Document JvJJw8ZrpxN5bdNNveDM5yJNZ

FILE NAME: General Electric (GE) DATE: 1925-1929 DOC#: GE059 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Inspection Report with Cover Letter from Harvard ' ** INDUSTRIAL T0X1CL0ST HARVARD UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH SE VAN DYKE STREET Boston, Massach u setts January 16 9&6. Gerard Swope, Resident General Electric' Company, 120 Broadway, Sew Tork City* 2> .6 *7 Pear Mr. Swops; J ? A i Burin? the last two months 1 hard made visits to ^ 4 d the plant in Philadelphia at Willow a$d Seventh Streets, the one in West Philadelphia, the one in Baltimore, and th one in Bridgeport. I also went, at their request, with Mr. G. w. . Stlckney and Mr. Ward Harrison, to see the lighting system of the East Boston Lamp Works. Enclosed, you will find Brief reports of. these visits, From now on, ny reports will be usually brief beeapsp*,^., visits are more in the nature of a chek-up than / '*. /v; V;v-1 and it is unnecessary to consent on anything but a new feature, or perhaps an old evil whieh has not been oorrected as yet. Tours truly, 4H:P PLAINTIFFS Mil10^3 Philadelphia- ovember 27, 1925 The visit to the plant at Willow and Seventh Streets where l oot, I, . Mr. JS. P, Higgs, Mr./Teele, Mr, C. p. Bloomer, suds E. E.'Miller, was rather hasty because ttr chief objective was the new plant in West ihiladelphia to which Mrs.' Miller conducted, me later. 1 found here a change in the coating need, for machine parts Which is, 1 believe, a decided improvement. She dew pyroxylin, lacquers, as made at present, contain less harmful substances than did the older lacquers of this class and the resin lacquers. These are free from wood alcohol and usually from benzol. She lacquer ovens in this plant are excellant and there are no fumes from them. It is unnecessary to repeat fiy.fpriaer favorable comments on the provision for the comfort and health Of the employees In this plant. West Philadelphia. Mr. H. E. Kemp took me through these departments WHich^Wefe ' operating at the time, but a second visit will be necessary if i wish to see the sand-blast ing of large machine partB, acid-dipping, and spray-painting, The employment department and dispensary are large and admirably housed and equipped. X should have no suggestion whatever to make except 9 possibly that a door opposite the entrance door would make the dispensary easier of access for a large part of the plant. She wash-rooms dor men are much the best X have ever seen anywhere, Spray-painting was not in operation during ny visit but it is apparantly unusually well done, for there was no apparent scattering of spray \ droplets, and. these would hare betrayed themselves^for much of the paint wag red lead -and would have appeared on nearby surfaces The truck panels can be sprayed under great hoods, but much of the work must be done out in the general room, and if it were not for the skill with which the Bpray-gun is handled there would be a risk not only to the painter but.to others. My impression at present,from seeing hot the actual work but the results, is that the Eclipse gun which is used here is much better than the ordinary gun or else the painters are unusually skilled men iyrosy!in coatings are. . used here also. The buildings are large and no criticism could be mads of the general ventilation, lighting, and aocident prevention. t It may be that there will be some trouble emoigthe hen who work near the welders because welding repair work has to be done in different places wherever the heavy machine parts are, and in order to protect Other men frt om the glare of the. flame there are heavy metal screensWhich must be set up as needed, some of them requiring the travelling crane because they are so heavy. A good deal of vigilance will be -needed to see that those screens are always used. ., A minor point, but one which is worth mentioning because -it'biar'i on a situation I have observed in other departments, has to do with the. bubbling fountains for drinking water Those selected for the Willow Street plant are of the best approved variety, carefully designed to prevent the carrying of infection. Those selected for the West Ihiladelphia,plant are poor and do not afford the proper protection. It 1b hard to understand how this should happen. The explanation given me was that the water In the flzs t plant was not cold enough and that the second plant is an improvement In that respect, tut obviously this Jims nothing tD do with the drinking piece. The medical department was not yet in working order and will have to be visited later \ \ " . .M 19'26 Baltimore. .Hovember 30. 1925. .lr. tf, A. luir took mo over tbs .plant ana showed. mo several new y featjirs which are assigned to afford protection agiit fumis or dust or eldent. 1 should like to pay tritate to the dose attention to details ; .which is evidenced throughout the plant. .* . The new glass Shield over the grinding wheels is ingnions does not interfere with work, and pretents flying partiele from reaching the grinders* eyes. She exhaust along the edge of. the Cyanide tank does not event the men's approaching it from both sides and yet undoubtedly lessens th escape of fames. The hew brass foundry is excellent, with no escal of fumes during fusing and so large and high that there is good dilution of. the fumes formed in pouring. The method of handling th yaide in case* hardening is especially good and might serve as a model for Other plants* It is done in a small separate roma which is kept locked, is entered only by two men, and is well ventilated. There is also protection against splashing when the heThted metal is dropped into the water. 'Th mah i charge is, perfectly aware Of the necessity fdr precautions in using nd -BtrinitPdium ' '/* ' cyanide. Welding is not so muoh of a problem here as in some other plants because the work can be done in one room, and men who are not protected by giggles do not run the risk Of eye irritation from the light of .the torch. This plant has very simple and inexpensive equipment both for the dispensary-employment-office and the cafeteria, but they are so satisfactory that it is evident that careful planning may bring about as good a result as the expenditure of a good deal of money. Any plant ibich,has only a small space to devote to the employment office and the physician's quarters might/ well copy the arrangement in Baltimore* ihe babbling fountains are of unusual type* nlefcel-plated instead of porcelain^enamelled* of a simple but entirely satisfactory- type. Bridgeport January 4 , 1926* On arriving at the plant t. fcufcd tha*Bn* J^ler vie ahem* to address the fdreta & health -$te0lQgpb -Mi Collins was holding a ^iling of tils siiSby'di^htee.* .' .: _ :.; >' '-': /; >v fas nob intere--st->.e**-d'* ti*-o'-.!-h.ear\ ttt'h-e. d'i,sdt.tseio,.h;it.&v'.i-'. tjXin,**y.*tj d^otk nnd T*'*'>Ko *</... aaa'.. the close acquaintance the men displayed With the problems in. their town departments* the health and shi*h``twy-`W'or.'k.*se'<ta'''t'oh*i*/i''d',,w' h`-^avhs'dxVi'**'.v & 1 Stuart QlarktHr, St,fttarjcopf*!B& 'ta-iir. * * 1 .* ' v > i" ' .\ .,. ' * - *' - s '- *. f ..' .> _ C, w, Collins shovedtoe the sa* deveiop&htl since ay last tiS,i% the most interesting of:shioh is the taler deyarfemeat, .ta.dh^.ri^i ipnnd-^re eases from the litharge need in tabs? oompta^hg; . -accelerator used In all hatches hit rdih'i'r:'andhh''t<aw>b'.&-'|<-a^:-Jlrl-r^Sai'ail its req,ulred One barrel .of litharge a :diy. is esipti into the mixer, he nan take iifh great care and'ho'-Anil weighing, hut it was impossible to avoid it whan the hatch Went into the mix hie department is in course of recontauotion will fee through-a-pipe fr,ft tae.deidea here to prevent any esodpo pi mixer Is of course a great Improvement over the usual miSodW^^llr factories of dumping the dry compounds directly into the open mixing mills. In the panning room great efforts are being made to diminish the amount of soapstone dust in the air, . _ Certain, features which seemed- open to criticism had, X found, already been considered by Ur, 2uaer$epf and plans had been made for remedying them. Such are the poor ventilation in the department using hot paraffin,.''wax^n where window fans have been ordered, the steam from the potash tank and the hoods ore? the tanks In the plating room* {these last are of the old-fashioned type, lo# and covering the whdle tank, thus tending to hold down the fames, while in the acid-dipping room the hoods ana of the hew variety placed at the hack, slanting,, with a strong section. Hr. Jtuaerko$ assured me that the latter are to he installed in the plating room also. t She illumination in several departments has recently been modernise ' i * r hut seems to he only partially successful, for many of the former'lamps, low and providing direct lighting, have had to. he retained Cyanide ease-hardeninghas recently "beenmoved to a'large room Whei the furnace and the supply of cyanide are out in the open* It may he that this is a temporary situation, hut if not, it is open to orltleism, and 1 should advise treating that process as Is done in Baltimore* She provision of rsst and comfort for the 1400 women is inadequate* The chairs provided throughout the plant are hotter than the average,' and it would he a mistake to make any change at prosent before the studies of seating now being carried on in Schenectady are completed. She only hangs I should suggest hers is the provision of ordinary low comfortable chairs, for.the girls winding spools in 253 whose work requires them to he oh their fetit, but tho oould sit down and rest occasionally. I t is in the matter Of rest rooms that there is decided need for improvement. Up to now, I am told, the buildings hav been in a continual condition of change and readjustment, but that is passing over and it is possible now to provide the sort of quarters which are to be - found In the better plants of the jfeneral Electric. `At present there is a natron's room with only ono cot, and this is not open at noon although a woman can rest there during the noon hour if she reports to the matron before a -twelve o'clock. Shis r o o m , with two straight chairs and ono rocker, is all the 700-800 wire and supplies girls have* Buildings 25 and 27 have 160 girlB, with no room* Office girls have no rest room at all, but I was shown the Bpsce tflileh is to be 4avoted to a room for then* Sfce dispensary lias * room for girls, with two cots, and. the offiee emplo'yees and those in 23 and 25 v 1` can go there easily; the others are pretty far afftyv Ihe're:ls a tiny room for a second matron, hut it has only -two chairs. $0 than half the men ' .go home,at noOn, so there is no fear that pleasant rest rooms would not he fully used 'and'app.*reciated. She toilet rooms are well located* easily accessible to all departments, and. very good. ' ' Philadelphia November 2?* 1985 She visit to the pleat at Willow and Seventh Streets share I net* Aft fl./P.'MaHj, r* W. H* if.flle* A? 0* P* Bloomer* . ^ # b* B* Hi Biller* Van gather hasty because ttychief objective was the new plant infeat Ibiladaiphia. ' *. ' ** # to which lire, l&lleB conducted me later* - y * ' . I found hhre a change in the coating used for machine paste whiolv. is* I "believe, a decided improvement. The use" Pyroxylin* lacquers*'as made at present, contain lees harmful substances than did the older lacquers, 5 of this class and the resin laoqaere. These are free from wood alcohol and usually from behsol. She lacquer, ovens in this plant are -excellent and there are no fumes from them. Xt it unnecessary to repeat tqy former e k favorable somnieats on the provision for the comfort and health of .the Cuplpyses in this plant. , ' ' West Philadelphia Hr H* E. Kenp tpok me through those departments which were ` . V. /t, 'Vi,V'x`' ' " . operatingat the.time, but a second visit will be neoeastvry ifs.Jwish to see the sand-blasting of large machine, parts., acid-dipping, and tpray^paintlnff. Theeaployment department and dispensary are large-and admirably housed and equipped* 1 should have no suggestion whatever to make except possibly that a door opposite the entrance door would make the dispensary easier of access for a large part of the plant, The wash-rooms for men are much the best X have ever seen anywhere. Spray-painting was not in operation during my visit but it is apparently unusually well done, for there was no apparent scattering of spray f droplets, and these would have betrayed themselves* for much of the paint was reel lead and would have appeared on nearby surfaces Che truck panels can ht sprayed under great hoods, hut mush of the work must he done out in the general non, and If it were not for the shill With whiSh the fprsgr*gon is handled there would he a risk not only to the painter hut to others* Wy Impression at present* from seeing not the actual work hut the rsulta* is that the Eclipse gun Whioh is used here in much hatter than the ordinary gun or else the painters are unusually skilled men* pyroxylin coatings are used here also* fihe buildings are large and no. criticism could he made of ' the general 'tentllatlon, lighting, and accident prvention It may he that there will he some trouble ttwng the men who work near the welders because welding repair work has to he done in different places wherever the heavy machine parts are* and in order to protest other men from the glare of the* flame there are heavy metal screens which must 1> * he set up as needed, some of them requiring id travelling orane because they are so heavy* A good deal of vigilance will be needed to see that these screens are always used* . , A minor point* but cue which Is worth mentioning because it heart on a situation I have observed in other places* .has in do #ith thf bubbling fountains for drinking water. Chose selected 'feft th illw street plant are of the best approved variety* carefully desired to prevent the carrying of infection.- Chose selected.for the West Philadelphia plant are poor and do not afford the proper protection It is hard to understand how this should happen Che explanation given me was that the water in the first plant was not cold enough and that the seoond plant is an improvement in that respect, but obviously this has nothing to do with the drinking piece* She medical department was not yet in working order end will ha to be visited later* w/ ) rM&V fl , i t Baltimore November 30, 1925* B*, J, A. foir took me Oter th'plant fc showed m several new features which are daeigned to afford protection agdijat fctos or dust Or aocident. I should like to pay tribute to the clone attention to dotadla which. is evidenced throughout the.plant " Iba new Lass shield oyer the rinding wheels is ingenious, does not interfre with work, and prevents lyn^ partiles from reaching th * grinders' eyes. 'She exhaust along the edge of the oynide tank doe not prevent the men4a approaching it from hath aldea and yet un^dbiediy lessens the escape of funes Ehe new trass foundry la excellent, with no escape of : . . \- finaes during fusing and so large and high that there 1 good dilution of the fuma formed in pouring, The method of handling th $2f$ld in cse- hardening la especially good and might serre as a model for other plasta. It la donft in a small separate rtiCm which la kept looked, le entered only by two men, and la well ventilated, there is. also protection SB^nstjsplaehlng; ' s ' ' . * . 's ,, , *s\ , , , when the heated mtal l dropped Into th water# The mt&'lh dharge ia perfectly aware of the necessity for precautions in Usingh M tth^dhg'tedium cyanide* Voiding is not so gnoh of a problem here as In some other plants because the work can be done in one room, end men who are not protected by goggles do not run the risk of eye irritation from the light of the torch* Chis plant has very simple and inexpensive equipment both for the dispensary-employment-offioa and the cafeteria, but they are ao satisfactory that it is evident that careful planning may bring about as good a result as , the expenditure of a good deal of money, Any plant whioh has only a small space to derot to the employment office and the physician's quarters might i w ell .oopjr asrsagetteat in Baltim ore* ttoKLln? fpnntana ar o f of <t ft$4r.e&y aat.iB^.ifoiy 4$*:. I Bridgeport. January 4, 1926 On arriving at the plant X found that Sr. Sailor was about to address the foremen on health questions and. later in the day Hr. C. Ci^iUtv wn was holding a meeting of the safety committee. X attendedboth 'was much interested to.hear the discussions on the two subjects and to see the close %oc[uaintanoe the men displayed with the problems in their own departments* The health and safety work seems to be in admirable hands. Mr. W, Stuart Clark, Mr. H, Bmerkopf, hr. 3?, 1. Taylor, and Mr 0. W. Collins showed me the new developments since my last visit, the most interesting of which Is the rubber department. She only rich 1 found here opmes from the litharge used in rubber compounding, for that is the accelerator used in all batches of rubber and no rubber solvent at all is required. One barrel of litharge a day Is weighed on open scales ami emptied into the mixer-. The man works with great care and no dust was evident whihe weighing, but it was Impossible to avoid it when the batch went into the mixer. This department is in course of reconstruction and the feed'Into the mixer will be through a pipe from the room above. it will be desirable to &hVe some device here to prevent any escape of litharge dust. The Use of the mixer is of course a great .improvement over the usual method in rubber factories of dumping the dry compounds directly Into the Open mixing mills. In the panning room great efforts are being made to diminish the amount of soapstone dust in the air. Certain features which seemed open to criticism had, I found. already been consider^red by Mr. Hunsrkopf and. plans had been made for remedying them. t3uch are the porr ventilation in the department using hot paraffin, "wax", where window fans have been ordered, the steam from the potash tank, and. the hooda over the tanks.In the plating room. These last , ^re of tiie old-fashioned type, low and hovering the whole tank, thus tending i * 'to hold down the fumes, -while in the acid-dipping room the hoods are of the tnew variety placed at the hack, slanting, with a strong suction, Mr, Jlunerkopf assured me that the latter are to be installed in the plating- room also.* ' The illumination in several departments has recently been modernized, /1 but seems to be only partially successful}for many of the former lamps,, low - and providing direct lighting,, have had to be retained* Cyanide case-hardening lias reoently been moved' to a large roomwhere the furnace and the supply of cyanide are out in the open. Xt may be that this is a temporary situation, but if not, it is open to criticism, and I should .advise treating that process as is done in Baltimore. The provision of rest and oomfort for the 1400 women .is inadequate* The chairs provided throughout the plant are better toan the average, and it would be a mistake to-make any change at present before the studies of seating now being carried on in Schenectady are completed. The only change I should suggest here is the provision Of ordinary low comfortable chairs for the girls winding spools in 253 Whose work requires them to be on thet.bSt, but who could sit down and rest occasionally. It is in the matter of rest rooms that there is decided need for improvement. Up to now,I am told,the buildings have - been in a continual condition of change and readjustment, but that is passing over and it is possible now to provide the sort of qnarterv which are to be found in the better plants of the General Electric. At present there Is a matron's room with only one cob, and this is not open at noon although a woman can rest there during the noon hour if she reports to the matron before twelve o'clock. This room, with two straight chairs and one rocker, is all the 700-900 wire and supplies girls have. Buildings 25 and 27 have 160 girls, with no room. Office girls have no rest room at all, but I was sfcc the space which, is to he devoted to a room for them She dispensary has a room for girlQi with two cots, and the office employees and those in 28 and 2,8 can go there easily; the others are pretty far away* tChere is a tiny room for a second matron hut it has Only two chairs* .Lees than half the women ago home at noon, so .there is no fear that pleasant rest rooms,would npt he fully used and appreciated* She toilet rooms are well located, easily accessible to all departments, and very good* ..< *