" proposition.
"Mr. Carrow: As Mr. Adame' remarks were hot made with any effort to discredit what I said or reflect on the Pennsylvania system, I might say that we have 40,000 maintenance of way employees, and our record of accidents wouldn't correspond in any particular with the figures that I have heard, read here from some of the smaller roads.
I presume, if you have looked into the matter, that you realize that our supervision of operating thesll cars is such as to guarantee a maximum of
safety, even though, we have reasonable speed.
So far as I am concerned, I don't see any special objection to speci-
1334
Eighth Safety Congress
fying or suggesting that there might be a speed limit to the engines
ou roads where it is necessary. I don't think that would bind any road
where it wasn't necessary or desirable to adopt such an engine-
Mb. Axpebsox:
Mr.' Metcalfe lias said, you have been discussing this
problem for the last four years. I move that the resolution be adopted
and made retroactive.
(The motion was seconded.)
Mr. Metcalfe: ^Wouldn't it be better for a Committee to be appointed to frame up the eSElre objection to the motor-car operation as it is now
instead of passing EBat resolution to reduce speed? There are enough other
features besides speed that are hazardous to justify general attention to
them all.
__
Mr. Carrow: That is an Imperfect resolution, with all due deference to my friend.
(The question was called for and the vote resulted in a tie. The
Chairman was requested to cast the deciding vote.)
CjiAir.mAy Meyers: I dislike to do this. I have no doubt that the
Pennsylvania Lines~are well equipped in every way to handle these cars satisfactorily according to the conditions and physical characteristics of
the road, whereas aTi-ailroad such as I represent, with long divisions and
heavy tonnage, where we have an unusual amount of work for out train dispatchers, would find it necessary, in many instances, to divide the ter
ritory if it were to attempt to operate the motor cars by train orders,
especially on our heavy single track territory. Therefore, under the con
ditions, I would he compelled to vote for the resolution.
I am of the opinion, as Mr. Webb has stated, that the only benefit
it would be to us Would be found in the moral support of having the ad vantage of recommending to our general safety committee that other
roads of the same "TOleage are having as many motor car accidents as we are having. I am frank to'admit that we are having quite a number.
They are distressingly large.
If it is left > nlSTT win have to vote for the resolution.
We have with us this morning Mr. Baitzeli, Superintendent of the Cen tral I>Svision of the i'ciseo I-ines. who is very much Interested in this
work. He gave us STJittle address at our round-table meeting yesterday
afternoon. It was at'a time when the majority of our membership had
left the room, and I-have asked him if he will not talk to us a little this morning regarding his experiences and his viewpoint in this work
as a superintendent of one of the big trunk lines in the United States.
Mn. C. 11. B.u.TZ!:i_n (Frisco I_ines>: I feel highly honored in having
a second opportunity. As I told you boys yesterday afternoon, this is
my fourth year in the National Safety Congress. I was at Philadelphia,
New York. St. Louis, and tleveland. Yesterday afternoon, I asked how
many Division Superintendents were present. There were none at that
time. I am still wondering if there is a Division Superintendent in the
room.
(There were two Division Superintendents present.)
Mb. n.M.TZEt.i.: The reason I asked that question is because I can't see
how a Division Superintendent anywhere in the United States can over-
Steam Railroad, Section
1335
look the importance and tEe advantage in attending these meetings. I
came a long distance--from Fort Smith, Arkansas, to Cleveland, Ohio, to
meet with you and hear what you have to say in regard to this wonderful
work.
The first three years that I was taking part in the safety work on the
Frisco Lines. I won the safety prize each year in succession. The first
year's work I remember very distinctly. Of course, it was all new to all
of us, but I made a reductioiTof G3 per cent as compared with the previous
year. That was very satisfactory indeed, and the Saturday Evening Post
had two stories throughout the year 101-1 in regard to some of the unique
methods employed to seeure~fesults.
That is what we are after^-- results. 1 never diminished my efforts in
the safety work. Really, that is where l get the fun out of the job. 1
have a big, heavy qperatinffldivision--765 miles in four different states
with about 2.000 employees on the pay-roll.
During the month of .'Ijiy. when tile drive was made iti the South
west region, as most of yoifinow, the Frisco Lines made the best show
ing in that group, making a ^reduction of 71 per cent, and my division had
the honor of making the best showing of any division on the Frisco
Railroad. So you see we are still keeping up the work.
I believe in organization iff safety work just the same as In any other
work. We haven't the time to go into a lot of details in connection with
that work at the present time, but I have observed that men whom you
get interested in the safety work immediately begin to show better re
sults in their particular line of work. If you succeed in interesting a
brakeman in the safety workFhe is more careful, more cautious and does
a better job. A conductor interested in the safety work is more careful and cautious and does a better job as a conductor. In every line it is the'
same. I believe in getting in ^personal touch with everybody; know every
man by his first name. GeiFaequainted with the men, and every time
you are with them, let them understand distinctly that you are for safety first of all. It doesn't cost you a cent. Whenever you find a man doing
unsafe work, using unsafe practices, caution him in the right kind of
a way.
If you can get all your section foremen, your bridge foremen, every man who is in charge.of other men. to be a real, honest-to-goodness safety
man not only once in a while but every day and every night, you are
going to show fine results. =^=
Above everything else, be `direful about selecting your Safety Commit
tee on your Divisions. Get men who will secure results. That doesn't al
ways mean to put on your Committee men who are known to be safety
workers. Pick out men whcLTliave influence with their associates and
educate and drill them in sajhty work and make them safety men. In
that way, you' will certainly get fine results.
There is one thing that I think we should never overlook. We should
impress upon the staff officerCEn the Division and the Committeemen on
the Division the responsibility that they carry when they observe in
fractions of the rules; we urffe them not to turn their backs on viola-
1336
--Eighth Safety Congress
tions of the rules but to get behind the man who is at fault and catatkm
him in the right kind of a way. If they fail to do their part, and later
on a man gets hurt because of that, I want them to feel that they hav*>
contributed to that man's injury or his death. I put that up pretty strong to the fellows and the .TDivision men. When an accident does happen. J
want to know all about it, and I want to know from the foreman or the
general foreman or the-trainmaster or the master mechanic what effort
he made to cause thatSnan to be more careful. If somebody has ne glected to watch that man and help him, we are all disgraced and we
have all contributed in IT certain measure to his accident. In that way. I get a very intense interest in the work constantly.
The transportation book of rules is really the foundation of safety, and
when we discuss, as we "3o at our meetings on every occasion, the cardinal rules of the work, we serve to keep that alive. Every week, I get out
some circular pertinent"Ib the work--Rule 99, Rule 210, and other rules
of that kind. Every time that we read in the Railway Age or the news papers about some big railroad accident, we take that and discuss it thoroughly.
"We have to do something to overcome the automobile accidents that are piling up on us andTuTyou. They must be cut down. One of the best
methods I have found sePfar is by the "Stop, look, and listen" to the public, urging them to be.tnore careful and to anticipate the danger which
surrounds them when they are crossing the tracks.
At the same time, every engineer on my division is constantly alert, anticipating a man paralleling him or crossing ahead. We urge upon
them to slow down, if necessary, but in any event to try to avoid the accident.
There is one other rule that I want to mention about which 1 have not heard a single word at this meeting. That is in connection with
Rule SS. trains of the same class have absolutely no variation at all; the inferior train by direction simply clears the leaving time of the superior train. That, to me, has always been a very serious proposition. I re member distinctly that investigation on a neighboring division developed the fact that one fellow's-'watch was thirty seconds slow and another
fellow's watch was thirty Jteconds fast. There -was a sharp curve right at the switches, and that slt.^t variation of watches, which you know and which I know frequentlyTs to be found among the men, caused a head end collision because oner^edged out a little ahead on account of his
watch being wrong, and HHe other fellow was using the last second to
get in. and they hit.
~
Every one of my watch inspectors on my Division has Rule S8 printed
in typewritten sheets and^Sasted under the showcase. I talk to the men
about their watches and tell them to be careful with them and be ab solutely sure and certain That they have a good watch and are keeping up with tlielr coiiipai'ison canls, c-oniparlng time frequently. I tell th'e
men. "Don't lake it for granted, that because you have had your watch a long time that it is infallible. Be absolutely certain, safe and sure."
Ch.viuman Mj;vki:s: Gentleman if is indeed refreshing and inspiring
Steam Railroad Section.
s 1337
so hear such words of wisdom from a man who has served so wholeheart
edly and shared the reward of safety with the public as well as his men. A man with that spirit and determination never fails to get results. Mr. Baltzell. we thank you and feel honored for the address and your pres ence.
Mb. Webb: I want to aSk Mr. Baltzell a question. He touched on the point of lizing careful in the selection of the committeemen. Recently, on
w of the lines under any jurisdiction, one of the committees asked that Their men be allowed to select, or that their order be allowed to select, their own committeemen In 'the future when we were replacing those who resigned or left for variouso-easons. I wonder if you have found that that
has been done elsewhere. ^
Me B.vr.TZKt.r.: That has been entirely in my hands.
Me. Wkbe: That has been the case with us heretofore. X wonder if
any of the other lines are allowing the brotherhoods or crafts to select
their own men.
^
Mb. Wkigiit: It is our practice. Mr. Webb, to allow the men to vote for their representatives, tile trainmen for the trainmen, the conductors for the conductors, and so forth. We find tha&ywe get better results by al lowing them to handle it in that wav.* T thVnk the Xorth Western also handles it in that manner.'
Me. Anderson: I think we should very much appreciate Mr. Baltzell's
coming so far to attend this meeting and to give us such a splendid talk on the viewpoint of the superintendent.
I would like to ask you. Mr. Baltzell, whether or not, from the Stand point of a superintendent, you feel that operation has been slowed up on account of this new safety work or intensified safety work and also whether or not it has addeOny additional burden on you to handle.
M .b Bai.tzki.i.: I am glad you asked that question. A good many of the superintendents on otir Toad, from time to time, have remarked to me, "Baltzell. liow do you get so much time to attend to safety work?" My answer has been invariably the same. "I don't miss the time that I devote to safety. It is aniplyThade up in other directions, because I know
from experience that the work has been speeded up because of our safety work." As I mentioned a while ago. if you get a man in every depart ment interested in safety rules and principles, his regular line of work immediately comes up. Higher efficiency--an absolute fact.
Mil Anderson: I was convinced of that fact myself. Mr. Baltzell, and I just -wanted to verify it. IZam glad to have a man from your side of the house confirm my feeling and opinion and belief in the matter.
Chairman Meyers: -I notice that we have with us Mr. Webb C. Ball. General Time Inspector on flTe Eastern Railroads, and we will be glad to hear from him..
Mr. Webb C. Bale, fCleveland) : I am certainly glad to see you here in
Cleveland. We have a beautiful city and it is a great inspiration to see so many young men interested in this safety work visiting our. city. I have attended ail of your sessions and I have accumulated a lot of valuable information. I have also got any storage batteries recharged fully with
1338
-- Eighth Safety Congress
enthusiasm and inspiration which factors are very important in the work
of safety.
--
.My work for the last twenty-eight years has been among railroad men, officers and the rank and file, and my particular activities have been
directed towards improving and standardizing the safety appliances known
as watches carried by the employees entrusted with the responsibility
of moving trains. I feel that I am justified in saying that the quality of
watches has been improved at least 50 per cent, and the prices have been
reduced at least 50 per cent, all of which is progress in the right direction.
I have had the support of the railroad officers and the railroad men.
I am fortunately located here in Cleveland where the headquarters of
three big brotherhoods have their offices--the Engineers, the Trainmen,
and the Firemen. My efforts have been directed towards educating the
men of these organizations who are the men who really carry the watches.
STAX DA un WATCHKS
We want the engineer, the fireman, the conductor, and the rear flagman to have standard watches. We aim to have those watches regelated to such a degree that they will be brought into what: is considered a pretty safe standard of varying not more than thirty seconds per week. I am pleased to say that on some of the railroads where the service has been established a good many years, the New York Central, for instance, we have 11,000 men with standard watches. I believe I am justified in saying that I can find 5.000 men among^ them whose watches will not exceed ten seconds variation, some of them less than that, in a month. That Is correct time.
The dial is one of the most important things in connection with the railroad man's standard watch. It should be plain and distinct and not confused with a lot of red figures and other irregularities that make it difficult for him to ndTe the time. When an engineer is out, looking after
signals, going seventy miles an hour, perhaps, he has no time to stop and go over the multiplication table and count the various red figures on the dial.
There is one thing on every dial that represents two things. That Is the five-minute division point. That not only represents that, but it rep resents the hour point- If the railroad man is able to see the five-minute point, and there is ntEEhing else confusing it, he becomes so accustomed to his dial that he can note the five-minute point or the hour point quickly and get the time correctly.
There are three diats made by the different watch factories. One has a very large square emphasized dot over the five-minute point. Another has a diamond and the other has a round mark. Either one of those characters represents the five-minute point and the hour point. If they are emphasized as they,should be. with the five-minute dashes in between, a man can read the tune easilj- and quickly. That is one of the safest features in connectioinvith standard watches.
When I first got intprthis work twenty-eight years ago, the best watches we had on the market, were fifteen jewels, fiat hair-springs, single, roll escapements, garnet jewels, and not adjustable except .with a punch and
Steam Railroad Section
1339
a hammer. I soon learned that those watches would not keep time. There
would be committees up atfSir. Stone's and Mr. Lee's offices frequently,
and they would send for mtygnd tell me the various difficulties they had
with the watches. I immediately went to work to encourage the watch
manufacturers as much as fccould to improve these faults, or eradicate
them.
--
Standards have been adopted of ten seconds limit in five positions. That
brings a watch in such condition that a railroad engineer or conductor
or any one else will get the correct time. Recently, since the first of
the year, we have reduced ami simplified the standards. Up to the first'
of this year, the Elgin people had twelve standard recognized watches;
the Waltham had twelve, the Hamilton twelve and the Springfield twelve.
That was very confusing to a railroad man or any one else who wanted to
get a standard watch. On theTirst of the year, we simplified and revised
or standardized them and brought it down to three of each kind or three
of each company. The Elgin' best grade is a twenty-three jewel; the
Waltham best grade is a twenty-three jewel. There used to be, until we
revised this, three grades--nineteen, twenty-one and twenty-three. That
made it very confusing for aSan with pride who wanted to get the best watch he could. He would go to a jeweler and would say, "I want the
best Walthatu watch." The jeweler would pull out whatever he had in
stock, perhaps a nineteen jewel if he was out of the others, and he would
tell the fellow that was the best. The party might not be satisfied and
might go to another jeweler and find a twenty-one jewel. Finally, he
might-land on the twenty-three jewel. That is eliminated now. The watch
companies have discontinued ffiaking them in any other way.
My efforts have been to educate the watch inspectors to educate the men,
and I have nothing to do withJthe sale of watches. That doesn't interest me. All that interests me is the safety features in the watches used by
the men who are responsible for the movement of trains.
When we get the support of the superintendents and trainmasters, we
will be in a fair way to make'greater success. I would like to make the
suggestion that you gentlemen=Who are at the head of these Safety Com
mittees, when you are in a townu where there is a watch inspector located,
invite him to become a membetof this Safety Committee or Section. He is in touch with your men more than any other individual on your system. He lias an opportunity to see tliem every day.
We aim to select the best wStch inspectors on the railroads who are
the best citizens and the most ZUseful citizens. Tf you can get them into
your organization, it will help tliem and it will help the efficiency of the
service.
"
I have been very much interested in this convention. I have received
a lot of valuable information rtpid a lot of enthusiasm, and I wish I
could have had my watch inspectors here.
Mr. Brexxax: Mr. Chairmarir'we have been the guests of the Statler
Hotel people, and the word "Staller" in hotel parlance means the stand
ard of perfection almost. We have no perfect railroads, and I suppose we have no absolutely perfect hotels, but there are so many perfect things about the-hotel that we might say it is perfect.
1 :J40
Eighth /Safety Congress
YesLerday afternoon, the Regional Supervisor of the Allegheny Region
asked the members of that region represented here to go up to his room for a few minutes. ~In doing so, after returning from the room, we took the elevator. SomO^ of us were getting into the elevator .to come down, and the elevator operator shot down with the gates open. It occurred to me that is one defect, and it is possible to kill a man in the elevator
with tlie doors wide open. I think it would be a courtesy on the part of this organization"rto the Statler people to call their attention to that. In most hotels, it is impossible to do that, because he doors are closed And locked. We are here for safety. I am new in the safety organization, but I am old in railroad work. I have practiced safety nearly all my life. I think this is a courteous suggestion to the Statler people, if we make it. I recomriUnd that you submit that in a polite way to the Statler Hotel.
Cii.ukmax Mkvkks: Gentlemen: We have completed today's program, the last of our three-day session and are now ready to say good-bye with never-to-be-forgottenrmemories. We can all feel a just and lasting pride in. our membership ;Th its efforts and accomplishments in helping to make the world a better and safer place in which to work and live. This ses sion has been the largest in attendance, interest, enthusiasm and results. M'e cannot measure af^tbls time the influence and benefits that will follow in the years to conrET but it is coming strong--a reward for service to our fellowman.
As your Chairman (I take the liberty of including the vice-chairman and secretary, Messrs. Scott and Mayo) we wish to express our sincere appreciation to thoseMvlio have honored us with their presence and ad dresses--a lasting inspiration to the great cause. What my predecessor said at the ojienlng OTTirst day's session are my sentiments. "This is your section. It depends 'trpcm you for Success.'' I-et's make it the very best. We can do it. We ndEd real thinkers offering their suggestions and ad
vice: we need real workers giving tlielr active and loyal cooperation. With each and every member thoroughly alive to his obligation, duty and re- sponsibiiity we can "make the Steam Railroad Section of the Xational Safety Council paramount.
I wish also to express our sincere gratitude to the beautiful City of Cleveland, its officials, and its. splendid citizenship for its generous hospi tality and our best wishes for its future growth and prosperity.
There being no further business we stand adjourned until the next session of the Council. Good-bye--good luck.
Textile Section
October 2, 1919
DAVID S. BEYER, Chairman V:'ce-President and Chief Engineer, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company,
Boston, Mass.
William S. IDE, Vice-Chairman S. Slater and Sons, Inc., Webster, Mass.
JOHN RENNIE, Secretary
Safety Engineer, Joseph Bancroft and Sons Company,
Wilmington, Del.
HE meeting was called to order at 9:45 A. M. by the Chairman, Mr.
XDavid S. Beyer.
?
Chairman Sever: The pasC year has shown some Interesting develop
ments in safety -work among the textile plants, although the textile
industry, as a whole, has beettrrather conservative in taking hold of acci
dent prevention work. One of the lines of activity of the Textile Section
this year has been to collect data in an effort to establish a standard accident frequency rate among textile workers, and thus determine
whether the accident rate forra; given plant is high or low as compared
with the average for the industry. We have some rather interesting
data along that line, accumulated and compiled from the reports of accidents in a number of textile plants during the last two years.
In the past, there have beefi7 on the average, about six "tabulatable" accidents (that is, accidents involving loss of time in the day or turn
following that in which the accident occurred) per one hundred workers per year. We now have a number of plants that have improved on that
rate very materially and there are a few charts here that I will run
over hurriedly; Just to give yOu an idea of the progress that has been
made along these lines.
-j;
Here is a cotton mill with about 600 employees that has an accident
rate of 4 per cent for the yeaP^191S, and 1919 finds it decreased to 3.S.
which is about half the ordinary accident rate for the industry. Here is
another one covering the years.<L917 and 191S with an. initial accident rate of about 5.5, which has been reduced to 3 per cent, a reduction of almost
1341
1342
Eighth Safety Congress
one-half. Here is another plant with 1.200 employees; in the year 1916
they had an accident rate o 4.5, but now show a rate o 2.7, a
reduction of 41 per cent. I have another chart here of a. cotton mill
having about 3,500 employees. Since 1917 their accident reduction has been 4.6 per cent, froriJT 5.5 to 3.0. Another cotton spinning and weaving
plant having 4,000 employees, whose accident rate for 19lS was 2.S per
cent, has reduced it for this last year to 1.6 per cent, getting under the
2 per cent limit.
--
So, we have records here of plants that have already reduced their
accidents 40 to 75 per cent below the average for the industry.
Another interesting feature is the reduction in the cost of compensa
tion for these plants, several of which are now receiving a reduction of
approximately one-half In their insurance rates as a result of their acci dent prevention work^?
Perhaps some of those present have brought records with them of the
work along these linesAione in their own organizations; if so we would
very much like to get their records, for comparative purposes.
The officers of the Textile Section have had two meetings during the year, in addition to considerable general correspondence. The Secretary,
Mr. Rennie, will submit a memorandum of the detailed activities taken up at those meetings, i
(Secretary Rennie gate a brief account of the meetings held in Boston during the year. On motion the report was adopted.)
( A nominating comxntjtee was appointed, consisting of Mr. Scully. Mr.
Coffey, and Miss WilsoiTto submit name.s of officers for the Section for
the coming year.)
T
Chairman Bkykr: The first of the formal papers that we have on
the program for this secEJon is, "Plant and Machinery Layout as Affecting the Accident Hazard in Textile Mills."
PLANT AND MACHINERY LAYOUT AS AFFECTING THE ACCIDENT 1TAZARD IN TEXTILE MILLS
KKXSETIt MOI.T-KU la-tvw<ioi. Gkkenk, anii Comi'axv, Boston. Mass.
It is obvious that theJlest insurance against accidents in a cotton mill or any other manufacturing establishment, for that matter, is to educate
the help properly so that they will use ordinary precaution in pursuing their duties, it is also"obvious that human nature solely is too frail to rely on for the prevention of accidents. Mill owners and others in au
thority must do all possible to make the surroundings in which the help
work as near accident proof as possible'even if people are careless and forget the danger whiclUalways exists even in the best protected mill or factory.
There are two elements to bo considered besides the campaign of edu
cation which must be carried on unceasingly and the general welfare-work
such as hospitals, physical examinations, etc.; which we are to take for
granted.
=.
i
Textile Section
1343
The first of these is the proper guarding of certain moving parts of
machinery and machine drives. The second is the plant layout and up
keep, which is a tremendous! factor in the accident hazard of any factory.
The question of the' detail guarding of textile machinery is being treated
in a separate paper and it is my intention here to call your attention to a
few features of plant layout: and upkeep which tend to reduce accidents
and safeguard the workers.
One point which I wish to"call to your attention is the fact that prac
tically all of the features brought out are cardinal rules for increasing
production. It is a fact that in plant layout and upkeep almost all acci
dent-prevention work is production increasing work. If you don't want
to put these ideas into practice for the first reason do it for the second
reason and kill two birds with one stone.
As it seems simplest to discuss one type of plant in this paper I am
going to confine these remarks to ^cotton mills although they would apply
in general to any other type of textile mill. I want to describe first the
elements which make for safety in a cotton mill, discuss each one briefly
and then illustrate as many St these ideas as possible by showing the lay
outs of a new cotton mill in which these points were given careful con
sideration.
The principle elements which go for safety in a cotton mill layout
are as follows:
j =--
1. Proper lighting both natural and artificial
i 2. Proper alleys which are obviously definite lines of travel
3. Proper prevention of short cuts
4. Proper spare floor for trucks and material in process
5. Proper heating and ventilating
6. Proper dressing, toilet, and rest facilities for the help
7. Proper care and use of alT of these facilities after they are Installed
X.IGBCTIKG
Let us consider the lighting first. One of the most prolific causes of accidents in cotton mills is pobjriight. Natural light is always the cheap est and best to work under. Ifow are we to make the most of it? First have ample glass area, just saZBauch as you can crowd into the walls. Second, have a sufficient story height to use the light admitted by the windows. Third have the working alleys run across the mill with win dows at each end. Fourth eliminate as far as possible overhead drives and fifth spend money in keeping the mill painted. You get accidents in old dingy mills and you get poor production, a coat of paint once every two years will always pay for ytself jn increased production and saving in artificial light. Where possible use general lighting, it is best and cheapest. Where this will not work out use individual lights In the alleys'but up too high for the Jhelp to touch them. Keep the windows clean, it is a very cheap way to get light and light always means in creased production and decreased accidents. Keep the mill clean. Dirty floors strewn with waste and bobbins cause accidents; scrub the floors but
134-4
Eighth Safety Congress
lie careful when scrubbing that people do not slip. This is difficult and must be handled through your'educational campaign. Scrub the walls, it is almost as good as a coat oE paint.
A Ill-rQt* ATI-; SI'AKI-: FLOOR AMI ALLEY ROOM
Now as to alleys^ Most accidents occur when help are away from their machines. A card hand loses a finger in a speeder frame, a weaver gets burned by a slasher. Most mills do not have definitely-defined lines of travel and help will take short cuts. You must have perfectly clear broad alleys along which people and material must go and it must be impossible for them to go by any other routes. The routes which they are to take must be made safe.
Congested floor space Is probably the cause of more accidents than any one other thing. Of course, we all want to get the maximum pro duction off a given floor area and there Is a very prevalent idea that in order to tio this it is necessary to cover every square foot with machinery.
This is absolutely not so. In your crowded spinning room you would probably get pounds" more production if you took out some of your machinery and rearranged the rest. You certainly would reduce acci dents. You must have adequate spare floor and alley-room. You must have space to handle the product in process, as much as space for the manufac turing itself. This space is just as much an adjunct of manufacturing as tiie area covered by machinery and don't "skimp it. Have perfectly definite space for full and empty trucks and see that they are kept there and not in the alleys. A good plan is to have stalls marked out on the floor and insist, that trucks be left in the stalls until wanted. A better way still is to in stall a conveyor system wherever possible even If it does not reduce the number of men necessary to handle the product. It does keep the work in perfectly definite channels and gets it away from the machines as soon as it is finished. The_proper place for work in process is behind the next machine it Is going eft. not in front of the last one it came off. it is no good there.
IIF.ATIN'O AND VKNTIt.ATlNt;
Proper heating and Yentilating have a big effect on the condition of the help and doubtless teiiB to reduce accidents on this account. By far the best arrangement is cnte which heats and humidifies the air at a central point and circulates ItT thvough the mill. Give the help proper atmos pheric conditions andlfiey will not get so tired. Tired people are care less people and careless people cause accidents.
It is important that facilities be provided for the help so that they will not have to change their clothes in the mill or near the machinery. They must if some special arrangements are not made. We must provide adequate locker rooirrcand wash rooms and see that they are usefi. How often we go through aiunill and see women, doing their hair near a belt or moving machinery.^ Don't permit help to dress near moving machin ery. but they will, unless you provide other space.
Textile S'action
l :*45
SYSTEMATIC INSPECTION JIVST L5IJ MAINTAIN KP
AH the precautions listed above will fail of their purpose unless you
see that they are kept up aJul used to their full extent after they are
installed. Spare floor is no good if trucks are left in the alleys. Locker
rooms are no good if the help leave their shoes on the spinning creels and
hang their coats on the radiators. A systematic inspection must be
maintained to see that the mJTl is clean, is in good repair, and all the
precautions taken to prevent accidents even after the ideal layout is in
stalled.
--
In order to analyze the layout of a cotton mill to minimize accidents,
let us start at the beginning of the cotton manufacturing process and
go through the various rooms studying the layout of each room with the
idea.that when we get through, we will have done everything possible
which will have any effect in reducing the number of accidents.
I am going to take as an Illustration the new Jackson Mills of the
.Nashua -Manufacturing Co. at Nashua, N. H. This mill is being designed, erected and equipped by us, Lockwood, Greene & Co., engineers, having taken a contract to turn over~ complete cotton mill ready to run and
assumed all responsibility in the matter. The mill is to produce the
famous Indian .Head sheeting and is to contain 50.000 spindles and 1.200 looms. (See pages 1346 and 123?.)
On account of the peculiarities of the site it was impossible to incor
porate all of 'our ideas in this mill. For example we could not run the
spinning frames across the mill on account of the restricted width.
Also a good many changes have been made since the drawings have been
made. It seems as If every time we studied the layout we were able to improve it some way. I think yen will be interested In the exterior of
this plant, feeling that the exterior of cotton mills had been given very
little consideration (They are probably the worst looking buildings in
existence next to shoe factories)? Lockwood. Greene & Co., engineers,
have a large architectural department working only oh exteriors of manufacturing plants and industrial housing of which we are doing a
great deal. The cotton arrives in cars at the storehouse siding where there should
be a wide covered shipping platform. For best arrangement, the store-
bouse should be of concrete with concrete floors and no wood top floors.
The cotton will probably be carried on hand trucks although in a great many cases it works out best to handle it on electric trucks which can be
run right on to the elevators and when the bales arrive at the proper location, they should be stored onf the floor one high. The proper stud
for a cotton storehouse is about Aight feet and it should be built of flat
slab eonstruetiotfc without beams. ^STever pile cotton. Many accidents and
costly handling will always result. The opener room should be on the ground floor of the storehouse. CHfcton ready to be opened is put on each side of the opener apron; the bates cut with snippers and the cotton
thrown on the opener apron. The delivery from the openers is auto
matic either to bins or to the pickers direct. The drive for all openers
is usually by one motor driving a^group, In this paper, we are talking
1346
Eighth Safety Congress
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1347
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.1348
--Eighth Safety Congress
about ideal conditions only and the best which can In- Iuk] m>
will
start out at once by considering only electric drive and individual motors
wherever practical as Ldo not believe there is any one wtx* wttl 4hoie
the fact that this form' of drive is at once the safest and d>~r asreatest
production and is the due which should always be used erber**
two
considerations will outweigh the added cost.
The most interest!ng^feature of this plant is brought tmt be* the fact
thaL we have turned the conventional cotton mill upside down hki mjjb
the first process on tlie/rooC and the finished product coming oat
the
ground floor. This allows us to blow the raw cotton to the top Soar and
let it fall by gravity from process to process making extremely cheap
handling and reducing/accidents by keeping the material moving in per
fectly definite channels.! As soon as it is off one machine it Is on its way
to file next. As we have said the proper place for the product of each
process is in front of the next process where it is to be used, and not in
the room where it has been manufactured. It is no good there.
The cotton is blown To the picker room and by far the safest and most
economical way to handle it is by some form of automatic distributor
which places it directlv/in the hopper of the picker. There is no reason
in a great many cases/Srhy the cotton should be touched at all in this
process. Each picker should be driven by an individual motor directly
mounted on the machine and the machines should be arranged either so
that it is impossible to walk between them or so that the clearance is so
great that there is no/danger from moving parts. If there is a passage
between the machines, it should be at least five feet wide. Adequate space
should be left In front of all machines so that the laps from one machine
will not block up the passage ways before they are put on the next ma chine. The best system Is to have racks between the breaker pickers anti
linislier pickers where the breaker laps may be stored.
After a lap is taken off a finisher picker, it should be put on a truck
or a conveyor at once.
lot of accidents are caused by stock in process
and full or empty trucks/blocking spare floor, operating floor or the space
between machines. Incidentally, if the work is kept in motion and there
is a. steady flow between machines, the inventory is kept down to the
lowest point.
THE CARD ROOM
The card room should be laid out if possible with all working alleys running across the mill Iso that we will get the maximum light and the cards should be placed so close together that there is no chance of any body trying to walk between them, leaving just sufficient clearance for the working parts. Every eight cards, there should be an alley at least four feet wide which will he an obvious and safe passageway. There is practically no hazard in the back or front alleys. The working alley should be four feet between coilers and the back alley five feet wide to allow full lap trucks toJhe handled without injuring the laps. Around the drawing frames, there must be sufficient space to take the cans of card sliver and the full cans of drawn sliver. It is very important that adequate space.be left around this machinery as it is too common a fault
Textile Section
1349
in cotton mills that tile congestion due to a desire to crowd in machinerycauses alleys to.be blocked by iiTUterial in process. Leave at least six feet clear behind the breaker drawing: six feet between the breaker and finisher drawing and six feet iii front of the finishers. This should give adequate space to prevent congestion. The same is true of slubbers. There must be sufficient space allowed to take care of the material in process. Leave four feet between slubbers in the working alleys and six feet of spare floor behind the machine.
As the card room will probably be driven by group drive, care must be taken to see that the shafting is properly located so as not to bring the belts low in a working alley. JTTf necessary, run two lines of shafting rather than have one line run in two directions and so bring belts at a low angle in a working alley or-where i>eople work. Have perfectly def inite spare floor for slubber roving next to the speeders and have full slubber trucks delivered to this floor as soon as they are doffed.
Cut out trucking where you' egTL You will notice in the layouts shown, t --------
there is a spiral chute in the center of the room near the speeders. As soon as a frame is doffed, the boxes are carried immediately to this chute and sent on their way to the spinning room. There is no reason why there should ever be boxes of roving cluttering up the floor of that card
room. The floor should be cleaiYall the time. Roving frame drives are usually so well guarded that there is little danger from that cause and ft is usually an advantage to have an alley at each end of the frames. It will be seen that the full roying boxes when they leave the spiral chute ran on a gravity conveyor along the wall in the spinning room. There la con stantly a supply of roving the Whole length of the spinning room. A conveyor und^r this shelf of gravity carries the empties back to the card room.
the sbxxjxc noon
There are apt to be a good many accidents in spinning rooms. Put the drive end of the frames together and make it-impossible to walk between them. Rave large alleys on the other end or between every two frames, at least five feet wide. Use individual motor drives if possible, otherwise four frame drives. The framesJEhould run across the mill so that the light will shine down the alleys and provision should he made to take the full bobbins away from the machines at once so that the doors will not be congested. The proper place foi'Afull spinning bobbins is either in the weave room or the spooling roonu It might be Interesting to note that in the plans attached hereto therrare chutes in the floor located at con venient places and as soon as a Trame is doffed the yarn is on its way to the next department. These 'chutes lead directly to the weaving for the filling and directly to the spooling for the warp- Return conveyors carry the empty boxes hack to the spinning room.
THE WEAVE ROOM
The looms should have individual motor drive if possible and be ar ranged with the alleys running agffiss the mill if possible if the weaving
] :0
eighth Seifcl >j Congress
I* carried on in the Iowerstories of a mill. Of course if the weave room has a saw tooth roof, this is not essential. Have perfectly definite lines of travel: alleys which are obviously meant to walk in and have all other spaces too small to get through. Front on working alleys should be about il-S feet wide so as to make it easy for a weaver to run looms on both sides. Back alleys should be at least two feet six inches clear and cross alleys should be three feet. At convenient points, broad cross alleys and broad back alleys at Teast live feet wide should be located which are obviously the main arteries of travel.
There is no reason wliy the alleys should not he kept clear all the time except for trucks carrying filling from the conveyors to the looms and the beams from the slashers. A conveyor carries the cloth from the weave room to the cloth room.
I'eople have been in the"habit of thinking of a cotton mill as machinery placed in a building.- Asua matter of fact it is a building placed around machinery. The layout is the most important thing. We spend some times months on the layout of a mill. 1 think until the Jackson Mills plant was designed that There has not been a radical change in cotton
mill design Tor years^ 'll.'Ire Jackson Is only a start- Xobodv knows what
can he done in reducingjTrccidems and costs' by proper machinery lay
out but we mean to find out. CitAiitMAX Bkvkk: I auT sure that Mr. Moller has covered the subject
so well that few here will be able to improve on his clear exposition of the matter. However, the subject is up for discussion and any ques tions as to plant and machinery layout are in order. Mr. Moller, I know, will be glad to make anyiTUrther explanations desired.
DI SCCSSTOK
Mis. Henry A. Owes (Whitin Machine Works, Whitinsville, Mass.) : Mr. Moller, what kind of floors do you ptit in?
Mr. Moller: Concrete floors, covered with wood. Mr. Owen: How is a wooden floor put on the concrete? Mr. Molt-kk: Two inch hemlock was used fastened to screeds set in cinder concrete. A layer of tar paper is placed on the hemlock and maple flooring nailed on the top. We consider it is the safest flooring in a plant of this kind. Of eburse it is very expensive, the flooring alone in this case costing a hundred thousand dollars. Mr. Owes: What do you think of cement floors? Mr, Moller: These will" always crack. Help much prefer a wood top floor. We believe it isZworth the extra money. Chairman Beyer: There are no fire'walls in that building? Mr. MorrEit: There is"Ti fire wall here (pointing to picture with pointer). Mr. .7. .T. Coffey t rnsjiSctor, Department Labor and Industry, Phil adelphia, Pennsylvania) : JT seems to me that an expensive up-to-date building like that should lie equipped with fire towers. Mr. Moffer : You couldn't put in any more towers there without
Textile Section
1351
taking up too much .space. GI course, Ihese plants are protected by auto
matic sprinklers.
,^
Mu. Cokfkv: I should think where there is no question as to the cost
of the plant, there ought to he sufficient fire towers in addition to using the fire escapes.
Mn. Moi.i.kk: These two doors (pointing to picture) give sufficient
means of exit. This door WSTild open into a horizontal escape and is
easily gotten through, and, _with the other facilities, is about all any
body would want. On the second floor there is a bridge'Which goes over
to the other building.
.Sr
Drinking water for the men and others working in these mills is also
very important. I understand seme mills spend as much as twenty thousand dollars installing cooled water systems.
I don't know, whether you consider this information appropriate or not,
but in the Alaska anils weJiave built a nursery that cost fifteen or twenty thousand dollars, where the help can leave their children, during llie day time with good nurses in attendance. I don't know the actual cost for taking care of their- children, hut you can figure that three meals a day runs into nioney.~ (Laughter.)
CirAiK.MAX Bftykr: aiost ofyou know the firm of Lockwood, Greene, and Company either by reputation or through actual business dealings,
and I am sure you are not surprised at having one of their representa
tives give us such a valuable-paper on this subject. I think there is a great deal of helpful information in the material he has presented.
The next paper will be by Mr. Owen, in which he treats of mechanical guards, and which he illustrates with mechanical slides.
standard guardITfor textile machinery
Hexky A. Owes, G h n k ita r. ~E x t: i x 1:1: i:, WjTrrix Mach ink Works, WnTTTXsvir.i.K. Mass.
Among the earliest recollections which I have as a boy during the late '70s around a textile plant with which my father was connected, is an accident whereby a man was terribly injured. He was working on a picker and the machine started up unexpectedly, catching him in the fast-running beater, which, reunited in the loss of his arms. The safe guards now attached to this machine make such an accident impossible, but this has only been accomplished in the last few years, though the mechanical parts necessary toTprevent such accidents are few in num ber and simple in design, showing it w`as not for the lack of inventive skill that this improvement waff^delayed, but rather for the idea to come that it was worth while to put^ghch devices onto machinery.
To show the growth of the protective idea, consider the early type of gear-cover, which covered the law better than the gears. It covered only the gear faces and "bite" of the teeth, leaving opportunity for a pinch between the revolving gear and the stationary casing, to say noth ing of the chances of being caught and drawn in by the catching of
1352
-- Eighth Safety Congress
cleaning waste and brushes, for at that time to stop a machine to clean it was waste time indeed.
A little later when gear-covers were somewhat improved, there were holes in them, thought, too small to get one's Angers through, left so as to hold up the core'to make molding in the foundry easier, and they were not closed up until the loss of Angers by some unfortunate stood as a monument to the fact that every conceivable avenue of approach must be closed before ~a gear-cover ful Ailed Its proper fund ion.
,\. lsso wiriTiN* si:*ixxixci m.tE
. The cut "A" shows :tl case where a cover supporting slot proved a
Anger-nipper and manyjvere put on the market before the weakness in
design developed. These slots show over the word WHITIN' on the front roll gear-cover onthe 1SS0 Whitin spinning frame.
A comparison of this "spinning frame made in 1SS0. with one of today,
is worth studying, as it^shows what the years of experience have brought
out in the art of safeguarding. The idea of separate or bolted-on gear-
covers has long ago disappeared and in its place we And the head-end or
frame made deep enough, and of the so-called "boxed type," entirely to
cover all the gearing except the draught gears; these are slow running
and wholly covered by strbinged casing, which in some frames cannot he
opened while the frame
funning. The gear studs are attached to the
back or web of the frame, with, oiling tubes sticking outside, safely ac
cessible and It is impo^Sble to get a; brush or waste caught in either
the arms or teeth of the^gears; nor will one's clothing catch while pass ing through even a narrow alley.
The frame-covering panels a`re without dangerous holes and often pro
vided with devices whicliLprevent the belt being thrown on to the tight
pulley when the panels are not in place; the panels cannot be taken out
when the machine is running. This saves many Angers, and even hands.
Textile Section
1353
as the fixer may be down beliind the head out of sight, working on the
gearing, when the operative or overseer concludes to throw on the belt
without looking about to seelwhy the frame Is stopped. On the pulley or driving ehcT we find outriggers, to guard against bump-
lug into the revolving pulleys, and guards to stop clothing being drawn into the belts or getting caught in the spokes. The loose pulley- runs on. a dead bushing, so is stopped while the speed is on. Belt shippers take the place of a stick or brush^handle to start and stop the frame. The operating parts are designed. so as not to be too high for small help; in fact,, tlxe whole machine isTdesigned so as to protect the operative from danger, and to make his labors easy and comfortable.
.'Rlie class of help In the textile plant today makes the need of pro tective devices more necessargr In the "old day, even the most ignorant laborer understood Knglish. -and- could be told where the danger spots were, but now, no one knows Jrom what the operative says whether he understands or not. In the old^days the ignorance of the laborer was one of the greatest causes of accidents and he was blameless in the matter, for he could do nothing to help, but the mill manager who well knew
It. S.\t -i i-l.i >un:i.I. ItKATKli I.OCIC
his employees were working under dangerous conditions was surely to be blamed, because most of the improvements in this line were the re sults of demands made by the mills until the operative sought the aid of the law. This has been the jjblitieian's opportunity; he has pushed punitive legislation as far as the times would allow, and that is evi dently hut half of what he expects and probably can do. In the fast com ing days of labor's domination,^Jvhen the slightest opening will give politicians the chance to push through drastic and unreasonable laws at the expense as well as inconvenience of manufacturers.
Bet us consider cottoij machinxgiy, with which I am personally best acquainted, starting with the picker and card rooms. Mr. Swallow, of the Amoskeag .Mills tells us that .while these rooms only employ about 10 per cent of the- mill employees; they furnish 2:1 per cent of the acci-
1354
Eighth Safety Congress
dents. Here we find the greatest danger lurks around the fast running pulleys, particularly where the belts "take on";" the laws of some of the states make it obligatory to have these belts guarded six -feet high from the floor, so in most cases It has been found more practical to hacve the guards made of bound Expanded metals, or better still, of wire grill to which cotton lint does not stick and is so much easier to brush off. Means to take oft* the Zbelts must he provided' but without lowering the protective qualities of the guards.
A tendency to the use of web pulleys and gears has begun to be evident, as this removesttlte possibility of getting caught in the spokes. All draft holes on pickers should be covered with wire grids wherever one can get a hand tlirough into the beaters. Beater lucks are now applied so that pickers cgchnot be started with the beater bonnet or glass doors open, nor can these 1* opened while the machine is running.
(*. ASloSKKACl Mil.I, UKATKIi I.Of'K
UTliese devices are simple in construction, and meet the requirements of the liability insurance rules.
The Saco-I.owell heater lock "R" consists of a sliding dog having three legs and aZ slotted disk tight on the heater shaft. When two of the legs lock the beater bonnet and glass door, the third is out of connection with the beater slotted disk. Before either the bonnet or glass door can be opened tAe machine must be stopped and the dog slid sideways, ivlth the heater disk in a position so the locking pin can
Textile Section
enter the disk slot, holding the beater against rotation. As the locking dog cannot be pushedout-Of the disk with the doors open, it can be readily- seen that an accident is impossible under any condition.
The Amoskeag Mills on tlieir old pickers employ a lock on a plan some what similar to that shown fit cut "C." but the construct ion allows connect ing bonnets located farther apart. As the cut shows, the lock consists of a long casting bolted to the machine frame, having a shaft with gears which throw racked bolts into notches in the bonnets, leaving the lock ing pin out of the heater disk. To withdraw the bonnet bolts, the pick ers must be stopped so the Beater locking pin can enter the holes in the beater disk, locking it against rotation. The sprocket chain drive be tween the feeder and opener should he better protected; a good design is made by the Amoskeag Mill.
Beaters are built so they can be turned end for end to save repairs and the unused keyway end should he covered with a tin sheatli to save any one being caught and wound up. This is necessary as the shaft ex tends well towards the alley.
Cards. The revolving flat card as now manufactured is a much safer machine than many of the older type we find in- the mills. It was never considered necessary to have belt shippers on a card but there were so
wiiitix r,u;r MKi/r shii'I'kr
many accidents caused by the operatives getting their arms caught in the belts when starting up, that practically all the machine builders now have shippers which can be applied to their make of card.
.This shipper is constructed "With a shaft extended front and rear far enough so the card can be started from either alley. The crank and link motion locks the belt on^oi- off and is very easy to operate. Cut "D" also shows a door lock^-making it impossible to have the door open with the belt on the tight pulley, thus avoiding accidents to the hands by coming into con tact "with the fast revolving, cylinder.
3350
'Jifjhih f>nfcft/ (Jont/rcss
The Saco-Lowell Shops include a round shaped ball binder -with their shipper motion, by which pressure can be applied to the belt after it is on the tight pulley to help the belt "take hold" in. starting.
It lias been suggest that the Burrow Pulley which drives the doffer and doffer gear motion be made with a web in place of spokes and that a cover be placed oveH the side shaft small bevel and feed roll gears: the location of these gears is such that if a man's overalls get caught, his privates are drawnrinto the gears causing a very bad injury as well as an expensive one tct settle.
Combing machinery has only been manufactured in this country within the last few years, soothe designers have had the safeguarding idea well in mind and have left few points for criticism, for the gears are all covered, and the points of danger well out of the way; webs are used on pulleys and large gears in place of spokes.
Dratcing Frames. This was one of the first machines on which the
E. \vhitix rm.wvi.vo, fra.mi-:
t.-m-k
scheme of locking the gear covers by use of the belt shifting mechanism was first pttt into genSral use. and was covered by patents issued to H. A. Owen and O. L. CBven.
As cut "E" shows, stops arc placed on the shipper rod at a point which brings them into position so the covers cannot be moved while the belt
is on the tight pulley^"neither can the belt be moved onto the driving pulley when any of the covers are open, making one of the most com pletely guarded niacliiaes on the market today.
Many shops furnish Jotver shaft, pipe covers and a pulley and belt
Textile Section
1357
guard for the drive from this shaft--the outside pulley is usually of web
construction and is covered by a guard usually furnished by the mill.
Speeders. The old style speeder was. a machine on which many of the gears were poorly guarded. ;
The Amoskeag Mills In. their safety work use covers of No. 16 sheet
steel Joined at the corners byan autogenous welding torch; this is only
one of the many useful purposes thfs scheme can be used for in textile
plants.
'
The textile machine manufacturer of speeders has looked after the weak points In gear covering by putting casings from the floor to the table, to be sure to get everything protected. The head end has for
years been of the "boxed type," bnt It recently has been reinforced by pulley guards and out-riggers to prevent bumping into the bel-=i, with trucks, etc.
The flyer spindle gearing covers, which in years back were made of wood, are now almost wholly made of steel, which is staffer and holds
its shape much better. Some speeders have means for interlocking the belt shipper and casings so the latter cannot be opened when run ning.
Spinning and Twistingr, Some of the things accomplished in guard ing these machines I have previously stated.
Fates Sc Jenclca CTo.. Pawtucket. R. I.. safeguard their spinning head
end and draft gear covers in a manner which is very effective as It takes care of all the gearing on the frame. While these gear cover
locks of all makes are a simple proposition to put into the design of a
new machine, it would be practically impossible to rig over an old ma chine with them without going to great expense.
Among the textile machines, the latest to be re-designed is the spooler,
which now appears with a "booted end" similar to the spinning frame,
and has all of the good points -Of that design. Metal bobbin boxes, with
their freedom from slivers, have been on the market many years. One manufacturer reports the use of hollow safety set screws on all moving parts of the frame, and bead end doors which cannot be opened wben the belt is on the tight pulley.
Warping and slashing machines have but few danger spots and these are well covered by guards on the machines put out today. The main
driving belts must be covered up six feet from the floor in some states,
but this calls for special expanded metal construction in every case. Safety blow-off valves must he applied to take care of excessive steam pressure.
Wcatrinff. Many of the danger spots on the loom have been safe
guarded--for instance, injuries from flying shuttles were very largely stopped by use of the Sft*UAva Shuttle tJuarti. shown in cut **FV
This guard fas simply a stiff wire attached to the hand rail running parallel with the race, high enough to be out of the way- at the proper
ly travelling shuttle, but lew enough to hold it from flying out of the
shed. The patent <m this guard has expired and we now see many modi-
135S
~ Eighth Safety Congress
fi cations of the first design; this, in fact, might be called a standard
equipment for loonre.
The Northrop anti other automatic looms in 50 per cent of the mills, have made the threading of the shuttle by the operative unnecessary, but as the laws of some states make the use of plain-eyed shuttles un lawful, we find onrthe market many kinds of the self or hand thread ing type. With thk shuttle, the operative simply draws the filling through and back under the thread holding beak and the threading is complete without danger or loss of time.
The doing away with of sucking filling through the -eye of the shuttle has been one of the most far-reaching steps to safeguard the opera
tive's health in what might be called one of the most unhealthful de partments of the fgxtile plant, for here we have noise, flying lint, hot,
humid, stale air, '.besides the usual dangers of getting into running
machinery.
The danger of the operative getting caught in the gearing of the loom is not as great as_Avhen he is working on some other types of machin ery, for most of the danger spots are well hack from the working alley out of reach, and'besides, we find most of- the gears covered. The fixer.
I=\ ("TiOMl'TOX AND KN'OWI .KS 1,0011
however, who must get close to the moving parts, is often in danger from the weaver parting the loom without looking to see whether the fixer is out of the. way.
The Amoskeag kUill furnishes each fixer with a. red wooden plug, as shown in cut *<;_ This plus (its the loom shipper handle stand slot and is plugged in before a start is made to fix the loom; it makes it im possible for the loom to he started and also calls the weaver's attention to the fact that some one is in danger, for the weaver, in his ordinary round of duty, almost unconsciously goes from loom to loom, starting them "without looking, his only thought being to keep them going.
Textile Section
1359
Many of the very heavy duck -looms, in fact some fairly light ones, are being driven by motors which do away -with the dangers from belt drives. The mills often place wire or expanded metal fences between these heavy looms-to take carts of flying shuttles.
One danger on looms fitted with harness head motions, is the fast re volving shifting hand wheel/with its crank; this could be corrected by some form of clutch motion^so constructed that the wheel would be
thrown into action by the pressure of the hand on the handle, so it would only be in motion when needed.
Finishing Machinery. These machines, particularly the heavy calen ders with their massive gears, and frame work, even in the machine of today are not designed with the usual type of cast iron cover so common to textile machinery, but the makers generally leave it to the many Arms who make expanded metal covers to attend to the guarding prop osition after the machines are set in their' places in the mill. This is done from an expense polntFof view, but they might as well be designed safe as to- be fixed up after Installation.
g. r.oror shipper pi.t'g
Motor drives have helped out by doing away with the large belt risks and most of these gears haveiheen amply covered by suitable cases.
The Cloth Folder in cut "H'^ahows the influence the mill has on textile machine design; this comes from the fact that running a machine brings out its weak spots and many/times we find the corrective features are made by the mill and later adopted by the builder. In this case some
one got caught by the folder crank and the result was an apparatus to
make it stop every time in the same place, also. Its arc of swing was covered by a circular casing.
The exiierience told regarding the Cloth Folder holds good with the Cloth Winder. Here the accident was caused by both ends of the pulp board not being secured, so When the machine started the board floppedabout and injured those nearest. An attachment now prevents starting the machine until everything is secure; this is another application of the shipper interlocking idea, r
Acid Carboy. The Amoskeaf Manufacturing Company, to whom I am indebted for much I have brought to your attention, particularly on
3 360
Kighth Safety Congress
what lias been donerou machinery already installed, has evidently solved
the way to handle ^dangerous acids by use of their carboy pouring
stand. The carboy yuox is lirmly held by straps into the pouring fix
ture, and the back slap o the liquid is well attended to by the use of
the glass shield which does not interfere with watching the flow of the
acid.
__-
Pneumatic lifts properly designed and placed can save many a strained
hack and muscles--accidents easy to claim and hard to disprove.
A few ideals to strive for in textile machinery guarding might be
summed up as follows:
Gears should be completely covered.
Covers that have txT be opened often should be protected by devices
interlocking them with the shipper motion.
M. CLOTH POLDER
Bolt on all covers Shich protect danger spots that should only be
looked after by the fixer.
Use web pulleys and gears where not covered by casings.
Use safety set screws-on all revolving parts.
Belts should be covered by screens, particularly where they "take on"
to the pulley.
~~
Be sure the belt guards are stronger than the force produced by
the breaking belt: if ittJt. the danger from flying pieces may cause more
injury than if the beltlwere left uncovered.
Textile Section
=1361
Do not allow covers andTprotective parts to be taken off and not put
back again.
Do not allow any exposed^ keys or keyways.
Be sure a cover is not a trap; some are.
Prevent accidents before they happen.
Keep ahead of the law.
Cii.wbm.ix Beykk: Air. Owen has had a wide experience with machine
design and construction for'textile work, and I am sure we are very-
much indebted to him for the thorough way in which he has handled
the subject. We will have an opportunity to discuss his paper later, and
I think we had better proceed with the next item on the program. It
is only comparatively recently, so far as I know, that safety education
has been taken up to any considerable extent in the textile industry. It
was long felt by the executives that the problems In this industry were
different from those of the iron and steel and other industries where
there had been safety organizations.
One of the concerns which, within the last couple of years." has organ
ized safety committees to combat accidents in its mills is the concern of
S. Slater and Sons, Inc., of _5VTebster, Massachusetts, and Atr. Ide Is going
to tell us something of the -jyplendifl work they have done in that direc
tion In the last year.
~
SAFETY EDUCATION JN THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY
I , & Soxs,William S.
k S. Slater
Inc.., Webster and Fauxumsyii.i.k. Mass.
HISTORY Ol' THE PLANT
The Slater Mills were founded at Webster, Mass., in 1812, by Samuel srater, who had already established the first commercially successful cot
ton mill in the United States^ at Pawtucket, R. I.
The first mill operated at Webster. Mass., was for the manufacture of
cotton yarns. These yarns Wire woven into cloth on hand looms at the
homes or the farmers in the neighborhood, for at that time the power loom had not come into use.
In the year ISIS Samuel Slater, associated with Edward Howard, started
a mill for the manufacture diTwoolens, and soon established an enviable reputation for the manufacture of broadcloths and uniform cloths, a repu
tation which continues to the present time.
In the process of time these mills were enlarged, and as they stand
today comprise the Woolen and Worsted Mill, employing some 1,350 work
ers; the cotton mill, employing about 600, and the Cotton Finishing Print
Mill, employing about 400 workers. In connection witb these three mills, a mechanical department is "operated, employing about 150 men, and a farm branch, employing 50 n!En. all at Webster, Mass. The mill at Far-
numsville. .Mass., employs 45ft people, and is engaged in making Cotton
Worsted Marrow Coods. The employees of all these forces number 2,000
men and 1>000 women.
-JSL
There is no doubt whatever, that the Slater Malls were the pioneer
1362
^Eighth Safety Congress
mills in the textile industry. Neither is there any doubt that the Slater Mills were the pioneers in safety work. Originally, it is said, pails of turpentine were always kept convenient for cleansing scratches and cuts; while this protection measure today may seem crude, yet it indi cated forethought and TJusiness acumen. Today safety work at Slaters is recognized as one of-the vital links in the chain of manufacture.
ItKSfl.TS Of liu.'ir A Cell n:.NT HATE
lVUen the I-iberiy Mutual Insurance Company rendered its analysis of
our accidents for the year 15117, we were very much disturbed to find that
our plants had more aetSdenis per capita than the average Massachusetts
textile plant.
_
We had our first-aid rooms, our nurses in attendance, etc., and had
guarded our machinery as the State Police required from time to time.
Our machinery was as^nodern as similar plants, our overseers were
capable men of long experience, and we were at a. loss to understand just
why we should have more accidents than others had.
We realized, however, that this high accident percentage was costing us
money in high insurance: rates, that there was a considerable loss of pro
duction occasioned, and "that our labor turnover was not being improved
by having our mills known as dangerous places to work.
Right here let me state that Webster. Mass., is one of the finest mill
towns in the country. The relations between the employer and the em
ployee are of the best. 1A large percentage of our employees have lived
here all their lives and-have always worked for S. Slater & Sons, Inc.,
and know their interests and the company's interests are one and the
same. All of the old families are personally known by the officials of
the Slater Corporation and personal concern is taken for their happiness and general .welfare: sATO so in taking up safety work, there has been
that intimate personal Interest of the officials in the matter, which has
perhaps made it easier to make this work as successful as it has been.
We were advised by bur Insurance Company and consulted with other
experts as to what we -Should do to cut the high rate of accidents, and
the consensus of opinion showed the desirability of starting a safety
campaign.
rtl
This advice was accdpled and on -lime 1, 191S, we began under the
direction of the Safety Uepartment of the Insurance Company and formed
our Safety OrganizaiiotOTs follows:
``MI.'IY OlH.ANIZATION
A safety inspector was appointed to conduct a propaganda campaign of education among tint employees and- their families to follow up all accidents and learn liow they happened, why they happened, and if a similar accident could lie averted.
Three committees v^eri- f>rni d to meet once a month, with duties as follows:
A General CommiitonrotrjMi-t-d of the Treasurer, and Superintendent of each mill; the OvcrW'rs Committee composed of one overseer from
Textile Section
1363
eacli mill and tlie overseer of all outside work; the Workmen's Committee composed of one workmanTIrom. each mill and the Chief Electrician.
The personnel of the General Committee was made permanent, while the Overseers' and Workmen's committees are constantly changed by the dropping of one member oT each, every month, and replacing with new ones, so that eventually a large number of men will have served, and will have learned to feel that this work can be a. one-hundred per cent success only by each and every oneTHoing his share.
The Overseers' and Workmen's committees meet regularly on the com pany's time every month at the General Office with the Safety Inspector for the purpose of going o33r accidents which have happened since the last meeting and taking up any matters which the Inspector may wish them to consider. At thesermeetings our Treasurer drops in and makes a few remarks which become-food for thought. Every effort is made to impress upon each member tlie importance of this work.
The Committee then proceeds for an inspection through one of our plants--there being four plants and two committees, each plant gets an inspection once in two months--and later submits to the Safety Inspector any recommendations it wishes to make. These suggestions, good or faulty, reasonable or otherwise, are gone over by the Inspector and Super intendent of the plant affected and finally come before the General Com mittee. Practically all of Che suggestions are good, and any that the General Committee do not approve are sent back to the recommending committee with full reasons.for not carrying them out.
r.nucATioNAr, work
Bulletin Boards have beerrerected around the plants and an effort made to keep bulletins of interests posted. Most of our bulletins are received from the National Safety Coffhcil and the Liberty Mutual Insurance Com pany. Newspaper elippingsTif accidents are followed up and then posted where a similar accident might be liable to occur.
First-aid rooms are fitted lip at each mill where the minor cases and daily dressings are attendecCjiy a nurse. Considerable safety work can be done by the nurse; for instance, an employee has a septic finger caused by a neglected scratch aim reports for daily dressings, the attention of each one coming in for treatment is called to this and the patient is gen erally willing to tell just how it happened, etc., and the chances are that any one who sees a case of-blood poisoning will see it in his own mind when he gets a cut or scratch.
However, we have had se^SBral lost-time accidents clue to blood poison ing, occasioned by neglected cuts and scratches, even recently, and it is our experience that about the hardest thing to eliminate in safety work is the human tendency to take a chance- We are all natural gamblers, to a certain degree, and few consider carefully tlie odds against them, when tempted to take a riskdn work or play. So this is one subject that must he continually, agitated, and brought to mind in striking ways. A great deal of time, thought.-and money have been put into the guarding of machinery, and while the guarding of machinery is, of course, neces-
1 '364
K u/h f}> S/tftjt/ Cottf/r&ss
sary and helpful, ii does not compare in protective value to the educa tional work on safety.
CK.VKK.VI. ItOSI'IT.U.
A. general hospital ii= maintained, completely equipped, with two rooms and four cots, being centrally located for the mills at Webster, and used for the more serious ^accidents. The nearest Public Hospital, is at Worcester, sixteen mileiT distant.
safk ci.oTiri.vi;
Every effort is madeZto have the employees dress in safe Clothing. About -id per cent of -fiur help are women and for these we provide womanalls and caps. The girls are advised to wear these, but it is not made compulsory: about half the girls take advantage of this clothing.
MOVI.VG PICTTJKES AXD SPEAKERS
Through the Liberty ^Slutual Insurance Company we secured the mov ing picture scenario written by David S. Beyer, and entitled "The Out law," and ran it afternoon and evening for two days at Webster, and one day at Farmunsville, for the benefit of our employees and their families. We believe, that this picture gave our safety work a tremendous start and we are planning ttharrange for other pictures of this nature at reg ular intervals. The week following this picture show there was not one lost-time accident at any of our mills, whereas the average had been six per week.
Our overseers get together for a smoke talk occasionally, at which time we have some one preslilli from out of town, who can. give a short infor mal talk on Safety. AtFthese meetings each orte is asked to contribute his ideas and to ask questions.
These meetings are profitable, -we believe, in that they tend to get the men better acquainted with each other and with the management. Fur thermore each overseer7is made to feel that safety work is just as much a part of his work as production.
COST OF ACCIDENTS
We tell our overseersTtliat every lost-time accident costs the Corpora
tion one hundred dollars ($100.00) or more, seventy dollars ($70.00)
insurance charge (which. I believe is the experience rating basis) and
thirty dollars ($30.001 TTor the loss of production, etc. Really, money
talks and no overseer cares to see his department lose a hundred very
often, particularly when lie knows that records for each department are being carefully kept and from time to time will be read at the general
meetings.
==
Our nurses and doctors are impressed with the cost of lost-time acci
dents. not only to the Cflpporation but to the injured, and are requested,
when an employee is 3b injured as to incapacitate him from his
regular duties, bxit not from some other useful work, to advise him to
return to work, -when his overseer will give him something he can do.
Textile Section
1 :'.GG
We believe this policy is^best lor the employee, for several reasons, because he loses no pay, by^being occupied he suffers less from his in juries, and gets back on his regular work at the earliest possible moment.
The Corporation benefits fby not having the accident charged against It and has gone some way toward making the employee feel that a per sonal interest is being taken in him. All of this accrues naturally to the advantage of employer and employee.
The safety organization must deal with accidents very much as the health authorities deal withnconthgious diseases; the origin must be dis covered and some definite steps taken to prevent further cases.
There are some cases thalr^seem absolutely hopeless. We have in mind one man in particular, a very good workman, steady and sober, but always getting hurt; we finally had to release him as too heavy a risk.
The foregoing material will give you an outline of the general way our Safety Campaign has been worked. Now as to results.
KESUUS Of SAFETY WORK
During the six months previous to starting safety work there were one hundred seven (107) lost-time accidents, an average of more than four per week; for the first six months after safety work started there were fifty-three (53) lost-time accidents, or an average of two per week, and the doctor who had most of our accident work began to revise hf esti mate of what his income taxi would be.
During the six months ending June 30, 1919, or the second six months of safety .work, the lost-time accidents totaled thirty-two <32) or not quite one and one-fourth per week.
Our lost-time accidents for 1919 to date, figured on a- yearly basis are 2.24 per cent of the total employees, and we have every confidence that, this figure will be cut In two, one year hence.
For the purpose of knowing jiist what progress is being made from every standpoint, accurate riiBord must be kept of all accidents and their cost. This data should then be summarized and comparisons drawn, and the facts as developed, brought to the attention of the Safety organizations.
Such reports as are posteal through the mill should be simple state ments of the number* of accidents each week occurring In the different department or mills.
The principal factors in making safety work successful are the same as in making a success of any other work; you must believe in it. you must get every one else to believj&lin it, you must put a lot of enthusiasm in it, and you must keep everlastingly after it. Nowhere can the maxim, "eternal vigilance is the pride of safety," be applied with greater force or effectiveness than in a large modern Industrial establishment, such as S. Slater & Sons, Inc., wliere-the exercise of continual caution with man ual skill means a high degrss of productive efficiency, and where, on the other hand, carelessness of employees, with lack of alertness on the part of supervisors or foremen In the matter of preventable accidents, may mean heavy loss to both employer and employee in money and morale.
Chaibmax Beyer: Mr. Scully of the nominating committee has to
~T7 igJith Safely Congress
leave shortly and we will postpone the discussion of Mr. Ide's paper until this can be disposed of. The nominating committee will please report.
REPORT OK NOMINATING COMMITTEE
Mit. Si-ui.i.y: The nominating committee submits the following names:
Mr. 1-1. L. Robinson. Crimpton and Knowles Loom Works, Worcester,
Massachusetts, Chairman; Miss Ida May Wilson, Service Department, Lockwood, Greene, and: Company, Bay State Cotton Corporation, Newburyport, Massachusetts, Secretary; and, Mr. A. E. Conrath, Chief In
spector and General Eoreman of the International Harvester Company,
St. Paul, Minnesota, Vice-Chairman. By way of a little explanation, I want to say that Miss Wilson was put on this committee, and she objected quite strenuously to submitting her name, but Mr. Coffey and myself held a special nieetingf^and we unanimously decided she was the person whose name should be submitted, and we are very glad to. be able to do that, Mr. Chairman.
Ch.uriiax Beyer: Ijsee we made no mistake in selecting as the Chairman of the nominating committee, one who did not hesitate to use the steam, roller to secure^ desirable candidates when necessary.
(These persons wereLunanimously elected.) Chairman :;i;vEa: We would like to hear a discussion, or any ques
tions that any one would like to ask, on the last two papers which have been read, or on Mr. Moiler's paper, as the formal business of the meet ing is now accomplished, and further discussion is in order.
DISCI'SSION
Mr. Coffey: One of. the hardest tilings to guard successfully is the carding machine. I should like to have a little detailed explanation
given on this.
--
Mu. Owex: There are. not many women working around those machines,
and' outside of keeping=away from the belt and so forth, the risk is com
paratively small. As a rule, we haven't done much on the carding
machine, because, to hs frank, I don't know how it could be guarded
successfully.
j-
Mr. Cokkey: We don't find many accidents occurring around the card
ing machine.
^
Chairman Beyer: Don't you think the belt shifter itself serves as a
sort of guard?
Mr. Owen: Yes, it lakes care of it very largely.
Mu. Coffey: We haven't got a record of the belt accidents in the textile industry, hut in that one industry, we have not had a belt accident
in a couple of years. Are there any statistics available on the subject? Chairman Beyer: We have some such statistics., I made a study'of
the matter a few yearly ago, and found that the mechanical accidents in the textile industry were more frequent, comparatively, than in most other industries. Yet^educatiomil work has been, just as efficient and. important as in anyjlf the other industries. Some data on accident
statistics were given JHT the 1017 Annual Proceedings of the Council.
Textile Section
1367
Secretary Rennie: -I think tlie best way to prevent .accidents is along
the lines of the last papeir--safety education.
Mr. O. M. Carter (Dally News Record of New York, Cleveland, Ohio) :
Has it ever been tried to reduce accidents by offering a bonus to the
fellow that didn't have ail accident?
Chairman BKYi.it: Yes, I think I can aliswer that. I was just at a
meeting of the Midvale Seel Industry, which is divided up into com
mittees, and the committee that has tiie fewest accidents during any
month receives a bonus. ^There is also a bonus for the committee that
shows the greatest decrease^In the number of accidents in that period.
Mr. Romnsox: I don't think it pays to use that kind of incentive.
Mr. -Moller:
Almost anything that will afford tlie souglit-for protec
tion is worth the price, =-
Mr. Rouiksox: I can't see how it would take care of the carelessness
of another employee.
s
Chairman Beykk: Double the bonus if he didn't injure anyone!
(Applause.) "The proof of the pudding is in the eating." I think that
anything which helps to prevent accidents is worth while, and sometimes the novel and seemingly impractical does do good work through arousing
interest among those concerned..
We have some representatives from "across the border,"--Mr. Payne of
the Empire Cotton Mills, /Welland. Ontario.
Mr. J. D. Payne: This is my first attendance at the National Safety
Council.. As a matter of fact, in Canada We have been a tittle bit back
ward with the safety movement., and it is tried out up there more on the
statements of our neighbors in tiie Stales. Recently, however, it has
come into more popularity and I believe is proving very successful. That is the situation in the eastern part of Canada, where we have one line of action just opposite, almost, to the western part. Tlie trouble is that
we really have no standards upon which to go.
A Mk.urei:: Perhaps it Is a case of two men going toward the same point, and both meeting head oh.
Mr. Payne: That is just the point, but during the. last three or four
years we haven't gotten fgr (enough along the road, and the travelling
seems rather rough and Jim steady. Our accidents In the mills have been cut down to a piace~wliere a fair improvement is shown, but by
next year we hope to be--able to give some very good figures to the
National Safety Council, and also give more details of the work, than we
can do at the present time.
Chairman Beykk: I aifr sure the fact that you are here shows that
your plants are taking a great deal of interest In safety work, and where
there is such interest lliereT is bound to be results in a very short time.
Miss M'Daughlin may be Table to tell us something of interest about the
work at the Imperial Cot tali' Company, at Hamilton. Ontario.
Miss Mona M'Lauchux (Tmperial Cotton Company. Hamilton. Ontario) :
About six months ago weJErgani/.ed a safety committee and. like every body else, we think it is gBing to be a wonderful agent in the reduction
of accidents, and we are going Lo put the good work across. Our fore-
i ms
ttjh!h Saftte? * (/?/< ( .*
men are going i< Itt- ihej-eal booster? and f toettew wiW *mmm ttee ptUit
gain in this work, because a foreman tr in cl hihrr rwhat-W** aetS MMS*Ct
with the help and if be is a real enthowart is tlw twft t fXtttdnf
accidents--and we believe ours will be-- it i potsue tm mjtrmwm UM mitt*
of the work more aponlhem than an>'ThiJig ehw *s<4 they *#*o*ld tee more
responsive to the benefit to themselves.
hope to team abate very
interesting statistics for'thc convention next year.
Cn.uit.\iAS Bkvkk: I wonder if Mr. Newton onl4 not care to add something to the discu^ton. as I am sure ttaat tee could give ns some
valuable thoughts.
iln. H. A. Xi:\vtox i Assistant Superintendent. I*aci8c Mills, Hampton Mills Department. Columbia. S. Car.Mr. Chairman. I don't believe I will add anything to theldiscussion, but I will say that all that has beep said by the speakers has been very interesting indeed, and is going to prove of considerable value. Most of our accidents have been caused by belts and X had hoped to hear a little more along that line.
One unpleasant thingythat we have to contend with down in our dis trict is the fact' that the employees almost always try to take an unfair advantage of the employer, and they do not seem to want to cooperate, and are really not very much interested in welfare work, as they take
the position that we are^rying to impose upon them. For Instance, if a man gets a scratch, or any little thing like that, he will lay off two or three days, when he coaid .lust as well work, and probably goes borne
and works around hisJTiwn house. And often those minor injuries develop into something Serious because they do not have them attended to In time.
"We have no workmen's compensation law and when a case comes up for settlement, we have to try to please all parties the best we can. We are trying to give as much publicity as we can to safety work and are
endeavoring to secure ihel ufidence of employees so that we may be able to give them greater assistance. and not only effect a considerable saving to them, thereby efreotiiig a saving to ourselves, but to help them in every way possible.
CitAfRM.w ItKYi:u: Y<m don't have a compensation act in either of
the Carolinas, do you?
=
Ml:. Nkwion: No. sir
Cii.uiimax TJi via- I think we ought to have a word from the coming Secretary of the Textile Section. Miss Wilson.
Miss \Yu.son : I am afraid I can't add anything to what has been said. We have a safety committee in our organization, the members being the heads of the diiferent"depart ments of the plant. We add new mem bers every six months, but no one is ever taken off the safety committee. We have very few serious^ a<ridents. When an employee comes into our
plant, she is carefully instructed in the proper methods, and the acci dents liable to happen a^-explained. She is also carefully observed and our employees are now very- careful, thus proving the success of this plan of education. We show Them the right way and the wrong way. and
--T*
insist on tbe right -way oC dwria*
s-h*=
it*-* -uc :* w bave-
had twenty-two accident*. tioqctt mw * !-sw ;>= m wretn***
Our people are very Merit i*wr*w**d fc ra* *<.% p;*>*rv member on
the safety committee co*uider*
&4$f-<-stoMty r-srrt>fe foe any
accidents happening under ht* or her suci^dsetstwe, c U* fttetr department.
As soon as an accident is repetrred. st i* fcwpr undt-r doee ofeeerration.
and the worker is visited regularly and hi* condition ksovn and watched
at all times, which has prevented serious complications in many cases.
Ciiajrjux Beyer: That;is a very interesting and helpful summary
of the work that is being done in your plant. Miss Wilson.
There are 3ust one or twolpoints that I would like to mention before
the close of the meeting of the section. 1 remember that at the meeting
last year there was some discussion as to the desirability of adopting
standards for safety work iii the textile industry, standards that could
be followed by any mill, with the certainty that it was using the best
safe practices now available^-You have heard this morning much definite
and detailed information that could be used in such standards. There
was one paper dealing with plant and machinery layout, another took
up the matter of guarding machinery, and the third covered the educa
tional work, so that the field has been pretty well outlined, and in a
tangible and definite form. ~~
I believe that with the skeleton material given in these papers it
should be possible to go ahead with the development of more definite
standards .and that gives the succeeding officers of the Textile Section
some suggestions to consider~1n carrying along the work during the next
year.
-
1TMx't* i r.r-: !ui.i.ctixs
Another point that I should like to bring to your attention is the importance of the bulletins ;Tha t are issued by the home office of the Council daring the year. These bulletins are based on the experience of the different mills and members of the National Safety Council, and contain valuable data which can be used by all of us. Tbe Council can work to much better advantage if you will make >ontribut ions during tbe year of bulletin information based on practices tbar yon find ha your own plants. This will further the work of the National Safety Council In tbe most effective manner.
Ht. R. H. Or-errant (SafetvEngineer. National Safety Council. Chicago. XH.I: I would like to impress on you the importance C eendina in to the Conncil headquarters the data that you collect in experiment in* with various guards and any other Interesting work. In reducing your accident hazards: also in your educational work in safety. My time is limited, as I have about five other meetings that I am trying to get aronnd to before twelve o'clock. There were however three or four remarks that I have heard in your discussions which are extremely interesting, such as the guard for shuttles, for eliminating shuttle accidents: this will surely be suitable for a bulletin. All members should realize that this is simply a
13 <0
Eighth Safety Congress
cooperative body, and the more you contribute tiie more all will be
benefited. Chairman Beykh:
will say in closing that I alii sure I express tbe
sentiment of tbe entire section when I thanlc the Vice-Chairman, MY. Ide,
aim the Secretary, MfTRennle, or their time and effort in behalf of the
textile section, as well as the speakers for preparing the interesting pro
gram that was presented in the furtherance of safety work this morning.
They insist on giving me the credit for some of it, hut I cannot accept
it because I merely got the others to do the work. .
I know you want ta hear from Mr. Robinson, the next chairman of the
section, before the meeting adjourns.
Mr. Rorinson: If the meeting next year is as great a success as this
one has been this morning, I will be inclined to take quite a little credit
for it. The progranCTthis morning has been a splendid one, and I feel
sure it is due to thej&irect efforts of Mr. Beyer. He disclaims the credit
for it, by saying that lie got the others to do the work; but he used very good judgment in selecting the workers. I make the motion that Mr. Beyer, Mr. Rennie, and Mr. Ide be given a vote of thanks for their
splendid efforts.
--
(The motion was seconded and carried.)
The Section adjourned at i2:35 P. M.
Women in Industry Section
October 2 and 3, 1919
MISS TRACY COPP, Chairman
r z.
.
Director, Women's Department, Industrial Commission of Wisconsin,
Milwaukee, Wis.
THURSDAY MOENING SESSION
HAIRMAN COPP: We hare the honor this morning of an address of
C welcome by Mrs. Bishop.--Mrs. Bishop is the President of the Cleve land federation of Women's CTubs and has been appointed by tbe Mayor
of Cleveland as Chairman of the Women's Committee of the Northwestern
Ohio District of the National Safety Council. I am honored in presenting
Mrs. Bishop.
77
Mrs. Bi.siioi*: I am always proud to receive any invitation to repre sent the Cleveland Kederatiohlof Women's Clubs and additionally proud
when I am asked to come before any gathering to represent Cleveland
women.
-
I consider it a distinct pleasure to come and talk to you fbr a few
moments this morning for tws reasons. The first reason is that I am
tremendously interested in theZsntire work or the National Safety League
--it always appeals to me very strongly -when any group of men and
women undertake such an important piece of work or campaign, if you
will, for the pure sake of therzpublic good. Another reason is that the
women have' been given two Thorning sessions of one precious week's
stay in Cleveland!
Because I know we all feel the necessity of this great movement, I
am going to take the. liberty at offering to this National Safety Council
League the earnest, loyal cooperation of the women not only of Cleve
land and of. this Northeasterrr District of Ohio, but of the whole United
States. In conclusion I wish_to say that we Cleveland women wish to
feel as hostess and wish you to feel that we are your hostess during your
trip and sojourn in our city. .3
Chairman Corr: I have :OTe pleasure of introducing to you Miss '
Wright of the State Department of Health, New Jersey. Miss Wright is
eminently qualified to' talk to you about the "Responsibilities and Oppor-
= 1371
^
3 372
Eighth Safety Congress
tunities of the Industrial Nurse"--as she has had years of experience in
that work.
i
THE RESPONSIBILITIES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF THE INDUSTRIAL NURSE
Miss Fi.okk.vck Swin- \Vimiiir, R. N., New Jersey State Dei'ahtmext or
Hkai.tii. Tiikxtox, N. J.
,
Three years ago it was my privilege to prepare a paper for this or ganization. Industrial nursing was still in the pioneer stage and the in dustrial nurse was often on trial. The great war has brought changes, not the least being a nfjich more general appreciation among employers of the value to them ofAhe trained nurse as well as recognition in circles of organized labor of her services to the workers. Today I shall not, as was the case three years ago. try to convince you that you need the indus trial nurse: instead. I hope to show wliat may attract a nurse to work in industry as a means of self-expression which allows her to use for hu manity all of her training and experience.
I'REI'A RATION FOR SERVICE
To meet her responsibilities and take advantage of her opportunities
she must prepare herself as a public health nurse by acquiring some fa
miliarity with the principles of psychology and applied economics and an
open-minded insight inW present day social`conditions. She must learn
to understand all kinds -Of people and she can only do so by making her self familiar with their past condition, their ambitions, limitations, op portunities. and needs, Slie cannot understand the various types of
Poles unless she knows of the partition of Poland and of the various fac
tors which have consequently influenced the thought and habits of the
Polish people. A knowledge of their history is also essential with the
Russians, the Hungarians, the Italians. The people she deals with she must study daily. The American may be able to explain himself, but the
immigrant can hardly become a good American citizen unless we under
stand his needs, if notJhis tongue, and make him know that we under
stand him.
--
1-TKST Iin-IKS OK THE INlHJSTRl.Vr. A'URSic
As an industrial nurse, the trained public health nurse on taking a posi tion in a new industry, should acquaint herself as rapidly as possible with the processes of that industry. She should make herself familiar with its less obvious health and accident hazards and with the indirect effects of work and methods oSTthe vitality and future health of the workers, especially young people and women, as well as with the hazards that force themselves upon the attention by their ever-recurring visible results.
A nurse who is allowed the privilege of studying the industry will, providing her records ale well, kept and efficiently used, become increas ingly valuable in all her contacts.
Her further responsibilities are:
Women in Industry
1373
First: To herself. that she develop her powers.
Second: To her employers, that she perforin faithfully what they have
seen for her to do. while demonstrating the economic value of broader ac
tivity.
--
Third: To the workers, that she serve them acceptably and with the
authority that will win their heed to her teaching.
Fourth: To..the industrial physician, that she carry out his medical
orders exactly and that she cooperate with him in. all matters.
Fifth: To the communitythat she act In the best and broadest mean
ing of the term as a good and progressive civic as well as Industrial
servant.
--
But I believe that the gf?St responsibility of the Industrial nurse who
has a vision of the broader aspects of her work is a duty to our countrj for the best use of her opportunities In the making of good American
citizens. Her privilege of rendering personal service gives her rare
opportunity to understand the worker and puts this duty squarely on her shoulders. I consider her opportunities to be her responsibilities.
'll tv: xukse .v i*a ur of .vmkbic.vjciza.tiox vu.ogji.vm
How and why the public bamlth nurse must be a part of the Americani
zation program has been told so concisely by Mrs. Haasis1, of the Na
tional Organization of Public Health Nursing, that I quote her words.
"First: The Public Health Nurse enters the home of the foreign born
at a time when there is trouble. Service is needed, and needed badly,
too. Her uniform proclaims Tier as a worker, and to the men and women
' who have toiled and sweatecTTn workshop or held, there is no passport
to confidence like a pair of working hands. The uniform also proclaims
a knowledge above their own. a familiarity with scenes of life and death,
a kinship to the "professor,^to which they are willing to trust their
dear ones for care. Some, coming from countries where ministry to the
sick is the field of the church, recognize in the uniform the added sanction
and beneficence of religious service. . . . There is trouble, sore trou
ble, and she has service to give and her service assures her welcome.
"Second: Nine times out of ten her visits bring immediate and . tangi
ble benefit. Even if not in the recovery of a sick one, at least in in
creased comfort and In the confidence of the family that they are doing the
right thing. A few- simple admonitions and baby begins to gain weight.
A burned hand dressed three fir four times and the father is able to go
back to work again. `Hope deferred maketh the heart sick,' but immedi
ate results are a wonderful help in gaining confidence and obedience to
one's teaching.
^
"Third: Once the gratitude of the family .and their confidence are
gained there is no subject on which they will rnot ask or accept advice.
And here lies the opportunity ol the public health nurse to win the family
over to such American standards and habits as are better than their
own. The Italian mother can, after a time, be persuaded to take off the
* "Public HiHh Nulling an Ai~l to Americanization," by Bessie A. Haasis. kducational Secretary. National Organization of Public Health Nursing.
1374
sJSiyhlh Safety Congress
"faseh" which binds her new born baby's little legs up into a tight mummy shape. The Polish mother, after patient teaching, can be induced not to give her three montha^baby a taste of cabbage, stew, or whatever else is on the family menu. 7-
"There is no reason why the advice of the public health nurse should be limited only to matters of health. Public health nursing states as its aim: `To remedy not only the case of illness, but whatever is icrong with the family.' And so the public health nurse may be the one to get the young wage earner into lighter work so that he can attend night school. If she has nursed his brother through a critical case of pneumonia he is likely to do what she advises. Or she may he the one to urge the father to take out hisThaturalization papers, knowing that in the haz ardous industry in which he is employed he stands as good a chance as any other man of being killed and leaving his wife ineligible tor a widow's pension. If she has cared for the wife when the last baby was born, he is likely to do that, too."
This is all true of the -industrial, public health nurse as well and her opportunities are eveiCgxeater for two reasons.
First: I-Ier services STe free from any possible sting of ebaritv as she Is employed as a necessary provision for Industrial safety and health; or if employed by the workers themselves, through mutual aid associations or labor unions, lier presence shows the need of her service to have been so plainly seen by thosershe serves that they have already paid her for it.
Second: Her close relation to her patients, while at work as well as in the homes, during health as well as in sickness, makes it possible for her to become a friend before she becomes a nurse, with all the advantage of knowledge and understanding which the double relationship will bring.
OKSKBSi. Dl'TI i:.S OK I XIII'STIII.U. X I'KSKS
Today the trained nurse is employed In most industries; in mining settlement and bank, laundry and hotel, tannery and department store, rolling mill and candy factory. packing bouse and silk mill. Her duties are equally varied. Most often we And her giving first aid and assisting the industrial physician; caring for the sick in the home and teaching there bedside nursingr'liome management, child care. However she is equally concerned witlL_accident prevention, sanitation, health education. employment problems. ^Seeing cause of illness and misery, she is able to aid in finding the remedy.
In the plant she may have a large responsibility in searching out the more remote causes' ofLinjury,. illness, and unhappiness, together with an obligation to enforce ngeessary precautionary measures. Her daily con tact with the workers 7n plant and home, together with her neighborly, personal service to them, puts her. if she respects their racial traditions, in the best possible position to demonstrate tlie wisdom of change in habits which will mnktEJor healthy, rational life. If she is wise, she will not seek to do this by ruthlessly uprooting cherished custom, hut rather by friendly interchange o_f ideas will strive to alter only that which is ac tually harmful while preserving the good to enrich our own national life. Site will not fall into the error of tlie social worker in the old story who.
"Women in Industry
1375
returning from a visit to an Italian family, reported that they were not yet Americanized as they were still eating Italian food. Rather, she will try to teach her American friends the value of the Italian salad, French soup, Swedish bread. Hungarian stew.
She will, by her understanding of the parents, almost unconsciously strengthen family tics by fdSIering in the minds of the young people re spect for the opinions and customs of their elders, the loss of which is often a sad feature in the lives of the foreign born which gives dangerous freedom from restraint to their children and is the direct cause of much lawlessness among those of foreign parentage.
The industrial visiting mirle, already known to her patients, comes to them in their homes when they need her, and while her service to them Is a friendly, neighborly one from a fellow-worker, her training and uni form give her words weight as sijggested by Mrs. Haasis. Her co-work ers and their-families comcfo love and trust her and to depend on her to smooth out many rough places. She is a connecting Jink of under standing sympathy between employer .and worker. Knowing both inti mately, she is sometimes an TTnofficial mediator, explaining to the worker the aims of the employer and bringing to the employer wliat she has learned to be the needs, the handicaps, and the ambitions of the worker. Having the advantage of beingon a common footing with them as a fellow employee and rendering, without any thought of charity, as special a service as a machine tender, the workers readily understand that her Interests ore theirs.
VAI.Uli OE XCItSK TO i-:mt-i.oyki:s
In the plant the nurse mast render many valuable services to her em ployers. Her records have shown ways of improving and strengthening their organizations. By seeing the benefits of a little attention to the care of health, employers are IedL to increase such service. First aid and health work, beginning with one nurse, have time and again grown in a few years to a large department providing full-time medical service with physical examination of employees and constructive work for the better ment of health conditions.
For the protection of the future of America, the welfare of girls and women in industry should be the special care of the industrial nurse. She should be able, ultimately, to show by her records the types of work which cause nervous exhaustion or undue physical strain; she can do much by proving the poor @nnomy of the employment of mothers of young infants, and so help to keep for each young American his first birth right. breast feeding by his own mother. Even in prosperous communities, the infant mortality rate is always high where many women are employed outside the home. 'Dr. .Tulius Levy, Chief of the Bureau of Child Hy giene of the Xew Jersey StateT Department of Health, shows that poverty is not the most important cause of infant mortality, but that any factor which separates the mother and her infant (whether employment in in-
*"KdumXlor> and Keonomie i5xljus*tmont for the Ttwltiftlnn r*f Infant Mortaliry." hy- 1 nr- Jiitiu:* I-vy mir*_Xai.ional Conf(*r(*n<* of
Eighth Safety Congress
tlusiry or social life) ~by preventing: the breast feeding of the baby, causes a high Infant mortality rate.
The industrial nurse^ivill see other than health needs. Efficiency is so dependent on health, health and happiness are so inseparable, that she will also take an active interest in the recreational and educational needs of the employees^
HKK WORK IX Till-: KOMK
Especially in the homes will her work yield results. More or less has always been done to educate foreigners in industry by means of settle ments. societies, clubs, and night schools, but the foreign mother in her home had little general ^consideration. Hers lias always been a heavy burden. Obliged to rearTher family in a house unlike those of the home land, with accustomed foods of prohibitive price or impossible to obtain, surrounded .by opportunities she does not recognize and temptations she does not understand, it is no wonder that her children sometimes lack the health of their parents and often fall short of good American citizenship. The industrial visitingJCCnrse reaches these mothers. Coming when she is needed, she is welcomed and her next visit-is anticipated with pleas urable expectation. Having already seen the household at its worst, the nurse is treated with little reserve and is consulted freely on any sub ject. from liow to manage schooling for the eldest child to the best way of keeping the children off the street or how to get good milk for the baby. The nurse who is alive to her opportunities for service will not be found wanting. If suitable means for recreation and education and a good milk supply are available, she. will be able to advise. If they are lacking she can provide concrete instances for use in pointing out local needs.
TIKIt WORK IX THE COMMUNITY
For itheir cotnmunitiesrindusi.rial nurses have been the indirect means
of securing schools for foreigners, settlements, visiting nurse associations,
child hygiene stations. Tjpen air schools, health leagues and medical in
spection in schools, industrial clinics, better housing.
How shall the industrial nurse meet her responsibilities and seize her
opportunities? By cooperation, first, with her employer, who, if she
gives evidence of ability^and if she is careful to show by means of facts,
through her records ani reports, the wisdom and economy of each step
she takes, will allow her reasonable initiative and freedom to cooperate
with other department heads in the plant and who will aid and abet all
she does to become an efficient employee and a helpful friend to her fel
low workers, a capable assistant to the industrial physician, and a good
American citizen.
""
CitAiRMAx Corn: The_ members of the nursing profession have been
very seriously developing tlie qualities in the nurse that are essential in
industrial work: they ^sre very eager that the employers in selecting
industrial nurses should recognize those qualities and hire the nurses
because they have themT I have asked one of our Wisconsin employers
10 give us a word or two of testimony regarding the qualities of their
industrial nurse. T have the pleasure of having you hear Mr. Frank
Slinttuek of the Kimberly-Clark Company of Neenah, Wisconsin.
Women in Industry
i:?77
Mr. 3itattirk'k : It seems that the Chairman heard of a letter which went out from the Company last Friday to employees of one of oar milts which employs S30 men, the purpose of which was to give them the results of the past year's work of the First-Aid Nursing Department. I will just read a portion of it:
REPORT OF KJMRKRr.Y-CT.AHK COMPANY FIRST-A III SVRSI.VO DEPARTMENT
"Two years ago the Directors of this Company voted to place a nurse
In the Kimberly-Clark mills. Miss Kirby was engaged, with Miss White
as an assistant. Miss Kirby's- figures have just come to me for the
last twelve months and they are so important I want each to share with
them.
=
"During the influenza epidemic Miss Kirby was on the job day and night. It was estimated that She took 5,000 temperatures during the
days the disease was raging. Only three deaths out of the 8*10 people
that were working in the Kimberly-Clark mills is the testimony of the
good work which was done.
.=
"During the past twelve months^ there have been 3,567 treatments given in the Kimberly-Clark First-aid Room by Miss Kirby. If this number of people had had to leave the mill in order to go to their homes or to the doctor's office, they would have Most about 31,000 hours of time. Before the First-aid Room was installed, there was an average of 20 per day out because of sickness or poor health; this is now cut down to an average of S per day. If we take the. average lost wages before we bad the nurse as compared with days lost on account of sickness, we find that the First-aid Department saved about $13,000 last year in wages to the men and women in this mill. In many cases the nurses have saved the added expense of a doctor's bill.
"We have large numbers of employees thrown together in the mills and there is always the danger of the spread of contagious diseases--at one time it was the mumps, another time- the measles, and I am quite confident that the spread of both of these diseases was cut off by the good work of these nurses. JTTss Kirby also helped to prevent the spread of tuberculosis and to send the patients to a place where they could get the proper care, thus safeguarding the health of the fellow workers.
"If the First-aid Room should^be abandoned and if the nurses in it should be abandoned, the expense and salary--and all expense and salaries is included--if put into the pay envelope would amount to a trifle less than one cent per day per employee."
Chair>tax Coer; T.adies and Gentlemen, the meeting is yours.
DISCUSSION
Mr. S. W. Ashe (General Electric Company, Pittsfield, Massachusetts): I was very much interested In Miss Wright's paper.
The problem of an industrial nurse is difficult. We maintain an enter-
3378
- Eighth Safety Congress
geney hospital and ive have some very excellent nurses in- charge. They
handle about 3 00 cases a clay of all sorts.
Mu. A. H. Crat-sey7( A. T. Crapsey Company, Rochester, N. Y.) : Indus
try owes a great deal jo the married woman--a great deal more than she
has heretofore been .given, and I would like to hear some discussion on
that point.
~
In regard to the health end of it, I think that industry ought to take
care of a married woman at the time of maternity.
Then too, I would like to hear what the women have to say about the
live-day week for women.' We employ women in our plant and we have
now worked for three years on the five-day week, giving the woman--
the married woman, especially, a day in which to take care of her home
and one day for rSEreation. This hasn't hurt our production in any
wav, but I would like to hear something about the five-day waek.
Miss Xesta C-. Edwards (Chicago, 111.) : I don't believe it's a func
tion of industry to look after maternity. I am willing to see industry pay
toward a conimunitylnurse and a visiting nurse, but I am not willing,
as a worker in industry, to see the factory nurse do the functions of all
the other organizations. It's the function of your factory nurse and your
s<xial service worker to bring your people in conjunction with the insti:uilions that do the work.
fs. 3. 3. H.\i;vi:y fAkron. Ohio): I practiced industrial management
for nearly a quarter of a century, both in industry and out. I think
Miss Kdards is right. The industrial nurse has a function to perform
and the industrial worker lias a function to perform. There is no ques
tion but that there is a place in industry for the industrial nurse prac
ticing her profession. The nursing profession until recently did not
develop the industrial nursing profession--the nurses in industry were
the pioneers in developing the industrial nurse. The profession has been
taken up and they are developing splendid results in nurses.
Citatum ax Con-: ;I regret very much to have to announce to you
that Miss Van KleeCk is unable to he with us this morning on account
of illness in her family. Mr. Knoeppel has sent his paper, and printed
copies are available.
now TO EMPLOY WOMEN SUCCESSFULLY IN INDUSTRIAL OCCUPATIONS
C. E. ICxoEPPEr., Industrial Engineer, New York City
Although the great war crystallized many conditions connected with Woman's industrial life, it remains for the post-war period to clarify them. The chemist generally clarifies his mixtures by filtering out the grosser particles or jy absorbing them into a precipitate which ran later be removed to leave the clear liquid. It is therefore fair to use some what similar analogy in respect to women industrial workers.
In justice to all concerned we ought to "filter out" as speedily and com pletely as possible, the individuals whose utter selfishness so often be-
Women in Industry
1379
gins with unrest and ends with unrestraint. To rid a business of these malcontents is much more difficult than to prevent their engagement in the first place. Some men acquire indifference to being discharged; but comparatively few women can consider discharge In any light but that of enmity. The Other class of unsuitable employees which "absorption"
removes, embraces those in whom personality and willingness are satisfac tory but whose training has tern insufficient, or whose physical- condition is not adapted to their assigned duties.
Even above the - purely industrial aspect of the subject of woman's work, there must always come the humanitarian aspect. Against strong opposition--sometimes on the part of the very class sought to be helped-- laws were slowly formulated (and even more slowly extended from state to state) by which the labor of women and children was sought to be regulated as to hours and other conditions. It may be disastrous If we undo the good thus accomplished in an attempt to raise restrictions that were imposed for woman's own-good, and our watchfulness in this con nection ought to precede actual employment.
Here then Is the first division of my subject "How to Employ" in the sense of selection for employment. A little later we will consider the second division that refers to beeping them employed*.
It was my privilege about eighteen months ago to present some con clusions drawn from questionnaires answered by representative Ameri cans. In that presentation I considered the subject under ten headings which I venture to repeat here, viz.:
. a. The work to be performed" by women
b. Finding the women
"
c. Selection of women
~
d. Training women
e.. Wages, hours, and fatigue
f. Working conditions
=
g. Living and social conditions
b. State laws
i. Cooperation of--
^
1. Labor Unions
--
2. Women's Organizations
3. Government
"
j. Post-bellum consideration.^--
Of course it Is in the light of the last heading (Post-bellum considera tion) that we are now viewing jthe preceding nine problems; but their relative importance has not been greatly altered in America's transition from war-time to peace-time activities. Yet enlightenment has come to us in the interval. Some of our hopes did not materialize and some of. our fears were exaggerated; bufin the main, things came to pass very largely as had been expected by those of ns who had no personal "ax" to grind and who .had sincere desires to serve America.
lWomen, in Industry: An addresFCiielivered at Chicago in March, 1019, made the Joint auspices of the Society of Industrial Engineers and the Western
Efficiency Society.
J380
~TEighth Safety Congress
That American women rose so nobly to the demands of war is already
history and if they were spared some of the harrowing overseas' experi
ences that claimed eyes and limbs and lives of the men-folk in those
fateful years, we mayyet conclude that even those sacrifices would have
been made by our women in due course in the face of overwhelming Ger
manic domination.
Let us compare the present subdivisions of the subject with those of
early 191S.
^
THEZWORK XO BE PERFORMED BY WOMEN
,
Few manufacturers _had any well-defined views as to the scope of work which women could perform in the plants. Therefore we could not say, "Here's the job! Where's the woman?" Instead, we had to analyze the operations that needed long-trained skill and those where short intensive teaching might take the place of longer normal experience.
Where such analysis was made intelligently by a Planning Department familiar with every (but not unduly favorable toward any one) depart ment, tbe classification allowed more definite selection of women workers, and consequently with lower percentages of misfits and smaller labor turnover. Factory inspectors and women physicians were called upon in many instances to help decide what operations were or were not suitable for women's work. ^
Coincident with this effort was a wide awakening to opportunities for mechanical lifting anjCcarrying of product-in-process. This not only re lieved the emergency women workers from greater physical exertion, but it actually reduced production costs--and continues to reduce them, even where women workers have retired in favor of the returning men. A number of other permanent improvements and advantages that arose dur ing the stress of war7 have remained to expedite and cheapen subse quent production. Jigs and fixtures were in this way further developed and both automatic and semi-automatic single-purpose machines were per fected and utilized. Incidentally certain laborious operations previously performed by male labor exclusively were analyzed to-permit making
labor-saving tools that could be handled hy women. In no small number of cases it was found desirable to vary intermittent
ly tlie occupation of wbmen where over specialization produced the nerve fatigue that follows continuous repetition of monotonous operations.
We may assume therefore, that a desirable division of work should be 1. Experienced men for difficult and complicated work; 2. laborers for heavy manual work; 3. Women for light, simple or semi-complicated operations, wherein men set up the work. Either tbe various"trades, each for itself, or the government itself (tor all leading trades) could compile and list the desirable or permis sible operations suited to women's work. A field seemingly ideal for women would be that of tool-making, wherein her qualifications are manifest: accuracy, precision, neatness, dexterity, and quickness.
Women in Industry
1331
FIXDIiVG THE WOMEX
The questionnaire (already referred to) suggested a number of avenues of approach--chiefly the. industries non-essential to war; the ranks of household servants, etc. Though the most obvious sources, the two named were soflSShow disappointing in the number of recruits obtained. This was partly due to assumption of war work by plants for merly engaged in non-war lines, and partly to a distaste among the better educated classes to= enter gainful employment at such a time-- *`to accept pay from Uncle Sam while so much remains to be done which I feel I ought to do for ^nothing," as one bright woman expressed it. Largely from this class "the Red Cross and similar ranks were re cruited and the great majority of such workers have already returned to purely social or household duties.
The household servant class was a like disappointment. Near indus trial centers the scarcity of such servants even before the war began was locally felt and the servants from non-industrial zones did not seem to possess or acquire readiness of hand and eye in industrial occupations.
But he it said to the honor of our women workers, that they entered war work more willingly than the parasite class of men servants who usually stuck to their sinecures until pryed loose by the famous "workor-fight" order. Very likely this was due to the high percentage of aliens or partly naturalized individuals--those subjects from professedly neutral countries being the. most loath to undertake war work, even at the tremendous wage attractions offered.
Women's societies, as a possible source of permanent additions to our industrial force will be well worth cultivation. Until now the Y. W. C. A. and similar organizations have drawn the hulk of their membership from office and store workers--and despite present high compensation, some such women still feel it a social "come down" to enter industrial plants.
SELECTION OF WOilEJS' WORKERS
No detailed qualifications' for prospective women employees can he undertaken without considering the nature of the industry and its proc esses, but most of us feel that simple forms of both physical and mental examinations are desirable^together with some tests for deftness, shill, fatigue, and strain. Generally speaking, however, qualifications to be considered are: Age; adaptability; past experience; type; nationality; education; physique; health; intelligence; strength; moral character; looks; cleanliness: social standing; general aptitude.
The higher cost of training workers in these days of "paid learners" may lose rnnch of its seriousness ichcn more careful selection raises the average Quality of such learners. It is fair, too, to credit the instruction-costOwith full manufacturing value of salable product made by them. In this way each "taught" worker" means lower net expense-- or conversely allows engagement of higher grade instructors without raising the "cost per `unit' taught."
To list the various "jobsv and let the incoming learners compare
3&S2
-HEighth Safety Congress
them--and when practicable, to observe them during actual perform ance--helps to give clearer ideas of the employer's expectations, and les sens "choice by impulse" rather than after consideration. Unlike many men, women are not likely to select work chiefly because it "looks easy." It is altogether desirable that close supervision of learners should con tinue for from two to six weeks--and if the employment manager or wel fare agent can get the_ foremen and superintendent to join in this ob servation, so much the better; especially if there is prospect of a job in another part of tliC business as an alternative.
Whether prospective ^industrial workers ought to be lured from the ranks of school teachers opens a Held for serious discussion--especially
in view of the proverbial underpayment of teachers and the proportion ate attraction of industrial wages. But consensus of opinion is decidedly
against such a draft upon so necessary an adjunct of modern life. Bet* ter by far raise the teachers' salaries and at the same time exact proper and higher qualifications that promise wider practicability of the teach ings of instructors and their supervisors.
There is advantage oftentimes in seeking additional women workers from among the daughters of skilled workmen. Students of heredity claim that daughters favor father's traits and inclinations--and some what limited observation, in this direction appears to bear out the view that daughters inherit latently, certain manual skill of their fathers. Other things being equal, such a daughter will become a better worker than one who undertakes operations in a different enterprise.
tkahstihg the women
Several phases of tills aspect of industry have already been men tioned: and at least the nucleus of a corps of instructors should be or ganized before actively seeking women workers.
Preferably the instructors should be selected from the faster work ers, in order to demonstrate dexterity; but the disposition of the teacher is also important. The-"knack" of teaching is not confined to the "three It's" and one who lias that knack will train a greater number and more competent workers than the teacher who has personal dexterity alone, without the gift of being able to impart the "how" of things.
Of scarcely less Importance is. that the new woman worker ought to have a full trial; and! if she does not show reasonably prompt aptitude in performing the operation in the "job" first assigned, she should be transferred to some other operation. In this respect women are even more than men amenable to the effect of Immediate surroundings and activities.
The grouping of women workers is also important. A group of men of mixed nationalities-".may get along fairly well; blit in case of women such arrangement is always risky and usually undesirable.
Keeping the instructors themselves under close observation and train ing allows each teacher's "special competencies" to be extended for use. by other teachers, and the final net result is correspondingly improveCL
It is nearly always fatal to best i*esults if a newcomer Is only par-
Women in T ttdusi ry
1"S3
tially taught, and then leftTo continue as best she can. Striking exam ples of the seriousness of sucli a course may- be found In the army or incompetent stenographers Jvho boast of "making up their own" sys tems. because of their lack of study and training in one of the com petent systems of authors whose text-books were merely skimmed (or largely misunderstood) by the student in haste to reach a "position."
If the worker is to be taught at all, let the instruction be continued long enough to prove competency--or the lack of itl' It may seem su perfluous to mention it, but ^qualifications of the instructor warrant con sideration as well as in the case of prospective workers. Perhaps no other example of training workers offers more suggestive value than the telephone business, where the "quits" /due to marriage mainly, and to engagement for private exchanges) produce a very steady and con siderable exodus month after month. There, as elsewhere. It is found that the teacher must possess, pleasing personality; tact; patience; sympathy; consideration for the rights of others; ability to perform the tasks, as taught.
It seems almost superfluous to urge the advantages of industrial training schools; but up to this time both Labor and Capital have looked askance at most proposals for their establishment. Labor apparently fears eventual encroachment upon its present strength by influx of too many apprentices; and Capital fears inability to retain a sufficient num ber of the newly-trained workers against attractive offers from competi
tive plants. Of course the --middle-of-the-road" viewpoint, as in other things, is the way out of the difficulty--for- here again the honest co operation of capital and labor will advance the Interests of both.
W.xflKS, HOURS, .VXD FATIGUE
As I have stated upon former occasions. Anal success or failure of
any specific case of women's employment must rest upon mutual satis
faction with results. The wage must be sufficient to attract and re
tain the right sort of workers; and the work done niust he reasonably
worth the wage paid. I am of the opinion, that the balance between satisfaction and dissatisfaction. is apt to be more finely drawn in case
of women workers than with men. Yet the same prerequisites apply to
both. The procedure must be--to determine standards and pay accord
ing to performance.
TM
That the pay should be graded upon quality and quantity of perform
ance and not made dependent upon whether the worker happens to he
a man or a woman Cto keeiT the question of sex out of compensation
problems to the greatest possible extent) is generally agreed upon, and
more and more frequently practiced every year. And this condition
is being helped by the attitude of the more intelligent women workers themselves, who seek compensation based upon abilities, and not in any
sense as an exploitation of Their claims as women.
. Trade customs, seasonal exigencies, sustained posture during work,
and relative fatigue induced rare fundamentals which demand attention
in setting working hours.
-
1 :':s4
- Eighth Safety Congress
Today, with the extension of the eight-hour day--and in intima tions from some quarters that a six-hour day will be demanded just as soon as the trade unions acquire sufficient power--it would be ill advised managementitbat sought to force women to work the old-time "long day." evca if beneficent legislation had not forbidden it.
It is notable however that the desire for an S-hour day is largely in the nature of demanding a 1 S-hour week, whereof the Saturday after noon shall be a half holiday; and with reasonable precautions against unfairly heavy work, the consensus of Industrialists' opinion is that nine hours a day. for "live consecutive days, is not harmful to women in good health if the day-and-a-half week-end intervenes. Therefore, pres ent conclusions favor (for women) :
1. Mo night work: -t2. Mo overtime (beyond 0 hours in any one day; or 48 hours In any
one week) ; i 3. Mo Sunday workzin mechanical plants): 4. Half Saturdays off; n. A 4S-hour week;-- 0. A rest period (varying from 5 to 20 minutes, depending upon the
duties performed, during the morning and again during tbe afternoon: being in addition to the lunch period). Plants employing large numbers of women will find it advantageous to employ resident nuTses and to utilize their service also for preventing overstrain and nerve-tension, as well as for the first-aid help in emer gencies. It is not necessary to have either the plant doctor or the nurse actually treat the patients (excepting in case of surgical emer gency) ; but merely have them examine, diagnose, and advise the em ployees--so that actual treatment, where necessary, may be adminis tered by their own family physicians--and this service by plant nurses should especially consider the eyes, teeth, and feet, yet the employer ought to know that^ihe physician so called upon is reliable; and in case of prolonged iVTness. tbe employee may be visited by the plant doctor with advantage fo both patients and employer.
woiifcino conditions
Even the best pay..will not suffice to retain tbe best workers unless working conditions are right. Just as good lighting, well spaced, helps the speed and accuracy of work during dull days, so does generous use of white paint dn upper walls and ceilings accomplish wonders in avoiding cross shadows and dull spots. Until recent years it -was often difficult to convince .manufacturers that the slight additional cost of fuel, which would bejrequired for quicker changing of the Inside air is excellently invested in the results obtainable from the better-ventilated rooms. Force of exanple has spread the gospel of fresh air; and laggard management that pooh-poohed its advantages has seen employees lost to other plants where the good ventilation allowed operators to accom plish more--and thus. earn more--because of avoided fatigue.
Sometimes working temperature must be partly dependent upon proc-
Women in Industry
1385
essing conditions. Any temperature between 55 and 90 degrees F. can
be made satisfactory for sustained work if proper thought and judg
ment are given to elotliing~and ventilation, and provided the temperature
is kept reasonably constant. It is the variable temperature that induces
"colds."
^
Position at work affects health and endurance. In large departments
grouping of employees according to height and build helps the worker's
comfort, and therefore quality of output. It is not always practicable to
alter the bench or table height, but both long and short chair-legs can
be made available, and (unless absolutely impracticable through some
peculiarity of the operation) the seats should be provided with backs.
The low-back which reaches^ only to the sitter's waist-line can be adopted
for many operations which require full freedom of arm and shoulder
motion. There is evidence that for some kinds of work the high or
medium-high stool is coming again into favor because it permits a half
sitting and half-standing position that is convenient during performance
of some assembly operations.
The two excesses most-earnestly to he avoided for women workers
are excessive reaching (especially upward) and excessive lifting. When
work-in-process is carried on racks or platform tote boxes, most or all
of the lifting time is saved.
Standardisation of work-clothes for women is helpful in lessening de
sire to outdress one another and also permits greater safety precautions
to be.takeu against hanging loops and folds likely to catch in conveyors or
other shop equipment.
LIVING AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS
Unless the community's industrial life is dominated by one or two very
large enterprises, it is difficult to do very much affecting living condi
tions of worker without seeming to adopt a paternal attitude, and work
ing women abhor that! TJbe higher the percentage of workers whose
homes are at a distance, the more need for the employer to provide en
tertainment that will relaXTaerves and muscles. Music for some, dancing
for some, books for some--every plant has workers with these three
preferances.
--
-
Some simple food, obtainable during the rest periods, and only then,
pleases many women; especially the younger ones. Chocolate in cake
form; a few well-chosen varieties of crackers; and good milk--these
are universally appreciated. Any employer can buy them (excepting
perhaps the milk), at wholesale and resell to the "consumers." Giving
away food is scant advantage tq the employers; and waste will be con
siderable. Keeping charge^accounts with individuals is sure to end in
arguments and recriminations. Let the women pay cash for what they
eat, and keep the prices down to cost.
Cut out the accounting.^='Charge the "storekeeper" a gross total for
original packages bought. Allow a small percentage for breakage and
loss; and pay "storekeeper" a reasonable sum for the trouble of re
tailing the items. Two Storekeepers are usually desirable, especially
during risk of absence of one of them.
3:iSt5
fEighth Safety Congress
The average woman's contentment is said to be based on: One-third icorking conditions and. wages;
One-third living conditions; and One-third amusement. When the worker finds congenial, healthful amusement nearby, .out side working hours, she seldom of her own accord seeks to leave the
vicinity. It is unwise and generally disastrous to combat class distinctions
among women. Let the women fix their own social strata and run their own organizations. Advice in 3uch directions is resented.
'there is less need than in earlier days to encourage physical exer cise among women employees; hut help from the competent woman gymnasium teaclier isappreciated by most women, provided the classes
arc not made compulsory. It may often prove an excellent move to appoint a social secretary
whose help the women may obtain about problems outside working hours, just as the matron is called to help on the problems during the
work itself.
ZZT-
STATE LAWS
Present lack of uniformity among state laws, together with regional peculiarities of climate, and local racial conditions, make any universal recommendations of doubtful worth. Perhaps some of these days we shall have appropriate federal laws covering employment routine, but it is yet a long way off.
State legislatures can, scarcely he expected to devise altogetheiOwise provisions for wonienTS'orkers until women legislators sit in conference to supply more intimate knowledge of women's industrial needs.
With the present strength of organized labor, there is less danger than formerly of overworking women and children by too-long hours, or unhealthful and very fatiguing operations. And since the sharp har riers are being so jgjpiclly broken down between "men's work" and "women's work." as axur fathers and grandfathers distinguished them, we are learning to realize that almost any industrial occupation may he followed (by either men or women) without real danger to health, after proper safeguards and protective measures have been provided.
Industrial sanitation does not make blatant claims about its own progress, but every year sees improvement. In many instances, the sbop committee and the welfare committee may be credited with the good results accomplished.^
coiiricitATJOx or laugh vsioxs
Nearly twenty years' experience as laborer, moulder, draughtsman, office manager, cost Accountant, and consulting industrial engineer con vinces me that whenever Capital and Labor differ widely upon any sub ject. some misunderstanding has occurred by which each does not fully appreciate the exact position or aim of the other; and I can see no aspect of the whole question- of women in Industry that alters my conviction.
omen in Industry
3387
I do not believe that the leaders of organized labor will oppose the
introduction of women inany suitable industry, provided:
1. The pay equals that for men on equal work
2. The shop day is no longer than that for men
3. The women are allowed to organize
Instead of becoming the object of investigations, there is increasing
evidence that before long labor will become an investigator on its
own account; and when that comes to pass, the whole subject of women's
work will necessai-lly be Inquired into because it is a factor of the labor
problem as a whole.
"
I do not think we need~To fear the outcome: for however strongly
labor may seek to further its own interests, it will realize that the prod
uct of women's labor (as such) is no different from men's; and that
the skill and experience which many women acquired during their war
work can be made a real asset to organized labor if it is continued and
developed under competent direction. This extension of women's work
in industrial plants can be made such an asset provided Labor utilizes the opportunity to promote ' capable women whenever they can 'replace .less competent men; whereby instead of diluting the "average
labor competency" of a trade as a whole, farsighted Labor-management can markedly raise that average by admitting competent women workers
to the unions.
Quite probably a good many of the less competent men may find it
impossible to continue top-notch wages in such a competition, but that would only hasten by a few short years the time when Labor (in its
own best interests) must classify its membership into two or more
grades based upon relative value of service rendered. At no point in
the development and advancement of women as industrial workers does
it appear that their replacement of men has lowered the average wage
of the average man workers for as soon as women have entered some
hitherto "man's domain" and demonstrated equal or greater 'ability in
it, the men have found employment elsewhere at an equal or higher wage.
COiifEKATION' OK WOMEN'S ASSOCIATION'S
To a great extent, unprejudiced observation leads to the belief that up to this time women's associations have cooperated willingly rather than capably, and the fault seems to be due to divided objectives. Un doubted good has come froirCthe effort, however, and if once the women workers themselves can he made to understand that their own coopera tion is necessary for best results, future progress will be greater.
Apathy toward any help used has been disappointingly common among
women in manufacturing plants, and may not wear away fully for some little time. Well-meant buttery patronizing manners on the part of the "social uplifters" is responsible for a large proportion of the re sentment that follows concerted effort to improve working conditions. Too often the good intentions of the uplifters have been nullified by their inveistigating-committees assuming an attitude somewhat as they would take during a slumming .party, on the theory that women work-
1388
Ei(/h th Safety Congress
ers are of baser material. Jealous and sensitive as is the American workman toward anything that even remotely resembles charity, the working women show these feelings more strongly than their brother*-- and it may be taken as a fact that women workers will not stand for being patronized; because it seems like being looked down upon.
Carefully planned, programs, upon which concerted action is based i* the only means by which the women's interests will be cemented to those of their well-wishers in the achieving of results jrorth while.
(rOVKItXMKXT.xr. COOPERATI on:
With cessation of actual war work, the Government's chief interest in sponsoring women's work was naturally lessened. When the semi-offi cial organizations were demobilized, the opportunity--and perhaps some
of the-incentive, as well--began to he circumscribed.
Perhaps it is the Government's proper mission to undertake positive measures in improving labor conditions (for men as well as for women); but I incline to believe that if the Government will obtain the neces sary statistics, and verify them so they will be compiled promptly and distributed soon enough to make their data usable In a practical way, the present non-Governmental agencies will be able to make the actual
utilizations to excellent^ advantage.
Therefore, as the Governmental bureaus arrive at a post-war basis, I
hope there may be a closer interchange" among them of all Important
data that possess "secondary" or deferred value. By means of such
interchange other departments can handle current industrial informa
tion in much the sameavay as the Department of Agriculture now distri
butes statistics of regional accomplishments and forecasts of tenden
cies.
----
To make such information generally public (and not merely to make
it available to a limited number of persons) will allow both employer and employee to cultivate personal opinions upon all tbe facts instead of upon a few facts and unlimited surmises.
Since surmises encourage suspicions and suspicion breeds enmity, only
a fair, full, and free presentation of essential industrial data- can induce
intelligent study and use of it. Tbe importance of the subject demands
nothing less.
=
coirci/crsiorc
Throughout our entire prospective consideration of women's indus trial activities let usuiot overlook probabilities of Governmental use of men for army andJiavy service. Opinions are not yet settled as to wuether America is likely to have a comparatively large standing army or whether the policy of universal military service will call from indus trial life for a short-term every able-bodied male during his 'military
training. Personally, I incline to favor the latter plan because a large army may naturally ^turn to thoughts of war; while a large readytrained force goes no further than the degree of genuine' preparedness which (had we possessed it in 1914) might have deterred Germany from fneiting the great war.
Womett in industry
I3S'J
To withdraw the young men for such military cc naval training t
equivalent to a labor shortage for the time being; and to sop ~y *fc<*
shortage by indostrial use of women serves a twofold purpose:
2. It occupies the girls after their school days and before the normal
marriage age--thus increasing the industrial worth in the country
as a whole; and
^
->
2. It broadens the young men under training by teaching them the
value of method and- the real meaning of organization--thus en
couraging them to develop ability.
Chairman Com: Our next, speaker. fc Misg Mary Anderson
TIIE ROMAN'S m'REAf*
Miss Mart Anderson, Director, Women's Bcke.vc. C. S. Department of IX c.Labor, Washington,
A great deal has been said this morning about the women in industry and how care should be taken that the greatest possible efficiency may be had from women workers. From that standpoint, when Miss Van Kleeck was with the Women's Bureau, U. S. Department of Labor, we thought out a standard for women working in industry. We got this standard out from the experience gained during the war and before the war, and also with the fact in mind that the number of women in indus try is growing larger and larger every day,--we have now approximately twelve million women in gainful occupations.
In 1910, when the last census was taken, there were eight million women in gainful occupations. It might be safe to say, and we will know next year after the census is taken, that probably one-third of the workers of the country are" women. It behooves us, then, to see that some standards are made for the employment of women.
the eight-hour day
The first standard we got"out was the eight-hour day. I am happy to say that since the Armistice was signed a great many industries and a great many factories where women are employed have instituted the forty-four-hour week, and the eight-hour day. We have the great garment trade working on the forty-four-hour week. Some of them are working five days a week with Saturday and Sunday off; some of them are workfng five days a week' and some of them are working six days a week, with a half holiday on. Saturday. The textile industry--an indus try that employs women to a very large extent, has in a great many instances gone to the forty-four and the forty-eight hour week. The boot and shoe industry, with which I am connected, where one-third of the employees are women. Sow have the forty-eight hour week and' in some cases the forty-four hour week.
You speak of the marriedworoan in industry. In most all cases now the women when they marry finally come back to the factories at some time or other, and there is ASrowing need, I believe, for part time work. If we have the institutional the forty-four hour week, and. we work five days a week, we find the married woman doing her work on Satur-
3390
-- Eighth Safety Congress
day, with possibly a-little rest on Sunday. I believe we have to realize in this country, as other countries have realized, that the married woman is the worker, whether she works in her home or in the factory.
WAGES Ol>- WOMEN"
I want to speak about the wages of women. I believe this is a Safety
Congress, and to my mind there is nothing that is more safe than good
wages. The ciuestion "of equality of wages comes up--wages of equality,
whether of men or women. I am going to repeat this story---probably
many of you have heard it, but it was a personal experience and I think
it illustrates the point very well. Just now there are some States that
have prohibition or night work. During the war one manufacturer, in
particular, applied for permission to work women at night, and I was
sent out to inspect the factory. They were doing very essential war
work. Both the superintendent and the general manager in the factory
assured me that the women had made good; that the women were the
best workers they had in the factory, and they stayed on the job and
came in every day and worked very thoroughly; and together with that, they showed me a barrel of parts of machinery that had been
.'polled in the night because he said he had "men working at night and
they were no good atffill, and if he couldn't employ women at night, he
would give up the night shift and the Government would have to do
without the very essential commodity. I asked him what he paid his.
workmen at night. "We pay them 40c an hour, with a 7c a hour bonus."
"What are you going to pay the women you want to work at night?"
"Well, we will start them out with 25c an hour." I told him then that
he had just told me that the men couldn't do the work and that the
women were better--and asked, him if he didn't think that he ought to
pay them the same wage that he was offering the men, and he said,
"No!" He said they never did and if they did it would bring on revolu
tion in industry, and he added, "Furthermore, tile women have not the
same family responsibilities that the men have." I asked him if he
knew what family responsibilities thefmen had that were working there.
"No, I don't--I haven't gotten into that phase of it." "Do you know
what family responsibilities the women have?" "No, but I do know that we have one or two widows working here that have families to
support."
--
I know that youngerjvomen who stay in their homes take much more
family responsibility than the younger brother working right beside
the girl, and they areLCBually the ones who are left in the home to take
care of the old motherland father when the boys go off and get married
and get their own homes. In the report issued by the Department of
Labor some years ago, this question was investigated. They took in part
of the garment trade and part of the glass works and they found that
G per cent of the women had family responsibilities, and either supported
in whole or in part, families or other dependents. They found a very
small percentage of the boys that had any such responsibilities, and they
also found that the men employed in those industries, only 57 per cent
of those men had family responsibilities. Now the questir-ax that we
1 Yofincn in Industry
1391
face all the time is the question that the wage of women, ought to be
fixed on the individual and the wage of men ought to be fixed on family.
It is a very serious question,jand in order that we sometime will get an equality of pay that industry7 ought to give to both sexes, we have to
know exactly what part the^women are taking in the family lire. It's
very serious to the family life of the nation to have women underpaid and have the very large responsibility they have to their family car tailed by the low wage that they are receiving.
I want to say something about the Women's Bureau in the Department of Labor. We are working in very close cooperation with the State Departments of Labor and we want to see that a square deal is given to the women in industry.
. Chairman Copp: Mr. Sanford, of the General Electric Company, is here to talk to us informally this morning about some of the experiments that they have tried, and following his informal talk we shall resume the very interesting discussioff of Miss Wright's paper and add to it the discussion of Miss Anderson's fiaper.
MUSIC IN JMJL-SXKV
Mu. G. B. Sani-ouo (Safety_ Expert, General Electric Company, Lynn,
Mass.) : If any one bad suggested fifteen or twenty years ago that pianos
be placed in plants doing genejjU manufacturing for use of operatives, he
probably would have been gently led away by a couple of husky men
in brass buttoned blue coats and taken to some place where his sanity
could be tested. At such time the words "factory" and "work" were
synonymous and little if any thought was given toward bringing har
monious spirit or a feeling of good fellowship into the rank and file of
the organization. _
_
A few months ago some of the employees in one of the departments of
the Lynn Works of the General Electric Company received permission
to put a piano in that department for use during noon hours and at other
times outside of regular working hours.
The idea met with enthusiasm among the employees in general, espe
cially in departments where
large percentage of the employees are
women, and the employees ofJ5ther departments also purchased pianos.
There are at present sixteen pf these pianos in various departments of
file Lynn Plant, all being in Tooms where girls work. The noontime
concert is a regular thing now" and it is not uncommon for employees
in some of the departments occasionally to request permission to hold
dances for a while in the afternoon at the close of the regular working
period.
__
Before the pianos were put~fn there seemed to he more or less of a
tendency among those who carried their dinners and stayed in the fac
tory noontimes to get together^ knock the high cost of living, and air
their discontent In other respects and now such people forget their per
sonal troubles and gather around the piano as soon as their dinner is
eaten. From time to time a "department will advertise that a special
concert will be held and on sudh days it is noticeable that a large man-
3 3U2
^Eighth Safety Congress
ber bring their dinner who do not ordinarily do so. The music idea'ijias
spread so that in addition to the pianos, some of the large departments
are now forming orchestras and where practicable dancing at noon is
frequently in favor. Small departments may also take care of them
selves, if the employees so desire, by phonographs and in such cases
those who have subscribed to the purchase of records may obtain per
mission from proper authority to take such records home for an evening
for the benefit of the family. One small isolated department of five
employees has recently put in a phonograph.
Many of the womenzemployees work entirely on routine or mechanical
operations without having to use .any brain work to accomplish results,
the jobs being a matter of habit after they are once learned. Many of
these girls operate machines and occasionally are idle for a short time
for such reasons as machines break down, finishing an operation where
machine adjustment for the next operation is necessary, this having to
be made by one of the male employees, or running out of stock tem
porarily. These girls who are idle under such conditions have been
given permission to JpTay the piano if they so desire during working
7iours. At first there was a noticeable slowing up in the work due to the
extreme novelty of music during working hours and the other operatives
stopped to listen, but inside of a few days the novelty completely wore
off and there appeals to he no reduction In the amount of work, in fact
one or two of the foremen estimate that there is a noticeable Increase in
the amount of work. ^=That matter, however, I have no definite figures
on as the subject is entirely too new for sufficient authentic data to have
been collected.
T do not wish to convey the idea from these remarks that the pianos are continually in use cluring working hours for such Is .not the case, but
a piano may be in tiselBr approximately one hour per day during working
hours and on many days there is no occasion for any one to use it. The
playing of pianos during working hours is not and should not be permit
ted in departments where persons have to do mental work, or otherwise
concentrate their attention on the work, such as punch press operation for
example. The machinist too would have a hard time to read his draw
ings or micrometer and get out his work safely and efficiently if there
was a piano ten feetJ&way from him playing rag time, but where the
operations are purelyTmechanical there appears to be no objection to
occasional music during working hours. It seems to break into the
monotony which is otherwise experienced and appears to rest the nerves
of the girls at the machines.'
I was in one of these departments recently in the middle of an after
noon where a popular~song was being played on the piano and thirty or
forty girls were all singing without even any slowing down of their
machines.
-=
DISCUSSION
Miss Wright: I believe that most industrial nurses in large towns are coining rapidly taLthe idea that they must in some way arrange
Women in Industry
1393
cooperation with local agencies so that they do not overlap. In my
work I see it more and more thajr the industrial nurse will refer cases
to local agencies.
I don't think it's, anyjof our business how the people live in their
homes or how they, conduct themselves, except as it would he our busi
ness to render assistance^to our friends, and if we are friends we must
know how- people live and in a friendly way change the method of the
workers so that they may he adjusted to different conditions. The
nurse goes to the home because,there is a need. She is employed in the plant to manage a First-aid Room, and if she sends a girl home because
she is sick, her very human sympathy will force her, perhaps after hours,
to see what happened to that girl after she got home.
Some people say that you map out too large a program for the indus
trial nurse, but within the last week I have seen several industrial
nurses who have said they weren't busy enough and would like to go
into some broader program where they would have more to do. Person ally, I believe tbey bave plenty to do.
Mr. Bisiror: - I- am very much interested in the five-day week for
married women, perhaps from a very different point of view than you
may have in mind, and that is not only that the married woman may
be overworked or that she may neglect her baby but the fact that after
ail, the woman is the mother of men of tomorrow, and if the mother isn't at home on Saturday, her children run wild. I think we are con
tinually alarmed at the prevalence of crime and viciousness among the
youth. The criminal or vicious youth, I am told by social workers, is
the. result of an unwise training-or an unwholesome home atmosphere,
or no home atmosphere during the early years of his youth. You people are dependent .upon the city's-, tomorrow for the success of your indus tries and for the well-being of the nation.
Miss Edwards: I thing there is one point in that remark which is
absolutely dangerous. If jHjr industries need women so badly, pay them
enough to have a housekeeper--let them have a housekeeper seven
days of the week.
""
Mr. C. B. Auel f WestTnghouse Electric Company, Pittsburgh. Pa.):
May I tell you a few of the things we are attempting to do. whether suc
cessfully or not we can early judge? At our East Pittsburgh works we
have close to 3,000 women in the various departments and all those women
are required to undergo a physical examination not for the purpose of re
jecting them but to endeavor to keep from putting a square peg into a
round hole.
The women have the same hours as the men except that we dismiss them a quarter of an hour sooner in order that they may reach the
street cars and trains and avoid the crowd.! We actually pay them for
that fifteen minutes, awayrlrom their work, hut you can see that that
is a small item for a single individual, hut at the same time, a total of
from 2,500 to 3.000 womelr at ten or fifteen minutes amounts to some
thing like $75,000 or 1007000 in a year.
We have so-called Relief or First-Aid Departments scattered through-
1394
Eighth Safety Congress
out our works where all of the women are perfectly free to go at any time for advice from our Tturses or from our surgeons. We liave a sick ness association and that is divided into a half a dozen classes and no employee is allowed to join that association except in a class commen surate with his salary, taking the highest class where the dues are $1.50 per month: in the event of sickness that woman will receive over $75.00 a month: if she' was hopelessly disabled for the rest of her life, she would still receive that fTXdn a month up.to the age of seventy years, when she would eventually retire. We pay our women workers exactly what we pay the men. We have visiting nurses hut we do not attempt to intrude into the home, and only act upon receipt of word from depart mental foremen that so and so has been absent the previous week and is again absent on Monday morning. We at once send a surgeon or nurse to see if we can be kf any assistance in any line.
We have a number of restaurants for our employees and I may tell you that if anybody goes without. It is the men and not the women. We have a small restaurant at--the present time that accommodates 300 men; We have a lunchroom for women that accommodates 1,200 women. We give them all the coffee. teTi. milk and sugar gratis, and it costs us about Si,200 a month to do that, in one particular dining room the women bring their own lunches. JVe have another dining room in which we feed 1.750 women every day and their lunches average from 17c to 22c a meal--less than the cost of the food alone, and in that particular dining room we give the supply of the coffee, sugar and milk gratis, and it is operated at a loss of $3,000 a month. We are now putting up what we believe to be the largest dining room in the world, with, a seating
capacity of over 3.000 placds at one time, and the best we can hope to do is to incur a small rather than a large loss.
a i.ivixn WAGE
On. F. E. Sc nvisMiu'ti. ^General Electric Company, Lynn. Massachu setts') : A living wage for "women in industry--would, that differ from the living wage of the man in industry? Not at alii ' What is the living wage or what shall the living wage be of one man who has a family of one or two children and another man ivho has a family of ten or twelve children? Will it be the same for. the man with one or two children as the man with ten or twelve children? Vou can chase this living wage up one stairs and down the other and cost of living will follow, .and when you get through the cost dEliving will be upstairs and the wage down stairs. The living wage isrflt the problem--it's the wage and conditions that will permit people tovTlive. I feel very strongly about this thing. I am just a doctor, spending my time in the conditions that arise in industry and with the employees that I come in contact with every day. T see the problem both-from the standpoint of women in industry and men in industry and the nurse in industry, and I want to say that industry as such is not a dDhvalescent hospital. Don't forget that! It isn't running a hospital fof^the benefit of the community. Industry has a function to create material for the world that needs it and it should
'Women in Industry
1395
pay whatever an individual is earning in the industry, whether man, woman, boy, or girl.
The question of wage is a serious thing to get into, because people that are interested in it as much- as we are have been going after this; thing for years and years, and we are still further away from a proper wage than we ever weft before--we are getting nowhere, and. it's a question of a general mifhnderstanding. If I give a man $5.00 or $6.00 more today and charge him $10.00 more tomorrow for the things that he needs, you know where that will end. The more money the people get, the less they can buy with it. and it increases the whole problem--they get less in proportion to the increase.
The fundamental thing uiulerlylng this whole problem and the reason we are here today is because we are beginning to feel that there is a human problem in industry that hasn't been taken care of. It's the: human thing that is in industry that industry lias just begun to recog nize, and they arc recognizing it, and they are doing very 'well. Industry doesn't need a nurse--it nSeds something that can put into.trindustry that element of human relations that has been neglected, and" we hope that the nurse in industry will .bring that thing into industry and make the managers and the men who are busy creating large things see that there is an element that they can utilize to a very much better purpose than even their steel, iron, coal, or wood, or whatever they use. If they begin to recognize the qualities of the human element our production will begin to increase and wages will be sufficient to take care of it and everybody will get what they earn. . If they don't earn much, you can't expect to give them what the men and women who are capable are earning, but we can correct inefficiency--it's more or less a question of misunderstanding. I am delighted to have heard this discussion because it convinces me that we "all have our ideals of what ought to be done and I believe that many ofL these discussions will centralize us and correct some of these misunderstandings that are constantly coming up, and if 1 hc-re is a human being that is essential in industry today, it's the man or woman who can see tile two points of view and centralize them-- bring them together, and-When you can bring them together and give
them both an opportunity---to say what they have to say or show what
they have to show, you will find the problem will be easily solved.
Mr. .1. M. Eaton- (Continental Motors Company, Chicago, Illinois): I think I have had a unique experience with women in industry in a plant where some 1.200 women were taken in and trained in a very short space of time to do very=Tmportant work, and I think that we have looked upon our women in Industry, in the particular plant which I rep resent, in that we put the nran on one side and the women on the other. T rather agree with Mr. Aslie in the great necessity of educating the
men, and yet I think that ^he big thing that industries have to keep in mind' is the fact that women ought to have, or must have equal pay for equal work, and I am rather inclined to think if we stick to that prin ciple we will pay our women just as much for the work which they do, and if we did that, we would have mighty little trouble. We have a lot
]39fi
Eighth Safr.it/ Congress
of so-called -welfare work, but it seems to me that the thing that industry has to do for women Is that one thing--give them equal pay for equal work.
Miss Axoerson : During the war one of the women from London went down and talked thrifT to the women in the munitions plant, saving, etc., and when she got through with her speech she asked if there was any one who had anything to say, as it is the custom in England, and one of the girls said, Tam Maggie, and I have something to say. You talk about thrift and the large wages. I do get large wages to what I used to get and 1 am'making more money than I used to, but this is what happens to ihatTnoney: The first wages that I got I went oul
and bought a whole roast chicken for my Mother on Sunday. My Mother had never seen a wliole_roast chicken before in her life, and I am going to buy, as long as I have the money, a whole roast chicken every Sunday for my Mother." Then_she said that she went out and bought a silk blouse and "he" came h6me from the trenches, meaning her fellow, and "he" said, "Why, Maggie^you look so different to what you used to", and as long as he says I IdSE different, I am going to have a silk blouse as long as I can buy it", and the manufacturer added that it showed that bet ter standards were being obtained by these women, better home condi tions, and better citizenship, and that's all there is to it.
CuAiiaiAs Com: We have run over our time. May I remind you that this session continues tomorrow morning in this room.
FRIDAY MORNING SESSION
HAIRMAN' COPP: Airs. Burdick has not arrived as yet. With your
C permission I am going to change the order of the speakers this
morning and put the sedond speaker on first. Miss Maynard Downes,
who is the Service Seciary of the Robert A. Johnston Company. Mil
waukee, will speak to ytnr this morning about the employment, training,
and supervision in her factory. It gives me great pleasure to introduce
Miss Downes.
--
SUPERVISION Off WOMEN INDUSTRIAL WORKERS
Miss
Maynarh
Downes" Skuvicf. Secretary, Rockrt A.
I'A.VY, MltWAUKEE, Wrs.
Johnston Com-
The company which 1 represent in Milwaukee is a camly ami biscuit manufacturing concern. "At present we have about 1,000 employees of which 700 are girls and the remaining 300 are men.
In putting in such a department, and in all of our work conducted by this department, we had in mind' the business as well as the philanthropic viewpoint. It pays us, rtTO it pays any concern to do all the things that are necessary in order toikeep their workmen or girls in good condition. Every bit of the money that is expended in improving health conditions in
"Women in Industry
3397
the factory, in making more sanitary surroundings, in giving the em ployees an opportunity to perfect themselves in this work, will come back to the firm in greater production. More competent employees means larger production and anything we can do in order to make our employees more competent will benefit^ not only the employees but the concern as well.
itEAiyru SUPERVISION
First of all, in the health supervision, we have a very well equipped First-Aid Room with a trained first-aid attendant. Our work being all hand work, we don't liaveTnajor accidents, and being situated within the city limits, we are within ten minutes' automobile trip to the hospitals'and doctors, so we don't feel it is necessary to have a trained nurse in our First-aid Room, instead we use a girl that is trained in first-aid work. To our First-aid Room come all of our accident cases. Of course there is where the compensation law comes in--we have a very fine com pensation law in Wisconsin^and it pays any employer to put in a firstaid room, because haying such a room and arranging it in such a way that the emiiloyees will come to this room means that he is going to save its cost in compensation which otherwise would have to be paid out, .It is also going Ho save the employee lost time, lost wages, and suffering. I try to makendur First-aid room as attractive as possible. I want the First-aid Room atfT.he Johnston Company to he used by every employee iu that plant whenever he has any need to come to us. No employee is scolded for coming with a trivial matter. We want every one to come, because that means we can anticipate troubles and we can make our First-aid Room of real value in the plant. Our foremen have explicit instructions that if at any time an employee'-asks to come to the First-aid Room he has no fight to question him--he simply must give his permission to that employee to come. Also, we permit no first-aid in the different departments; nSPforeman or forelady is allowed to administer first-aid work. We can really avoid a great deal of waste time by judi cious first-aid rooms. No girl is allowed to go home on a plea of illness without first getting permission from the First-aid Room. I think that also does away with a great deal of a girl getting away from work after she comes to work.
Not only in providing for first-aid do we provide for the health and comfort of our employees but we also provide, to a certain extent, medi cal supervision. We have partial medical supervision and X hope that some time in the near future we can arrange medical supervision for all employees.
As Director of the Servicaer Department I make inspections of the fac tory and I have made a great many suggestions which have been fol lowed out along different lines in which we can improve equipment so as to make for greater comfort, and with comfort, greater efficiency and more work. If a girl is sitting on a high stool which has no back, she becomes tired and her work slackens. If by providing a comfortable chair for that girl we can increase her efficiency and production, I think
1 P>08
Eighth Snfriij Congress
that money expended in that way is well spent, and that is one thing the Service Department is responsible for. We ought to see that the proper working conditions are "provided, that the rooms are properly ventilated, and so on. I know it takes a ventilation expert to determine the ventila tion of a room, but yoiror I can determine whether the air in that room is good or bad an'1 themve can refer it to the proper authorities. Proper dressing rooms, .woper'S'asiirooms, proper toilets--all of these matters should come under theiarre of the Service Department.
f'I.HASI.lXUSS
Another matter which concerns us very keenly at the Robert A. Johns ton Company is the cleanliness of the factory and the cleanliness with, which our food materials- are handled, and that is a matter which re quires constant watching.
I am supposed to make a daily inspection of the factory to see that everything is clean. Our"'floors are scrubbed every night and our other work places are kepL clean. We want to make our factory as clean as a home can be kept. It means that there must be some one constantly on
the job, keeping after the foremen, foreladies, and even the higher officials,
in order to keep the food factory in a clean condition. That work falls upon the .Service Department.
SSOJ.'l* AMI roi'FKK KITI IIKN
Another function of ouF work which also is planned to give comfort to our employees and to improve the health of our employees is the lunch room, or. as we have it, a soup and coffee kitchen. We have not space enough In our building at present for a lunchroom; in the new factory which we are building and which we expect to be in by Easter, we will .
have a well-equipped lunchroom. We are supplying our employees with hot coffee or hot soup every day--it is only a supplementary lunch. Our
kitchen is run on a self-supporting basis--we charge our employees cost price for the food. Our coffee sells for lc a cup, which is almost a pint in size, and our soup sells for 3c a bowl, and we do it without a deficit, and in the operation of 3SBr soup and coffee kitchen we are supplying something to almost every employee in the plant. It is impossible for all of the employees to getrto the coffee or soup kitchen located centrally in the building, so we have to send our coffee or soup to the employees. We have percolators and those are sent to the different departments throughout the factory, thus making it possible for every employee in that factory to get a liotrdrink at noon, either in his own department or by going into the next "department.
KM I'l.l >Y M K.VT tlKIW HT.M KNT
Viuler our service work'^lso falls the large problem of employing. I do all the employing of the girls.- An employment department must be well organized and then. too. it must have authority; your employment
o TM\\'onien in /nclustry
1399
department, unless it lias the proper authority, is worse than useless, and I think X can safely say that in our employment department at the Robert A. Johnston Corupffhy we have the earnest support of the manage ment, and that's a thing that is necessary in order to make an employ ment department a success. The management stands back of us in all things that we wish to :do in the employment department. In the em ployment department you must have an adequate record system. I try to make our system as simple as possible. I have an employment card with the bare facts as tozresidence, age, place of birth, and previous em ployment. In previous employment it is sometimes very difficult to get any Information because it is a sad fact that some girls cannot remember a year back where they have been employed--so far as any real informa tion Is concerned, I feel that it is not of much value, especially when we ask an employee why she left. We have a space showing the reason for leaving her previous place of employment and frequently I ask that question but I don't attaciT much real value to the answer I get because nine out of ten times the employee "left because she was being mistreat ed or because she wasn't .properly appreciated." and that answer is not always a true one, but knowing the places where the girl has worked before does enable one torplace her with some better accuracy into the different departments. --
We also have a production card and dispensary card. Our production card and dispensary card tire used only when the employee leaves our employ. I have an envelope system and into this 'envelope I put lier original employment card, her production card and the number of hours she workedofor the four weeks previous to leaving our employment, and also the .dispensary card which is taken out of the dispensary files in tin? First-aid Room. T keep that production card because our work is all piece work and the production caril will enable me. if that girl comes
back to 1's ami asks for employment, to see at a glance whether or not
she was a skilled workerthe time she left us.
In 'Wisconsin at present . we have a minimum wage law which sets the lowest limit that an employer can pay his employees, and I think our production card will be oLvalue to us on that score in avoiding taking girls back who were not good workers when they left us.
After you get your records all in, or your department well organized, then I think you want to forget them. Some departments are so organized that there is so much red_tape connected with it that the employment manager or secretary has little lime for anything else than to keep rec ords, .and I want to use our records simply as a means to better the people we have in our employ. For that reason we need accurate help in taking care of our recctnls. Jt is an impossibility for the employment secretary to be loaded doWit with the employment work in keeping ab sentee records or the employment records. After we have the record system well planned and after we have the proper authority in the em ployment department, we-can then start in the actual working, of the employment department, and first of all is the selection of the employees.
3400
Eighth Safety Congress
At present, with the labor situation as it is and with labor so scarce, we
can hardly make a very careful selection of employees. The best thing
we can do, of course, is to give every girl or woman a chance--some are
always ruled out, but we are more inclined to give every one a chance,
and the best selection 7T can make is after I get that girl into the de
partment to try to put her into the department where I think she will
be able to do the best vyork. Our work is of such variety that if a girl
doesn't do good work in the candy-packing department, she may be `able
to do well in the cookieicing department, or in the chocolate-dipping de
partment, and so I anx^euabled to put her into the department where
she will do the best work and where she will be most happy and will
stay the longest.
---
I'OI.I.OW-Ul* WORK
After a girl has been placed in a department, the next thing to do is to follow up her work^lWe have a sliding scale in our work in the teaching of the girls. We have no vestibule schools but we do have in each department a certain girl who Is not a forelady but who is simply a teacher. It is her business to teach the new girls that we put into the department. This teacher devotes her entire time to the new girls; she instructs them not only in their work but also instructs them in regard lo the customs of the factory, where to find the First-aid Room, where to get soup, and all the different things she ought to know in order to feel at home in our factory. On our sliding scale we start the girl in at a flat rate; the next week we cut that flat rate and give her a certain amount per hour plus everything the girl can make. The third week we drop that amount a Tittle per hour and by that time her skill should have increased in that wor1c so that her earnings will run above what wc guarantee, and so we continue this gradual dropping until a certain time when we feel Lhe girls should go on piece work altogether, and the result has been that very few of our girls will ever drop if they are any good at all. In order that the girl herself may see that she is gaining every day. that she may sp that increased effort on her part is bringing her increased earnings. wTkeep a day record of every person in our em ployment so that we can ^ee at any time how much that girl has earned for the day. I can go into any department in our factory in the morning and find out what every^girl made the day before and I wouldn't have to consult the payroll. Every foreman lias the record and every girl knows the next day what she has made the previous day. There is no uncertainty with her as txc how- much she ought to have in her pay en velope at the end of the-week and I think that in keeping such a daily record it acts as an incentive to the girls to bring up their earnings day
by day. and it also enablesjjs to check up on our work and it is especially important since we liave a minimum wage law because we can know at any time if a girl is falling below the minimum wage scale at any time, and our minimum is higher than the minimum wage law as set by the State, but we have our standards set of what we wish each girl to earn
Womf'n in fndns/ri/
1401
during the day and if we find that it is dropping below that standard then
we can take steps to find out why that girl is falling below the standard
and correct it.
The employment department also receives all complaints regarding
shortages in pay. I think that is one cause of trouble in the factories.
We also receive all complaints of dissatisfaction and dislike of the fore man, trouble with other girls, and anything that may come up which
will disturb a girl in her work. Formerly, before we had service departments or an employment department there was no one to whom
a girl could go with her troubles--she could not very well go to the
foreman or superintendent with these troubles, but now she can come
to the Service Department and we can many times clear up all of these
little difficulties in which otherwise she would have no other alternative
except to leave.
,-
NO person should be discharged without passing through the employ ment department. In factpthe foremen should not have the right to dis
charge. They should only recommend discharges, and the employment department should hear both sides of the story--the girl's side and the
foreman's side--and the employment department should judge from the
merits of it. Any ofle who quits voluntarily has to pass
through the employment^ department and no person can receive
her pay without first receiving her time card O. K.'d by myself,
and that Is where we can' check up all the difficulties. A system like
that is useless unless yofT are really getting the fundamental reason
for the employee leaving the department. The interview of the employee
at the time of quitting is of no value unless you win the confidence
of the employee, and then It is of infinite value because you can prevent
a recurrence.
We keep a turnover record and we have an absentee record and these
are of great value to us because we find a number of employees are leaving for certain reasons~ivhieh we can remedy.
Our employment department is not perfect as yet but we are working,
we are trying, and we want to make our employment department and
our service department something that is of real benefit not only to
the firm but to the employees as well. We want to treat our employees as human beings and weaant to consider and put in all the things
that we can that will make^for the comfort, for the wellbeing, and for
the happiness of our employees, and we feel we also benefit ourselves
as well as the employees, because we will get more efficient employees and
it will result in a bigger production throughout the plant.
DISCUSSION
Mbs. Wasubcbn: (Printz, Biederman & Co., Cleveland, Ohio.) In speaking about the records kept in each department, are those records figured in the payroll department and sent to each department?
Miss Dowses: Those reports are figured in the different departments
1402
I'- i<jh l h Kttfc-ltf Conf/rcs.*:
and we have rather ''an elaborate cast system ami in the departments where we have this dost system the one who does the cost work figures them. In other departments the work is done by one of the girls who is chosen for that class of work, and in some departments the girls fig ure their individual earnings and report to the foreman who enters it on the card and the cards are then sent to the cost department. We have one or two errors' which come from the girls figuring their own rec ords hut it doesn't amount to more than two a week, and we figure that the percentage of errors is so small that it isn't worth counting.
Mu. S. W. Asm:: "How many of your employees do you serve with coffee and soup a day?
Mtss Dowxks: I tillnk we are now distributing coffee to at least 350 a day--we rarely sell soup and coffee to the same individual. During the winter we sold our coffee to as many as 500 a day. and at present we are serving soup to otfSr a hundred a day. In our kitchen we also sell ice cream and we make a few sandwiches, not many, and among the coffee, soup, and ice cream, r am confident that almost every one in the factory receives something from the kitchen every day.'
Mrss Florence S. Wimarr: In your interviewing the girl, do you have any questions that bring out the economic status of the applicant, for instance, as to whether7'the girl lives at home or whether she boards?
Miss Downes; We have very few girls who are boarding. I always ask the applicant if she is living at home or if she is boarding, but I never ask lier what her previous income has been. Most of our girls do live at home and very'few of the girls are boarding unless they are with relatives.
Miss Brock: When a girl hoards she has to have a larger wage than if she lives at home. ^
Miss Downes: Well, our rates are so set that we couldn't make any distinction for that girl if she is boarding. We are paying what we consider a living wags' for a girl. We don't take into consideration whether she lives at home or not. The only distinction that is made is on account of age: thelgirls at 16 are started at a certain rate, and the girls at 17 are started at a certain rate, and so on.
There is^one point that I failed to bring out in regard to the Service Department and that is"-that the head of the Service Department ought, to be the person who assumes all responsibility regarding hours of labor, the ages of the workers, the minimum wage, the compensation, and any other State laws that tmich the health and the welfare of the employees.
Cu.MtiMAN Com: I-shall have to interrupt this discussion in order that we may have Miss Tarbell speak to us. Dr. Cutler will speak to you now on a paper will cl: we have not heard. I have asked Dr. Cutler to confine her words to^a very few minutes in order that we may have a recess before Miss Tarbell speaks to us. '
(.Mrs. Burdick, who was unable to be present, sent an abstract of her paper, which is here inserted.)
Women in Industry
1403
ABSTRACT OF PAPER ON
TRAINING AND UPGRADING OF WOMEN FACTORY WORKERS
M its. Anna Lai.ok Bluiuck.
Si*isc\ial AB.vr for Trade axu Industrial Education tor Girins and Women, Federal Board for Vocational Education, Washington, D. C.
I. Employment of women during the war was but an acceleration of a
normal development.
II. An immediate demand for increased production and a shortage of
experienced workers exhausted our usual "labor reserve." III. Women were the only members of the community from which large
accession to the rank3 of industry could be expected.
IV. The extent to which women were employed in basic industries--
textile, garment making, metal trades, and transportation--shows
rapid Increase during the four months preceding the signing of the
armistice.
V. The employment of large number of untrained women in war essen
tial industries has resulted in:
1. The establishment "Of employment service departments dealing
with
.~
Ca) the personnel' of the working force.
(b) standardized- conditions of employment necessary to safe guard the health, hygiene, and safety of the workers.
2. Improvement in processes of production. This necessitated: (a) Realignment Of tasks suitable to workers in order that
quality mayjsot he sacrificed for speed.
(b) Increased subdivision of processes.
(c) Multiplication of inspectors.
fd) Increase in number of supervisors.
(e) Increase in dumber of foremen and forewomen.
Cf) Changes in construction and equipment, such as, the in
stallation of lifting and transporting devices, conveyors, etc., with tim ultimate aim of making the job hazardproof and error-proof.
3. The Inauguration Cff systems of training or inducting un
skilled women workers into industry and upgrading them during their period of employment. The larger the plant the
greater the tendency for these functions to become depart
mental and specialized into
(a) The employment service, or personnel department, su
pervising the hiring, placing, and releasing of workers.
(b) A productionrtJivision, and
(c) An educational and training department.
VI. A description of a few types of training departments instituted in
different establishments manufacturing widely divers products will
1404
^Eighth Safety Congress
illustrate types of training which may be be expected to persist
under normal times: 1. Experimental shops under the railroad administration 2. The govei-nment school for training precision optical opera*
tives.
-
3. A vestibule school for women employed in the manufacture
of aeroplanes. i. Training machine operators and metal workers on the pro
duction floor.
5. A combination system of training women workers in the tex
tile industry.:
1. An interest in women as a possible supply Of labor on the part of certain railway officials including the shop foreman, the superintendent of motive power, and Federal manager has resulted in successful ex periments in organizing a shop force of women and training them for a
department requiring
high degree of skill and technical knowledge
necessary to carry on their work. The result is recorded in -the annual
report of the director-general of railroads in the section devoted to
labor.
^
2. A government school for training precision optical operatives is
organized under governmental control^ maintained by funds appro
priated by Congress, TfOHducted in a private school, the president of
which, acts as director. The student learners are employed for pay
during the instruction'"period and are assigned to the operations for
which they are best fitted mentally and temperamentally. The in
structor was chosen frSm one of the plants for his experience, skill,
and ability to instruct- A committee from the five local plants co
operating in the enterprise determined the processes to be taught. The
expense of materials is prohibitive of productive work for beginners
The graduates are pro-rated to the cooperating firms. 3. A plant under contract to provide motor trucks for the army faced
the problem of producing'a standard product with a constantly diminishing force of experienced workmen and the addition of woman labor. The problem was handled in two ways: first, by the establishment of a threeweeks' course of training for inspectors and machine operators. Tool room attendants and other workers all took an initial course which covered thorough instruction in the system of organization in the plant itself, involving such practiced as the use of time docks, method of checking work in and out, terminology of parts needed for work, routing of work and interpretation of operative cards.
The learning for theJJhanufacturing division included blue print read ing. the operation of automatic and special machines which would enable a transfer to be made according to the needs of the plant.
The inspection groujovere taught the reading of blue prints, the use of precision measuring instruments, decimal equivalents, and such auxil iary information as would enable them - to understand the underlying principles of the job. 't'
This presents the best type of a vestibule school.
'Women in Industry
1405
4. The need of space, the production demands and the foremen's in sistent call for workers fordid the abandonment of this method and the new worker was immediately put upon the production floor, and given only such instruction as was necessary to do the specific job at which she was employed. To note the product and report any deviation from the normal, the number ofTsupervisory foremen was increased to one for every' seven workers. The efficiency of the training on the produc tion floor depends upon the-instructional ability of the supervisory fore men.
5. In the cotton industry^ supposed to employ lesser skilled opera tives, the change of product-in the mills and the taking on of new work ers has led to a system, of -Inducting new workers and readjusting the experienced ones to changed "conditions in the plant and upgrading them in their labor. This system provides for a combination of training on
machines designated for the learners on the production floor. This is
necessary in some processes because of the long line of spindles they
must tend. The worker progresses in degree of skill at the same opera
tion and passes through progressive stages or grades with corresponding
related rewards. After maintaining a stated production rath for a
given period she becomes a Tegular worker.
VII. A liberal interpretation of that section of the Federal Vocational
Act dealing with part-time education admits that persons who are
definitely scheduled for employment in a trade or industrial occupa
tion by a written agreement with the employer may be given in
struction in a class fitting them for advantageous entrance to such
a trade or industrial occupation--subject to the provisions of the law.
Dr. Altce S. Corr-Eit: Mrs. Burdick's paper was on the training of
women factory workers.
-
As I said yesterday, by the first of the year the Government expects there will be about 4,000,000 men going back to Europe--there is an acute shortage of women. "When I got up yesterday and told the audi ence there was an acute shortage of women in the' West, Dr. Scbubmebl jumped up and said there- was always a shortage of women in the West, but let me tell you there is a shortage in the East. I was in. Bos
ton, where we have 50,000 mote women than we do men, and the condi
tion there was just the same, sb it isn't only in the West we are having a shortage of women but all over the country and why? Simply because
there are so many men going abroad and we have to assimilate women in our Industry.
I believe in vestibule schools---they are one of the biggest assets we have and you certainly have .td train your women if you are going to assimilate them in jobs that men are doing, but the thing is that you want to have the right kind of instructors in your schools because if
you don't have the right kind ^gf instructors, in the first place, the ma
jority of women are timid.
CirAiWirAW Corr: I Have tbe Uonor of presenting to you Miss Ida M.
340G
Eighth Safety Congress
Tarbeil, who will talk on the subject of "The Future of the Woman Industrial Worker/'
T1! E Fl'TljRE OF .THE 'WOMAN INDUSTRIAL "WORKER
.Miss Jua M, Xabijku
1 hiu-e been asked to,prophesy--and prophesy before experts. I possi bly do it with more facility and assurance than I would be able to com mand if I knew more of_Oie subject. I am not going to attempt to make a thrilling prophecy but rather to call attention to certain things that have come out of the intensive experience with women in industry that we have had in the last five years--things which I am convinced Will be influential in shaping the future. This experience was striking in the countries of all the belligerents--and similar.
xu.mi:i:hs ok vro.MKx axd vaiueti- of tixeik wokk
No doubt the two factswhich have most impressed observers of women in the war industries have been the numbers drawn -in and the variety of work which they have undertaken.
No sooner had France begun to mobilize in August, 1914, than we began to hear amazing reports jfif the way French women were instantaneously taking up the work that had been left behind by the men. Almost at once street car lines, the Paris subway, the street-cleaning department, the taxis were taken over by women. A little later we began to hear of women in French factories; where they had never been seen before, and particularly great numbers in munition works. At the end of 1914 there were 44.161 women- in French munition factories. Three years
later, 3 91S, there were 3IT9,631. The same thing happened in England.
There were towns that were entirely women-run, and there was no in dustry where they were not used. We all remember, I am sure, the English shipbuilder who declared he could build a ship from start to finish witli women's labor/ In our own country, we had them going into such unlikely things as the lumber business. The general observer was inclined to feel that the like had never been seen in the world before; but if the general observer had been a little more inclined to compare what he saw going on with what has gone on in every country in the past in war time, he would have been, less amazed. War* has always forced women to fill places vacated by men. Study our own Revolution--the war of the Kebellion. and you will find women doing all kipds of unexpected things. You see the same in past French and English wavs. The difference this time has been the scale an which the great enterprise was carried out, the number of coimtries Engaged in it and, too, the great difference in the operations now and in previous wars. That is, in spite of the fact that these are the two things thatT stand out most prominently in any consideration of women Tn war industries, they are simply the things that were to have been expected. They do not, in my judgment, affect the future nearly as deeply as many people are inclined to think. As we
"Women in Industry
1407
return to a normal peaccOiasis, tlie numbers of women in industry will drop back. That is, maffy women will not stay and not want to stay. There are no doubt many of the industries in which they have been active and useful from which they will entirely disappear.
There are, however, certain phenomena in the experience which are bound to have a permanent and important influence on the future.
women no iiioji-chaok machine woi:jc, and like it
Among these are tlie fact that for the first time in the history of in dustry. women have proved themselves to have the capacity to do highgrade machine work--and jiot only to do it, but to do it well. And, wbat Is quite important, to like It. It has generally been believed by men and I think no less by women that they could not handle machines. And yet the War was not many months old in England before employers were seeing with surprise that women were being taught to handle machines and to handle them' satisfactorily.
There were difficulties to be overcome in the way of training. One of the most interesting reports that I saw' from any country during the war of experiences in -preparing^ women came from Mr. John Upp of the General Electric Company.
TRAINING OF WOMEN IN INDUSTRY
aJr. Upp wrote with surprised enthusiasm. He had foreseen that he
would be short of help, decided that he must use girls, and realized that
he must train them. He notes some of the difficulties that had to be overcome. One very interesting and important one was the fact that a
woman, as a rule, has no sense of measurement, that she does not dis
tinguish between an inch and a quarter of an inch. Another is her lack
of appreciation of the sharpness Lf a tool. She will go to work with a
dull tool as quickly as she w'ill with a sharp one, and have no sense of
what is hindering her. But. having overcome her'feminine blind spots
about .certain common things^ having trained her to the technique of an
operation. Mr. Upp's experience was that she was a more exact workman
than a man. She did what she had been taught to do In the way she
had been taught to do it.
If the men were surprised to find that a girl could be taught, I think
there has been no less surprise on the part of women that they could
go into machine shops, do the work satisfactorily,--and like It.
Bossibly the greatest effect on the future of any of the experiences of
women in industry during the Mar--that Is, the greatest effect on the
woman herself, will **** from just that, that many women have found
that the higher
of Industry interest them--interest them more
than certain
``fee* ii**y have been accustomed to doing. If this be
***. w (tE
'=>> t^-r
I believe that it means that in the future
* certain #***>;, -s *.***#-* at least will be seeking work which they
hare *bcya. ................
eiesed to them. That is. the war will have
opened a nr*
<d hbor to women.
1408
Eighth. Safety Congress
STANDA HITS ROVEHNING WOMEN'S WORK
Another development in the war that is bound, to have much fntteeaoe is the strides that the standards governing woman's work took in every country. From the moment that it was realized that she was boood to play a large part in war production, that she was being called into many trades and positions wlieretvomen had never before been seen, the pabbr began to demand that she should be protected in her new undertaking. England's experience of course is familiar. A year had not passed before the Government had a commission at work observing the effect that the unusual labor was having upon the health of women. The result of tie investigations there was drastically to change hours and conditions. This was done, primarily, for The sake of production. It was found that the long hours which she had been willingly working for the sake of the cause were not so productive as shorter ones. And England went on through the war developing regulations, prohibitions, adjustments which should protect the womarrin her new tasks. The same thing happened in France. Altogether the hest set of regulations and ordinances gov erning women in industry that France has ever had was worked out in the years 1916-3 917 in ordSFto meet the public demand that women should be cared for. We had the same thing happen in tins country. From the opening of the war, one oGhe grave concerns of the country was the pro tection of women. The Women's Committee of the Council of National. Defense, which was organized by the government to pull together all of the great organized bodies of women in this country in order that they might carry out cooperatively the requests that the Government might have to make of women,, established in. May, X917, a department of
Women in Industry in WTder to stimulate Sll of the great women's
agencies to keep an eye 'ou the conditions under which women were working and to aid in correcting them if they were wrong.
As soon as the Government had approved a set of standards for women in shops and factories, the Women's Committee undertook to make these standards generally known. It was able to put them before ten or twelve million women, and it is probable that in nine-tenths of the cases these women foF the first time were put face to face with a high set of standards and were made to feel that they had a personal re sponsibility in supporting/Jhem. That is, all over the country there was an enormous expansion of The ideas of what proper industrial conditions are for women and a tremendous pressure was brought to bear upon all sorts of people to see that these conditions were secured.
Now, it is inconceivable^that after such an education in this matter as England, France, and The United States -had during the war that we should ever fall back to where we were before the war. Certain stand ards have been made known and accepted. The whole future of women in industry will be influenced by this. The tendency will be to improve and extend these standards. That is, in the future women, are bound, to be more thoroughly safeguarded than they have ever been before. Every ten years, in my judgment, is bound to see a very substantial ad vance in this particular of^r its predecessor.
\Vqmen in 1 ndustry
.1400
_
THE l-'ACTOKY WELFARE M'OBKEl!
Another important development from the war that cannot but affect the future profoundly is the general recognition that has been given to her that we sometimes refer To as the factory welfare worker,--the woman employed not only to supervise the health of working girls, but to train them to better habits of life-and to lead them into a happier and more civilized manner of living- Most of us are familiar with the way in which a few women in this Country, thrown into factories, neither they nor their employers knowing very definitely -what could be done, and -yet all feeling that there ought to be a kindly and intelligent supervision of the girls, have developed their positions to what might be called a professional standpoint. They have proved of the greatest service to both management and workers.
One of the most intelligent undertakings of the Government in its ef fort to bring the management of war industries up to the highest point of scientific and humane efficiency, was training women for these posi tions.
TR-UXIXC. CLASSES FOR WOMEX FACTORY StTPERVISORS
In the Spring of 191S the War Industries Board started classes in in dustrial management. WomentWere admitted to these classes. Many more applied than could be accommodated although the requirements were severe. One requirement of Admirable good sense was that no woman would be admitted who had not had two months' actual experience in a factory. Here in this city of Cleveland women of education and social position sat at machines in one~of the great factories through the summer OZ 191S, getting this preliminary experience. Many employers of large bodies of women in different parts of the country who had trusted women working their way more or less blindly trying to develop the position, hearing of %vhat the Government was doing, asked permission to send these women into the classes.^.
The thing that our Government realized and attempted in this very thorough' way to meet, was realized in other countries. England and France both developed training classes for women factory supervisors where bodies of girls were employed.
Now, I cannot believe but that the future of women in industry is bound to be very profoundly influenced by this experience. In past years it has been the habit to collect great groups of girls helter-skelter and throw them together in great Work rooms. They came in without in struction, they passed their days without any particular supervision. If they were ill they must drop "tint or be dismissed. Nowhere was there an effort to prepare them for the work which they were to do, to see that their health was properly Cared for, to try to explain things in the shop that would reach out to their life at home. The occasional modern employer has, as I have said, tried to meet the very obvious need if he were to build up a stable body of working girls.
1-430
-- Eighth Safety Congress
A XF.W PROFESSION FOR WOMEN'
Uufc the War earner Its needs were so great that every effort had to be made to improve Iffld stabilize labor. The value Of these women sup
ervisors was immediately recognized, and what had been a sporadic,
private enterprise suddenly becomes a government policy. This not only means much that is o value to the working girl herself but it means the introduction into industry of a high-grade woman whose vocation will be not only that of a-physical and intellectual but a moral teacher and. leader. It is hard tolhonceive of a position in which a woman can be of more genuine value to society than in this relation to 500 or a thousand girls whose opportunities In life for health and decency and for future usefulness and happiness are so limited. It means much to the girls, to society, and it is a great thing for the women themselves. It literally opens a new profession for women.
Now these are very fundamental gains for the future. (A rising vote of thanks was given to Miss Tarbell.) Chairman Con-: Miss Tarbell's time is limited with us but she wHI be glad to answer any"fjuestions you may have.
DISCUSSION
Mrs m. H. Var.wm : The Michigan University is establishing a de
partment to train women to become teachers in trade schools. It is doing this for the express purpose of standardizing women in industry and put ting her on par with the professional women and the women who are not in business. It -is operated by funds, part of which are furnished by the United States Government, and it is to be established in Detroit where they have the temporary courses and there are hopes of being able to establish in all of the big industrial plants in Detroit trade
schools so that the work will go on in industry, and that will eliminate
a great deal of this t.imldness and cautiousness because she doesn't know what to do. and she won't spoil a lot of material and she will be taught to use her natural facilities in the best way. I believe the same funds are available to all universities and all schools.
.Mai.-ic M. JoNKii (Edison Industries, Orange, N. J.) : While Miss Tarhen found most of those women to represent the leadership in those countries, the same thing has been somewhat general among the women in this country. In other words, it seems to me that the ability among -the factory workers is Something that wasn't appreciated by women as generally as it might have been. Was that the situation in the foreign countries?
Miss Tahuici.i.: I think to a good degree, yes. In England there has been a strong feeling about it and that has been very largely due to the very bad conditions undlr which women have worked and the very low pay they have had in the great industrial towns like Manchester. There isn't any doubt that there has been a strong feeling against it, and I think that feeling had something to do with England's activities, where a good many women went into industry and said that things had to be
'Women in Industry
1411
changed. In France the attitude of the women is different, but in any
kind of business or occupation, to the French jromen it doesn't make any
difference--if the thing is TS be done, she does it, and she has always
been accustomed to. doing exactly those things--she works on the farms
and she works on the streets. Her great occupation in France is the
sewing trade; but women rushed out to get into the factories to a sur
prising extent and one of the interesting things I noticed this Spring was
the difficulty they had in getting the women back into the sewing trade
.--they said very frankly they didn't want to sew any more, the factory
being more interesting. They knew that they wouldn't be getting the
wages they had been getting^ but they didn't want to sew any more and
they wanted to stay in the factories. Whatever prejudice there was
against the factories as a place of work for women in France was, J
think, pretty nearly overcome. There was some objection on moral
grounds.
Mb. S. W. Ashe: I would like to ask- about the physical examination
of women in industry. In some places I understand the women are rather
averse to having physical examinations, at the same time, I believe it is
absolutely necessary to have the physical examination in the factories
into which they are going in order to ascertain their condition and know
the kind of work which they are capable of doing. I would like to get
some information on that subject.
Mxss Tasbeh: Miss Copp,"jC think that question ought to be answered
by some one who has had more experience in that line. I have had that
question come up in different factories and my observation has been
that while the women whealhey had this thing sprung on them might
object, if the employment manager was tactful and if she explained to
them why it was and what it meant, it could be brought about.
Mk- S. W. Ashe: Did you find. Miss Tarbell, in France that the intro
duction of women in industry~had any bad effects over them in any way
--whether they lost afny of the home atmosphere and what means was
taken to prevent that?
^
Miss Tabbeix: In France,"fa the munitions factories they were pretty
well scattered and a good mOy of the workers were brought to Paris. It was in the munitions factories around Paris that I made most of my
observations. There were two classes, a great many married women that
came in from the provinces and there were also a great many girls--
girls that had never been indEhe big city before--they had always lived
in small towns at home before and they were working night and day
shifts. In general there was an enormous amount of recklessness--I
think that is war psychology, at least, part of it--you see everything
going to smash. Now that did happen to some extent but only to a com
paratively small extent. A surprising number of these untrained girls
got the idea they could go into clerical work. I spent some'time In the
Government Employment Bureau and I was perfectly surprised by the
number of untrained girls that came there seeking positions. They had
a little bit of typewriting, tligy could read and write, and they thought
that was all that was necessary.
1412
^ Eighth Safety Congress
Mr. Arthur T. Morey (Commonwealth Steel Company, St. Louis, Mo.):
You will be pleased to_know that at the Executive Meeting of the Coun
cil yesterday a womairTvas elected Treasurer of this organization. (Ap
plause).
'j_
.Miss Hunt win not-have a small job inasmuch as the receipts and dis
bursements are in therieighborhood of $100,000 a year.
Another matter that you will be interested in is the matter of whether
or not we should electra woman as an executive on the committee of tfce
National Safety Council, it was left in this way--under our organization
the chairman of a section automatically becomes a member of the com
mittee anti it was felt that if the women themselves felt that there was a
need, and the women were interested enough, we could organize a woman's
section.
^
ORGANIZATION or A WOMAN'S SECTION
The organization is a very simple one, and has its chairman, vice
chairman, and secretary, who, with others, would be the executive com
mittee to adopt by-laws, etc. We have in the Council a sectional service
and this section would Be expected to develop its own problems and work
out its own salvation without any assistance, if possible, from the head
quarters staff.
----
Mrs. M. H. Vakxcai Who would be eligible to the women's section--
what are the qualifications necessary for membership in the section?
Is it necessary for the women to represent industrial establishments or
may they join as individuals?
Mr. Arthur X. MokeyT Both memberships--memberships individually and as representatives of companies.
Mrs. M. H. Varnum: Would there be a separate financial burden on
the women's section? --
Mr. Arthur T. MokeyT" No! The individual membership is?$7.50 per
year and the company memberships are bas'ed on the employer and the number of employees. Jlrpresume the officers would have to be members of companies who are members of the National Safety Council.
I might add that in other sections I spoke to they have got together
in a group and formulatled their organization, and have already adopted
a form of by-laws and felt enough interest in it to present that to the
Council for its approval, and to see to its programs.
Mrs. Ml H. Varnum: 1 move that Mr. Morey's suggestion as to the
method, be adopted for "preparing a permanent organization.
(The motion was seconded and carried unanimously.)
Mr. A. T. Mori:y: I think the thing to do is for those of you who are
interested to rail a meet ing and go through the * temporary form and
proceed.
-s*.
Mrs. At. H. Vaknum: 1 move that the Chairman be empowered to call
such a meeting and thatTshe be temporary chairman of the meeting so
called.
=
i This motion was secfHltled and carried unanimously.)
Chairman Core: The chairman announces that there will be a meet-
WojJicn ht Industry
1413
ing this afternoon at five o'clock for the -women, who are interested in. establishing; a permanent section for women, in the National Safety Council, and you will find Che place of meeting by inquiring at the Registration Desk. Let me remind you, ladies, that our interest In this program wii.ll be shown first by our attendance this afternoon.
FRIDAY AFTERNOON SESSION
ORGANIZATION COMMITTEE MEETING
HE meeting convened at 5 P. JL, Miss Tracy Copp presiding as
T Chairman.
"w
Chaibmak Com: As I understand it, our meeting this afternon is
perhaps more of a formality than anything else, that the real -work is
to be done after the officers are elected. May I just repeat what was
said this morning by Mr. Morey that by taking the action which we .
expect to take today we make'of this a permanent section. There goes
with that the responsibility of providing the National Headquarters with
material for bulletins. It is mot necessarily a section for women only.
It is a section for the interest! of the employers of women.
Now what is your pleasure?^
Miss Nesta C. :Edwards Madam Chairman, I would like to offer the
following resolution:
-
RESOLUTION
"RESOLVED that this meeting here and now organize itself into the Women in Industry Section at the National Safety Council, and that the Chairman of this meeting. Miss Tracy Copp, appoint a committee of which she herself shall beThairman to work out the details of the organization of the section, with the authority of said committee to adopt By-Laws for the section in conformity with the Constitution and.
By-Laws of the National Safety Council, and that those at this meeting be considered the initial members of the Section who shall be advised of the progress of the Section's organization and its duties and work to be accomplished, and tbat this meeting now proceed to the election of the necessary officers of the Women in Industry Section who shall be the officers for the first year under the Section's By-Laws."
I move tlie adoption of thatZresolution. I The motion was seconded.}
Ckaikmax Copp: It is moved and seconded that we consider this the establishment of a permanent section for women, that your Temporary Chairman for this afternoon be instructed to appoint a committee to
draw up the Constitution antf7 By-Laws that the people here present
shall toe considered the initial members of the Women in Industry Sec
tion. All those in favor of th til resolution will say "aye"; opposed "no". (The motion was adopted.) ZZ
3414
Eighth Safety Congress
ELECTION" OF OFFICERS
Miss Mildred M. Htckmax: In recognition of the very splendid
service which has "been rendered us this year I should like to present the
name of Miss TracjT Copp as Permanent Chairman.
(The motion wasTput and carried.)
CnAjBMA.v Copp:/ We are now ready to receive nominations for Vice-
Chairman.
"
(The name of Miss Nesta C- Edwards was placed in nomination, sec
onded, and carried.)
CiiAiRMArf Copp: IWe will now proceed with the election of a Secretary.
Miss Maud Swett : I should like to nominate Miss Hickman of Cleve
land.
(The motion to. elect Miss Mildred M. Hickman of Cleveland as Secre
tary was carried.)
Chairman Copp: The duty of naming a commfttee to draw up th'e Con
stitution and By-Llws devolves upon your new Chairman. It is clear
that the officers of the Section will be. a part of that committee. I am
wondering if I might just get from you informally a little expression
of your feeling in this matter of selecting a committee. I had thought
that perhaps we need five members on that Committee, and my first
thought on it was that it might be well for us to ask a man to act with
ns on that Committee-in drawing up the Constitution and By-Laws, and
in preparing a program for next year. What do you think of it?
(The meeting collectively signified their concurrence in the sugges
tion.)
___
Chairjfax Copp: I am sure that you will have occasion to do some thing during the yeacas members of the Section. Slay I ask you then to keep me informed on the .subject of the employment of women and all of the new things that are being published, and anything that can he presented to the official headquarters for publication in their very inter
esting bulletins.
--
Mrs. Humphrey VaSSusi: Do you want ns to send you papers that
have been presented publicly, papers that have been published, or do you
want reports of the various movements that are going on in the different
cities in regard to labor? Just what Is your idea?
Chairmax Copp: We should want all of those. I don't know that youar-3 familiar with the publications of the National Safety Council. We shall be more familiar-with them, but they are branching out into the subject of industrial relations and the employment of -women. Their work is not now confined only to mechanical safeguards and the educa tion of workmen. So that whatever we have that is good material should be sent to headquarters so that it can be summarized and given out offi cially through the Couggil to the members.
Mbs. Humphrey Varxum: Are you familiar with the bulletins that are sent out by Miss Tarbell from the Council of National Defense? I was Michigan Chairman of Publicity and we sent in newspaper clippings when they were vital to the subjects at hand even though they came
Women in Industry
1415
from small towns. We sent in articles from local magazines like tlie Michigan Manufacturer and Financial Record and other material of that sort. A great deal of it was used as the basis for formulating articles, but we don't want to swamp^ou with the wrong kind of material, and yet we would like to know just how much material you would like.
Chairman Copp: Miss Hunt and Miss Edwards are both here. They are very much more familiar with the mechanics of the office than I am. I imagine they would he glad to have all kinds of material from which to make extracts and make notes for publication. Am I right in that?
Miss Hunt: Yes. Afrss Nesta C. Edcwauds : The Library would like to have photographs or things that will be of value to tbe Women's Department. You may come across good blue prints and good drawings. I know they would be welcome.
CH ARTER MEMBERS OF THE WOMEN IN INDUSTRY SECTION
The names, business connections and addresses of those present were as follows:
Miss E. Mae Haas, Employment Department, The National Cash Reg
ister Company, Dayton, Ohio. Miss Anna M. Atherton, Supervisor of Women, The National Cash Reg
ister Company, Dayton, Ohio.
Miss Bernhard C. Riffel, Hyatt Bearings Division, General Motors Corporation, Harrison, N. "37
Mrs. Humphrey Yarnum, Publicity and Advertising, Michigan State Telephone Company, Detroit, Michigan.
Miss Anna K. Koutecky, Women's Department, Morris & Co., Union
Stcck Yards, Chicago, 111."^
Miss Nesta C. Edwards, Consultant in Industrial Service, 1GS North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, 111.
Miss Naomi Neill, Supervisor Nurses, Aetna Life Insurance Company,
Hartford, Conn.
^7
Miss Maynard Downes, Robert A. Johnston Co., Milwaukee, Wis.
Mrs. S. M. Galaty, 508 North Humphrey Avenue, Oak Park, 111. Miss Mary Lapsley, R. N., Ohio Lamp Division of National Lamp Works
of General Electric Company, Warren. Ohio.
Miss Clara L. Ruchti, R. N^GIsholt Machine Co., Madison, Wis. Dr. Alice S. Cutler, 'The Printz-Biederman Co., Cleveland, Ohio. Mrs. Flossa R. Washburn, The Printz-Biederman Co., Cleveland, Ohio. Miss Stella Gonsior, National Safety Council, 168 North Michigan
Avenue, Chicago, 111.
Mrs. L. Luella Cox, Director Department of Women and Children, Industrial Board of Indiana, Indianapolis, Ind.
Miss Kathryne Hunt,- Treasurer, National Safety Council, 168 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago^ 111.
Miss Mildred Middleton. Manager, Operators' Training Department, Michigan State Telephone Company, Detroit, Mich.
141G
Eighth Safety Congress
Miss Florence SwTft Wright, National Organization for Public Health
Nursing, 156 Filth Avenue, New York City.
Dr. Marian A. TVeI0itman. Wfllys-Overland Co.. Toledo. Ohio.
Miss Harriet V. Condie. Employment Supervisor. Michigan State Tele
phone CompanJTT^ Madison Avenue. Detroit. Mich.
Miss Jeanie IS. Hughes, -Tohn Schooroaker & Son. Newburgh, N. Y.
Mrs. Lillian A. Brown, Olvnn-Clarke Co.. Cleveland. Ohio.
Mrs. Arthur T. Morey, 5565 Bartmer Avenue. St. Louis, Mo.
Mrs. C. A. HamanB, 2036 East S9th Street, Cleveland, Ohio.
Miss Muriel Maekav, Dominion Rubber System. Pt. Dalhousie, Ontario,
Canada.
--
Miss Virginia H. Evans. Kimberly Clark Co., Neenab, Wis.
Miss Maud Swett,-^Assistant Secretary, Industrial Commission of Wis
consin, Madison, Wis.
Miss Mildred M. Hickman, National Acme Co. (Employment Manager). Cleveland, Ohio.
Miss Nesta C. Edwards: I move that these names be listed and t.har each one of us get a copy of that list.
(The motion was seconded, it was put to a vole, and carried.)
On motion the meeting adjourned.
Woodworking Section
October 3 and 4, 1919
J. E. 'RHODES, Chairman Secretary-Treasurer, Southern. Pine Association, New Orleans, J_a.
F. A.-BARKER, Secretary Resident Manager, Lumberman's and Manufactu re rs' Insurance Agency,
Milwaukee, Wis.
MEMBERS PRESENT:
l>avid W. Xeachout, Vice-President and Treasurer, The A, Teachout Co..
331 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio.
D. K. Hatch, Superintendent, The A. Teachout Co., 331 Prospect Avenue,
Cleveland, Ohio.
it- F. Milne. Lumbermen's Safety Association, 19 Castle Bldg., Ottawa,
Ontario, Canada.
--
K. G. Lovett, Inspector, Industrial Accident Prevention Association, SOI'
Excelsior Life Bldg., TorontoTOnt., Canada.
James H. Parks, General Accident Insurance Company.
Robert B. Howe, Safety Dept.rfGoodrieh Rubber Co., Akron, Ohio.
L. B. Alsey, J. F. Hasty and Sons, Stave & Heading Mis., Faragould, Ark.
Frank W. School, Safety Equipment, Willard Storage Battery Company, 691 East !L2Sth St., Cleveland, Ohio.
F. JO. Ensminger, The Prest-O^Lite Company, Inc., Indianapolis, Ind.
\V. H. Rohr, S. H. Smith Co., Publishers "Woodworker," Indianapolis, Ind.
C. H. Gram, Commissioner of Labor, Salem, Oregon.
C. W. Tellier, Eastman' Kodak Company. 333 State Street, Rochester,
N. Y.
^
E. B. Jacques, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. Akron, Ohio.
Warren Hilleary, Royal Indemnity Company, SI William Street, New
York.
____
'V. F. Proper, W. F. Stewart Company, Automobile Bodies, Flint, Mich.
M. L. Henwood, Maryland Casualty Company, Baltimore, Md.
G. D. Bragdon, General Accident Corp., Philadelphia, Pa. C. B. Allen, Mfrs. Liability Ills. Company, Jersey City, N. J.
.1
Alfred Striick, President Alfred Struck Company, Louisville, Ky.
1417
141S
Eighth Safety Congress
O. F. Behm, Standard Accident Company, Detroit, Mich. Wm. A. Marshall, Chairman, Oregon Ind. Accident Commission, Chair
man, Safety Com. "Pacific Logging Congress, Salem, Oregon. E. M. Hamlin, Mgr., Blaine Mills, The American Thread Co., Milo, Maine. A. Jfc$. Cowfer, Safety Engineer, Ocean Insurance Company, 912 West 21st
Street, Erie, Pa. " Paul M. Bowen, Standard Accident Insurance Company, Detroit, Mich. R. H. Platts, Standard Accident Insurance Company. 90S Penobscot Bldg.,
Detroit, Mich. Holger Jensen, Maryland Casualty Company, Baltimore. Md.
T. L. Naylor, BureatTof Labor, Manitoba, Parliament Bldg.. Winnipeg. R. W. Patmore, East End Mfrs.' Association, Cleveland. Ohio. Charles N. Young, Acting Supt. Dept, of Sched. Rating * Inspection, Na
tional Workmen's CSm. Serv. Bureau. 13 Park Row. New York. N. Y. John L. Bartlett, Safety Eng., Maryland Casualty Company. Baltimore. Md. Martin J. Flyzik, Olympia, Washington, Member of State Medical Board
and State Safety Board. W. Graham Cole, Director oC Safety and Industrial Relations. Southern
Pine Association, New Orleans, La.
FRIDAY MORNING SESSION
r--j--vHE meeting was called to order by the Chairman, at 9:30 A. M.
\_ CitAtiorAjc :Rhodes Although the Woodworking Section of the Na
tional Safety Council appears to be considered as one of the least im
portant of this great organization, I am sure that with the'active partici
pation in this conference of those present, we can make the proceedings
of this section not only interesting but extremely valuable to greet you,
and to invite you to .take part In this conference in a strictly informal
way, in order that we tnay have the benefit of your suggestions and Judg
ment concerning the questions which have been placed before us for dis
cussion.
'
TURKE lJRAXCItKS OF I.UMIJER INDUSTRIES
The Woodworking Section `really involves three different branches of the lumber producing Imd consuming industries. As I see it. we include first the manufactureZof lumber; second, its distribution, and third, its consumption as represented by woodworking plants. Addresses from rep resentatives of these three branches are scheduled to be delivered today and tomorrow.
Speaking for the lumber manufacturing industry, with which. I am per sonally connected, I airRpleased to say that there is an increasing interest on tlie part of employers in the work of eliminating causes for personal injuries. Our attention^has been most forcibly called to the fact that the record of the lumber industry in the matter of accidents and fatalities is far from satisfactory. = Fam informed that on the basis of the number of injuries sustained- by employees, the lumber industry stands third among
Woodworking Section
1419
the great vocations in which, men are engaged in this country, railroad ing and mining leading the lumber industry. If this situation is true, and the lumber manufacturers^ during the coming year will make an ef fort to ascertain whether or iy>t it is, I can assure you that they will make every effort to improve The record, but frank to say, personally I feel ashamed about it, and I know that many of our associates also enter tain the same feelings.
SAFETY DEPARTMENT OF SOUTHERN PINE ASSOCIATION
The Southern Pine Association has inaugurated a Department of Safety First, for the express purpose of doing what it can to reduce the number of accidents sustained by employees in the woods and mills of the Southern states. Mechanical appliances, so far as they will protect life and limb in sawmills, have been perfected about as Tar as it seems possible at this time; hence, it would appear that little improvement can be made in that direction. The^greatest number of accident-ajncident to the manufacture of lumber occur in logging operations, and I am in formed that in this respect the operations of the Southern states show a better record than those of the far Western states, where logging is more largely done by machinery and where the timber handled is of a much larger and heavier character. At the session of this conference a year hence, we shall endeavor to present statistics which I feel certain will show a very gratifying decrease in the number of injuries sustained by employees in the Southern mills and woods, and I will not take your Lime by rehearsing the efforts which, we are exerting to bring this about.
So far as the distribution of lumber is concerned, the number of in juries sustained by employees is undoubtedly very materially less than that in its manufacture, and I am pleased to note that a representative of the wholesalers and retail lumbermen will address us on this subject. The handling of lumber" involves generally heavy manual labor, and it is hence Impossible to entirely eliminate the physical hazard.
SEEK COOPERATION OF MANUFACTURERS OF WOODWORKING MACHINERY
There are a vast number of Industries throughout the country which produce articles made of wood. 'There are, of course, the manufacturers of sash and doors, boxes, and other exclusively wood products, but in addition there are a vast numb of plants which have a woodworking department, such as manufactories of automobiles, batteries, and so forth. These operations involve the userof a large amount of woodworking ma chinery. upon which safeguards have generally been installed. The chief cause of accidents in woodworking plants is due to the fact that the em ployees do not use the safeguards which have been provided, and the man agement is frequently carelessjor indifferent. It is possible that the manufacturers of woodworking machinery can cooperate by incorporating these safety devices as an integral part of the machines, so that they can not be removed. X think that some discussion upon this phase of the mat ter would be helpful, and to that und would suggest that the manufactur-
3420
, Eighth Safety Congress
ers of woodworking^ machinery be invited to participate in future meet
ings of this section;
We are delightedT to have with us representatives of our Northern
friends, the Canadians, our worthy allies in the great war. We not only
welcome their participation, but I feel that a resolution of thanks should
be extended to them, expressing our appreciation of their interest in this
great work,
--
By reason of the size of the lumber industry, as compared with many
others represented in this Council, I feel that we should make an effort
to make the sessions" of tills section at-the next annual meeting among
the most largely attended of all, and that steps should be taken at this
time for the preparation of a program which will result in bringing out
representatives of the lumber industry and affiliated branches, so that
instead of being the^smaUest of the sections we may become one of the
largest, if not in poTnt of attendance at least in actual results achieved.
In this connection. T wisli to extend my thanks to Mr. Barker, Secretary of
this section, for the keen interest which he has taken in the work during the past year. XIle success of work of this kind really depends more tipon
the Secretary than any other officer. I will appreciate it if you will con
sider this meeting in n strictly informal manner, so that our discussions
may be of the mostTlntimate and helpful sort. (Chairman exhibited safety bulletins and forms as used hr Southern
Bine Association in their safety promotion work.)
SECRETARY'S REPORT
I am going to dispense with any unnecessary i.ilk as regards the sec retary's report with reference to our previous meetings, and devote my entire time to a direct appeal to you members present, for your full co operation in increasTjfc the membership of our Woodworking Section.
I was very much surprised to receive figures from the National Safety t'ouncil as regards the present membership of this Section, especially in view of the fact that lumbering. logging, and lumber-working represents more industries in the Pnited Slates than any other prominent class of manofari uring. and frankly speaking we should have right from Ohio a greater number of members than are represented as a total for the United Elates, and if agreeable to the Chair. I wish to have each and every one of you register your Trahie upon the booklet which 1 will pass around and by so doing 1 w ish to consider it a partial pledge by each of you to secure at least one now member before our next Annual Safety Congress.
As we review the accidents occurring in the lumber and lumber-work ing industries, we cannot help but feel that a progressive accident-preven tion oimiKifsn for tbese industries would eliminate a number of the socalled preventable accidents. My personal experience in the sawmill industry takes me back to a time when I remember frequent accidents by reasons of kick-backs on edgers. and speaking for the territory in which I am now interested, I am very glad to say that we have practically eliminated this class df accident, which has proven to be preventable and was usually fatal .to ths_inj tired. Such was accomplished l>y applying sim-
IFoodworhimg Section
14:21
pie and practical guards to the machine. Surely work of that character
must interest any lumber manufacturer.
I can also go back a tew years, and bring to my mind a vivid recollec
tion of frequent linger and hand' accidents- on jointers, and today by the
use of the round cylinder-head instead of the square head in these ma
chines, we have almost entirely eliminated any further loss of fingers or
hands, and furthermore, the round cylinder head in the jointer has been
found in addition to its wonderful safety feature, capable of doing the same and even more work than t.h.e square head can do.
Our every indication isTTJiat this Safety Congress is going to be the
best one that we have as yet held for the woodworking section. As for
next year, we are already., planning to have prominent men of onr indus
try deliver addresses, andT petition you all once again to cooperate fully
in making our next Congress a successful one in membership as well as
program.
=
Chairman Rhodes introduced Mr. David W. Teachout who delivered the following address:
SAFETY IN THE DUMBER AND MILUWORIv INDUSTRY
Davjd W. Teachout, VjcBSPresident and Treasurer, tub A. Teachout CoSOFanv, Cj.kvet.axd, Ohio
The work which the Council is doing in America we. believe is of the
greatest importance to the future of our people and the development of
our Nation's life.
^
The .Eighth Annual Safety Congress in Cleveland this week has been a
source of great education to our own "local family" of almost one million
people. This Congress has taught us to "be more careful to wait at the
crossing, and not spend s<k much time waiting in the cemetery."
While it seems that weliave many accidents to report in. our daily
papers, statistics indicate that we are a long way from heading the list
of accidents in our large "cities. Usually Cleveland, aspires to be at the
top but in this respect, in which you and I are vitally interested, we
prefer to be at the bottom,--in other words have the fewest accidents
possible in proportion to but' population.
We feel indebted to this Congress in Cleveland and trust your stay
in our midst has been botliTpleasant and profitable.
The subject assigned to Tine of safety in the lumber and" miltwork in
dustry is one in which I Have always been vitally interested. Perhaps
this was first developed by my early experience in the manufacturing end
of the lumber business at our North Carolina Mill. It was necessary to start with a very crude affair and practically no safety appliances. A
few days after we started the mill 1 cautioned one of the few white la
borers, one who was working with the log chain which came up into the
mill to be careful with somrgear wheels near the saw-carriage. Less than
twenty-four hours after that time I saw this same man catch his arm in
this very place and tear it off at the wrist. Prom that date I resolved that
1422
~Eighth Safety Congress
whenever and wherever I could take some precautionary measure I would
clo so.
--
While in the South logging in the woods, slipping the logs down-stream by title to the mill, ripping up the logs and then shipping the lumber north I came to know the conditions and the environments of the lumber
man, in fact what is more vital. I came to know work'.nymcn. Never shall X cease to be grateful for this experience. I came to recognize the human
side of men in the act of labor. "The humanizing of business is the
beacon light of our cofTHtry," as a prominent lumberman of the Central
West has so well expressed it. Reasonable precaution in protecting life and limb, is recognized Joday, not only as a duty under the law but is realized as a common "sense thing to do to save the corporation or partnership from great loss, and under some circumstances, financial ruin.
And In addition there is the higher law. The Christian viewpoint is de veloping and there is the moral responsibility and duty which we must frankly face as we meet one another in industry as. associates. Note
that I do not say employer and employee.
I'sualiy a man's worcTgrowing out of his own experience Is more ac ceptable and I trust mine may be to the point in this message.
The first consideration in establishing a yard is the public hazard. Prom
the standpoint of public safety all yards should be fenced in and the gates
carefully closed at night. Lumber should be neatly piled and well stacked. This avoids boards and dimension failing over in case a truck strikes the corner of a pile. Every platform in a lumber shed should have a sub stantial rail. "An oimcfof prevention is worth a pound of cure," as a
maxim, applies in this line and especially around the planing"mill. So
far as X can learn we have never had any serious accident around any
of the ten yards in which we are interested in the City of Cleveland. In the sash and door business we have had four deaths resulting from acci dents over a period of forty-five years--two were sustained'by falls in the
elevator shaft, one from Tilood poisoning and one resulted from accident
on one of our millwork machines. Danger signs and gates were present,
in the case of the former^ Onr experience, therefore, shows that an air of Independence on the part of the workingman is usually at the bottom of these serious accidents. ^
Personally I believe that the conscience of corporate management is aroused to the peril of such accidents and that the majority of concerns are only too willing to aerapt suggestions for additional safety and install the apparatus at once, even at considerable cost or I might even say--no matter what the cost.
SAFETY STfC.GESTlOXS
i-'ive concrete suggestions should be borne in mind. 1. Place "Danger" cards at every critical and dangerous place, and especially at elevator shafts. Have these in metal and nailed up SO they cannot easily be torn downy 2. Where there are laboring men who do not understand English, have safety signs put up in their respective languages, and frequently call ' their attention to such notices.
V
Wood working 8ec t ion
1423
3. Urge foreigners to study Knglish so that in the time of emergency or accident our language asTi medium may be readily understood.
4. Use guards on all machines. Do not allow the poor argument of "too much trouble'' to-stopAmprovements short of the most complete and up-to-date.
5. Watch safety of health in office and plant.
DISCUSSION
This paper was discussed by: Mr. D. F. Hatch, Supt. of the A. Teachovit Company; Mr. M. D. Henwobd, Maryland Casualty- Company, Baltimore, -Ud.; Mr. C. H. Gram, Commissioner of Labor, Salem, Oregon: Mr. Wm. A. Marshall, Chairman, Oregon Ind. Accident Co., Salem, Oregon.
Chairman Rhodes thanked Mr. Teachout for his excellent paper and exhibit of safety appliances^ One in particular attracted the attention of the section. It was a red flag with firm name and safety first on it, which is attached to the extreme "extending part of a load of lumber while in transit on trucks. This was considered very effective in attracting at tention of pedestrians whenZEruck would he turning a corner and have the probability of extended lumber swinging into persons near by.
Program was continued by introduction of Mr. Holger Jehsen, who de livered an address.
METHODS OF SECURING COOPERATION OF WORKMEN IN USING SAFEGUARDS
Holgkk Jknskn.
Maxacer, TEnginkriung a>-|) Rating Bi:i:i:au, Castjat.tt Company, Baltimore, Mi>.
Mauvi.ano
If it were within the power of those interested in Safety to look into
the minds of men, it would, Ao doubt, still be impossible to lay down any specific method for obtaining* the use of safeguards which would be satis factory in all cases. Howlflr, it is not an impossibility to obtain the general use of safeguards byZworkmen. if sufficient consideration is given to eliminate the objections. Abese objections are generally due to faulty construction of the guard, which does not give the maj-imum amount of safety, or which curtails thc=J3iityut. and also due to the state of mind of the icorlcmetn who is to use "it. This last objection, however, so closely interlocks with the first twd-that it is, to use the late' Andrew Carnegie's illustration, similar "to a three-legged stool." It is necessary to consider and deal with all three objections, in order to obtain the desired result.
The responsibility for, obtaining the workmen's cooperation rests mainly with the employer in the providing of efficient guards. Guards should be substantially constructed and as near automatic in their action as pos sible. where adjusting is neCSssary, due to size and nature of material.
Any operation possible with an unguarded machine should be possible with a guard, at least, the guard, should not interfere with any necessary feature of the work during operation. When ordering a .machine from a manufacturer, the buyer should insist upon it being constructed so as to give the maximum of safetv^Th its operation. If this demand were a gen-
1424
--Eighth Safety Congress
eral practice, mure machines would be safeguarded by machine manufac turers. Where machines are sent out unguarded by the manufacturer, the proposition of guarding the machine is up to the buyer. The present practice of guarding the belts, shafts, and gears is more or less uniform, and by no means difficult, but when it comes to guarding the danger zone of operation, which, no doubt, produces more serious accidents in connec tion. with the operation of woodworking machines than anything else and considering that the types of guards in use at present for guarding the danger zone of operation are in most cases very easily removed, these types of guards demand special and most careful consideration.
Ria-OKT W WISCONSIN- IMH-STBIAI. COMMISSION
The report of the Industrial Commission of Wisconsin as to Industrial
Accidents in that StateTfor the years 1M13. 11*16. and 11*17 shows that 9S.I
accidents were on circular saws, 64 on band saws. 130 on saws not classi-
tied: in all, 3.1M3 accidents on saws out of a total of 2.365 accidents on
woodworking machines, or 50 per cent of the accidents occurred on
saws. Attention is not called to these figures with the idea in view that the State of Wisconsin shows an especially bail record: on the contrary,
the State Department of Wisconsin lias been exceptionally active in
the reduction of accidents on woodworking machines, hut it is one of the
few State DeparLmentszrwhich lias tabulated industrial accidents by in
dustries. These figures, would indicate that circular saws are the great
est producers of accidents of all woodworking machines. This is first due
to the fact that saws.dio doubt. comprise the largest percentage of any
one kind of woodworking machine. It may. however, be interesting to
note. that, l'or Instance^of the MSI accidents on circular saws. 143 were permanent injuries, divided as follows: 4. deaths: 2. ami cut off at elbow;
loss of hand: 76. loss"of one finger: :;*!. loss of two fingers: 13, loss of
three fingers: 5. loss ofjour fingers: 1. loss of foot: 3. loss of eye; and 1,
facial disfigurement. Tli is shows the necessity of protection. ' In the
majority of cases, it vsmild. no doubt, be found that the accidents were
due entirely to the lack of safeguards, but to say that all of these acci
dents were due to the fact that safeguards had not been provided would
be folly. While the statistical data throws no light on this, it can rea
sonably be assumed that in a great many cases safeguards were provided,
but were inadequate, or where a fairly.good guard was provided, its use
was dispensed with at the time of the accident, due to special work being
done: repairs or adjustment having been made, which necessitated the
removal of the guard ai.d same not having been replaced. In some cases,
a .very good guard is removed, due to the operator's personal dislike to it.
or to the fart that it prevents him from turning out the desired quantity
of work.
-^5-
11* \i:i
i. m \.\* and i.LAiiL). norir !..s*u.vriAi.
The n-ev*r=5>ii > f safeguards on woodworking machines is obvious and Is recognized lv 11 employers. Argument is often presented that a careful workman eliminates the need of a safeguard. A careful workman is only obtained through training and education and is probably a more
^Woodworking Section
1425
superior condition in operating a dangerous machine without a guard than a careless man operating the same machine guarded, but the most care ful man forgets at times' Experience has shown that both the careful man and the guard are essential. The two are inseparable and it is diffi cult to state which one stands first in preventing accidents.. The guard
should, first be provided.^ To discuss the construction and suggest standard safeguards for machines,
such as jointers, circular saws, planers, shapers, etc., is not considered necessary, as most men eHgaged in the operation of woodworking machinerv are familiar with guards,,which are on the market and which are looked upon more or less as standard guards. These, however, cannot always be accepted as a "cure-aU", even for these common types of woodworking machines, but guards lia>5 to be designed with due consideration as to the class of work done and jnaterial used. This, of course, also applies to other types of woodworking machines for which there are no guards on the market. At a meeting recently held, at which the possibility of standardizing safeguards was discussed, it was brought ou.t very strongly that it would be impracticable to do tbis at the present time, due to the great difference in design of machines and requirements demanded in guards and that the great bulk of machine guards used were designed and made in the individual plant or mill in which they were to be used. In such cases, the construction of the safeguard must have the most serious consideration ofjlie man in charge. The guard must be of sub stantial construction and should be the best money can purchase.
THE WOHK.MAX SHOULD JttC CO.VS UI-IKD
The providing of guc-lx a guard is a big step towards getting the co operation of the workman in using it, but in order to be sure of this attitude, the workman should not he looked upon in the same light as the
machine on which the guard is to be placed. Human nature is very much alike, whether the man wears a white collar and tie and spends his time at a desk, or he wears overalls and puts in the day operating a machine. When a man has an opportunity to express his individuality and takes some part in the purchasing or creating of a new venture, he is sure to take a great deal of interest in making it a success. It has been proven Lime and time again thatlthe cooperation of the workmen is vitally essen tial. if anything like therruajority of preventable accidents is to be elimi nated and the workmen, therefore, should be consulted in the purchasing, designing or installing of safeguards on machines which they operate.
The use of certain safety devices oftentimes means the learning anew of the operation of the machine. I-Iuman beings get into habits. They do not like to change their ways, especially when they become older. It appears to be human nature to oppose a change, unless good reason can be shown for making ity The employer, by his attitude, can show the workmen that he is. interested in safety, is anxious to provide safe con ditions, and that he further desires and appreciates the workmen's best opinion from their practical knowledge. It is true that many helpful suggestions are made bj^workmen in reference to safeguards, which, in
142G
Eighlh Safely Congress
tile form- presented, are-impracticable, but which need only the applica tion by others more skilled and experienced to be used to good advantage. A great many safeguards in woodworking operations remain unused a number of times because'the workmen feel that they are not practicable in the operation of their" machines. The guard may give full protection, though interfering with the output, and the employer may be willing to suffer this loss, but the loyal workman resents any curtailing of output. No guard should be considered satisfactory unless it gives the maximum of safety and provides air least the same outp.ut obtained by the unguard ed machine. Safeguards not interfering with operation increase pro duction, due to the workmen's sense of security. A guard affording full, protection, without inteTfering with the operation, is sure to appeal to the workman as being practicable and if he has had part in the design ing or installation, it is-certain to be used at its maximum of service. Unjust objection and criticism to a guard is generally made at the time of installing, so that later on when a change is made in the operator, the guard is accepted as a fixture.
KKSl'OXSli:n.lTV
The placing of new or^inexperienced persons on dangerous machines, needless to state, will produce accidents, even with machines which, in the hands of experienced workmen, would be satisfactory. This is where the foremen or superintendents should use 'discretion. They can also greatly aid in getting cooperation of the workmen from a safety standpoint, as well as from the point oI production, in maintaining discipline. This can always be obtained iFi sense of responsibility exists in the minds of the workmen. yiay it not Justly be assumed that the secret in obtaining the use of safeguards can best be covered by one word. JZesponsibiliti/-- responsibility of the employer, his superintendent or foreman towards the safety of the workmen, and workmen's sense of responsibility towards their own safety, as well as the best interest of their employer? In for mer days when the employer and his small number of Workmen worked shoulder to shoulder and knew each other personally and were concerned as to each other's best interests, they both realized fully their responsi bility towards each other. With the plants and mills being increased' in size, the employer and the workmen have naturally drifted apart. This is, no doubt, the cause, for lack of cooperation shown in many places at the present time. This'fact is being recognized in general and sincere efforts are being made to cBrrect this unfortunate situation. In the lat'ge mills and plants the employer, on account of his duties, is unable to keep in close touch with the Individual workmen. The superintendent and foreman become bis substitute, and they must be considerate of the workmen under them. They should take an earnest and sympathetic in terest in the welfare of eacET workman, but with it all, they should main tain a certain amount of "dignity. The right type of foreman will find the workmen ready and willing to follow his instructions in spirit, as well as in action. This makes discipline easier and carries with it a
Woodxvovking Section
1427
sense of responsibility in the minds of the workmen as to prevention of
accidents, as well as responsibility towards production.
The answer to the Question "How to Secure the Cooperation of Work
men in Using Safeguards'^ Is A PRACTICAL/ AND EFFICIENT FORE
MAN- AND SAFEGUARD.
Mr. Jensen's paper was discussed by Mr. Cole of the Southern Pine As
sociation, Mr. C. H. Gram, Commissioner of Labor, Salem. Oregon, and
Mr. Jb\ G. Lovett, Inspector^ Industrial Accident Prevention Association,
of Toronto, Ontario.
Mr. Jensen advises that he has a number of photographs of various
woodworking guards, and that he will be pleased to give practically any
of these to members making request. The Secretary has made a note to
have Mr. Jensen contribute to a safety bulletin board for the next Safety
Congress.
__
The subject of hazards in box manufacturing plants was assigned to
Mr. C. R. Miller. Mr. Miller was not present and his paper was read by
Chairman Rhodes.
==
SOME OF THE BOX'MANUFACTURERS' PROBLEMS
C.
R.
Mir.r.ER,
Operating JLnaoes, Rathbobke, Chicago
Hair,
and
Ridcwai.
The future of the Safety Movement in the Wooden Box Industry is, in
a large sense, linked up with the problem of developing automatic and
semi-automatic machinery. There is a great field for such development
and an urgent necessity for it.
%.
The Industry, as a whole,Hseems to have taken a great interest in the
work of guarding plants for the protection of employees, and in the short
spaceof five years has made ^wonderful progress in affording conveniences
for the comfort of workersT It is a common thing, nowadays, to find
in plants of almost any size, stations where hot coffee and sandwiches
may be had at nominal prices; rest rooms very well fitted up and many like provisions for comfort.
But now I want to get to the subject that I consider most important.
We are sawing boards today about as we did twenty-five years ago. It
is true that recently a new nail driving machine has been introduced for
making up certain- types of boxes, but the principle of all the machines
for general work, now in use, has not changed in thirty years. About
ten years ago, a new type oLbox, which has since come to be known as the
--4--one wieebound box, was introduced to the consuming public. This
box is made very largely of Rotary Cut Veneer and even though nine or
ten years have elapsed we Rave not yet a satisfactory sawing machine
for ripping this veneer. iTgould extend the list to considerable length
but think that these will be sufficient examples to convey my thought.
When we consider the modern automatic machine for working steel and
iron products, such as platea, bolts, screws, tin cans, etc., our. average
machinery seems to be woefully ancient and inadequate. Then, too; our
1428
Eighth Safety Congress
chief competitor, theJJhanufacturer of fibre containers has machinery that is welt abreast of the times generally. A recent investigation showed me that in an average establishment for making fibre containers, twelve persons can produce asrnany containers in a given time as would require 65 to VO persons in the average wooden box factory.
Perhaps some one is wondering where all this joins with the safety movement as most of Jis usually think of it. AVe all know that in the designing of machinery' today, safe operation is one of the fundamental thoughts with the designer. Therefore, it is fair to assume that new machines will be well guarded. Those of us engaged in this section -of fhe wood working industry must give more and more serious thought and study to this subject, if we are to hold our own and do our part in the great work of reconstruction.
Another great work, for us, coming under the caption Safety is picking the right man for the job, and seeing to it that each person is instructed and learns to do his work with the least effort necessary. This is the only way to increase production and at the same time pay more wages for shorter hours.
Some of the great manufacturing institutions working in steel, iron, and metal are conducting training schools for workers, teaching them how to do their work with the least number of movements for each operation and at the same time are finding the misfits and placing them where they can be of the best service to both themselves and their employers.
I think our box factories are, in most instances, important enough to warrant some raovemeSTof this kind.
Discussion was entered into by most of the members with reference to box manufacturing hazards, and it was unanimously decided that this important subject should be gone into very carefully at the next sectional meeting. Mr. Miller's paper gave the members present a number of good pointers as to how to courduct safety work for this industry.
DISCUSSION
Chairman Rhodes announced that a general discussion was in order on
any matters pertaining to papers read or safety in general for the lumber
and lumber working industries. This discussion was entered into freely
by all members present.' and the exchange of ideas was very beneficial
to all.
-=-
A very interesting discussion was on photographs of hazards and safety
appliances and the following members very kindly consented to contrib
ute in a reasonable way to any member present, or to the section for its
next exhibit, photographs which they have and which they will take from
time to time:
s
b'. G. .Lovett, Inspector.Industrial Accident PreventionAssociation.
S02 Excelsior I-ife BldgjfiToronto. Ont., Canada.
R. b\ Milne,Lumbermen's SafetyAssociation. 3 9 CastleBldg.. Ottawa.
Ont.. Canada.
LL
C. If. Gram. Commissioner of Labor, Sa1em~ Ore.
Holger Jensen. Maryland Casualty Company, Baltimore, Md.
Woodtvorking Section-
1429
Mr. Cole of the Southern Pine Association, brought up a very interest ing subject relative to the standardizing of accident classification and the subject was referred to the secretary and Mr. Cole for a further investi gation. as to how insurance companies and states could be brought to
gether for such standard classification. Mr. R. W. Patmore, TESast End Mfrs. Association, suggested that this
council should go on record with reference to the purchasing, only, of machines that- had approved guards. The subject brought up some very interesting discussion and the chairman advised that he would take action by appointing a committee on resolutions to handle this matter.
Chairman Rhodes appointed the following committees, to report at the meeting on Saturday morning October 4.
.Membership Committee: Wm. A. Marshall, Chairman, Oregon Industrial Accident Commission. Salem. Oregon: D. W. Teachout, Vice-President and Treasurer, The A. Teachout Company, Cleveland, Ohio; W. D. Keefer, Safety Engineer, Na tional Safety Council, Chicago, III. Resolution Committed: K. JL>. gnsminger, The Prest-O-Lite Co., Indianapolis, Ind.; R. W. Pat more, East End Mfrs. Ass'ii., Cleveland, Ohio: M. L. Kenwood. Maryland
Casualty Co., Baltimore, Md. Nominating Committee: R. F. Milne, Lumbermen's Safety Association, Ottawa, Ontario. Canada;
Holger Jensen, Maryland Casualty Co., Baltimore, Md.; Fred A. Barker, Resident Manager, Lumbermen's Mutual Casualty Co., Milwaukee, Wls.
Adjournment at 12:3LCCP. M.
SATURDAY MORNING SESSION
HE meeting called to order by the Chairman at 9:30 A. M.
T Chairman Rhodeslannounced that in the absence of Mr. Boyd, Sec
retary Barker would read his paper.
ACCIDENTS IN "LOGGING OPERATIONS AND IIOW THEY MAY BE REDUCED
.1 AMF.fi Born. Editor J2F Tin-: "Lumber Trade Jotoisai.," New Orleans
Logging operations procure the source of supply for the lumber manu facturing plants. Accidents happen, but in most instances they result in minor injuries. It is rffi-e that many men suffer injury at one time, be cause as a rule they work in groups of two or three. Still, one operation reports 183 personal injury cases in 1918.
The best statistics otT the subject have been prepared by Henry Burr. Vice-President of T. H. Mastin and Company, Kansas City. The experi ence of this organization over a series of years, which insures lumber
1430
Eighth Safety Congress
companies only against liability and workmen's compensation, is that 39 per cent of all accidents iir lumber operations are in the logging1 depart ment of which 21 per cent are in the woods and 18 per cent on the log ging railroads. The cost ofi the accidents In the logging departments is 21 per cent of the cost of all the claims in the lumber industry and that in the railroad department is 20 per cent, or a total of 41 per cent of the en tire cost of personal injury.
Mr. Burr has prepared 4he following figures showing causes of acci dents in percentage to tbeVtotal number of accidents reported:
Per cent Log cutting __________________________________________ Skidding by power _....................................................................................................................... 15 Loading by power......................._.................................................................................................. IS Skidding by animals ............A 2 Loading by animals ________________________________________________________________ Hauling by animals ________________________________________ Swamping _____________________________________________________ Unclassified _______________________________________________
3
In the operation of the logging railroads the following causes contrib
ute in tht_ percentage shown:
Per cent
Operation of cars ...______________________________________ __________________________ .26
Maintenance of way________ _______________________--........................................................ 46
Unloading logs S, ...................................................................................................................... 8
Accidents in pond .......................................................................................................................... 5
Coupling cars _______________S__________________________________1________________ 8
Boarding and alighting ----------___________________________...
4
Unclassified ...................................................................................................................................... 3
Bulletins of the Xational Safety Council have done good work in. lessen ing the number of aceidentSTln operations where they have been used. A company began posting bulletins in 1916; that year it had 272 acci
dents; in 1917 the number was 225, and in 1918, 183. Those companies which dcr-not change men often have few accidents.
Some of them avoid putting-green men in places where there is a possi bility or likelihood of an accident, using the new men In places where there is not a great deal to be done, and practically no risk, until they become sufficiently acquainted, with the requirements of the work so they can throw around themselves the necessary precaution. Others employ only competent men, and require those in charge of operations to keep a careful watch over their men and see that they take no unnecessary ' risks.
The Choctaw Lumber Company, Broken Bow, Okla., maintains a Wel fare Department under the direction of .T. AV. Clark. Part of the duties of this department relate to qrreduction of accidents. Each employee is given a small book which gives directions for the prevention of accidents. Here are the instructions for the Woods Operations:
45
8 4
5
Wood-work vug Scot io it
1431
OPEN LETTER TO WOODS FOREMEN
1- Instruct every mahTwho Is new in your crew regarding his duties and point out to him whe;re he may meet with, danger. New men are more liable to accident..--
2. The ax and the saw teeth are the cause o most minor injuries to logging men. Keep thisTddea before your men.
3. Falling trees with the cutters is the cause of most all deaths from accidents in the woods. =Keep the men on the lookout.
4. Catching logs on the move injures men and may cause death if the cant hook should fail. Stop this practice; some one on POLLY the year 'round from this carelessness, two at the present.
5. Keep the safety idea before your men all the time and make a rec ord for your crew.
6. CoSperation among the men in the woods, as the swampers and the teams, the saws and the haulers, and the men and the foremen, is of ab solute importance; foreman see that this condition is maintained.
7. Men who refuse to use ordinary precaution among their fellow workmen will have to be replaced.
8. Keep the women and children in mind when you think of Safety First and it will be easier.
OPEN LETTER TO WORKMEN IN WOODS
1. We have a desire to see every man on his feet and making his own
way in the world and wish to help you.
2. Carelessness causes 90 per cent of the accidents of industry. Cut
out your part of the carelessness and you have done your part.
3. The ax, the saw, and the falling tree are "the arch enemies of the
woods department.
^
4. Always strike with the ax aimed out and from the body and there
can be no injury with the ax.
5. " Don't treat the Safety idea lightly; it may save your life and keep
your children from being orphans.
6. A crippled man is hot a man; he is only part of a man. Be a whole
man.
^
7. Industry needs every man of us. Let's work together that all may
be happy.
8. We have SAFETY FIRST rules now and I am asking every one
of you to cooperate with each other and with the foremen to make your
department free frbm injury. We should all be better for the rule.
Mr. Clark publishes a monthly paper as part of his work. Following is
the "safety first departSient" from a recent issue:
SAFETY FIRST
The accident record for the month is very good. One hand badly hurt in the Bismarck planer mill, due to "carelessness and awkwardness." as the injured man puts it__ It might have been a wrist as well as the two
1432
Eighth Safety Congress
leaders in the hand. BelSn the lookout at all times, and stay away from
danger.
--
The new floor in the machine shop Is a much needed improvement and
will aid in preventing accident. Uneven floors are dangerous.
W. L. Douglas was hit by a falling limb at Broken Bow camp. This is
a type of injury that can't well be avoided at times. Eternal vigilance
will help.
_
One man injured at each camp by ax cuts. These appear too fre
quently. The foremen should point out this danger and then the men
should quit chopping toward the feet; chop out from the body and you
can't cut your foot. It wUl take more time to do this, but it will save
you a foot, perhaps.
==
The cleanest place on the job is the car shed of the Bismarck, car repair
men. These men could keep a house neat and orderly
A health pamphlet and a safety first pamphlet will be sent to each
working hand this week. Read these and then take them .home and keep
them. I have done several weeks of hard work in preparing them and I know the material they contain is authoritative. We mean to send much
of this to your home and Bik you to keep it and try to', get good from it.
The one remedy that is a certain preventative of all accidents is care
fulness.
Mr. William A. -Marshall, Chairman, Oregon Ind. Accident Commission,
discussed Mr. Boyd's paper and read from an article which he had pre
pared to be delivered before the Pacific Logging Congress.
ACCIDENT SEVERITY JX LOGGING OPERATIONS
'Vimjmi A. MAitsitAr.L. CitAiiiMA.v. Committee ox Accident Prevention-.
Pacific LoeffTxo Congress. Salem, Oregon
If statistics are to be oflgreater value in connection with accident pre vention work in logging tJJSSrations, the information should show, not only the number of accidents occurring in the various occupations or di visions of the work, but also the average severity resulting. The fact that there has been a reduction in the number of accidents during a given period is not conclusive evTOence of a real reduction in the total injury to the workmen or in the total of compensation benefits paid to injured workmen.
A study was made for the Pacific Logging Congress of logging accidents in Oregon for the year ending June 30, 1919, and. I am taking the liberty of presenting two of the eoSrdensed tables and some of tbe conclusions drawn from them. The principal purpose of this study was to show' the causes resulting, not in ihe~greatesl number of accidents, but which rep resented the greater total loss to the injured workmen in temporary and permanent disabilities and fit fatalities.
In comparing the relative hazards of the various occupations, or the severity of injury resulting from the different causes of accidents, the total amounts paid in compensation are often unreliable, particularly in
Woodworking Section
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1434
Eighth Safety Congress
the logging industry, where a considerable number o fatal cases leave no dependents. For these reasons an additional basis oE comparison has been inserted in these tables and sucli disability is'xneasured and the re*
suit converted into a connhon denominator of "days lost". In temporary injuries the actual days Tbst from employment are counted, while the in juries resulting fatally or in permanent disability are arbitrarily weighted in terms of potential work-days lost according to a table of weights adopt ed by the International Association of Compensation Boards and Commis sions.
A study was made of tile causes of accidents by occupations or occupa tional groups. The following is a summary of the original table:
The value of the study was enhanced by the fact lhat in the more im portant respects the conclusions were in harmony -with tabulations of previous experience. Some of the deductions made are as follows:
Fallers, Buchers, Sealers, Swampers, Rivers, Peelers and Tie Hackers: Falls of trees and limbs "Caused but IS per cent of all accidents and 66 per cent of all fatal casesTjn this group. This one cause, however, was responsible for 55 per cerifTbf the total severity. Rolling logs caused 17 per cent of the total injury- On the other hand, the use of band tools (saws, axes, wedges, and'Sledges) accounted for 43. per cent of all acci dents in this group, but was responsible for but il per cent of total se verity. These three causST represent S3 per cent of total severity to workers in these occupations. Machinery caused less than 2 per cent of accidents in this group.
Snipers, Rigging Slingers, Chasers, Hocklenders, Choker Setters, and Whistlemen: Two hazards again appear as factors in this group, falling trees and limbs causing 21per cent and rolling logs 9 per cent of severity. Trees felled or' objects r.et 1 n motion by moving logs being pulled in caused 9 per cent of accidents and 21 per cent of severity, while the breaking of or pulling laosirof lines or hooks caused 10 per cent of all accidents in this group and^Io per cent of severity. One-half of all fatal cases in the group resul ted from the last two causes. Workmen being caught by lines or struck by logs going in caused 21 per cent of
accidents and 30 per cent of total severity. These five causes account for 96 per cent of total severity resulting front injuries In this group.
Bonders and Deckers: The two outstanding hazards in this group were rolling logs, causing 46 per c:ent of" severity, and workmen being caught by logs while being handled by machinery, the severity in the latter cause being 21 per cent of the totalis
Donkey Engineers and Firemen and Pumpmen: While over one-third of accidents in this group afS-caused by contact with the donkey engines and their parts, the injuries^resulting from the operation of hauling in the logs represent greater total severity.
Wood Bucks, Wood Splitters, and Drag Saw Operators: Here, again, hauling in of logs causes over one-third of total severity, notwithstanding the fact that over 50 per ceSt of accidents are from use of hand tools.
Rafters, Drivers, and Baommen: Drownings are responsible for 99.3 per cent of total severity to group.
Woodworking Section
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1435
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Eighth Safely Congress
Logging Railroad Conductors, Brakeruen, Engineers, and Firemen:
Brakeruen suffered 58 per cent of total accidents to trainmen, with result
ing severity 53 per cent. Operation of hand brakes, falls from trains,
ami runaway trains are the principal hazards to train employees.
Logging Railroad Maintenance and Construction: The two principal
hazards to employees in this group are operation of trains and blasting.
In the following summary of the cause table, using the material irre
spective of occupation, a mfmber of important deductions are to be found.
Using "days lost" as the basis of comparison, it will be noted that acci
dents caused by machinery, logging trains and falling or rolling objects
caused the greatest severityT, On the other hand, the use of hand tools and
the handling of objects cSRSed one-third of all accidents but only 6 per
cent of severity and only Typer cent of total compensation cost.
In consideration of the-very interesting points raised in both Mr.
Boyd's and Mr. Marshall's papers, a motion was made by Secretary Bark
er to the effect that each of these papers be prepared in pamphlet form
and distributed to all loggers in the United States. Mr. Barker's motion
was seconded and unanimously carried.
Chairman Rhodes announced that the printing and distribution of these
pamphlets would be placed^ before the Executive Committee of the Na
tional Safety Council, and should they deem It too expensive for them to
undertake, that he as Secretary oE the Southern. Pine Association would
have his organization prepare these pamphlets and see to the distribution
of them.
Members present suggest that Mr. Marshall and Mr. Gram be dele
gated at next year's Congrjjls to deal with the subject of logging on the
Pacific Coast and further suggested that representatives from the South and North be selected, and the very interesting matter of logging accidents be thoroughly gone into. XEe Chairman and Secretary promised to take
this matter up with the Executive Committee and see that representation
in these localities was on the^ program for next year.
Chairman Rhodes expressed his pleasure to the Canadian members
who had come from their great distance to attend this Congress, and re
el nested a rising vote of appreciation by all members present. This was
unanimously endorsed withfenthusiasm.
o
Response in behalf of the Canadian members was delivered by Mr.
Eovett, Inspector, Industrial Accident Prevention Association.
Chairman Rhodes express Ills regrets that Honorable T. J. Duffy.
Chairman of the Ohio StateTndustrial Commission, Columbus, Ohio, was
not present to deliver the address assigned to him on the subject of
"Does It Pay to Employ Safety Engineers in'the Woodworking Industry."
Mr. Frank Hawkins. Secretary. Lumbermen's Safety Association, Otta
wa, Canada, was unable to attend the meeting and his paper was read by
Secretary Barker.
-
1 VoorUworking Section
1437
APPLICATION OP WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT IN CANADIAN SAWMILL AND LOGGING OPERATIONS
1_
Frank Haw-kiss, Skcuktary, Lumbermen's Safety Association,
Ottawa, Canai>a
It is no longer necessary to apologize for safety work nor to explain
what safety work means. ILnot only counts for the amelioration of suf fering--the humanitarian bond of sympathy between the injured and those -in a position to help--It counts for increased efficiency in the work shop or mill, and increased efficiency means increased production of bet ter goods for less money, which in the last analysis means a larger oppor tunity to compete in the world's markets, in other words that "Safety is a paying proposition."
I think every one will concede this to be the case. The question, therefore, resolves itself merely into one of method: that" is, of law and its administration. When Mr., Price invited me to address you he suggested the subject. "Accident Prevention in Canadian Woodworking-Plants." In Canada we have our Provincial Workmen's Compensation laws just as you have here in the United States. The Association with which I am connected is the Lumbermen's Safety Association of Ontario. I therefore speak only from the point of view of that Province, and of our particular group. Class 3, which embraces lumbering, sawmills, manufacture of veneer, excelsior and cooperage stock, lumber yards in connection with mills, ereosoting of timber, and kiln drying of lumber. A further explanation is due to you in that our group does not take in Woodworking factories. We have 34 classes or groups .of industries oper ating under the Workmen's Compensation. Act of Ontario. It is reasonable to believe that a comparison of laws and their adminis
tration adopted by various states and provinces may be of practical value.
This is my apology then for referring only to the Ontario Workmen's Compensation Act and to Class 1 thereunder, in the hope that other papers presented at this Conference flay, by inviting comparison and discussion lead to betterment in law and administration.
WOltKMlOK'S COXIFEN S ATION ACT Ob* OA'TAltlO
Tbe Workmen's Compensation Act of Ontario came into effect the first of January, 1915, and at that time could only be regarded as legislation of the most advanced type. It completely abolished common law rights in so far as damage suits for accidents are concerned; it vested arbitrary powers in a commission appointed by the provincial government from whose ruling there is absolutely no appeal. It exempted railways from the operation of the act under schedule one, putting them in a separate class, together with. Dominion Telephone, Telegraph and Express com panies, Municipalities, etc. The whole cost of awards made by the Com mission is payable out of the group funds contributed by each Industry. The industries also pay a large proportion of the expenses of adminlstra-
1438
=5|Eighth Safety Congress
tion. Whether or not this whole subject of compensating the injured is a matter for Federal rather that State or Provincial Legislation is a sub ject which might easily be considered in the near future.
It is to be conceded that where the bread winner is incapacitated through accident some form of compensation is due not only for the Injured him self but in order to relieve suffering and want on the part of his wife and children or other dependents. From the point of view of the workmen, legislation of this character Is much to be desired ' because under the "Old law he had to prove negligence on the part of his employer, otherwise he had no right to recoveniamages. If through negligence he contributed to the accident or if he were injured through the negligence of a'fellow employee, or had he assumed the risk of the employment he was barred.
Under the old law ifTtlie employer and employee did not agree upon a settlement the remedy was an action in court. This meant long delay; annoyance, and great expense to one, or both of the parties, and,-with the technicality and complication that prevailed', much uncertainty as to the result. The ordinary workman or his dependent widow shrank from such a proceeding or feared the danger of an appeal, or perhaps had not the money with which to proceed. Upon the other hand employers often suf fered from vexatious litigation by Irresponsible claimants. Under the new law, with its simple provisions and methods of procedure, settlements are
made expeditiously and without expense- to either party, and payments go direct to the person entitled.
On the other hand the employer was forced to defend all suits, with the possibility of a Court judgment that might mean practically ruination and the consequent ill-will of both employer and employee. The employer is now relieved from all anxiety on this score as he can neither sue nor be sued for damages.
Kepresentations made by the Lumbermen's Safety Association. with re gard to the Safety Associations being recognized by the Board as represent ing the respective group's of employers have been acknowledged, and fav orably considered.
The Association has also urged the necessity that an appeal to some ju dicial tribunal should be had on certain general principles. We do not seek to appeal to such tribunal on tbe matter of awards made by the Board. This suggestion, however, is opposed by the Board as they are not prepared to recommend legislation hf this character.
1RECEXT AMEXBMB.VTS
A recent amendment to the Act includes clerical employees, and on and after .January 1, 1920, their salaries will he assessed just In the same way that the workmen are included. In similar fashion an employer or part ner, or executive officer oLiany company, or a member of his family, if employed by the compan^may be covered in precisely the same way as the workman by includingia reasonable amount as salary in the pay roll, and so notifying the BoaifBL
Another recent amendment increases pensions for widows and children. On April 24. 1.919. a widow's pension was increased from $20.00 to $30.00,
Woodicorki-ng Section
1439
with an increase from $o.0OtTo $7.00 for a child, the maximum for all de pendents being from $40.00 to $60.00 per month.
We have persistently urged against the building up of large reserves to? provide for deferred liabilities and the Board has abandoned their former position in this regard. In other words, the Current Cost plan is now practically, adopted by the Board. When it is considered that under the Act the Board may assess upon all industries or any one industry for any amount, and as often as the Board may deem fit, the necessity of building up large reserves is not apparent.
Merit rating also 7s a settled policy of the Board. A workman cannot contract himself out of the operations of the Act.
Medical Aid must be provided for as long as is necessary and an em ployer is prohibited from collecting any sum from any employee In any way toward medical aid; nor can any doctor collect anything from the workman for services covered by the Act. The employer must also fur nish the necessary transportation for an injured employee to the doctor, the hospital, or the man's home. The cost of Medical Aid has added prac tically- 15 per cent to the amount of the assessments. The gross revenue for the year (all classes) in schedule 1
amounted to.,.................______---$4,319,439.9S
Expenditures V.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ................... 3,474,769.09
leaving a provisional balance of........................ii$, 844,670.89
The various classes may appoint Inspectors to examine and report on
industries within their group, and persistent failure to carry out the bet
terments suggested by the Inspector renders that industry liable to pay
individually the whole amount of any damages awarded, at the discretion
of the Board.
-
Last winter our Inspector! visited a number of camps and in .addition
to ordinary safety work his inspection covered hygienic and sanitary con
ditions, also first aid to the injured. It is proposed to extend this feature
during the coming winter.
In the year 1918, owing no doubt to inexperienced labor, the number of
accidents in Class 1, increased to 1,160 as against 975 in 1917. But the
number of permanent disability cases was 'reduced in 1918 by seven and
of deaths by four as compared with 1917; leaving 1,069 temporary dis
ability cases in 1918 as against S73 in 1917. The year-1918 was the first
full year where medical aid was in operation, there being 212 that re
ceived medical aid only--i. e., th.ere was no' compensation paid--so that
It was impossible to compare.this with only part Of 1917, when, there were
only 63 cases in which medical aid only was given.
The average rate (over aH industries) per $100 of Pay Roll for the
first year's operations in 19IS was $1.64 subsequently adjusted to $1.27:
for 1916 the average rate was" $1.09; for-1917, 98 cents which is expected
to be still further reduced-for 1918. The rates charged for lumbering
operations are per $100 of Pay Roll.
.-
Sawmills ___________________ :______________________________________________$1.60 Logging or lumbering........................................................................: 1.20
1440
Eighth Safety Congress
It Is claimed by the Board that a full measure of compensation ha
been provided and every reasonable effort has been made to avoid imposi
tion.
=
Where work is sub-1 et~ihe principal is responsible for reporting: to 'the
Board and is to see that all assessments are paid, and all returns made to
the Board.
>--
In this condensed fashion I have endeavored to carry out Mr. Price's
suggestion to give you some idea of the operation and also some of the
results obtained in the application of the Workmen's Compensation in
the Province of Ontario,"Canada.
While industries do not agree with the commissioners on all points it
is only simple justice to say that the Board has administered the Act in
a fair and impartial manner.
r.ABGB--capita!-.--punr.ic skrvtck
We are finding out that the safe-guarding of machinery, printing of bulletins, the holding of safety conferences, and indemnifying the injured is not the sum total of safety work. However estimable and just these things may be we must henceforth take a larger -view of the human being. Our intercourse with one another now must be on the basis of "Man to Man.*' The old order has passed away or is rapidly passing. No longer may the arbitrary and overbearing manner of the capitalistic employer or the equally intolerant attitude of the labor agitator be able to hoodwink and deceive. An intelligent and fearless public opinion must enforce the rights of both capital and labor--it will supply the necessary ingredients whereby the wheels of progress may be efficiently lubricated and the great public service be uninterruptedly maintained. This is a great triumvi rate: Labor--Capital--Public Service; and we must fully appreciate that what injures or affects one injures or affects all. We shall learn presently that a closed factory is a -public loss, and the employer who interferes with public service by closing his factory must open it again at the pub lic demand; and similarly the human factor must be brought to realize that the threat, "We will get *ours'--or quit work"--will have to be re placed by something that"will keep the workman at his bench, while at ihe same time giving him a contented mind and a fat pay envelope.
We must cultivate a community spirit between employer and employee --a spirit founded upon the rock of mutual confidence and esteem--every one must feel that the new order of things means justice and the square deal. This. I conceive to be a work for which the National ^Safety Coun cil is eminently manned "and equipped to perform.
Explanations were givjgii by the Canadian members with reference to the Government's working principles of the Compensation Law.
Mr. J_ A. Dickinson oOlie Bureau of Associated Mechanical Engineer? of Washington, D. C-. was in the room and was called upon toy the chair man to speak with reference to the standardization of accident classifica tion. Mr. Dickinson delivered a very interesting discourse as to the Gov ernment's plan for this work, and it is hoped that universal methods may be applied for the standardizing of the various elements which enter into
Woodworking Sectimt-
3441
accident prevention work. LYIr. Dickinson suggested that steps had al ready been taken with the manufacturers of woodworking machines with reference to their stalldardizing guards for their machines, but so far very little had been accomplished.
Mr. Cole of the Southern Pine Association made a suggestion that our section should endeavor to secure uniform classification of accidents. This apparently met with the approval of the members, and the chairman ap pointed -Mr. Cole and Mr. Barker as a committee of two. to investigate and report as regards the manneivjii which this work is now handled by in surance companies and state ^departments.
Chairman asked for the report of the committee on resolutions. .This re port was delivered by the chairman. Mr. F. D. Knsminger. of the Prest-Ol.ite Company. Indianapolis. Indiana as follows:
REPORT OF rfftsOIM'TIONS COMMITTED
We, the members of the Woodworking Section, of the National Safety Council, in Eighth Annual t'onlftress assembled, having given considerable thought and discussion to the Woodworking machines now being used in
the industry, are of the opinioh
First, that these machines are not built with safety devices sufficient to protect the operator from- ffijFious injury.
Second, that because of this, serious defect, it is hard to attract em
ployees to operate these machines. TJe it resolved, therefore. Omt purchasers of woodworking machines
specify that such safety devices^be attached to and sold with the machine that will give adequate protection to the operator.
And be it resolved that thetNational Safety Council call to the-atten tion of the manufacturers of woodworking machinery this resolution.
And be it further resolved tfiat the Secretary of this Section be in structed to forward these resolutions together with a list of Woodwork ing machine manufacturers to the headquarters of I he National Safety Council.
Signed--F. D. Ensmlnger, Chairman R. W. Patmore M. L. ITenwood
Mr. Oram. Commissioner of Labor. Salem. Oregon, made a motion that a copy of the above resolutions be sent to the association of Woodworking Machinery Manufacturers by the National Safety Council. This was sec onded. and unanimously voted tBfbe so carried.
REPORT OF COMMITTEE OF MEMBERSHIP
Mi'. Marshall, Chairman, recommends that each member should for
ward to the Council a list of prospective members. This action is to be
taken by the Council and the Membership Committee to he advised of the
progress.
--
Mr. Gram suggested that the'CNational Council send its field represen
tatives to Washington 'and hold meetings in the various territories which
1442
I'Jir/hf.h Safety ('oiu/ress
he feels positive would 1ml an incentive for increasing membership in that territory. General .Manager. Air. Price is to be notified of this request.-
ItKPORT OF NOMINATING COM-MITTJ3E
In view of the very excellent manner in which the present officers have
served their particular position, we the nominating committee recommend
the reflection of Mr. Rhodes as Chairman, and Air. Barker, as Secretary
for the coming year.
Signed--R. F. Atilne. Chairman
--. Holger Jensen
_ F. A. Barker
Chairman Rhodes and ^Secretary Barker expressed their appreciation
of reflection and assnredThe members present that the next .''ear's c iiMicil
will be bigger and better than ever before, it being particularly proposed
to have in addition to papers by interesting speakers, picture exhibits i-.t
safely appliances and bulletins, and also motion pictures and stereopiiroii
slides.
It is hoped that the membership will be very materially inc-rea
ami
that the woodworking section will grow to a proportion that -ill
*-
it in the eyes of the safety world as secoud to none.
Air. .Marshall menlionecf California's accident prevention department'^
logging film as being of special interest, and suggested that this section
endeavor to have the film at its next Congress for review, by the attend ing members. 'Phis will Be acted upon as per his request.
Air. Fiysik from the State of Washington gave a very interesting ad
dress as to the new move in that state with reference to safety conditions.
Adjournment 12:30 P. Al_
Respectfully submitted.
F. A. Barker. Secretary.
INDEX
A- B. (T wssion. 2S7-313.
Abbott. K. R_. "Ilatfonns. walkways,
stairs, tedders, and floors in cement
mills." 423-433.
-=
Aoeidtnl. definition of preventable. 510.
Accident cause*, see classification of
causes of accidents.
Accident prevention:
--:
Electric railway hazards--causes,
effects, and remedies" (McDoug-
tll). 557-552.
"Nationalizing and standaSSizing"
lltoid), 550-553.
~
"Accident prevention in a malleable
iron foundry" (Church). 720-725.
Accident reports, see Report forms.
"Accident severity in logging opera
tions" (Marshall). 1432-1436.
Accidents:
^
Cost. 983-9S4. 1061-1082. 1243-1249.
1364.
--
Investigation of. 761. 776-777. "I'ractical demonstration of Inves
tigating; accidents" (Weeks), 766-
I 4 01.
Reduction methods. 541.
___
Awidents-iktutisties: <'h.-mleal industry. 465.
Decrease due to education. 661-662. Frmuency and severity rates. 12S.
136. 460. 461. 493--194. 521. 1432-1436. In "Accident prevention in a mal
leable iron foundry-" iChurdhl. 724.
In "I tie Construction--the real safetv
of ininch press work" (Kaems).
316-317.
^
Lost time. 461. 530.
-----
It-eventalde. 849.
s
"Public accidents and their, cost"
K'rum). 1061-1082.
,,
Results of safety work in f?t_I-ouis.
101^-1057.
1------
"Safety before find after the war"
(stehneider). 563-570.
-----
Standardization. S51-854. --
S?ee also specific subjects, sub-head
Accident statistics.
Accidents in logging operations an-I
how they may be reduced" (Bovd).
1429-1432.
*
Adams. H. E.:
.
.
Chairman. Electric railway section.
533-a74.
_
Remarks on safety work in schools. 151.
Agent. Safety:
v.
Maintaining interest in safety! work, 1273-1276.
"Should safety agents be _eilothed
witli authority to require correc
tion of dangerous practices?"
(Mitchell)'. 1299-1300.
V.T
"To what extent should supervising
forces be held responsible for the
safety of men under their direct
supervision?" .(Clark). 1301-1302.
`Value and necessity of safety agents" (Dow). 1217-1223.
Value of. 1223-1236.
"Aims and purpose of the safety sec tion of the United States railroad, administration" (Duffy), 1207-1214.
Aisles. Width of: Cotton mill; 1344. 1348-1349, 1350.
Ambrtne: Use for burns, 372, 697, 700-701. See also Burns.
American steel and wire companysafety committees. 300.
Americanization: "Immigrant's part (Rieg). 107-113. In "Experiences of Wm. Demuth & Co. in industrial democracy" (Feu erbach), 59. "Principles and methods of the Am ericanization movement" (Burns). 97-106. ` "What the -industries can do foiAmerioanization" (Waller). 113116.
Americanization meeting of general - session: Minutes of meeting. 97126.
Anderson. Mary. "The Women's bu reau." 1389-1391.
Aniline and benzol products. Care, of workmen employed in manufacture of. 436-44S.
Annual meeting of members, see Busi ness session.
"Application of workmen's compensa tion act in Canadian sawmill and logging operations" (Hawkins). 1437-1440.
"Are employers' contributions advisa ble?'" (Discussion). 581-587.
Arsenide poisoning. 440-.441. Automobiles:
Accident statistics. 1071. See also Grade crossings. Automotive section: Minutes of meeting. 315-362. Nominating committee report. 362.
Bach. E. E.. "Labor turnover and its relation to mine accidents." 847850.
"Bad teeth and fatigue" (Price). G42649.
Banquet. 1S3-197. Barclay. T,,_ W.. "What Boy Scouts
can do for safety." 1010-1016. Belknap. H. W-. Resolutions of respect
for. 1215-1217. Belts for linemen, 1125. Benefit associations, see Employees"
benefit associations. "Benefits to ex-employee's" (Chandler).
593-594. Benzol ->.nd aniline products. Care of
workmen employed in manufacture of. 436-44S. "Best form of management" (Red-
fem). 575-577.
1443
2444
1SDEX
livlhldivm
yompuny al';tv con>
301-30::. -==7-
l>yt.*r. X.. S,,. <~hiirnitrK Tcsiik* sec
tion.
-~_
He>`er. -Mrs. O. 2>.. -SaCt-Ty last," 191.
Kins. ^;ifr|?uanJins:
In i:*at5tr<Ia* in ct*m6if stockhouses,
packingami
shii2Pfn
tlepart-
Kntim*>. 3^{-3D7.
Si fjna Is. Kl *crt rio. 100^ __
Sop,? also O'lnviu im.! us try.
I Hack Hawk mine fire. Bt7-STS.
Hlaneliar<l. R**v. I>r.. 1 n vocation, .
Blank. K. K.. **ICmplovrr5tiit and Hafe-
ty.**
'Ml.
Bl:stinjr. *i<is-41T.
_--
JJIiss. A. K,, fnspeotion- of ilnnts of
companies*.** llO:> \ l*>7.
Kloof! poisoning.
Inf d ion.
Kon.stb. K. S.. "Itesulis o safety work
in sliipbuikiinfr and U f\v they were
oltamel.** r.t5-5l9. ^
Hon us systems in ^afVTy- work. 921-
1123. 1347.
v
Boston Safety Council report. 267.
Boy Scouls of America: _ Relation to safety. K11S-I0I7. Selection of ilel^tates-. to Kalional congress.' 1087-10$$.
"What Boy Scouts eat lo for safety" (Barclay). 1010-1 10.
Moyil. .Tames. `'Accirtent in lojerjjinsr op*?r:it ions And how loy may reduced." 1429-T432. -
Brown. A. ('., Tnastmns&r. `Bannuet.
1S4-1S6. Building construction, sec Construc
tion.
T"
BuIIelin hoards:
==
Importune** and use. 310-311.
Tn "Poster talk on saDtly" (TCroes).
996-997.
__
"Methods ot promoting safety edu
cation in a plant" -.(Rasmussen).
2.03-296. Bnlletins:
Discussion of public, utilities section. 1091-1093.
CJruesome. 2S6. ooR-ooo
Objections to. in construction work.
50S-509.
_-=^- _
Reasons for discarding.i399-lO00.
Safety posters made by children. 173.
T'se1 of cartoons. 2S6. ~
T7sc of photogrspbs. 3S7-33S.
Burdick. A. Tv.. "Training and up grading of women factory work
ers." 1 <03-1405.
Bureau or mines (XT. S.T training in
mine rescue work. S55-S57.
Burns. A. T.. "Principles find methods
of the Americanization .movement."
97-106.
Burns:
--
Accident statistics. 1073
Tn "Accident prevention--in a mal
leable iron Foundrv"-- (Church).
721-722
-=
Packing houses. 951.
"Sulphate and sulphite hazards"
(Riis). 966-973.
.*p_
Treatment of. 367-372. 633-703.
"Treatment of" (Clark)/ C93-G9S-
Burns caused by electricity, see Klectrieity. Tnjurles from. "
Burton. FT. J.. "Working--snfelv on
live high tension lines." 1122-112$. Business session, 7-3S.
Buttons. .Safety committee-- 759-740.
Cambria steel company safety com mittee, 299.
Cari/on monoxide gas poisoning. 472476, S69-871.
Carders. 1355-1356. Ca re I essn ess:
Real cause in accidents. 9S7-9SS. "Unsafe practices in paper mills--
their cost in money and men" (Matthieson), 9S0-9S5. Carnegie steel company stifelv com mittees, 302-303. Carrel-Dakin treatment: For infected wounds, 705. 706, 715. (arrow, T. H., Chairman. Accident causes and remedies committee. 1179-1203.
Safety committee suggestions and recommendations: how thev should be treated and disposed of." 12511263.
(Tars, Hand, see AJTotor and band cars. 1 ars. Motor, see Motor anti hand ears. Cartoons in bulletins. 2S6. Case. P. S.. "Experience of a small
mty in local council work," 21S-
Causes of accidents, s>.e Classification of causae of accidents.
Cement industry:
"Hazards in cement stockhouses, packing and shipping departmen tsV (Frame). 393-39S.
Chafing of skin, 39S-400. "Educating cement plant employees
in safety" (Jossa), 3S0-3$G. "Physical examination, first aid and
care of the injured at cement plants" (Coleman). 363-36S. "Platforms, walkways, stairs, lad ders, and doors in cement mills" (Abbott). -129-433. "Safety factors in the use of explo sives in cement rock qutUTving" fSnelling). 405-41S. Sanitation in. 377-37S. "Sanitation in cement plants" (Mc Kay). 373-376.
C.-mont section meeting. 363-433.
Central Mississippi Valiev division re port. 267-274.
Chains:
Chains, cables, and slings, 515. 7404 2.
Tn "Suggestions outlining functions of safety committee" (Kessler). 35.
Chandler. W. T... "Benefits to ex-employees." 593-594.
Chaney, b. TV.. "Ts industrial death necessary?" 32S-132.
Chapman. F. 12.. "Selling the new em ployee." 596-600.
Chemical ftro extinguishers, RS9, S90S91.
Chemical Industries: "Controlling factors in gas mask de sign." (Lewis). 466-478. "Dangers in the dyestuff industry," 458-463. "T-end poisoning and its prevention" (Tolman). 448-45$. "Borne accident experience in the dye Industry" (Massey). 47S-4S4. "Study of factory sanitation in for eign dye works" (Hamilton). 43644$.
"Bulphate and sulphite liazaids" tRiis). 966-973.
INDEX
444-3
Chemical section:
g
Minutes of meeting, 435-451^
.Nominating committee report, -ICG.
Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy rail road employees' benefit association,
575-5S1.
Chicago Bocal Council, report, 274-275.
Chilblains. 634. Children, Safety work with:
''Teaching safety in public schools"
(.Payne), 165-172.
y;
See also Schools, Safety work in.
Church, H. B., "Accident prevention
in a malleable iron loundi;y," 720-
725.
--
Chutes:
"
"Compilation of chute types for loading- ore into Ham cars m metal
mines" (Milke), S94-901. In metal mines, 901-914.
Cincinnati local council: Educational
plan (McClain), 1S1-IS2, 2(50-265.
"Cincinnati local plan" (McClain),
2G0-265.
Clark, J. C.,, "To what extent should supervising forces be held respon sible for the safety of men under
their direct supervision?" 1301-
1302.
.
Clark. Or. "W. T., "Treatment of
burns." 693-69S.
__
Classification of causes of iccidents: Electric railways, 572-573.
"Is industrial death nocessarv?"
(Chaney). 12S-132.
--
Cleveland schools sa.fety demonstra
tion, 172-176.
.
Clothing for workmen in cefflFnl in dustry. 3S4-3S5.
CofTin, If. 1?., Remarks on safety work
In the schools of Portland. Ore.,
151-152.
^
Colcord. Or. A. 'W.. Discussion of
"Treatment of .Burns" (Clark),
690-700.
:=_
Coleman. C. B.: "Physical examina
tion. first aid anc! care of the in
jured at cement plants." =363-30S.
Collective bargaining:
--
In "Labor management and collec-
tiv_ bargaining"
(Beiserson).
"Employees' renresenla tion from tho
standpoint of organized labor" (Woll). 71-75.
See also Employees' representation.
Committees. Safety:
--
Gas plant. 113 2.
In "Is accident prevention in con
struction a source of nfoilETor a
hobby?" (Huributt). 495-497.
In "New ways to put safety "across
in a. steel plant" (Heyne). 783-760. In "Safety education in the textile
industry" (Ide). 1362-1363. ------
In ``tTnsafe practices in paper mills --their cost in money and .men" (Matthieson). 9S2-9S3.
"Methods of selecting committees
and maintaining interest imlsafe-
ty" (Scott). 1270-1276.
-g=-
Organization and management 1000i Packing houses. 956.
Paper mill committee work, SJSi-994.
Railroad. 1335-1336.
w.
Recommendations of, 3SS-5S9._
"Safety committee suggestions and
recommendations: how thev should
be treated and disposed of"-(Car row). 1251-1263. .
"Suggestions outlining functions of si3a6f.ety committee" (Kessler), 733-
Training of. 312.
"Workmen's inspection committees" (Oartel), 297-303.
Community interest in health activ ities. 507-673.
Company' magazines, see Magazines, Employees'.
"Compilation of chute types for loading ore into tram cars in metal mines' (Mitkei. S91-901.
Cone. B. C.. "Diimjjts In the dyestuff industry.' 459-463.
Connor .1, F,, "Preventing accidents m gas plants." lono-ions.
"Consider the crane" (Rausch). 743753.
Construction:
Accident statistics. 493-494. "CoBp^rating on safety" (Dresser),
Crane operation, ,753-754. Group organizatioh for safety. 500-
In "Spme accident experience In the dye industry" I Massev). 47S-4S0.
Inspection. 501-502. Minor accidents. 40S-501.
"Protecting the public against acci dents on new buiidmgs" (Talbert) 502-505.
"Safety in steel erection" (Gibbs). 509-514.
Construction section:
Bv-laws. committee report. 4SS-4S9. Minutes of meeting. 4 35-53!.. Nominating committee report. 527-
52S.
"Controlling factors in gas mask de sign" (Lewis). 466-479.
"CoSperating on safety" (Dresser). 522-527.
Cooperation:
'
"And industrial progress" (McCor mick). 40-50.
"Experiences of "Win. Pemuth & Co. in industrial democracy" (Fruerbach). 50-63.
"Methods of securing cooperation of workmen in using safeguards" f-Tensen). 1423-1427.
"Teamwork in safety" (Spevcr). 1S6-190.
"Cobneration and industrial progress" . (McCormick). 40-50.
"Cooperation of officers and employees In safety work on railroads" (Meyers). 1237-1239.
"Coordination of industrial and com munity health activities" (Ford): 667-673.
"Coordination of safety between
transportation and equipment de-'
partments" (Jeffries). 539-540. Copp. Tracey. Chairman. Women in
industry section. 1371-1416.
Cost of accidents, see Accidents-- Cost.
Costigane. A. P.. Chairman. Paper
and pulp section. 957-1001. Cotton mills:
"Plaint and machinery layout asaffecting the accident hazard in textile mills" (Molier). 1342-1350.
"Standard guards in textile mills-'' (Owen), 1351-1361.
"Council--past and future" (Richards),
M-lfi
X DKX
1'raiH`i*:
Boom derrick hazards' 506.
Chains, cables, and slings. 515. 740-
742.
'Consider the crani/' (Rausch). 743-
753.
Operation of. 757-7n3 ~z--
Transfer of castings. 7407
Warning signs. 514.
_
Crile. Dr. G. W.. "What^the war has
taught tis in surgery.'* 703-715.
Crum. P. S.. Loader of Tctlscussion on
statistical data relative to em
ployees' bandit associations. 5st$-
503.
'Public accidents and. their ' cost."
1061-30S2.
Dakin solution. 208-369. \7_ Dakin solution. sa*e also Carrel--.
Dakin treatment.
Danger signs, see Signs.^s=
"Dangers in the d.vesUXtY industry*'
(Cone). 45$-463.
-
Dead ends for protection of miners.
S92-S93.
~
DoBIofs. U. A..*
Experience of Delaware local coun
cil. 223-225.
_~
"Supervision us a fuctoETn accident
prevention.** 132-137.
Delaware local council: -- Experience
(DeBloish 223-225.
=U
Domuth plan of employees'T.representn-
tion: "Experiences *t.f Wm, Demuth <55- Co. in indttsXT*iaI democ
racy*' (Ffiierbach). 503G3.
Dental work: *"Ha<l tobtli_a_nd fatigue"
(Price). 642-649.
^
Dermatitis, see Skin diseases.
"Desirability for standardizing mine
rescue training and., plan for
standardization" (Parker). S54-S57. Detonators. 100-411. -115-4 rcr
Detroit Safely Council report. 275-27*5. Dickson. O. W., " I Tow r ouse dnnger
signs In a paper min.*!=D62-i`>.>.
"Pie construction--the road safety of
punch prt-ss work" flCaems). *310 -
327.
-
Dies, see Power presses. ^
Oimet hyl sulphate. 440-440^
T)inilrol)*nz**rn-` hazards. 437-433.
Diseases._ Orcin aiional: -^T
"Coordination of Industrial ami
community h .-alt h_ activities*'
<Eord). irtT-rtTS.
^
"Imiusirifil d*`?*:>tatos**s. }Jn*ir sources,
types, and control*' (Pusev). 632542.
"Inrtusirial health hazards" < iJauffer). 614-031.
"Dead i>oisonin sr and its._nrevctnioit"
(Tolnmn). 4 4S-45S.
----
"Study of factory sanluiTTon in for
eign dye works'* (Hamilton). 13044S.
S4oe also Health supervision of * in-
ployocs. Physical ex anting Lion of em ploye -a.
T'hspensaries. see Hospitals- and dis
pensaries.
Dow. M. A.. "Value and flScossitv of safety agents." 1217-12IS37
Downes. Ihiyminl. "Supervision of
women industrial workers " 1396-
1401.
_=
hraeper apparatus.
Drawing fmnirs. 1350-1357:--
Dresser. F. J. r\. "Porlgmuing on
safety." 522-527.
--
Dust collectors, see Ventilation and
exhaust systems. Dwight. A. S.. "Importance of safety
measures to the' miner.*' 91I-9XS. Dye industry. Hazards of:
"Study of factory sanitation tn for eign dye works"' (Hamilton). 436448.
"Dangers in the dyestuff industry** (Cone). 45S-I66.
"Some accident experience in the dye industry** (Mnssry). 47S-4S4.
Dynamite, see Blasting. Explosives. Easley. .T. W.. "EtT^ctiv*- moans of
focusing the responsibility for the prevention of accidents ujmn fore men/* 1115-1117.
East Chicago Safety Council report.
276.
Bast St. X.ouis Safety Council report.
277.
Erlsall. Dr. D. I*., "Industrial clinics
in general hospitals." 655-n60.
"Educating cement plant employe***? in
safety" (Josse). 3S0-3S6.
Education. Safety:
"The Cincinnati local plan" (Mc
Clain). 260-265.
"Place of safety in education" (Dli-
tlo). 15 < -165.
"Teaching safety In public schools'*
(Payne). 165-12.
See also Schools. Safety work in.
Education committee report (Whit
ney). 30-32.
Education of m i n e r s:
Vocational
school of Phelps-Dodge corpora
tion. *42.
Education of the public: In "Prin
ciples and methods of the Amer
i1c0a2.nization movement'* (Burns).
Education of workmen:
In "Preventing accidents in gas plants" (Connor). 109-109S.
Tn "Some accident experience in the dye industry** (Massey). 4S2-4S4.
Me02th2o. ds. a2`-527. 660-667. 736-737.
"Our method of safetv education" (Shaw). 336-339.
"Spasmodic safety (Forts and the harmful results" (Webber). 11541159.
Value of spasmodic safety efforts. 1159-1164.
See also 7scw employees. Educational section:
Charter members. 153-155.
Minutes of meeting. 156-IS2. Outline of plan and purpose (Whit
ney). 141-142. Value of <Payne). 142-144.
Effective means of focusing the re sponsibility for the prevention of accidents* upon foreman** (Easlev). 1115-1117.
"Effective means of using rescue ap paratus in the fighting of mine fires" (Ryan). S71-S77.
Elam. F. H.. Chairman, Employees* benefit associntion section. 575-600.
"Electric railway hazards--causes, effects, and remedies'* (McDou* pUl).*'o5"-o62.
Electric railway section:
Minutes of meeting. 533-574.
Nominating committee report. 550. Electric railways:
I N 1)1-1 X
11 17
Accident, statistics. 562, 560-570, 10*.
Standardization. 556-553.
---
Drinking water. 373-374. Drowning---Accident statistics.^rlOT-l.
Drummond. A. B.t Chairman, Meat
packers' section. 953-056. =h:
Duffy. A. F.. "Aims and purpioses of
the safety* section of UieL_ITnited
States railroad administration."
1207-1214.-
.
Pu Pont de Nemours Company's con
struction safety work, 490-J97.
Dust: *fDead poisoning: and Itsrprevention'* (Tolman). 44S-45S. ^=^-
"Why does not every electric rail
way have a safety organization?"
(Proctor), 545-547.
--
Women employees. 566.
.,
Electric shock, sec Electricity, In
juries from.
^_
"Electrical equipment. Its installation
and guarding" (Kahle), 330-335. Electricity:
Accident prevention in property. 1149-1153.
Accident statistics, 1080.
electrical --
-
'Electrical equipment, its installa tion and guarding:" (Kahle). 330335.
Static. In dye industry, 464. -Tagging, harriers, markings, and
practices of operators" (Wagner).
1134-114S.
-Working safely on live high tension lines" (Burton). 1122-112S.7Z
Electricity. Injuries from:
Fallen wires. 3.128, 1130-1131.
Treatment hy prone pressuretSTethod of resuscitation. 3S6-3SS. __
-Elevator hazards affecting the_ gen
eral public" (Webster), 1017-1020.
Elevators:
-^=
Freight, 054.
^
Hazards in gas plants. 1099=JT01.
Safety devices and mc-aaureaL 1020-
Employees' benefit association section;
Minutes of meeting. 575-000 ,
Statistics committee report. _gg7-583.
Employees' benefit associations!-
"`Are employers* contrlbutions^dvisable?" (Discussion). nSl-oS*^
-Benefits to ex-employees" CCTiand-
lcr). 593-594.
"Best form of management"-(Red-
fern). 575-577.
.~ '
Relation to accident prevention.
1120-1121.
___
-Selling the new employee" (Chap
man). 596-600. Statistical data. 5SS-593.
_ .
Women. 1394.
_
Employees* meetings, see Meetings of
employees.
Employees* publication --Rouncl__ table discussion. 601-611.
Employees* representation:
*Co5peration and industrial__prog
ress'* (McCormick). 40-50.
"Experiences of Win. PerrftFth &
Co. in industrial cl em ocracy * * (Feuerbach). 50-63.
"Froiri the standpoint of organized
labor" CWoll). 71-75.
"Labor management and collective
bargaining" (Delserson), 76^85.
--Practical aspects of employees* representation** (Tolstod). 63-70.
See also Collective bargaining.
Employees' representation meeting of
general session: Minutes of meet
ing. 39-96.
Employment: v-.
Discussion of p"fobl**ms. 311-345.
-Employment and safety" (Blank) 339-341.
In "Labor
and collec
tive bargaining" l.eisvrson). 78-85.
In --Supervision of \vom?n Indus
trial workers*'* t*wn-s>. 1399-1401.
--Employment and
(Blank).
Enameling owns*. *132.
Engineering .^ rimn. It* r**r* of the
Special committ*- on i*nn:tion of.
36-37.
Erie Safety Council r* |**ri. 277.
Essentials and non-*
and
cost of conducting a sif*ty week
campaign" (Smiths.
"Essentials of n saf**ry organization" (Hayward). 287-29**.
Evans. Dr. \\*. A., *fli*lth ducation In industry." *;;~G6?.
Remarks on safety education, 14514G.
Exhanst systems. fut* Ventilation nnd> oxhaust y?tvnw.
Experience at Xitro" Williams), *
356-362.
)}
--Experience of a large city in local-
council work." 2>1-2!5.
"Experione*- of a small city In local
council wot k" * Case j. 216-222.
**Experiences of Wm. Dernuth & Co.,
in industrial democracy" (Feuer
bach). 56-63.
Explosions:
Accident statistics. 417-418.
Cement rock quarry accidents. 119-
429.
Disk of chtptdng hog. 969.
Dyestuffs. 161-163.
Cas. 1009.
In sulphate mil!**. 972-9,3.
Explosives: -Experience at Xitro" (Williams), 356-3G2.
"Safety factors In the use of explo
sives in cement rock quarrying"
(Spelling). 405-41S.
See also Blasting.
Eye protection:-.
In cement plants. 369.
In foundries. 790-791.
"Testing of goggles for protection
against radiant energy" (Oakes)
7S2-7S9.
See also Goggles.
Falls (people) --Accident statistics, 1075.
Fatigue:
c
"Bad teeth and fatigue" (Price),
642-649.
Definition and description. 624. 629.
Fay. A. H,, "Mine accidents: -English speaking vs. non-English speaking employees." SOT-821.
Feiss. R- A., Chairman. Americaniza tion meeting of g**n**r.*I session. 97-126.
Fellmer. M. E.:
"Foreman"--thf* determining fac tor. 291-293. .Remarks on Americanization. 122.
Feuerbach. F. L.. -- Experiences of Wm. Demuth & Co. in industrial democracy,** 50-63.
144 S
I X OEX
Fiosinpf-p, E. H.. Chairmatr Chemical
section. 436-4S4.
~
Fire prevention:
__
"Effective means of uslngzrescue ap
paratus in the fighting of mine fires" fKyan), S71-S77.zz^
"In anthracite coal mines and neces
sary equipment for fighting mine
fires" (Price). S85-8S8.E'' In mines. 3S0-3S5. SSS-S9J,
In "What Boy Scouts can do for safety" fBarclay), 1011-1014.
"Fire prevention in anthracite coal mines and necessary equipment for
fighting mine fires" (Price), S85-
SSS.
--_
Fireproof clothing. 3S4-3S5. .
First ni*l:
_--
Cement industry. 3S6-391__Z "Desirability for standardizing mine
rescue training and plan "for stand ardization" < Barker). 844-857. "Effective mmns of using rescue ap
paratus in the fight in~g_ of mine fires (itynn). X.I-S77.
Ill "Accident prevention Zin a mai-
lettliie iron foundry" ^ztChurch).
723-. ct.
=
"I `bysicnI examination, first aid and
care of tin- In Hired :j t cement plants" (Coleman). 303-36S, First aid contests--Gist of medals. 9r> 1 _ Fisiu-r. I ir. .1. C.. "Malingering--in
volving tin- problem of gutting the -!ck or injured employes! back to work." Osl-ti'i:!.
Flat foot. 031. l-'kiors:
--
In "Some accident experir-TTtf<- in the
dye industry" (Massey). 4 iS-479.
Packing liouses. 955-956.
Textile mills. 3350.
"^ET
See also Housekeeping. Shop.
Foot protection in foundries. 730. Ford. Hr. C. K.. "Coordination of in
dustrial and community health activities." G6T-G78.
Ford motor company's method or safety education (Shatv)c336-339.
Foreign languages. Signs in. 963. Foreign workmen:
"immigrant's part" (Riegjt 307-.113. "Mine- accidents: English _speaking
vs. non-English speaking em ployees" (Fay). S07-S2I____
"Principles and methods^ of tlte
Americanization nt o v Fm e n t"
(Burns). 97-108.
i
Kidation of inability to speak the
English language to accidents.
SlSJ-S^l.
=^-
Soe al*o Amerlcanizatlon ~
`T_ or(oIm-Vallri.m---rihi.or;pi-d2e:itse.rminings1 factor"
1-oremen and sub-foremen:
Duties of. 3(>!>-::io.
^
Education. 240-25U.
-
"ICJft-cifve mums of foeusitvg tin? rc-
sponsihility for the prevention of aecid.-ius upon foremen" (Easley).
In "Experience of a Iargrp citv in local council work" (Smith). '210-
"How to conduct a school Cor safety
supervisors and foremen-- (Stan-
ion). 232-240.
.--
'** row to make safety meetings in
teresting" (JMiattuck). 9SSii'91.
in "Hie construction--tlte renl safety
of punch press work" (Kaems),
324-321.
--
In "Importance of proper inspection . of tools used in shops and liy maintenance of wav gangs" (LaFountaine). 1307-1308.
Inspection of tools. 130S-1399, 1311. Meetings. 495-490.
Responsibility for accidents. 956. Responsibility for prevention of ac
cidents. 1117-1120. Rulebooks in woods operations. 14SZ. Supervision as a factor in accident
prevention" (DeBlois), 132-137. Formation of engineering section. Re-
port of special committee, 36-37. I* oundries:
"Accident prevention in a malleable Iron foundry" (Church), 720-725.
`Personal element in a safe tv program for the foundry" (Gartland), 726-733.
``Suggestions outlining functions of safety coinmltlee" (Kessler), 733736.
Bout, G. 13.. Remarks on American ization, 116-ns.
Frame, R-. "Hazards in cement stockhouses. packing and shipping de partments." 393-398.
`Fundamental principles of safeguard ing" (Williams). 303-30S.
"Future of the woman industrial worker" (Tarbell). 1406-1410.
Gartland. M. F.. "Personal element In a safety program for the foundry." 726-733.
Gas industry: Hazards- 1108-1114. "Inspection of plants of gas com panies!" (Bliss). 1102-1107.
---Preventing ncidents in gas plants'*
(Connor). 1096-1098.
Gas poisoning--Accident slntisties. 107-1.
Gears--Snfegtiardiiig. General Manager's report-----X. 5?. c.
(Price). 20-26. General round-table meeting. 127-140. General sessions. 39-182. Gibbs. E. A.. "Safety In steel erec
tion." 509-514. Gidley. W. ")V.. "Management and
training of men." S26-S32. Gloves. Rubber. 1124. 1131. 1132-1134. Goggles:
Persuading employees to wear. 520. "Testing of goggles for protection
against radiant energy" (Oakes). 7S2-7S9TJse in packing houses of cement plants. 401-403. See also Eye protection. Goiter. 631. Goldio. -T. H.. "Standardization of guards (experience of the auto motive group)," 346-351. Grade crossings; General discussion. 1282-12S9. "Prevention of accidents at high way crossings" (Reynolds). 127712S2. Signs and signals. 12S6-1289. Guards for machinery, see Safeguard ing.
If:111. R. D.. Remarks on American ization. 1 IS--120.
Hamilton. Alice. "A study of factory
sanitation in foreign dye works."
436-448. `Hand and motor car accidents"
(Walsh). 1320-1324.
INDEX
1 44'i)
Handling materials:
==
In "Hazards in cement stockhouses,
packing and shipping departments"
(Frame), 397-398.
In "Safety factors in the use ofex-
plosives in cement roclc quarry
ing" (Snelling). 405-406.
In "Sulphate and sulphite hazards"
(Kits), 967-96S-
,,.
Hanrahan. Mary, Explanation of
Cleveland schools safety demon
stration, 172-176.
-
Hawkins. Frank, "Application. of
workmen's compensation act in
Canadian sawmill and logging op
erations." 1437-1440.
_
Havward. C. B., "Essentials ^nf a
safety organization," 287-290.
"Hazards in cement stockhouses,
packing and shipping depart
ments" (Frame), 393-89S. - ==
"Health education in industry"
(Evans), 660-687.
j;"
Health service section:
Industrial -dermatoses committee
(Discussion), 679-681.
Slinutes of meeting,613-716. " Xominating committee report,-^ 6 :S-
679.
Health supervision of employees:
"Coordination of industrial ^ and
community
health
activities"
(Ford). 667-67S. Cost of health supervision in in
dustry. 675-676.
---
"Health education in industry
iEvans). 660-667.
,,-
In "Supervision of women industrial
workers" (Downes), 1397-1398.
"Industrial clinics in general hos
pitals" (Edsall). 655-660.
"Industrial dematoses, their sources,
tvpes. and control" (Pusey), 632-
In^iistrial tieattli hazards'* (.X^auf-
fer). 014-031.
,, ^== =
"Malingering--Involving the problem
of getting the sick or injured;:em
ployee hack to work" (Fisher).
8S1-693.
""
See also Physical examination of
employees.
---
Heyne. H. T'.. "Mew ways to_ put safety across in a- steel plant,
758-762.
D-
Home safety, 1014-1016.
-4=-
Hooks. 735.
'
^
Hospitals and dispensaries: "Tnanstrial clinics in general hospitals"
(Edsall). 655-660.
Hours of labor--"Women, 13S4. __
tlouae organs. see Mngazlneg. Em-
ployees.
__
Housekeeping.
Shop:
"Platforms,
walkways. stairs. ladders. --and
floors in cement mills" (Abbott),
429-433.
'i=,
"How to conduct a school for safety
supervisors and foremen" (Stan -
ion). 233-240. "How to employ women successfully
in industrial occupations" (TCnoep-
pol). 1373-1389. "T-Tow to make safety meetings inter
esting" (Slinttuek). 98S-99T. "How to obtain news items for a
plant publication" (Wilson), 610-
611.
-
"How to use danger signs in a "paper
mill" (Dickson), 962-965.
_e"
Human element in safety work:
Discussion, 54.-549.
"Personal element in a safety pro
gram for the foundry" (Gartland), 726-733.
"Human factor in the safe operation and maintenance of rolling stock" (Phillips), 535-538.
"Humanizing a steel plant" (Strern-
rael), 792-797.
Hurlbutt. F. L., "Is accident pre
vention In construction a source
. of profit or a hobby?," 430-497. Hygiene: "Coordination of industrial
and community health activities"
(Ford), 667-67S.
See also Health supervision of em ployees.
Hypothyroidism. See Goiter.
Ide. W. S., "Sa.foty education in the
textile industry," 1361-1365.
Illumination:
Cranes. 755-755.
See also Lighting.
"Immigrant's part", (Rieg). 107-113.
"Importance of proper inspection of tools used in shops and h.v main-' tenance of way gangs" (b'Afoun tain e) . 1305-130S.
"Importance of safety measures to
the miner" (Dwight). 91I-91S.
"Importance to the contractor of pre
venting minor accidents'' (Ruther ford). 4 9S-501.
"Industrial clinics in general hospitals" (Edsail), 655-660.
"Industrial dermatoses, their sources, tvpes, and control" (Pnsey). 632-
642.
"Industrial health hazards" (LaufTer),
614-631.
Industrial hygiene, see Health super
vision of employees.
"Industrial relations in the mining in dustry' (Willis). 832-841.
Infection: "Industrial dermatoses. their
sources. types. and control"
(Pusey). 632-642.
"What the war has taught us in
surgery" (Crile). 703-715. See also Burns. Carrel-Dnkin treat
ment.
Injured workmen, see "Workmen. In
jured.
Inspection.' Safety:
Gas plant. 1113-111 I. "Importance of proncr inspection of
tools used in shons and by main tenance of wav gangs" ilja. Foun
tains). 1305-1308. Tools used in shops and maintenance
of way gangs, izos-mis. "Tnspection of plants of gas com
panies" (Bliss). 1102-1107.
Instruction of workmen, see Education
of workmen:
Insurance. Industrial:
In "Experiences of Wm. Demuth &
Co. in industrial democracy"
(Feuerhach). fio.
See also Employees' benefit rassocia
tions.
Interest in safety work. How to main
tain. 1272-1276. Internal development committee re
port (Robertson). 27-28.
International Harvester Company em
ployees' benefit association. 536-
600.
. tF.
uz.(>
INDEX
Iron and sir* I industry: T--
"Accident prevention in si malleable
iron foundry" (Church). 720-725.
"Consider the crane" (Ittiuseh). ,43-
753.
^
Frequencj' and severity rates. I2S.
"Humanizing a steel plant" (Strein-
mel). 732-7:7.
"Xew ways to put safely across In
a steel plant** < Heyne175S -1D2.
Iron mining. see Mines anil mining--
Metal.
"Is accident prevention ill___construc
tion a source of profit or- ,-L hobby?"
< Hurlblitl ). 150-197.
-=
"Is industrial death necessary?*'
U'haney). 128-132.
.lacoi'sen. IT. <7.. Chairman, Cement section meeting. 3t>3- 133.
.Teffrics. fi. K.. "Coordination of safe
ly hot ween transportation and
eniiipment departments." 533-510.
Jensen. Holerr. "Methods 7ff securing:
cooperation of wot-kmefT in using:
safeguards." 1423-1427.
Johnston. Robert A.. CompSny's su
pervision of women workers, 1396-
1101.
-
.lories. M. -T.. ``What can LSThployees*
publications do to promote indus trial irood will?." 905-997.
losse. .1. '\. "Kducntins cement plant
employees in safety." 38l-3S6.
ICaetns. 1 . "Ole const ruction--tile real
safety of punch-press work."
327.
^
TCsihlc. 1...
"Kl.-etrical equipment,
its instaliation and guarding." 330-
33a.
.
TCessler. K. W.. "r-luggest ions outlining
. functions of safety COTimittee."
*33-,30.
_--
ICnives--I'ni-kinir houses. 051.
I\noi*p|>(i|. c. 1C.. "Hoiv t o employ
women successfully in industrial
occupations." 137-13S9.
Ivrovs. AI. **I"oster talk oit safetv.'* 995-99S.
"Ijilxir manaitfiiicii; and__collective
liarsttlnins." < Loisersnn). 76-S5.
1 --vbor turnover, see Turnover. Labor.
*`T.abor turnover and its relation to
mine accidents" (Bachl. S17-S5Q.
I-iiUlvrs: In construction ivurk, 457-
495. 507.
_
T--iFount:iint>. (1. la.. "Importance of
proper insi*eetion of tools used in
shops and by maintenance of wav
erings." 1303-1308.
j-
La offer. Dr. C. A.. Chairman, Health
service section. 613-716.
"Industrial health hazards," G14-631.
Layout. Machinery: "Plant and -ma
chinery layout as affecting the ac
cident hazard in textile mills"
fMolIor). 1342-1350.
XT
T.ay out. Plant: "Plant and fhachinery
layout as affecting- therjnccid,en~t
hazard in textile mills" - (Moilor),
1342-1350.
___
"r.ead noisnning and its prevention"
(Tolman), 448-45.8.
T.ee. TV". G.. "Organized labor's inter
est in safety work." 1241-1244.
T-ehigh Portland Cement Company
liealtli organization. 353-3RS.
T.ehieli Portland Cement yComnany
locker rooms (ReningerLX37S-379.
Lehigh Valley Safety Council report. 2,*S.
Leiserson, \V. at., "LkIioi- management and collective bargaining-," 76-S5.
Lewis, TV. lv., "Controlling factors in gas mask design," 466-478.
.Lighting: In "Plant and machinery
layouts as affecting the accident
hazard in textile miiis'.* (Moiler), 1343-1344. See also Illumination--Cranes. Linemen: Safety In live high tension line work, 112S-1133.
"Working safely on live high ten sion lines" (But-ton). II22-1123.
Little. R. M.. "Place of safely in edu cation." 157-165.
Local councils: "Experience of a large city in local council work" (Smith), 204-213. "Experience of a small city in local council work" (Case). 21S-222. Finances. 251-259. Officers* session. 190-266. Paid secretarv (Discussion), 221-229. Reports. 267-2S4.
Lockers and locker rooms. 374-375. 378-379.
Logging:
"Accidents in logging operations and how they may l>o r.-duced" (Covd). 1429-1432.
"Accident severity In logging oper ations'* (Marshall) 1132-1436.
"Application of workmen's compen
sation act in Canadian logging and sawmill operations" (Hawkins). 3 437-1440. Lunch rooms: Johnston. Rolu-rt A.. Company. 1398. Westinghouse electric Company. 1394.
Lynch. J. J.. Chairman. Automotive section meeting. 315-362.
Machinery--Accident statistics. 1076.
McClain. G. H.:
Cincinnati local council duc.;tionat plan. 1S1-1S2.
"The Cincinnati local plan.** 200-265. McCormick. Cvrus. Jr.. vrodperation
and industrial progress." 40-50. McTlougall. R. E.. "Electric railway
hazards--causes, effects, iml rem edies. 557-562. McKay. It. I.-- "Sanilaiinn in cement plants.** 373-276.
Magazines. Employees":
Distribution. 603-605, "How lo obtain nows items for a
plant publication" (Wilson). 6!0611.
In "Results of safety work in ship building and how they were ob tained** (Ronsib). 517-518.
"What benefits should a corporation expect to derive from an em
ployees* publication?" (Maltliieson) 604-605. `What can employees* publications do to promote industrial good will?" (Jones). 605-607. "What kind of material Js needed to make the plant periodical a suc cess?" (S:ivl<,r). 607-610. "Malingering--Involving the problem of getting the sick or injured em ployee back to work" (Fisher). ,;< 1-693.
IXDEX
1451
"Management and training: of men"
(Gidley), 826-S32.
Marie Conde, see Beyer. Mrs. D. S.
Marquette Cement Manufacturing'
Company health organisation, 363-
36S.
^
Marshall. W. A.. `Accident "severity in logging operations," 1432-1436.
Masks:
_
"Controlling factors in gas mask de
sign" (Lewis;, 465-473.
Discussion, 470-477.
Paper and pulp industry. 074.
See also Respirators.
Massey. A. H.. "Some accidentlexperienees in the dye industry." 47S4S4.
Maternity insurance, 137S. Matthieson. 1-i. lb:
.. -- -s
"Unsafe practices in p*ipe*`iTnHls__
their cost in money and__men."
9S0-9S5.
'.
--i
"What benefits should a corporation expect to derive from ah em ployees' publication?", 601=605.
Meat packers" section: Minutes of
meeting. 953-056.
Medical supervision, see Health super
vision of employees. Physical ex
amination of employees. _
Afcetings of employees:
^
"How to make safety meetings in
teresting" (Shattuck).
Size and results, 541-512.
Type and time. 542-543.
Meetings of foremen, see Foremen
ana sub-foremen.
"
Members. Annual meeting, see" Busi ness session.
Membership campaign. 38.
'
Memhership committee reports of sec
tions. see name - of Section, sub
heads. Membership committee re port.
Metal mining, see Mines and Alining__
Metal.
___
Metals section:
:r
Minutes of meeting. 717-3o*>
dominating committee report. 701
Secretary's report. 71S-719.
"Methods of promoting safety__oduca-
tion in a plant" (Rasmussen). 293-
296.
--_
"Methods of securing coSpernTion of
workmen in using safeguards:'
(Jensen). 1423-1427.
_
"Afothods of selecting committees and maintaining Interest in rsafctv" (Scottl. 1270-1276.
Aleyers. Fred. "Cooperation of offi cers and employees in .safety work on railroads." 1237-1239.
Alilier. C. R.. "Some of the box man ufacturers' problems." 1427-1428.
"Mine accidents: English speaking vs.
non-English speaking emrplovees"
(Fay). S07-S21.
:
Aline car. Standard gauge. 900-901.
Alines and mining:
-=
Accident statistics, SIl-.S20.-jjS 13-S59.
950. 1075-1076.
jb
"Desirability for standardizing mine
rescue training and plan for stan
dardization" (Parker>. S54=S57.
"Effective means of using rescue ap
paratus in the fighting of mine
fires" (Ryan); 871-877.
_
"Eire prevention in anthracite coal
mines and necessary equipment for
fighting mine fires" t Price;. SS5-
SS8. Eirst-ald contests. 951. "Industrial relations in Out mining
industry" (Willis). S32-S41. "Labor turnover and Its relation to
mine accidents" (Bach). SI7-S59. "Mine accidents: English speaking
vs. non-English speaking em
ployees" (Eay). S07-S21. Rescue apparatus and inspection,
862-S6S. Rescue training. S60-S62. Alines and mining--Metal: - Accident statistics. 930. Chutes. 901-914. Comparison of safety records in
large and small companies. 919-921. 924-925. "Compilation of clmte types for loading ore into tram cars in metal mines" fAlitko. S91-901.
"Importance of safety measures to
the miner" (Dwight). 911-91*5.
Mining Section: .Discussion of permanent secretary. 93S-946. Afembership and publicity commit tee report, 806. Atinutes of meeting. S03-S51. "Need for a definite technical serv ice in the mining section " of the National Safety Council" (Tlllson). 926-935. Organization of local councils. 986-
943. Mitchell. F. W.. "Should safety agents
be clothed with authority to re quire correction or dangerous practices?." 1299-1300. Milke. C. A.. "Compilation of chute types for loading ore into tram cars in metal mines." 894-901. Afolier. Kenneth. "Plant and ma chinery lavout as affecting the accident hazard * n textile mills." 1342-1350. ATorey. Arthur. Resolutions committee
report. 32-33. Morley. R. A.. Experiences of Ontario
safety league. 213-218. Motor and hand cars:
Discussion. 1324-1334. "Hand and motor car accidents"
(Walsh). 1320-1324.
Moving pictures in safety work. 513. 544-545.
Music in industry. 1391-1392.
National Aniline and Chemical Com pany report of frequency and se verity nates. 460-461.
National railroad accident prevention
drive. 1289-1299. National Safety Council: " Tire Council
--past and future" i Richards). 193-197. "Nationalizing and standardizing ac cident prevention" (Reid). 550-553. "Need for a definite technical service in the mining section of I he Na tional Safety Council" (Tlllson). 926-935. New employees:
In "Accident prevention in a mal leable iron foundry" (Church). 722-723.
In "Employment and s a f e t y" (Blank). 340-343.
"Now ways to piit safety across in a steel plant** (Heyne). 758-762.
1452
IXDEX
Niagara frontier local council: ''The
experience of a small citALin local council work" (Case). 21S-222.
Nominating committees: JKsport of N. S. C-. 34-35.
For reports of section nstninating
committees, see name dFSection, sub-head Nominating cdrrnnittoe.
Non-Engligh speaking- foreigners, see
Foreign workmen.
s--
Northeastern Ohio Saretv Council re
port, 27S-3S0.
-
Nurseries, 3351.
Nurses:
-=
Ki mberly-CIark Comnan v~'fBrst-aid nursing: department, IS77.7
"ResnonsiOnitiee - and oppertun i ties
of the industrial nurse" (AVright), 3372-137G.
Oakes. C. TC.. "Testing of goggles for
protection against radiant energy." 7S2-7S9Oartel. J. A.:
Chairman. Metals section. 717-S02. "TVorkmen's inspootion comTrnttees."
2fl 7-303, Officers of sections, see name of Sec
tion. sub-head Nominating com
mittee report.
'
Omaha Safetv Council report. 2S9.
Ontario safety league: Experiences
(Morley), 215-21S.
^
Organization, Safetv: Constniction work of 'On spoilt de
Nemours Company. 490-407.
"OoSrdlnation of safety Eet'veen
transportation anti equipifrtmt de
partments" (Jeffries). 530-540. "Educating cement plant employees
in safety" (Josse). 3S0-3SJL.
Electric railway. 543-544.
___
"Essentials of a safety organiza tion" Crrnywnrrl). 237-200. ._
"Bxnnrier.ee at Nltro" (l-VlUiains'i. 357-35$.
1 n "Coonorating on safety" (Dre^s-
erl. 525-527.
-----
Tn electric railways. 554-555."
"Moihorts of selecting committees
anrl maintaining interest in safe
tv" (Scott). 1270-1270.
"New wavs to put safety across in
a steel plant" 'Heynf'). 75S-702.
S. Slater and Sons. Inc. (Textiles),
1301 -33*13.
-=
""Why docs not every elcotjdg rail way hav'.-."' tVroeiori. 5 5 ;>-54 i .
"Organized labor's interest in safety
world' (T.eol. 12-11-1214. "Our method of safety education"
(Shaw). 330-330.
Owen. If. A.. "Standard guards for
textile machinery." 3351 -13G1_. Oxy-acetylene welding and cutting:
Practical demonstration ->f welding
and cutting (Schleicher), 797-S02.
Packing houses: Discussion of hazards.
.054-056.
Paige. C. E.. Chairman. PublicL Util- .
ities section. 1OS0-3165.
_
Paper and pulp industry:
Discussion of safe pracliccSDpam-
phlet. 975-0*9.
IIow to use danger signs in nrpaper
mill (Dickson). 902-965.
"
"Sulphate and sulphite hazards"
(Puis), 960-975.
'
~
"Cnsafe practices in paper mills-- their cost in money and men" (Matthieson), 980-985.
Paper and pulp section: Bulletin committee report. 979. Discussion of safe practices pam phlet, 975-979. Minutes of meeting, 957-1001. Program committee report. 960-961.. Safe practices committee report, 961-962.
Parker. D. J., "Desirability for stand ardizing mine rescue training and plan for standardization." 854-S57
Parresine treatment for burns. 36S370.
Pay envelopes. 1103. Payne. E. G.:
``Teaching safety in public schools." _ 165-172.
of the Educational section. 142-144..
Personal element In a safetv program for the foundry" (Gartland). 726-
Philadelphia Junior Safetv Council. 571.
Phlla|lelphia Surety Council r.-port,
Phillips. P. R., "Human factor in the safe operation and maintenance of rolling stock." 533-53$.
Photographs, Use of, 3S7. 3SS. 517.
"Physical examination, first aid and core of the injured at cement plants (Coleman). 3G3-3GS.
Physical examination of employees:
As related to benefit associations 578-579.
Discussion. 370-372. 623-627. 676-67S. "Employment and safety" (Blank).
339--341.
Federalized plan. 61S-619. 624. 627628.
Mine rescue work. S68-S71. $79 "Scope or the physical examination
in Industry" (Selby). 649-633. See also Health supervision -f em
ployees.
Physicians. Requirements of industrial 671-672.
Picker machine. 1351-1353.
"Place of safety In educalion" < f-itlle). 357-165.
"Plant and machinery layout as affecting the accident hazard in textile mills" (Molleri. 1342-1350
"Platforms, walkways, stairs, ladders and floors in cement mills (Ab bott), 429-433.
"Poster talk on safetv" (Kroes). 99599$.
Powder. Manufacture of. 361-362. Power presses:
"Die construction--the real safetv of
punch-press work" fKacms). 316327. Safeguarding. 307-30S. 32S-330.
"Practical aspects of employees' rep resentation" (Tolsted). ('3-70.
"Practical demonstration of invest i-
gating accidents" (Weeks). 766-
.
Prayer opening the Eighth Annual meeting of the N. S. C-. 7.
Presses, see Power, presses.
Proven table accidents defined. 510"Preventing accidents in gas plants"
(Connor). 1096-109S.
X X DEX
14 53
"Prevention of accidents at Jilghway
crossings" (Reynolds), 1277-12S2.
Price, C. W.: Chairman. T-ocal cotmcll officers' ses
sion, 199-266.
Chairman. Safety education"^ organ-
' ization meeting of general session. 141-155.
General Manager's report. 20-26. Treasurer's report-. 25-26. Price. M. W.. "Pire prevention in an
thracite coal mines and necessary
equipment for fighting mine fires."
SS5-88S.
*
Price. T)r. TV". A.. "Bad teeth and
fatigue," 642-649.
__
"Principles nnd methods of the* Amer
icanization movement" IBurns).
97-106.
-
Prizes: In steel plant. 611. 768-766.
See also Bonus systems in safety
work. Process vessels, see Reaction vessels.
Proctor. C. B.. "Why does not every
electric railway have a safety or-
gniiization ?." 545-547.
Profit sharing plan of Win. Demutli
and Company. 57-59. Program committee reports of Sec-
rions. see name of Section, rubhead. Program committee renort.
Prone pressure method of artificial
respiration, see Resuscitation.
"Proper personnel of a public* safety committee" (Quigley). 5028-1027.
"Protecting the public against acci
dents on nev buildings" (Talbert).
502-505.
=
Psychology in safety work. 761-762.
Public. Education of the. seejlducat ion of the public.
"Public accidents and thelci cost"
fCruml. 10G1-10S2.
Public cobperation commilteKzrcnort.
27-28.
_
Public Safety:
Accident report forms. 1027-1029.
"Elevator hazards affecting the gen eral public" TWcbsterl. 1017-1020.
"Essentials and non-essentials, and
cost of conducting a safely; week campaign" (Smith). 1040-1945.
Tn "Experience of a largo city in local council work" (Smith). 213214. .
"Proper personnel of a public safety
committee" (Quigley). 1023-1027. `"Protecting the public agaipat acci
dents on new buildings" (Talbert). 502-505. "I `Unlio accidents and their cost"
(Crum). 1061-1082..
"What Boy Scouts can do for safe
ty" (Barclay). 1010-1016.
Public safety section:
__
Minutes of meeting. 1003-1 OSS.
Publicity committee reporET 1029,
1030.
---
Resolution committee report. 1039.
Statistical committee report, 1004-
1007.
____
Public utilities companies: tt "Inspection of plants of gas com
panies" (Bliss). 1102-1107._^
"Preventing accidents in gas plants"
(Connor). 1096-1C98.
*______
"Tagging, barriers, markings, and
practices of operators" (Wagner).
1134-1148.
:rz
"Working safely on live liigh ten sion lines" (Burton). 1122-112S.
Public utilities section: Membership committee report, 10931094. Minutes of meeting. 1089-1365. Program committee report, 1094. Safe practices committee report,
1094-1095. Secretary's report. 1090-1091. Pulp mills, see Paper and pulp in
dustry. Punch presses, see Power presses. Pusey. w. A.. "Industrial dermatoses,
their sources, types, and control."
632-642.
Quarries: "Safety factors in the use of explosives in cement rock quar rying" (Snelling), 405--US.
Quigley. -I. M.. "Proper personnel of a public safety committee." 1023-
1027.
Railroad trespassing, see Trespassing
on railroads.
Railroads:
Accident statistics. 10,6. 1180. 1201.
1248. 1249. 1252. 3321.
Accidents. 3304-1305.
"Aims and purposes of the safety
section of the United States rail
road administration"
("Duffy).
1207-1214.
"Cooperation of officers nnd em
ployees in safety work, on rail
roads" (Meyers). 1237-1239.
"Methods of selecting committees
and -maintaining interest In Safe
ty" (Scott). 1270-1276.
Mo-accident campaigns. 1289-1299.
"Organized labor's interest in safe
ty- work" (Bee). 1241-1244.
"Prevention of accidents at highway
crossings" (Reynolds). 1277-1282.
"Safety committee suggestions and
recommendations: how they should
be treated and disposed of" (Car
row). 1251-1263.
Safety work. 1282-1299. 1335-1236.
Time inspection. 1336. 1338-1339.
"Value and necessity of safety
agents" (Dow), 1217-1223.
Value of safety agents. 1223-1236.
Rasmussen, W. R.. "Methods of pro
moting safety education in a
plant." 29.T-290.1
Rausch, "C. C.. "Consider the crane."
743-753. Reaction vessels. Protection against
excessive or abnormal pressure. 4S0-4S2.
- Redfern. .T. X., "Best form of manage
ment." 575-577.
Reduction of accidents. Methods for,
see Education of workmen.
Reid. Barry. "Nationalizing and
standardizing accident prevention."
550-553..
Relief systems, see Valves, Safety.
Reninger. I-T. A-- Report on locker
rooms of Lehigrh Portland Cement
Company, 37S-379.
Report forms:
Accident report forms (Crum). 1027-
1029.
Employees' benefit associations. 588-
593. Highway vehicular accidents. 1095-
1006.
Resolutions committee report tMorey),
32-33.
Respirators:
IN PEN
`Desirability for standardizing: mine
rescue training- and plan fOf Stand
ardization" (Parker). 854-SS7.
.Distance covered by two-hour mine
rescue breathing apparatus, 880-
8S2.
--
KITect of temperature on breathing
apparatus. 8X3-SS4.
_
"ICfTective means of using rescue'
apparatus in the lighting of mine,
tires" (Ryan). S71-N77.
.See also Masks.
-
"Responsibilities and opportunities of
the industrial nurse" .tWrigrlit),
1372-1376.
^=
Responslbilit y for accidents:-^
"JCJTectivo means of focusing tlie
responsibility for the prevention of
accidents upon foremen" TEaslev).
1115-1117.
Foremen. 1117-1120.
--
"Supervision as a factor in accident
prevention" (De J31ois), 132-137.
"To whut extent should suiiervjslng
forees be lield responsible for the
safety or men under their direct
supervision?" (Chirk), 13GLlil302. -Results of safety work in shipbuild
ing and howthey were .-^obtained
(Bonsib). alfi-ulO.
-_
Resuscitation:
----
Prone pressure method adopted In-
R- S. C.. 013.
--
Prom: pressure method illustrated.
1 iti-177.
--= -
Prone pressure method used. 3S6-38S.
Reynolds. H_ H-. "Prevention of acci
dents at hlghwav ciossinssr* 1277--
12S2.
js
Rhodes, J. 1*1. Chairman. Wood work -
ing section. 1117-1142.
=-
Richards. R. C.:
=--
Clmirman .Steam railroad section.
I I 71 -1
-----
"Council--past and future." r193-197. Rr>m1*ISrk. on Kdicat?onar -s--e- ction.
Rieg.^^Hans. "immigrant's part,'" 107-
Riis. Krling. "Sulphate and sulphite
hazards. :)G6-`.173.
1
Robertson. H. H.. internal develop
ment committee report. 27-jtS.
Rochester i>tiblic safety campaign. 5G2.
Ttocsch. E. .1.. Remarks on Ainrerican-
ization. 120-122.
Ropes: Resistance to muriatic acid
528-520.
Rosseland. F*. M.:
--
Chairman. Safety bullalin luncheon.
2S5-2SG.
^
Discussion of Public utilities! bul
letins. lOfil-1093.
j____
Rubber manufacture. Safetv in. 1167-
1170.
'
Rubber section. 11G7-1170. Rules. Safety:
Korina la ting. S43-SI4.
_
In coiistruction work. 511, 513^514
Rule books. 30S-309.
--
Standard railroad rules, 1264-1265.
Woods operations. 1431.
=_
Rutherford. C. A.. ''Imporlancea the
contractor of preventing min ac-
`
cidents." 49S-501.
_
Ryan. T.. "TCrfective means ofjfsing
rescue apparatus in the fighting of
mine tiros." S71-S77.
Safeguarding: .
----
"Pie construction--the real safety
of punch-press work" (Kacms). 316-327. "Electrical equipment. Its installa tion and guarding" (Ruble)- 334335.
"Fundamental principles of safe guarding" (Williams), 203-20S.
"Standardization of guards (Kxperience of the automotive group)"
(Goldie). 34G-35I.
Safeguarding standards. *- Stsnd-
ards, Safeguarding. Safety agent, see Agent. Safety. "Safety before and nftt-r ih- m-ar"
(Schneider). 563-570.
Safety bulletin luncheon.
"Safety committee i*iKertw and
recommendation-*: how Ur-v xtxvnVl be treated and dlujoiKd nf ~sir
rt-vr). 1251-126=.
Safety conimil l<--rs. x-r
Safety. Safety education.
Safety.
w
Kdtr-*enn
"Safety education in lh* uxi*1. t-dm. try" (Me) 1361-1265
Safety education nreaniiaui'w ir--rims of general session.. It j - i 55
"Safety factors in the me- or ,-vele.
sivos in cement met *rri mr" (Snelling). 405-IP. "Safetv in sfer-l vavibn-'
509-514. "Safetv in the limik.T a ^d mitls-o-k
industry" (Teaeboiit k. t'I.*t?2.
"Safety last" (Reyer. Mrs 1> -J . l--t
Safety. Public, see Public
.
Safety signs, see Signs,
St. T.ouis local council: "Experience of a large ,-n- --
-
council work" (Smith*. >`j.;t',
"St. I.ouis plan of public saf.-tv" Tat bertl. 1045-1057.
Sanitation: "Study of facto--v --ar> * I -a i i- rt in T-*-.r1 ,*-n ilvr works-" Itts*miITon> *3C. 4 4S.
See also specific subjects. fub-ln-ad
Sanitation. 'Sanitation in cement plants" iMo-
TCav). 373-376.
Sa wmil's; "Application of worksnvii's compen-
sal ion act in C:m;i(lr*n saw*nitt and legging operations" (Hawkins).
7 137. 14-10.
Saws:
Accident statistics. 1124.
Pfi'cular. 306-307. "Practical demonst rat ion of Investi
gating accidents" (Weeks). 766776.
Snyler. A. C*.. "What kind of materia) is needed to make the plant peri
odical a success?." 607-fill).
Schaefer method of artificial resusci tation. see Resuscitation.
SellI- ir Imr. .1.. Practical demonstration of welding and cutting. 797-S02.
Schneider. 12. E-. "Safetv before and
after the war." 5(53 - 570.
Schools. Safety work in:
"Cincinnati local plan" (McClain). 260-265.
Demonstration by Cleveland school children. 172-176.
"Philadelphia. Junior Safety Council. 511.
Portland. Oregon, 1009-1010.
Remarks on (Adams). 151.
INDKX
H5:>
Remarks on schools of* Portlsiml. Ore
gon, 151-152.
--
St. Louis, l00i-1009.
^
'Teaching* safety in pwl>lic__schools**
(Payne). 165-172.
-.="
Work of Frisco railroad r.t. Fort
Smith, 1303-1304.
__
See also Children,.Sarety work with,
ISducadon. Safety.
_^=
Schubmeh]. F\ E., "The sjjbn >rma!
worker.*' 629-630.
l_
"Scope of the physical examination in
industry** <Selby), 649-65o.
Scott. Robert. "Methods r.f selecting
committees and main tain [rig inter est in safety," 1270-1276. .. _
Screw conveyors:
-
Hazards! 403-404.
-
In "Hazards in cement stockhouses,
packing and shipping departments"
396-397.
Seattle Safety Council report. 2S1-282.
Secretary's report. Sectional,__gtee name
of Section, sub-head Secretary's
report.
Selby. Hr. CT. ll.. "Scope of "the phy
sical examination In industry."
649-655-
"Selling the new employee^ (Chap
man), 596-800.
----
Service to Member?? committing report
CSInu), 2S-J50.
Shattuck. S. F.. "How to m:ko safety
meetings interesting.'*
Shaw, R. A.. "Abstract of paper on
our method of safe tv education."
336-339.
1
Shipbuilding:
=~-
"Results of safety work in rand how
they were obtained** CBonsib), 516-
510.
Shock. Electric, see Electricity, In
juries from.
Shoes for workmen--'Foundry. 725-726.
"Should safety agents be clothed with
authority to reouire correction of
Dangerous practices?" C^Ti tchell).
1299-1300.
--_
Signals, giradt crossings. see grade
crossings--signs and signals.
Rians:
Grade crossings.12S6-1289.____t
"How to use danjl'ei* signs in_a paper
mill" (Dickson). 963-965. Metal recommended. 066. _
"Tagging, 'barriers, markings. and
practices of operators" (Wagner).
1134-1148.
--
Sinn. P. H.. Service to Members com
mittee report. 2S-30.
__
Skin diseases:
'
Dermatitis. 465.
In dye works. 437-439. 444.
"Industrial dermatoses, tilel r sources,
tvnes. and control'" CPusey). 632-
642.
--
0
Skin grafting. 700-701. 703. 714-715.
Smith. C. T--. "Essentials and non-
essentials. and cost of conducting
a safety week campaign." 1040-
1045.
^
Smith. C. D.. "Experience of a large
city in local council work." 204-
215.
.
Smoking. S77. 891.
Snelling, "W. O., "Safety factors in
the use of explosives in-cement
rock quarrying." 405-413.^^
"Some accident experience fn the dye industry" (Massey). 47S--4S4.
"Some of the box manufacturers* prob lems" (Miller). 1427-142S.
"Spasmodic safety efforts and the harmful results" (Webber). 11541159.
Speyer. James. "Teamwork in safety." 186-190.
Sports---Accident statistics, 1070-1071.
Stairs and stairways--Cement mills. 431.
"Standard guards for textile ma chinery" (Owen). 1351-1361.
"Standardization of guards (Experi ence of the automotive group)" (Goldie). 346-351.
Standards. Safeguarding:
"Fundamental principles of Safe guarding" ("Williams). 303-30S.
"Standardization of guards (Experi' ence of the automotive grout,)"
(Goldie). 346-351.
Stanion, Thomas:
Chairman. General round-table meet ing. 127-140.
"How to conduct a school for safety supervisors and foremen." 233-240.
Statistics, see Accidents--Statistics; also specific subjects, sub-heads.
Accident statistics.
Steam railroad section: Accident causes and remedies com mittee report. 1179-1203. Delegates attending session, 11711177. Election of officers. 1265-1269. Membership committee report. 12051207Minutes of meeting. 1171-1340. Publicity committee ri'imrt. 1204.
Storage of explosives. 406-40S. Street cars, see Electric railways. Street traffic, see Traffic. Stremmel. Philip:
Chairman. A. B. C session. 2S7-313.
."Humanizing a steel plant." 792-797. "Study of factory sanitation in foreign
dye works" '(Hamilton). 43G--I4S-
Sub-foremen, see Foremen .and sub foremen.
"Subnormal 629-630.
worker"
(Schubmeh!).
"Suggestions outlining functions of safety committee" (Kessler). 733736.
"Sulphate and.sulphite hazards" cRiis), 966-973.
"Supervision as a factor in accident prevention" (De Blois). 132-137.
Supervision. Health, see Health super vision of employees.
"Supervision of women industrial
workers" (Downes). 1396-1401.
Supervisors. Safety:
Education. 240-250. "How to conduct a school for safety
supervisors and foremen" (Stan ion). 233-240. Surgeons. Industrial: "What the war has taught us in surgery" (Crile). 707-715.
"Tagging. barriers. markings. and
Practices of operators" (Wagner). 134-1148.
Tolbert. C. M.: Chairman. Public safety section. 1003-10SS. "Protecting the public against acci dents on new buildings." 502-3C5.
145(5
IXDHX
J'ublic cooiH.-r.il ion committee report,
roa<l administration" (Duffy,*, 120*-
27-23.
--
-Hi. Uouis plan of public safety..''
1045-1057.
_,s
Tarbell, I. M,,'"future of tile woman
industrial worker," HOV-lllO.
1214. "Unsafe practices in paper mills--their
cost in money and men". (Matchi'eson), 9S0-985.
'Teaching safety in public-, schools"
Value oad necessity of safety agents"
(I'aym;J, 165-172.
.--s--
(Dow), 1217-1223.
Trachout. I >. W.. "Safety in the lum Valves. Safety:
ber and millivork industry," 1421-
liM.
gfe-
On pressure vessels, 4S1-482. Van Schaack, David:
Tvannvork in safety" (Speyer), 1S6-
Iin.
--
Tei-lh:
President's address, 11-20. 1'residing officer. Business session.
7-38.
"Ikul t<-.-il and fatigue". (Price), 612-641*.
Reply to Address of welcome. 3-10. Venereal diseases, 344, S70, Si9.
Teller. S. W-. Chairman, Banquet, 1S3-1S4.
"Testing of goggles for "protection against radiant energy"- (Oakes),
Ventilation and exhaust systems--Dye works, 441-445. 45Q-4SC.
Vermilion, `Mr., Remarks on Ameri canization, 124.
7S2-7S9Textile industry:
Vocational training. S42.
Accident statistics. 1341-1342. 1365. "i'iant and machinery layout as
affecting the aeident iiazarrt in
Wagner. W. C.. "Tagging, barriers, markings, and practices of operators", 1134-1143.
textile mills" (Molier). 1332-1350.
Waite, Floyd, Address of welcome.
"Safety education in" fIde). 1361-
S-9.
,1365.
Walks. see Housekeeping. Shop.
"Standard . guards for textile ma
chinery" (.Owen). 1351-1361.
Textile section:
---
Waller, H. T.. "What the industries can do for Americanization". 113116.
M intttes of merlins:. 1341-13.* Q.
Walsh. .1. T-... "`Hand and motor car ac
Xominailnit committee report. 1366.
cidents". 1320-1324.
Thaw house. 47-P'S. 426-4297T
War in relation to safety: "Safety be
Tillson. B. F.:
_ fore and after the war" (Schneid
Cliai''iian. Mining section. S 0.3-951.
er). 563-570.
f,,r :i delink*- t.-i-hniciil sorr
Warner, J3. A.. Chairman. Round
ier in the mining section" of the
table session--Employees' publi
Xational Safely Council." P26-P:*o-
cation. 601-611.
Timo inspection. S"o Railroads^ Time
Water, drinking, see Drinking water.
insp.-ot inn-
-. Waterbury Safety Council report. 2S2-
Tissot ifas masks. 472-476-
2S3.
To what extent should supervising
Webber, W. M.. "Spasmodic safety
forces !>.- held responsible..tor the
efforts and the harmful results".
safety of men tinder their, direct
supervision?" 1301-1302.
__
Tolman. C. 1*.. "Bead poisoning and its prev.-iition." 443-453. yi
ToIst*-d, i-i. n.. `-practical aspects of
1154-1159. Web-St er. Dana. "I7:leva tor hazards af
fecting the general public". 1*17. 1020. Weeks. H. .T-. "Practical demonstra
employ,-.-s' representation.** 63-70. Tools:
tion of investigating accidents". 766-776.
"Importance of proper inspection ol tools ns.-d in shops and by nirunIrnanrr of way yanys" f I --a Founlain.-l. 13*5-1305.
Inspection. 13HS-131S.
Traffic:
-
Discussion of national traffic code.
1030-1030.
--^
In "Blectrical railway hazards--
causes. effects. and roitGfdios" `
(McPoiieall). 560-562.
-
Traffic--Signs. 1035-1030,
"=
Welcome. Address of (Walt"). 6-9. ^Voiding, see Oxy-acctyienc welding
and cutting.
Welfare work;
Foreign dye works. 44-5-447.
"How to employ women successfully
in industrial occupations" (Knoep-
peB. 137S-13S9.
In "Experiences of M m. Bemuth X: Co. in industrial democracy"
(Feuerbach). 61.
-
"Industrial relations in the mining
industry" (Willis). S32-S41.
Training and upgrading: of women
factory workers" fBurdick). 1403-
1405.
rg
Treasurer's report (Brice. General.
Manager). 25-26.
"Treatment of burns" (Clark). 6SCS-G9S.
Trespassing on railroads:
----
Accident statistics. 1200-1201. __
Tuberculosis. 624. 62S-62D.
-- --
Tunnels, see Housekeeping, Shop.
Turnover. X>abor:
"Labor turnover and its relation to
mine accidents" (Bach). S47-S50.
"Responsibilities and opportunities
of the industrial nurse" (Wright).
1372-1376.
"What benefits should a corporation
expect to derive from an em
ployees' publication?" (Matthie-
`
son). ,601-605. `What Boy Scouts
can
do
for
safety"
(Barclay). J010-1016.
`What can employees' publications do
to promote Industrial good will"
(Jones), 605-607. * `What kind of material is needed to
T'nited States railroad adminfstration: "Aims and purposes of the CsnfetV section of the United States ^mil-
make the plant periodical a suc cess?" (Sayler). 607-610. `What the industries can do for Americanization" (Waller), 113-116.
INDEX
1457
"What the war has taught us in
surgery" (Crile), 703-715,
Whitney, A. W.:
Chairman, Educational section meet
ing, 156-182,
_
Education committee report, 30-32.
Outline of plan and purpose .of the
Education section, 141-X413;
"Why does not every electrijx. railway
have a safety organization?"
(Proctor), 545-547.
_
Wiles, Mr.. Remarks on Americaniza-
tion, 122-123..
Williams, S. J., "The fundamental
principles of safeguarding'*, 303-
30S. -
*
==
Williams, W. E., "Experience at di-
tro", 356-362.
Willis, C. F-- "Industrial relations in the mining industry", S35-S41.
Wilson, C> H... "How to obtain news
items for a plant publication,"
610-611.
Woedtke, E. IX, Chairman, Construc
tion section, 485-531.
-
Women--Employment, see Specific in
dustry- with subdivision-- Women
employees.
Women in Industry:
"Future of the woman industrial
worker" (Tarbell). 1406-JSL0.
"How to employ women successfully
in industrial occupations*"" (TCnoep-
pel), 1378-1389.
In mine offices, 846.
"Supervision of women industrial
workers" (Downes), 1396-1401.
"Training and upgrading pf wom
en factory workers" (Burdick^.
1403-1405.
'Women's bureau" (Anderson), 13S9-
1391.
--
Women in industry section: -
Charter members, 1415-1416.
Minutes of meeting, 2371-1416.
Organization and election. 1413-
1415.
-3^
"Women's bureau** (Anderson). 13S9-
1301.
--jr
Woll. Matthew, "Employees* repre
sentation from the standpoint of
organized labor**, 71-75. -.3
Woodworking industries: 3=^
Accident statistics. 1424.
"Methods of securing cooperation of workmen in using* safeguards** Clensen),* 1423-1427.
' "Safety in the lumber and mill-work industry** (Teachout), 1421-1423.
"Some1 of the box manufacturers* problems'* (Miller), 1427-142S.
Woodworking section: Members present, 1416-143 7. Membership committee report. 14411442. Minutes of meeting, 1417-1442. dominating committee report, 3 442. Resolutions committee report, 1441.
Worcester County Safety Council re port, 283-284.
'Working safely on live high tension lines" (Burton), 1122-112S.
Workmen, Education of, see Education of workmen.
Workmen, Foreign, see Foreign work men.
Workmen, Injured: "Malingering--Involving the prob lem of getting the sick or injured employee back to work" (Fisher). 681-693.
'"JPhysical examination, first aid and care of the injured at cement plants'* (Coleman), 363-36S.
Workmen's compensation: "Application of workmen's compen sation act in'Canadian sawmill and logging operations" (Hawkins), 1437-1440. "Malingering--involving the problem of getting the sick or Injured em ployee back to work** (Fisher), 6S1693.
"Workmen's inspection committees" (Oartel), 297-303.
Works committees, see Employees* representation.
Wounds, Treatment of: "What the war has taught us in surgery" (Oartel). 297-303.
"Wright. F. S-. "The responsibilities and opportunities of the Industrial nurse", 1372-1376.
Young. A. FT., Chairman. Employees* representation meeting of general session, 39-96.