Document DG81NLmoyzqMoq9GxD12q10nB

Other Volumes in this (1958) Series Users of fids volume w3I find much value m Hs companion volumes, which offer ttie complete record of tha 46ft National Safely Congress! Here is ffw Esh Vol. No. TiHe Single Copy Stock No. 1 General *ininni end Index to ill Volumes...................... iS 2 Aeronautical Industries; Air Transport........ ,...................... 45 3 Aulomofire end Machine Shop; PowerPress end Forging 45 4 Cement, Quarry end Mineral Aggregates........................... 40 5 Chemical ...................... -65 6 Chinch Activities; Womens Activities;Youth...................... J5 7 Coal Mining.................... 45 8 Commercial Vehicle......................................... -65 9 Construction; Public Employee............ ............................. iS (0 Oeetricel Equipment ......................................... .40 11 Farm .......................................................................................... 40 12 FertiEzer .................................................................................... -65 13 Food and Beverage; Meet Peeling. Terming and Leather Products; Trades end Services........................................... -65 14 Elen end Cereimo; Robber.............................................. 45 (5 Heme ......................................................................................... 45 16 Industrie! Subject Sessions (Sponsoredby ASSEJ.............. .90 17 Labor.......................................................................................... JS IB Marine......................................................................................... -65 19 Metals ........................................................................................ JS 20 Mmmg ...................................................................................... -65 21 Occupational Health Nursing............................................... JS 22 Petroleum .................................................................................. JS 23 Printing end Publishing........................................................... .40 24 Public Utilities................................................................... 40 25 Pulp end Paper.......................................................................... JS 26 Railroad .................................................................................... -65 Z7 School end College.................................................................. .90 28 Traffic ........................................................................................ .90 29 Transit ........................................................................................ 45 30 Wood Products: TertOe......................................................... 45 31 Forty Morning Sessions (Getting Results Through Teem Play) ............................................................................ 45 fl7T?l I 02238--2 02238--3 02238--4 02238-5 02238--6 02238--7 02238--8 IT7T71 T 02238--10 02238--11 02238--12 02238--13 C77 78--14 02238--15 02238--16 02238--17 02238--18 02238-19 CZ238--20 02238--21 02238-22 02238--23 02238--24 02238--2S 02238-26 02238--27 02238--28 02238--29 02238--30 02238--31 COMPLETE SETS (31 Volumes)........................................... $1040 0Z2.I6 VOLUME 17 NATIONAL SAFETY CONGRESS TRANSACTIONS BniiiiiiiiuuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiimitiiiiiiiiuiiiiiuiiiiiiNiniiiiitiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiuui 1 LABOR SAFETY DiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiimiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHii 1 QUANTITY ORDERS: On purchase of 10 or more copies of Individual volumes, those single-copy priced (I to 9) at 40 cents each are 35 each; 65-cent volumes are 35 each, and 90-cent volumes are -80 each. All prices shown ere subject to e 10 per cent discount to Notional Safety Council members. NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL e 425 NORTH MICHIGAN AVE. CHICAGO 11. ILL. 100004)902 148 *vi*t*w . 0Z23S--16 NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL 45 H. MICHIGAN AVE. CHICAGO U. ItL S-FORD-120 CONTENTS Review of Progress In the Labor Conference P. L Siemiller S Organization and Structure of Our Union Safety Program (A Panel Discussion) ............... John T. Atkinson 5 John G/vden 7 John GArzzoni 10 Bruce Thrasher 11 Question and Answer Period.............................. .................................................. 14 isve One Life and Save the World............. Rabbi Jacob J. Weinstein li Management end Labor Cooperation in Safety . E. J. Thomas 16 Organized Labors State in Safety..................... George T. drown 20 Union and State Labor Department Cooperation in Safety (A Symposium)................................... State Safety Regulations and Codes............. . Cooperation Between State Labor Department and Unions......................................... How Unions Can Support State Labor Departments and Mate Them More Effective............................ 1 What Can the 5tate Labor Council Do to Help | Local Unions Promote Safety..................... 1 i Questions and Answers. . . . . .Robert D. GideJ 32 ... .John R. Kumpel 24 . .. .Albert A. Dean 25 . Robert A. Skipton 28 .......... H. Bennett 30 ............................ 32 Officers .. 35 1958 XationoJ Safety Congress tcroice of 1946 of joint umon-managemcntgovcrurocgt participation. This planned pro gram of cooperation was carried oat and the records will show that during these last ten years, industrial accidents in the lumber in dustry have been reduced by 68 per cent. This month is the 10th anniversary oi the establishment of this program and 1 am happy to report that last year there was a 50 per cent reduction in fatalities and a 25 per cent reduction in time loss accidents. These are the dividends we seek from accident prevention programs: fewer people killed, fewer people hurt, and cleaner and better and safer places in which to work. This program 1 speak of must he estab lished on a cooperative basis and, when ail three partners in safety cooperate fully, the results are tremendous. In the opinion of the union, the respective responsibilities of management, government and the union should be dearly and correctly denned, and failure to do this will only result in chaos- .Management lias the legal and moral responsibility to organize and direct a safety piogiam and to see that it is earned out. They must provide safe working prem ises, proper instruction of workmen, and adequate training of supervisors. One of the big reasons for the success of the safety program in the Pacific Northwest is that management is carrying out its obli gation, and h is our duty as a full partner in the program to see that he does. Management has gained a lot from safety. He saves money* on his insurance costs, he saves money* on the protection of his equip ment and .material, he proteas the invest ment by continuity of production, and de velops better public and union relations--so we must believe that safety is good for man agement. Safety is good for us. too. We receive dmdepds-- dividends m human happiness and worker welfare, better and safer work ing conditions, and a better way to live. We started to build our safety program on a foundation of adequate, proper and complete first aid standards. We made sure that every* industrial unit had proper first aid facilities and personnel as required by the state regulations. We insisted that proper and swift transportation was provided for injured workmen by land, by sea and by air. We undertook to organize and set up a joint safety committee in every operation under contract with our union and that saiety meetings will be held regularly at least onre a month without fail. As the program de veloped we sought and got adherence to tin state regulations. We also proposed new oneand recommended them to the proper au thorities* believing in the principle that then would be greater adherence to safety rwh- tliat wc helped to write. Thus it became necessary to work wj;`; the Workmen's Compensation Hoard or the state enforcement agency. They arc alwaj? available for interpretation of the safety codes. They provide expert advice and con sultation on mechanical and industrial safety problems. Many states and provinces rely upon their, for safety posters and educational material. Field staff inspectors cover industrial unh and issue stop orders to employers who* equipment and/or work methods violate safety' regulations. They are the keepers o: accident statistics, records of fatalities art' work exposure. They cannot make our industries salt places in which to work, how ever, regardlev oi size or sincerity of administration. hu*. they do make a full and great ermirihutior as a partner in this teamuork with !ri*or an*! management in safety. Many union theories were developed. Tin end objective oi cur safety program is thr development of a safety consciousness ir: every worker that would protect him on tin job, on the highway, and in the home. Wt believe that saiety must start at the top. ani :: you warn a safety-conscious worker you must give him a safety-conscious boss. Wc are oi ilte opinion that safety must -tan a: the top and be carried right down through all supervisors and departments, right d-cmr: to the worker on the job. Indeed, much the success ox tier program and the resultobtained are due to this enlightened super vision. These are the things tliat wc believe ia No one -- no safety director, no state in spector, and no supervisor can protect the worker who is not interested m his owr protection. The hazards of industrial unit will always be there s it is very necessan that an educational program 1* adopted tha: will sell him the idea that safety is poo: for him. 6 Labor Safety Our work in the union safety program i*ecame so vast and complicated that it was necessary to appoint a safety director on a full-time basis to educate and train safety committeemen and to coordinate safety ac tivities in the local unions. It was necessary to organize a local safety council m every local union with its own -afety director and to hold meetings on a regional basis every three months. The union {olicy is developed and recommended by resolutions at out annual union meeting and, when adopted, becomes official union policy*. Indeed, I am happy to state that the I.W.A. i tire only union in North America that has its statement of policy on paper and is used a> a guide by all its local unions. The educational plan is carried out through ur media of propaganda by our union news paper, our radio time, and television. It is duty of the safety director to conduct lec tures and safety talks in plants and logging ramps. This has resulted in the development oi an attitude and a climate for safety in this industry. The institution of this program was most difficult due to the fact that there were no footsteps to follow and progress in this field of union endeavor had to be established step by step. As a union safety director, I do not class myself as an "expert" in industrial safety. Personally, 1 believe there is no such thing. Some state inspectors and company directors often make this mistake of setting thanselves up as experts, but I believe that the worker himself, with his skill, his knowledge and experience, the narrow escapes he has in day-by-day exposure to tlie hazards of his own work is far better qualified as an "ex pert.** once he has accepted the idea that safety is good for him. When workers pro tect themselves and each other by cooperating and sharing these things we will have made much progress towards arddent-free oper ations. It is my firm opinion that the answer to the problem of the prevention of industrial accidents lies ir) the efforts of onion, man agement and government together. By JOHN GRUDEN Director. Health and Safety Department. Ford Local 600, UA.W. Dearborn, Mi-t. The Ford Motor company's Rouge Plant Vacated m Dearborn, Midi. is the only auto mobile plant of its kmd in the world--the <m!v one which can, within its confines, start one end of the line with iron ore and have a nice, shiny new car roll of? the other end the line. To give you some idea of hs magnitude, the Rouge Plant is situated on 1.200 acres of land and is comprised of 16 -eparatc plants within the Rouge Plant proper. Each of those 16 plants, or "units" j* we refer to them, is also quite vast. For example, the power house, which supplies power for the plant, generates enough elec tric current to provide power ior all the homes in Boston. The transportation unit lias HO miles of railroad tracks with 22 diesel locomotives, and.boats that bring in two million tons of iron ore a year. There are also 61 miles of vmveyor lines and the Rouge Plant has its >wn inter-plant Inis system. The coke ovens produce approximately 3.500 tons of coke daily, a blast furnace produces 3,200 tons of steel daily, an electric furnace produces 18,000 tons of steel a month, and the open hearth produces 5.000 tons of a special kind of steel drily. The roll ing mill has an output of approximately onehalf million tons of steel a month. Then there are other plants such as the foundries, the glass plant, the world's largest stamping plant the engine plant frame plant and assembly plant. For the employees' protection there is a plant hospital within the confines of the Rouge Plant which has a staff of 171. in cluding 12 doctors and 30 nurses. One hun dred ten acres of space is utilized for park ing lots which provide enough space for 21,000 automobiles. This should give you some idea of the vastness of the Ford Rouge Plant Now I would like to give you a brief back ground of Ford Local 600, UAW, to ac quaint you with the largest local union in the world. 1958 Rational Safety Congress When Local 600 came into existence in 1941, at which time a collective bargaining agreement with the Ford Motor company was signed, we had approximately 80,000 members. Presently there are approximately 250 full time union representatives covering the 16 units in the Rouge Plant. Each ot the units has nine officers, such as president* vice president, recording secretary, etc, as well as bargaining and district committeemen. The numler of committeemen allocated to cadi unit is determined by the number of em ployees in the unit on a prorated basis. All of the units come under the jurisdiction of Ford Local 600. The war years came close on the heels of the Unions recognition and. of course, pro duction of war materials for our Armed Forces became the prindpal concern of everyone. But as soon as the fighting was ended and we could once again tum our at tention to matters of importance to the workers, "safety on the job" came high on the list of things upon whidi we would con centrate. Because we had no formal knowledge in the field of health and safely, training was of prime importance. The International Union oi the UAW initiated a course m Industrial Health and Safety at its F.D.R. Summer School in Port Huron. Mich. Safety engi neers from the U. S. Department of Labor. Washington. D. C- were engaged to teach the course. In 1946. Local 600 sent five union representatives to the school to take the course--I was one of the five. Later we also took course? which were made available to us by the UAW Health Institute in Detroit and Wayne University. We were fortunate in Iraving as our in structors, during the course of our study in the field of industrial health and safety, such competent men as: Uoyd Utter who is presently tire UAW director of safety and chairman of the Labor Conference. Roland Blake, senior safety engineer of the U. S. Department of Labor. Dr. Szeartz, the noted dermatologist. Dr. Frederick, noted Detroit industrial hy gienist. The late George Thompson who was the UAW director of safety. Alfred C. Funbe of Wayne University. By late 1946, wc formed the first local union health and safety committee. This committee in tum organized health and safe ly committees in cadi of the 16 units in the Rouge Plant. Here again, through arrange ments made by our International Lnion and Wayne University, classes were set up at our local union headquarters for the newly aj<iwimed members of the unit safety com mittees who were trained to handle problem? m their respective units. In lone 1W7, Local 600 took out member ship with the National Safety Council that it could avail ourselves of the Council's invaluable advice and other services. Late in 1949 our health and safety set-up was finally given official recognition by the Ford Motor company. Credit and thanks for this recognition must be given to Mantcn M. Cummins who was then manager of labor relations and las since been elevated to the position of assistant general manager of in dustrial relations. Fortunately. Cummins is a broadminded jerson and had the foresight to ralize that a joint labor-management safety committee would be beneficial to the company, a? well as to its employees. As a result of our receiving recognition, a health and safety agreement was reached and a grievance procedure was established on Sei>tember 28, 1949. My quickly relating this sequence of events mav have misled some of you into thinking that the Ford Motor company agreed to this joint tmion-comjanv safety program merely l*ecause we asked for it. Well, it wasn't that easv. It tcok considerable time and some heated discussions to convince the company's representatives that we were sincere about wanting to make the Rouge Plant a safer place in whidi to work. And, despite the fact that this program has been in effect jot almost a decade, we still on occasion have heated discussions with the company's repre sentatives in our efforts to get some point? across. But it is now obvious to all that this dose cooperation between the union and the company lias paid off because the frequency rate of accidents has dropped 86 per cent and the severity rate dropped by 69 per cent. In 1950, what Carl Stellato was first elected President of Local 600. one of the first things he did was to establish a health and safety department in the Local Union. 8 Labor Safety President Stellato appointed me as director < i that department upon its inception, which :? still my present assignment. As the di rector. 1 am on 24-hour call and many is tlie time that I've been awakened from a sound -Iccp in the wee hours of the morning and risked to investigate an accident in the plant- As I stated before, a health and safety grievance procedure was established for the purpose of handling the workers' complaints in an orderly fashion: there are three stages in tlie procedure. The first stage provides trial the committeeman should first attempt u settle complaints by discussing them with the immediate supervisor. If a satisfactory `olution is not reached, the committeeman refer? the matter to the union safety director in the unit who takes it up with the general supervisor. If a solution is still not arrived at. the unit safety director must reduce the complaint in writing and submit it to the lone labor relations office. That office has the romplaint investigated by the company safety department, the industrial hygiene depart ment or plant engineering. Wlten that investigation is completed and a report made to the zone labor relation? "ice and the plant manager, a meeting is arranged with the Union's unit representa tive? for a complete discussion of the prob lem. Should all of these steps ot the first *:aj:c of the grievance procedure tail to re vive the matter, the second stage provides that the unit representatives must process a formal grievance and submit it to the local union health and safety director. The safety director of the local union in vestigates the complaint to determine its merits and arranges a meeting with the central labor relations office: the representa tives of the unit involved also participate in this meeting. If the company's disposition in this stage is not satisfactory, the third stage provides for an appeal to the Ford depart ment of the International Union. If in the opinion of the International I'nion's investigator the grievance has merit, he makes arrangements for another meeting with the central labor relations office. Should the matter not be corrected as a result of this meeting, the International Union can then give the Ford Motor company a 12-dav strike notice. I am most happy to say, how ever, that we have settled hundreds of health and safely grievances in the Rouge Flam and liave nev er vet liad to resort to giving a strike notice and we sincerely hope we shall never have to. However, we feel it gives us a measure of security knowing we have this recourse should it become necessary. It may seem unsavory to speak of strike action in connection with health and safety but, believe me, we would make certain we were right before we would take such action. No one is permitted to in any way play poli tics with health and safety nor do wc pursue a health and safety complaint just to appease someone. We obtain all tlie facts and if we think one oi our representative? is wrong-- we tell him so. A recent example of this was a Union representative's complaint about excessive carbon monoxide in his building. Upon tak ing a reading, 1 found it below the require ment of the state's regulations. He disputed the reading on the carbon monoxide meter and fell the workers under his jurisdiction were subjected to a terrific health hazard, and he was ready to process the grievance through all stages of the procedure. While we were in the office discussing the mailer, he was puffing away on a cigarette. So I took a carbon monoxide reading of the smoke he was producing with the cigarette and showed him that it was much higher titan the reading taken in the work area in question. That not only convinced him the grievance had no merit but almost made him become a non-smoker. On the other liand. there have been occa sions when a hazard was discovered which required immediate attention and we deviated from tlie health and safety grievance proce dure by telling the employees on such unsafe job not to work until it was corrected. Labor today has a responsibility to its member? and the community to play a much bigger role in accident prevention than ever before. It is not our intention to take upon ourselves responsibilities which belong to management--we only want to work with management to make factory work as safe as possible. Those members of management who dis courage and decline the Union's offer to participate in their safety program as a joim labor-management endeavor either have no foresight or they are ignorant of the facts because, as we all know--safety is rz'crybody's business! 1958 National Safety Congress that will promote better safety and health conditions in all industry. We further solid! the help of management in the support of equitable safety bs both at the state and federal levels. It is the earnest desire of the United Steel' workers of America to offer fullest co operation In die held of safety and health and we are sure that if the desire to co operate is evident between labor and man agement that this will m rum help reduce the number of industrial accidents and bring about a corresponding improvement m the industrial health of the country. QUESTION AND ANSWER PERIOD Q: (to Gruden)--What is the most im portant single factor that brought about acceptance of muon participation in rite safety program by Ford Motor company? The benefits paid out in Oregon are sub stantially higher than those in Washington. The amount the onployer has to pay into the fund is modi less despite the fact that the A: Grudett--We proved to Ford that we did benefits paid out are much higher. The em not warn to rake away thrir prerogatives ployer in Washington pay's substantially and convinced them we wanted to co higher than the employer in Oregon in spite operate. White Ford may take all the of the fact Oregon beiefits are substantially credit for the success of their safety higher than Washington benefits. program, that is something we don't dis pute with them about; actually, we don't care who gets the credit for it just so long as our people are safe. The benefits m California are not quite as good as those of Oregon, hut I would not say that they were substantially less. The slightly lower pay rates the employer !ia$ to Q: (to Ghhaons)--Should safety be a prior pay are substantially higher than what i.- ity at the policy-making level and in paid in Oregon. cluded in contracts ? It is not realistic to pick out one particular A: Ghisroni--Yes. It is very- appropriate 1cfiefit or one particular industry and attempt and imperative that it should be made to make a comparison. If comparisons are to the cumber one problem at the negoti be made, then we must take an average of ating raHe. all benefits. We will have to consider all Q: (to any panelist)--1 come from Minne benefits and all of the industries before one apolis and belong to a labor-management can make a true comparison. organization where we have had lately A* the first step in our safety program, w* good success. I want to go back to my teach first aid. This is one of the things on tonsnteiet members with definite infor which a safety program must be built An mation that safety pays. What are the example of how this training pays off is facts and figures which prove that a illustrated in the following story. And it company can save if they have an acci also shows that safety ''pays" off for the dent prevention program? I also want company, the worker and the state. figures from the worker's standpoint-- bow* much docs the worker lose by hav ing an accident? A supervisor for the stale power company, together with another man, was making an inspection of a power line. He was suspici A: Colleton--A5 chairman oi the Oregon ous of a guy* line on one of the poles. He Labor Commission, we cam* cm a com grabbed the line; and rite anchor of the guv prehensive stay program because we line pulled out from the ground. The guy line kave fotmd it pays. We use 5 per cent whipped and made comae! with a high volt of our total income for rite promotion of age power line below the insulator, giving acridem prevention. That, 2 believe, the man a severe electrical shock from which represents the greatest amount of money he received bums--and he also stopped that is allowed in any state. We have 105 breathing. people working on accident prevention throughout rite state, and spend about $800,000 annually. The ran accompanying him cm the in spection had very recently been trained in first aid by a member of our Accident Pre- 14 Labor Safety vcmion division. He promptly applied artii-rial respiration and the victim was revived. If this man accompanying the line super visor had not been trained m first aid princi ples there i< no question tot that we would lave liad a fatality because there was no one rise around to administer artificial respi ration. Tlte victim was brought to a hospital where in due time to recovered- The total claims for turn cost $447 and a few casts. 1 f-ad rise personnel of the Computing depart ment figure up how much would have been necessary to pay off the fatal claim had this man not survived. The amount necessary to set aside in the reserve would have been nearly $27,000. This is one example of clear proof that an acridem prevention program does jay. And it pays over and atove the benefits in a hu manitarian manner; the wife still has her husband, the children still have their father. Yes-safety pays many times over. Can- l<ns3Uon payments for an injured man amount to much less than what he earns on his job. If the man were iorally disabled, mir state will pay him a certain amount of money for the rest of his Hie. In other -tales, they may pay only up to a certain amount. 0' (to Atkinson)--What is the make up of a plant safety committee? Who chairs Jr? A; Atkmjon--It consists of an equal xramt<r of employee representativesand man agement representatives. They will elect their own drairman and secretary, and these officers can to either management or union people Q: (to Atkinson)--Who plans ihe safety program? A: Atkinson--The organization and di rection of a joint safety program is the responsibility of management They plan it and see tltat it is carried out Q: (to any fonetiftf--What can you do in the following circumstances? For ex ample, the management operates a government-owned plant You report an unsafe condition and they (the manage ment) say that since the government owns the plant, it's up to the govern ment to correct the unsafe condition. A: Atkinson---The regulations are laid down in the state safety codes. If the com pany docs not take action, you tlten re port to the * It is the duty of state government to supply the necessary en forcement and help in an accident pre vention program. A: Callahan--Have you made an effort through a local safety program in your local union? 1! yon haven't, you should. If you can't get results, don't quit try ing. We need the prestige and authority of good state safety programs every where because while there art excellent safety programs in some plants, others are poor or wholly inadequate. A; Thrasher--This problem has been of great concent to the Steelworkers for a long time. Suppose a man is asked to work under dangerous conditions. We jw into our contract for union members if the job is unsafe, the mas has the right to be relieved from that job. It is his trim personal opinion which decides whether it is safe or unsafe. 0; Uo Atkinson)--Teh us how you go about educating the man in the field. A: riflmron--The instruction of the work man m safe working procedures oa the job is the responsibility of management. They must train their employees. The educational part of the union is: a) It is union policy to parridpatc in tlte program. b) The union uses the media at their disposal for educational purposes. We use our tmtm newspaper, radio time, television, rwiinp and conventions . to get across the safety message. We Also educate .through lectures- Each local union should develop a safety director who can lecture, plan pro grams and sell safety to the member- slap. Q: (to Atkinson)--What should be done with the person--union or management-- who breaks safety rules? A: ri/tmjon--Management has the right in their onion contracts to discipline and discharge for proper, cause. Q: (to Thrasher)--Is it beneficial for local unions to belong to the National Safety Council? A: TfimriKv--Yes, they should belong pro vided they are given the recognition that they rightfully deserve m this org-ui- zation. 15