Document 6wXXKn04VO33RbZKr9O28BQeg

1966 National Safety Confirms vehicle for community wide participation. It is uon-conirovcrsial and, through it, the com pany earns a reputation as a good corpo rate citizen. Better "On-the-job" Safety Demonstrating that the company is inter ested in helping prevent injury to the em ployee and liis family on the highway, while on vacation, in the home, etc., persuades people that the company is really interested in them as human beings. It reduces lost time, maintains a stable work force, helps the worker feel more secure and makes him much more receptive to on-the-job safety programs. Public Education. Many protective devices and safety meas ures arc not given full use by the general public; largely from public apathy, a lack of law enforcement, and lack of understand ing. Off-the-job safety programs afford ex cellent opportunities for public education on such matters as seat belts, driver improve ment, traffic safety, pedestrian safety, home safely, and the like. An inspired, enthused, informed public is a strong force in any cause and can be a real help in gaining vol untary acceptance of safety ideas. Reaches All Ages and Interests Most any off-the-job safety program has the additional advantage that it exposes all the public and usually includes all ages. Once it is carried .by the news media -- newspapers, radio, TV, etc. -- every segment of the population becomes an important ad junct to its effectiveness. United Public in a Common Cause. The traditional characteristic of the Amer ican public to "get on the band wagon" or join in a crusade of some sort can be har nessed and become a tremendous moving force in an off-the-job safety campaign. Sometimes, the avoidance of government regulation is a more palatable approach to the solution of social problems. Voluntary effort can be exploited in off-the-job activi ties, for people customarily do a much better job when motivated by free will because it retains their individuality, pride, and self rcsjicct. A sound program with (op management's blessing should be carried over to the state and national level, where its full impact can be realized. (Here the speaker showed slides which illustrated off-the-job safety projects held in his community and referred to the benefits of each project as listed: National Vehicle Safely Cheek, The David Hall Story, The Buckle Up and Live Program, The Driver Improvement Training Program, and The Green Pennant Program.) An example of a type of community pro gram, which can be carrier! out in every plant-city where a company has an office or factory installation, is the General Motors' "Green Pennant" program. The basic ap proach is to enlist the support of top level school officials, the news media, and civic officials to a greater awareness of public responsibility for safety. (At this point there was film strip presentation of the "hows and whys" of the Green Pennant Program and its immeasurable benefits to the people of (he community -- city, state, and national.) Another state-wide program conducted as a public service by the Indiana Traffic Safe ty Council and the Indiana Divisions of General Motors in cooperation with the In diana State Police, Office of Traffic Safety, was the "Buckle Up and Live'' campaign urging motorists to use scat belts over the Labor Day week-end to help reduce the number of traffic fatalities during the four day period. It was a tremendous cooperative effort. G. M. institutional advertising in 78 Indi ana dailies and 16 weeklies, 70 30-sccond radio spots on 18 radio stations, and 10 oneminute film clips on four television stations which reached over six million people gave (he project considerable visibility. Two hun dred and fifty press kits were distributed to 81 Indiana daily newspapers and all the major wire services by G. M. personnel, resulting in readership by over seven mil lion people. Contents of the press kit, distributed by G. M. Divisional Public Relations Person nel, included a "before and after" sequence of dramatic photos showing the number of ac tual deaths on previous 1966 Indiana holiday week-ends before Labor Day week-end -- fifty-five traffic fatalities -- and a slide de picting the same group with 25 standing, to illustrate the number who would hove been saved had they been wearing scat belts. 110