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O 11, ILL --251--WHP Current Safety Topics in the RUBBER INDUSTRY As presented in ikt Sessions of the Robber Section of the 1950 National Safety Congress Remarks of a Contest Winner for Large Plants.................. 4 Remarks of a Contest Winner for Small Plants.................. 4 Current Government Measures Affecting Safety in Rubber Industry (A Panel Discussion)........................... 5 A New Look in Industrial Safety........................................... II Medical Aspects of Accident Prevention............................. 13 Volume 28 Transactions 1950 National Safety Congress NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL 425 No. Michigan Avenae Chicago II. Ill, v. *.* '5 "'ft .< 'Hew... In safety, as in all other human activities, the question is repeatedly asked, "What's new?" Many answers to that question are given every year by those who participate in the various sessions of the National Safety Congress. Many new methods, devices, and ideas which later became generally accepted first were presented at a Congress session. # Because of this fact; safety directors throughout the nation have always found the Transactions of the Congress a valuable tool in their accident prevention programs. Publication of the Transactions in small volumes--one for each Section or Division--permits wide distribution of pertinent portions of the Congress material to man agement and supervisory personnel at small cost The 34 volumes of the 1950 Congress Transactions are listed on the last page. Distribution of these volumes to key personnel is suggested as a valuable aid in the safety program. In preparing these Transactions the proceedings of the Congress have been condensed and edited for reference purposes. Complete original manuscripts, with any charts or illustrations which were used, are available in National Safety Council files. Views expressed at the Congress or in this record are those of the Congress participants, and not necessarily those of the National Safety Council. THE RIBBER SECTIOR This volume is a record of the sessions held at the 1950 National Safety Congress by the Rubber Section. The conduct of these Congress sessions each year is only one of the many cooperative activities which the Rubber Section carries on in behalf of its members, and for the benefit of accident prevention work in the rubber industry generally. The Section gives guidance in the prepara tion of a great variety of technical and educational material useful in the day-to-day safety programs of robber plants. The activities of the Section arp under the direction of its Executive Committee, the members of which are listed at the close of this volume. 4 Rubber Industry Remarks of a Contest Winner for Large Plants By F. C. THAYER Safety Supervisor, U. S. Rubber Co., Mishawaka, Ind. Wc do not liave access to a secret for mula tor winning contests. If we did, we would not hesitate to tell you and the world aliout it. Actually we do nothing more in our accident prevention program tlian any of the plants represented in this group today. We doubt if we do as much as some. How ever. wc do take a very serious and sincere attitude toward the task of preventing acci dents and we try to profit from our own accident occurrences as well as those of other industries. Wc rely on individual job training activities of which safe operation or l>ehavior is an integral part. Our delving into the operations of some jobs has been the initiating factor in organizing jobtraining programs which improved the method from the standpoint of efficiency as well as safety. Wc arc not unique in anything wc do, other tlian an occasional safety promotion scheme. As you know, promotional schemes only stimulate interest and do not carry the burden. So, rather than attempt to produce a never-ending series of safety publicity or promotional stunts, designed to really "knock-'em-out," wc have chosen the following course of action. First, wc arc convinced that safety is a good product. Never has there been a prod uct to be sold that requires such a minimum investment and yields such tremendous divi dends as safety. Since safely is a life-time proposition, we apply a slow, but steady form of salesmanship to properly shape our em ployee's attitudes toward safety before they become involved in accidents. We were advised several years ago, that the best way to turn a large boat around by it's hawser is to maintain a slow and even pull, and not to give a few spasmodic jerks on the hawser. By analogy we feel that wc will reach much deeper into the minds and actions of our employees through personal contacts, through regulated educa tional material releases, and through meet ings designed to encourage preventive maintenance of our property and safe opera tion in the plant. Wc have a small staff as compared with safety departments in some industrial plants. Therefore, we must make a little, go a long, long way. To be effective we have planned our program as described above and are endeavoring to keep our safety program at a constant level. We do not intend to withdraw from com petition in this section, in fact we would like to extend our string of awards. However, we would much rather have all industry tie for first place with a very low experi ence rate. In short, we are not any better than anybody else, our system is no better, we are fortunate and we want to wish all industry to share our good fortune. Remarks of a Contest Winner for Small Plants By JOHN S. P. WILSON, JR. Personnel Manager, The B. '. Goodrich Co., Miami, Okla. The employees of the Miami Plant are indeed proud of having won the National Safety Council's Rubber Section 1949 Safety Contest for Division Three and of having established a safety record of 2,150,574 man hours without a lost time or disabling injury- I should like to stress that the record established by the B. F. Goodrich Company in accident prevention can, to a large degree, be attributed to a recognition of the fact that safety is the responsibility of the line organization and cannot be delegated to staff groups as is the case in many forms of per sonnel activity. The personnel department can hire a man, but it can't keep him safe. Accident prevention must begin at the top ants a life-time teady form ie our etnictorc they i ago, that t around slow and spasmodic y wc feci r into the es through ted educaugh meet preventive afe opera- tared with rial plants, ttle, go a we have >ed above ur safety root comwould like However, 1 r*'*'Stry w eri* iny uetter no better. > wish all ie. mts ie degree, the fact : the line d to staff is of perepartment in safe; it the top Current Government Measures Affecting Safety in Rubber Industry 5 with the plant manager 100 per cent back dents are often caused by hazards created as of the safety program and requiring a recog a result of disorderly conditions. We have nition by every foreman that the prevention found that accidents are materially reduced of injuries to his employee is his personal where good housekeeping exists. responsibility. Management of the Miami Plant also par Then, of course, the foreman must set the ticipates in inter-tire division contests in pattern both by a personal example and by which all tire manufacturing plants compete having unsafe conditions corrected with rea for the T. G. Graham Safety Trophy. We sonable diligence and promptness. have found that competition between similar Safety is not something that can be stressed today and ignored tomorrow. It is a continuous activity and one which requires not only an around-the-clock alertness but also a safety consciousness on the part of all employees. The Miami Plant's safety record for 1949 is an excellent example of what can be accomplished in safety through the coor dinated and continued efforts of all employ ees working as a team. We have learned through experience that successful safety programs are those which are designed to stimulate and maintain the interest and active participation of all em ployees. Safety programs which fail to hold the interest and continued participation ot all employees, regardless of how good they may otherwise be, arc doomed to fail-. ure. Our line management is thoroughly sold on the use of personal safety contacts. These contacts, which are patterned after the Gen eral Motors plan of making at least two safety contacts per shift, have proved to be very effective. production groups is important in any acci dent prevention program. In our contest, the plant with the best performance each quar ter wins one leg toward permanent possession of the Vice-President's Trophy. Four wins or legs are necessary in order to win perma nent possession of this trophy. Our management welcomes the interchange of accident prevention information between all tire manufacturing plants--our own as well as yours--when such information is available. This information has proved extremely help ful in the elimination of hazardous conditions and unsafe practices which were brought to light through the actual experience of others. I am pleased to state that our Miami Plant helped make it possible for The B. F. Goodrich Company to receive, on a corpo rate basis, the National Safety Council's Distinguished Service to Safety Award in the year 1949. As a result of the increased man-hours worked this year, the Miami Plant has been promoted to Division Two of the Rubber Section. We welcome this promotion and are pleased to have the opportunity of compet ing with those who make up this Division. Our management also maintains a con We are hopeful that we can continue to stant emphasis on the fact that good house furnish the same high standard of competi keeping and safety go hand in hand. We tion in Division Two as we did in Division have learned through experience that acci Three. Current Government Measures Affecting Safety in Rubber Industry (A Panel Discussion) ion Leader: H. L. Andrews, Safety Dir, The Firestone Tire & Rubber Co, Pottstown, Pa. Participants: Glen D. Cross, Safely Dir., The Fire stone Tire & Rubber Co., Akron, Ohio. W. E. McCormick, Dept, of Industrial Hygiene & Toxicology, The B. F. Good rich Co., Akron, Ohio.' J. T. Kidney, Safety Dir., The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co, Akron, Ohio. Outline of Mr. Cross* Talk I. History Of Codes, Statutes, Rules, And Regulations. A. Statutory safety laws were the first form of safety legislation. 1. Difficulty of amending. 2. Codes are technical and need to be 6 Rubber Industry detailed--difficult to do by statute. Steering Committee when codes need 3. Politics. B. Present Method. 1. Enactment by statute of general statement. "It is the duty of every em ployer to provide reasonably safe and healthful working conditions for his employees and to do everything reason ably necessary to protect their life, limb, health, and safety." 2. Provision for the drafting of rules and standards to carry out this general statement of policy. II. Rule-Making Authority. A. 30 States--A Department of Labor or Industry Headed By A Labor Com missioner or Labor Department Head. 1>. 18 States--Commission Plan--Indus trial Commission. Workmen's Compensa tion Board, etc. III. Examples of Two Plans. revision or new codes are necessary, (a) Composition of Steering Com mittee. (1) 4 Labor Members. (2) 4 Industry Members. (3) 1 Member, Chairman and no vote, from Industrial Commission's Safety and Hygiene Division. 2. This Committee makes up code. 3. Submits tentative suggested code to Industrial Commission. 4. Industrial Commission holds public hearing. 5. May then resubmit code to Steering Code Committee for revision in light of hearing experience or adopt code as is. IV. Use Of Codes. A. Ohio has penalty clause in workmen's Compensation Act which permits penaltyup to 50 per cent of regular award if code has been violated. A. Rhode Island Plan. 1. This is serious bar to good codes. 1. Industrial Rules Board. 2 members from industry. 2 members from labor. 1 member from public--Chairman. Commissioner of Labor and Commis sioner of Health are ex-offido members without vote: 2. Rules when approved by the board go into effect upon approval by the Commission of Labor who may veto them although he never has. 3. Procedure. (a) Commisioner notifies Board of need for a code. (b) Commissioner then invites em ployers and labor to name members of a technical committee in industry involved. He may also add members B. Usual use is through issuance ot orders. 1. Inspector, upon finding violations, is sues an order requiring its correction and sets a time limit 2. If order is not obeyed within time limits, and there is an acceptable reason for delay, time limit may be extended. 3. If company defies order or unreason ably delays compliance, case may be * taken to court having jurisdiction. 4. Court may assess fine or jail sen tence or both. V. Many codes have been written or re vised in recent years. Number Per Cent A. In 1945 or since167 45 "B. 1940 to 1945 --------------- 87 23 of his own staff and others. C Before 1940 117 32 (c) After technical committee readies agreement tentative code is submitted 371 100 to "Industrial Rules Board." (d) Following Public Hearing, the Board takes formal action, cither by approving code or resubmitting to technical committee for further action. (e) Commissioner of Labor may veto final code. VI. Subject coverages by codes. Number of States 1. Seats for female employees46 2. Transmission equipment guarding 36 3. Boiler Codes----------------------------- 34 . 4. Elevator Codes............. --....... .....34 R. Ohio Plan. 1.Industrial Commission, composed of one labor member, one public member, 5. Ladders 6. Woodworking Machinery16 7. Abrasive Wheels 15 91 one industry member, appoints Code 8. Power Presses 9 codes need lecrssary Com- rs. tan and no jommission's vision, p code, ited code to rolds public to Steering i In light of code as is. t workmen's nits penaltv x award if tod codes, issuance of iolations, is* t correction within time table reason extended, ir unreasonse may be lie'"'' - ir . sen* _ Current Government Measures Affecting Safety in Rubber Industry 7 VIL Extent of code coverage by states. A. Most complete coverage. Number of-Godes 1. Pennsylvania __________65 2. Minnesota !61 3. New York ________ 57 4. Massachusetts 49 B. Least complete coverage. 1. Delaware 2 2. New Mexico 3 3. North Dakota3 C Rubber codes. Year 1. New Jersey1939 2. Maryland _1940 3. Kentucky ______________ 1941 4. Indiana 1947 5. California 1949 6. Nebraska (now pending) VIII. Make-up of codes. A. General section to cover subjects com mon to all industries. B. Specific industry codes. G Appendix which includes suggested safe practices and photographs of guards. This is not strictly a part of code. IX. Trend is to make codes more uniform in different states. A. Follow A-S-A. standards. B. Advantages of uniform codes. 1. Machine-guarding at source made . easier. ' 2. Plan helps companies with plants in more than one state. X. Importance of keeping informed of con tents of codes and of passing information on to your engineers and other personnel. XI. Importance of participating in code Formulation. X. Extreme points to be considered in writ ing codes. A. Complete protection to employees re gardless of the cost B. Keep number and contents of codes to a minimum. tten or rc- er Per Cent 45 23 32 100 Number of States ___ 46 8 Rubber Industry W. E. McCORMICK: The past two dec ades have experienced a rapid growth in industrial hygiene. In the United States this has been especially true. Currently, ac tive industrial hygiene units exist in 45 states, the District of Columbia, eleven rides and counties, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.1 Most of these units date from the late thirties and early forties. Only three states lack such facilities: South Dakota Nevada, and Delaware. Forty-three of the states have their b- 1. Tnsko. Victoria M.: Industrial Health Legaletioa--A Compilation of State Lavra and Kegtdittions. tl- S. Public Health Service, Washington D. C. July. 1950. TABLE I Salient Features of Industrial Health Legislation in Health Departments State Authority for ind. hygiene services Industrial hygiene service Specific Implied established Rule-making powers Specific fioro.d. Gcn`1 Enforcement powers Specific foro.d. Gen'I Related statutory provisions Roles and regulations issued Gcn'I Other Alabama ______ Arizona ............ Arkansas ........... California ........ Colorado .......... Connecticut .... Delaware........... Disk of CoL... Florida ........ Idaho .............. .. Illinois .............. Indiana ............ Iowa .................. Kansas .............. * * x * x Xi X z* X z X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X XX X XX X X X X. X xl xl X X X X X X 1 X l X XX XX X&J X Kentucky.......... Louisiana........... Maine .......... . Maryland ...... Massachusetts .. X z X X X X X X X X X X X X X XX X X Michigan........... Minnesota ........... Mississippi .... Missouri ...... Montana ........... x X X X X X X X X X X xl LX X X X X X X 1X X Nebraska........... Nevada ....... New Hampshire. New Jersey.... New Mexico ... X X X X X X X X X X xl xl X X X X&I New Yotk .... N. Carolina ... Norris Dakota.. Ohio .......... Oklahoma ..... Oregon.................. Pennsylvania ... Rhode Island... S. Carolina .... Souris Dakota... X X X X X X X X *x X X X X X *X X XX X XX XX X X xl X X X X X XX X &1 Tennessee ........ Texas ................ Utah................... Vermont ...... Virginia ............. Washington ... West Virginia .. Wisconsin ........ Wyoming ......... X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X XX X XX XX XX XX XX X X X X X X X 1 X&I XoC< 1 Jointly or in cooperation with State labor authorities. . Only thr oufJ- Dakota, ave their b- Health Legisli, n and Regain, ce, Washingtoc, dustrial hygiene amts in state health de partments. Two states, Massachusetts and Xew York, have diem in the labor depart ment Also, two states, Illinois and Ohio, have units in both health and labor de partments. A summary of the state indus trial hygiene unit's legislative features is shown in Tables I and IL An examination TABLE n Features of-Industrial Health Legislation in Labor Departments nents Roles and regulations issued Gen'I Other XX X X X 1 X 1 X&I X X X X X 1X x&l XX X &1 1 X X X 1 X&I 1 x&l 1 Jointly or lei cooperrtioc with State Health authority. 2 laws eooemtas wooes end ainwi oaly. 3 Specific for dot control, 10 Rubber Industry of of these two tables shows that most states have given both rule-making and enforcement powers to the official Industrial health agency. A discussion of these powers with respect to the individual agency is, of course; im possible at this time, but suffice it to say that a wide variation exists, ranging all the way from very general requirements of sanitation to quite exacting codes with re spect to hygienic standards and ventilation. The trend of state legislatures is to increase such powers and to enact more stringent codes. As representatives of industry, you should become familiar with your individual states codes and your industrial hygiene agency. The reporting of occupational disease varies considerably among the different states. This is shown in Table HI.1 TABLE m Summary of Requirements for Reporting of Occupational Diseases Sate To health departments Regulation Statute To labor departments Statute Reporting provisions in workmen's compensation laws 2 o.d. Specified "Injury" defined to include o.d. Use of indicated terms District of Columbia........ Idaho.................................. fnrfian* . ......................... Kentucky .......................... 7.nnff?an ................ .. ... M*irw ............................... UsMiehnt^H ......... Michigan...................... . MiflflMAtf . ........................ wMwi--ssissi^ppi ........................ Montana.......... ............ . Nebraska............................ Nendi .............................. New HimpAtre.................. New Mexico.................. . New York........................ North Caroline ................ x X Rfimi* Ttlaiwi___ _______ South Carolina................ South Dakota.............. . TenneWfC.......... -............. Texas .................................. Utah .................................. West Virginia.................. Wyoming .......................... X X Claims Injuries x (Rule) Injuries Injuries X Injuries * Injury Injury Injuries X X Injuries Injuries X Accidents XX X X rtt*wt X X Accidents Injury X X Injuries Injuries X XX x (Rule) X Lead x poisoning 3 poisoning 3 X X X Injuries X Accidents Accidents X Accidents Claims flatnw Injuries X x (Rule) t Physicians are requited to report under these lews. 2 Employees and, at times, physicians are required to report to industrial commissions or workmen's compensation boards. 3 Reportable to both health and labor departments. . ventilation, s to increase re 'ngent dn y, you ir individual ial hygiene al disease te different m.i s workmen's vr*2 Use of indicated trims Claims Injuries Injuries Iniuries Injuries IniutT Iniury Injuries Iniuries Injuries Accidents Accidents T Injuries Iniuries Injuries Accidents Accidents Accidents n<imf Injuries it workmen's The need for more uniformity among the various state and local industrial hygiene, codes is obvious. In order to promote this the American Conference of Governmental Hygienists developed,-and approved at its 1949 annual meeting a suggested "Uniform Industrial Hygiene Code."* This is an advisory code only and has no legal au thority per se. However, it may well set the pattern for future industrial health legisla tion. The health provisions of the recently adopted "General Industry Safety Orders" for the state of California1 follow closely the recommendations of this code. In order to obviate some of the difficulties of securing wide acceptance of a uniform industrial hygiene code, it has been sug gested that it be developed by the American Standards Association. It is my understand ing that the.ASA is in the process of developing such a code at the present time. This Association has developed over the past several years a number of hygienic standards for toxic materials, and these standards have not only proven quite valu able in evaluating industrial health hazards, but have been generally accepted by indus try, labor, and government The same may be expected of a uniform code developed by this Association. 2. American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists: Uoifocm Industrial Hygiene Code. Secretary: Dr. L. J. Craller, Environmental Health Center, U. S. Public Health Service. Cin cinnati, Ohio. 3. California Divirioo of Industrial Safety: General Industry Safety Orders. Printing Division. Sacra mento. Calif. A New Look In Industrial Safety By G. W. HARPER Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering; University of Illinois. Urbana, HL There can be no question that safety, at least to the extent of self-preservation, goes bade to the earliest beginnings. What the caveman did or did not do about safety, we will never know, because it all happened before the dawn of recorded history. How ever, we can rest assured by the very' fact that we are here today, that whatever our early ancestors did was sufficient It was not until the rise of large popula tions in industrial centers, that we began to have some of the acute problems in safety, sanitation, industrial hygiene, and a good many others. This "Industrial Revelation" appeared in Europe a good many years be fore it was felt in the United States. Both the problems and partial answers were secured in England and Germany long be fore those same tilings became problems for us. These items coupled with the fact that we in this country followed the pattern of the English Common Law, paved the way for the coarse of events which followed. As industrial centers grew in size, the number of injuries increased to such an appalling number, that people* realized some thing must he done. The first step was logical in that an effort was made to alleviate the suffering, and distress on the part of the injured's family. This was fol lowed by other acts, and then by the "Work ing Man's Compensation Acts." From these humble beginnings has grown the present concept of industrial safety. Every one now realizes that--to use the terms of the Ohio Industrial Commission--"Safety is better than compensation." Many companies have well planned, well directed, and excellently applied safety pro grams. On the other hand, we find plants where safety is merely a catch word. Per haps one of the main reasons why there isn't as .much done as should be, is the failure to realize that industrial safely can be broken into its component parts. The first step in the solution of any prob lem is to ask questions. For our discussion this afternoon, I would' like to propose three questions, the answers to which I am sore trill point the way to a slightly dif ferent approach, and "start a new look in industrial safety." First, what are we trying to do, what are the objectives, what are we striving for in an industrial safety pregram? '.I 12 Rubber Industry Next, what arc the means, the tools, the University of Illinois, I like to point out equipment with which we can do the job? to the students that an industrial safety Third, how arc we going to use these tools to meet the needs; how do we apply them on the job? The answer to the first question can be stated in general terms. In fact, at this stage we must not be specific. We must define the ideals. For this reason I would like to outline what I consider the seven "Principles of Industrial Safety." 1. Accidents can be prevented. The tech niques of prevention arc not too difficult and can be applied after the cause or causes arc discovered 2. There must be a genuine interest on the part of top-management. In addition to this interest and support, top management should program is very much like the kit of tools you have in your car. You carry them with you to do certain jobs, but you do not make use of them until there is a need. Some tools are general purpose tools, some are special. In like manner, we have general and special tools to be applied in safety. For want of a better term we call these "activities." Another parallel might be the store. Let's assume for the moment that we are standing in such a store. What would we see on the shelves? There are three departments in this store. One section is labeled "Engineering." On the shelves and bins of this department we see sections marked with the titles of accident investigation, reporting system, ac take an active part in the safety program. cident records accident analysis and statis 3. Safety must be made a part of the job, tics inspections of various shapes and sizes it cannot be something that's dragged in codes for fire protection, machine guarding, by the tall after a job has been described and many others. The foreman or job instructor cannot teach The second department in this store is a job correctly unless he stresses the safety labeled "Training." This, too, is a large factor from start to finish. We have either department. It includes such items as in seen or heard of a supervisor who very carefully instructed an employee in his duties, and then, at the tail end said "Oh clusion procedures plant or general safety rules sound slides movies safety graphs, supervisory conferences, safety* conventions yes. we have some safety rules, too." short courses, institutes and university ex 4. To achieve success in our industrial tension programs. safety program, we must have the enthusias tic cooperation of all employees. The meth ods will have to be decided by your own organization, to meet your own conditions and hazards, because these vary from plant to plant. Coming to the third department, we sec the general topic "Promotion." Some stores selling die same goods call this department "Maintaining Interest" The sections of the department are labeled very much the same. Some of the labels read, safety posters, 5. We must have adequate safety training bulletin boards, signs stunts campaigns, for the supervisors. The foreman must be employee contests inter-departmental and able to recognize the hazards because lie is inter-plant contests accident write ups com the man who can do something about them pany publication, and suggestion systems. in his own department Unsafe practices and unsafe conditions must be eliminated if the foreman is to be a leader in his own department. At this point it should be pointed out that no single activity can be pigeonholed exclusively on any^one shelf. Human ac tivity is such that there is overlapping and 6. There must lie a competent safety staff interlocking all along the way. For the to assist the line organization in carrying purpose of discussion, and for clearer think out the safety program. The number of ing, I feel that the various activities should safety personnel in a plant of high-hazard be labeled. has to be large. Now that we have tools what are we 7. A safe plant is a plant where there going to do with them? The third major is a full respect for plant efficiency. There phase of industrial safety is that of appli has to be respect for rules and regulations. cation and administration. "What are the tools we have, with which Each plant and each company has . a to accomplish this safety job?" When we different organizational structure and the arrive at this point in our class work at the application of a safety* program must fit j point out trial safety id' tools r with mi do not -is a need, tools, some aye general ! in safety-. : call these store. Let's ire standing : see on the icnts in this igincering." department ie titles of system, acand statiss and sizes, e guarding. is store is is a large ctns as in* wral safety ety graphs, ronvenlions, iversity ex- ait, we sec tome stores de<--tment io f the It tbc same, ty posters, campaigns, ncntal and e ups, cornsystems, minted out pigeonholed Human sn apping and . For the arer thinkides should at are we hird major t of appli- iny has .a e and die n must fit Medical Aspects of Accident Prevention 13 the organization. If we return to our prin ciples we can point out how the job can l done. However, each plant will have some variations, suitable to its needs. In the larger plant, you have a full time safety director and an assistant, two or three safety engineers, perhaps, and safety inspectors. In the smaller plants you may have a man who has the title of personnel director or employment manager who docs the safety work. There arc some general principles that can be applied. Safety committees, safetyinspection committees, and so on have been utilized, and always'can be used. The extent of departmental meetings, group meetings, etc., will have to be determined to fit your particular situation. A "new look" in industrial safety con sists in thoroughly and logically breaking the problem into these components: Princi ples, activities, and administration. The first consists of our goals; the second the tools used to do the job, consisting of three types--engineering, training, and promotion; and the third the application or use of these tools in each of our plants. We've talked about packages on shelves-- items or elements that go to make up a safety program. The new look in safety, if you .will gentlemen, is to re-evaluate what we have been doing and what we mean to do, wherever your plants may be or wherever your jobs may be. Let's re-evaluate these tools on the shelf, the pile of ammunition, if you will. Let's see that it gets in the cannon. And let's see that it is pointed in the direction of our general principles or general directives. When we pull the trigger we will see an explosion of industrial safety and industrial safety cooperation such as we have never seen before. Medical Aspects of Accident Prevention By R. R. MEIGS Assistant Vice-President, Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., Boston. Mass. A complete accident prevention program has a medical aspect and those of us in volved in accident prevention work should understand it and endeavor to promote, expedite and assist in the development of procedures to handle this particular aspect I believe that the acceptance of the idea that there are certain problems best handled by medical methods or by a combination of medical and safety engineering methods will dear away a great deal of fuzziness in some of our accident prevention approaches. We are all familiar with the finding that a large percentage of industrial accidents are due to "personal causes." "Personal" is a very- general word and "personal causes" often include many where no medical aspect is involved, but in the other very sizeable group we find real evidence of our need for a medical approach in accident prevention. It is in this group where we find a lot of "headaches" where the straight accidentprevention engineering ofterf bogs down. I believe that we can speed things up and accomplish better results as we become more expert in recognizing specific needs for spe cial skills in this area. Not long ago in a relatively large plant where things were not going too well a medical and safety group became convinced that accident prevention in one department was for all practical purposes solely up to medical people. It could have been worked out that this department needed better machine guarding, or more supervision or more attention to safe practice, etc; but it actually was agreed that there was a unique group of people in this department who could best be handled by medical personnel. This is an unusual instance but I would not.be surprised if, as we become more ex perienced in handling the'medical aspect of accident prevention, such occurrences would be more common. Let's take a quick look at the record over the years. The record looks pretty good. In ap proximately 25 years, many industry-wide frequency rates of lost-time accidents have 14 Rubber Industry been cut in half. However, if we take the occupation where the requirements of the national over-all figures published by various job are within the capacities of the worker. agencies and plot a rough performance To do this properly it is necessary to treat curve year-by-year, it will be found that the each worker as an individual. His stalls, downward "trend" is flattening out physical and mental capacities and person We find a similar situation in many plants. A point has been readied where the occur alty must be evaluated and then matched with the demands of the job. rence rate of accidents has remained prac The demands of the job can usually be tically stationary for a period of years. compiled in a job description or specification. Summed up, this would seem to indicate that Such a specification should be definite in we are riding along a sort of plateau. We outlining the types and degrees of skills need to develop a more pronounced down required. It must describe the environmental ward trend. conditions of die job, the physical require How can we go about it? The methods now generally employed by safety engineers hare been largely concerned with the derelopment of safe methods and practices, the safeguarding of hazardous equipment and machines, the control of oc cupational diseases, and the education and stimulation of management, supervision and employees in the benefits of these under takings. These activities have proved to be effective and are largely responsible for the growth and present stature of accident pre vention. In some of the larger plants, in-plant medical programs have been established ments, the "mental stress" of the job, etc It should be comprehensive in covering all factors which might hare a bearing on the worker's failing to meet the requirements of the job and, by so doing, becoming an accident casualty. When tile industrial physician is fur nished with such material, he is in a posi tion to examine an individual and appraise him for assignment to any specific job. While it is true that such appraisals of indi vidual capacity involve consideration of many intangibles, it is a fact that the indus trial physician is the most qualified to assess these factors. which provide effective medical services. The accident-prevention engineer should However, the qualify and quantify of in- take an active, cooperative interest in plant plant medical services vary dramatically. There are a large number of plants with excellent first aid programs. However, there health programs and should assist in their promotion as measures which will decrease the possibilities of accident occurrence. He are relatively few concerns where in-plant medical and accident prevention activities are coordinated. should also recognize their importance when analyzing accident causes or when evaluat ing the accident-prevention problems in a There needs to be more exploration and research by safety engineers and industrial physicians to establish guides for coordinat ing effort--for accomplishing more with the plant; so that he will be able to assist the medical personnel in planning their work and in taking part in joint medical engineer ing activities. effort and dollars spent for accident preven Industry's greatest source of lost time is tion. said to be absenteeism occurring because of This is the long-range part of the project What are some more specific actions to be taken? non-occupatiofial illness. One estimate has. been made that out of every 100 days of lost time there are 94 days lost owing to non-occupational illness. It is reasonable-to The accident-prevention engineer should assume that a considerable portion is caused be active in the establishment of placement by minor ailments, headaches, respiratory programs. In many instances, the sequence diseases, digestive disorders, etc. of events leading up to an accident started the day a worker was first employed and assigned to a job he was not physically or mentally qualified to handle. Let us assume that there are a number of nou-dramatic ailments among shop workers which lend themselves to treatment; but which if untreated, and allowed to run their The ultimate purpose of selective place course will create mental and physical dis ment is to assign each worker to a specific comfort (Included in this situation should aits of the tiie -'orker. ir treat His skills, ind person al matched usually be pedfication, definite is s of skills rironmental al requirete job, etc overing all ing on the sjuirements .coming an n is furin a posiid appraise >edfic job. ils of indi cation of the indusd to assess ter should st in plant st in their II decrease Ter- He an hen n evaluat ions in a assist the heir work cngineer- st time is lecause of imate has. ) days of owing to sonable- to is caused espiratorv lumber of workers nent, but run their sical dism should Medical Aspects of Accident Prevention IS be those minor disabilities where self-treat produce, in many instances, specific reduc ment is attempted with varying degrees of tions in the worker's ability to perform his success.) Li such instances, it seems proper work safely. to assume that a certain temporary jeopardy exists to the extent that the worker is in a subnormal physical addition. His reac tions may be slower, his energy lowered, his. mind occupied, etc, with the result that he loses a portion of his capacity to perform his work. Physical impairment lessens his vitality and alertness. A half-well worker is disturbed and distracted. His bclow-par physical condition, therefore, becomes a form of hazard. If these conditions are not recognized and definite steps taken to alleviate or compen sate for them, the worker is forced to adopt modifications in his customary methods of performing his work. An older man is gen erally more experienced and less apt to re sort to "foolish" measures in meeting the trying requirements of his job. Yet the liability of restricted physical capacity exists and with it an increased possibility of be coming involved in an accident The maintenance, conservation and im provement of physical capacities of work ers through in-plant activities are the proj ect of industrial medicine. In addition to those practices of industrial medicine con cerned with the direct physical care of workers, there are numerous indirect ap proaches. Programs to improve the general health, such as those concerned with better nutrition, sanitation, mental hygiene, health habits, dental care, etc, are examples of activities which, on a long-range basis, can be expected to raise the health level of a plant and reduce the occurrence rate of accidents. Paralleling the periodic examination pro cedure which might be considered a mechan ical method of physical check-up, there is the day-in day-out contact between the medical personnel and employees which de velops when an effective and accepted medical program is in operation. Where the value and stature of the medical program is recognized by employees, they will bring their problems to the medical department This consultation can be a more sensitive procedure than routine examinations in un covering disabilities in the early stages. A high frequency of calls on medical personnel for assistance is an indication that a con I do not believe that any new or radical siderable amount of baric preventive work is position is bring taken when it is said that being done. many industrial accidents occur where the primary or real cause of the accident is some type of physical or mental incapacity. We have known this for a long time, but we have not been very active in doing something about it the physical activity of any individual is dependent primarily upon the condition of his health. In industry a worker, to per form the work assigned to him, must possess some minimum of health to be able to carry on his activities effectively and safely. I should like to do a little summing up here by running through a description of a typical set of circumstances which might occur in any plant Let's discuss a situation where a man in jures his hack while lifting a 25 pound con tainer of dry, loose material. He has been employed on his present job for several years. He has made this same lift thousands of times. He is an efficient worker and has devdoped a knack for lifting this particular container smoothly and easily. He has never Periodic physical examinations of indi complained about the lift nor has anyone viduals provide a method of checking on involved in accident prevention ever con the development of a disability and initiat sidered that the lift was unsafe And yet ing corrective measures in the early stage. one day this man suffers a strain; he .injures This phase of industrial medicine is very his back and loses time * important in accident prevention. The early detection and organization of treatment of an impairment are true preventive measures. This accident might be considered a straight materials handling accident caused by faulty technique possibly due to lack of As we grow older, there may be a very attention, etc. Following common practice definite diminishing of physical capacity. some review of the method might have been Without attempting to record the various :n- made and suggestions offered about care in roads of age, it is sufficient to say that they handling the container. . -% *.r - '-m-i 16 Rubber Industry However, in this case, let us assume that seling within industrial plants is a simple investigation disclosed that this worker had process of assisting normal individuals to become affected with arthritis in his left solve their personal problems. shoulder. It had developed gradually and the worker had taken no steps to have the ailmment treated. He had adjusted his mo tions and use of his muscles to favor his left. arm. He had altered the rhythm of his job to compensate for his disability. On the day of tin- accident his arthritic pain-was acute. During a lift he experienced a particularly severe twinge and in his effort to protect his shoulder he lost control of the burden. Tn his attempt to recover the control he was forced into an unsafe lifting stance with the result he severely strained his lower back muscles. It may be found that there are accident repeaters in a plant Then we have the diffi cult job of determining whether or not such people are actually accident-prone. There are some individuals who seem to be less able to take care of themselves than their fel lows. They seem to lack ability to perform the fringe skills necessary in handling them selves as they go about earning a livelihood The protection of these people from acci dents goes beyond conventional safeguarding of hazards. It is practically a matter of protecting them from themselves. In such cases, proper placement is a major problem. The primary cause of this accident was There is no guarantee that an accident- the arthritic condition of the worker's shoul prone person can be established in an acci der or, put in general terms, impairment of dent-proof job, but there is a possibility oi his health. selecting employment where the possibility If this man had worked in a plant where there was a well-established in-plant medical program he would have gone to his foreman for advice when his shoulder began to inter fere with his regular method of working. of accident can be minimized. To my way of thinking this aeddent-proneness has a very' significant medical aspect and medical people can be of great assistance in deter mining how best to handle such individuals The foreman would have recognized that The proper initial care or first-aid treat this was a situation where he needed the ment minimizes the severity of most injuries. guidance of the medical people: Upon exam Technically' this is not accident prevention ination the man would have been given any However, medical personnel, in the course indicated treatment and advice as how best of handling such cases, is in a portion to to adjust himself to his job; or if treatment obtain valuable information having to do could not be expected to produce adequate with accident potentialities. Minor accidents results, arrangements would have been made are often warnings of unsafe conditions, for a transfer to work which would not both as regards the individual personally and aggravate his condition or slow up recovery. the hazards of his job. The worker would have been spared the dis comfort before the accident and the injury itself. The economic waste of the acci dent would have been avoided. The control of occupational disease or health impairment brought about by expo sure to toxic materials, dusts, fumds, etc is an important problem in some plants. I Itelieve that the industrial physician can Production and safety people commonly con make a very definite contribution to accident sult with medical authorities and industrial prevention by participating in accident in hygienists concerning the hazards in the pro vestigations. It is not meant that he should posed use of any new or unfamiliar ma necessarily' take part in the actual plant in terial Consultation of this type is truly vestigations, but rather in the study of those preventive as far as accident control is con accidents where the causes involve personal cerned and eliminates those too frequent factors. Where personal causes alone are situations where the first indication of an concerned, the doctor is usually in a position occupational disease exposure comes when a to point our corrective measures. worker develops a disability and those re Occasionally there are stubborn or difficult cases of mental or emotional disturbance. They require special treatment and should sponsible for accident prevention must start with a reported disability to run down the cause of the trouble. probably be referred to specialists in the Where a recognized disease exposure ex psychiatric field. In general, however, coun ists, which is not under complete control or Medical Aspects of Accident Prevention 17 does not lend itself to complete control, the is a simple | industrial physician has the problem of set dnr ' "ils to I ting up a health maintenance program to of health conservation by assisting workers in making use of such facilities. Persons interested in accident prevention should not detect as promptly as possible any impair overlook the possibilities of better commu ire accidens ment of the workers' health. This is accom nity health as a definite factor in the overall ive the difii- plished through appropriate periodic exami reduction of accident occurrence and do or not such , nations (the frequency depends upon the whatever they can to promote it *. There art severity of the exposure and may vary for be less able (Efferent individuals) to enable the physician a their fel- to initiate steps to prevent further develop to perform ment of the impairment idling theni livelihood from acdafeguarding matter o: s. In such or problem, n accidentin an acri-1 rssibility ot Such a procedure is a definite form of accident prevention. Medical personnel can do an effective edu cational job in explaining to workers the importance and need for using protective dothing, respirators, etc, and for following certain practices of personal hygiene so that occupational diseases exposure will be mini mized. possibility| The prevention of occupational disease is To my way a team job requiring many skills, but the less has 2 i doctor is in a unique position to evaluate md medical ; he success of any control program in that e in deter- be is able to measure the results of physical indtviduak impairment. t-aid treat- There is a medical aspect in any consider >st injuries, ation of general working conditions such as prevention, illumination, noise, vibration, temperature, the course | moisture, general ventilation, sanitation, etc. position to Such factors may have a definite bearing on ing to do the health level of a plant--and when the r ardent* I medical and engineering aspects are com o ions. | bined we have a sound, complete story. 5oiw..y and An important phase of an in-plant medical program is education for better health. A disease or : by expoFumes, etc me plants, monly con- industrial in the proniliar nute is truly rol is cont frequent ion of an .es when a good portion of preventive medicine depends upon education and instruction in good per sonal hygiene and proper health habits. | Through pamphlets, posters, talks, etc. in formation can be passed along to workers | and their families. In most communities there are public and private agencies concerned with the general health of the public As the benefits and facilities of such agencies are utilized by workers there is a rise in the health level and a lessening of disabilities. The indus trial physicians can accomplish a great deal There is a trend to increase the scope of health services in some in-plant medical pro grams. These are dependent largely on the special requirements of workers in a par ticular type of industry or on the acceptance by industrial management that health serv ices are particularly worthwhile as a part of industrial and public relationships. In some instances these services are a part of a medical care program supported by both management and employees. In other cases, management provides the services as an in tegrated part of its medical program. Each extension insofar as it improves the health of the worker will be another influ ence in the reduction of the mass of tangible and intangible factors now producing the lost-time accident frequency rate in the ma jor industries of this country. A definite portion of industrial accidents can be attributed to causes' stemming from impairment of the physical and mental health of workers. A challenge to those engaged in industrial medicine and accident Prevention lies in the need for joint action to minimise and .elimi nate those personal causes. While it is true that one theoretical approach might be to attempt to engineer safeguards for Ml occu pations and operations with the goal of making them "accident-proof," this is out ride all reason because of the extent of the problem. It is also true that it is impossible to set up any medical program to guarantee that each worker will be in such physical and mental condition that all personal causes for accidents cease to exist A concerted program .will create a broader concept in accident prevention and increase the stature of both industrial' medicine and safety engineering. those rt- must start down the x>sure ex control or hsH >!; ifl :!l Officers of the RUBBER SECTION NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL 1950-51 General Chairman--S. A. WRIGHT, Inland Manufacturing Division, General Motors Corporation, Dayton, Ohio. Vice-Chairman in Charge of Program--GEORGE BURKHARDT, General Tire & Rub ber Company, Akron, Ohio. Secretary--R M. BOYLES, Midwest Rubber Reclaiming Company, East St. T -nnic, I1L News Letter Editor--R W. FICKES, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Akron, Ohio. Engineering Committee--W. M. GRAFF, Chairman, U. S. Rubber Company, New York, N. Y.; W. J. DOOLING, Hood Rubber Company, Division of B. F. Goodrich Company, Watertown, Mass.; J. L. DEAN, The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company, Memphis, Trim. Trade Association and Liaison Committee--C E. BECK, Chairman, St. Clair Rubber Company, Marysville, Mich. Health Committee--DR. R H. WILSON, Chairman, The B. F. Goodrich Company, Akron, Ohio; F. W. SANDS, U. S. Rubber Company, New York, N. Y.; K. A. KELSON, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, AJcron, Ohio; DR. W. L. HOGUE, JR, The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company, Akron, Ohio. Membership Committee--T. J. CAIN, JR, Chairman, The B. F. Goodrich Company, Akron, Ohio. Publicity Committee--J. J. RAYTKWICH, Chairman, Naugatuck Chemical, Division of U. S. Rubber Company, Naugatuck, Conn. Rules and Regulations Committee--*G. D. CROSS, Chairman, The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company, Akron, Ohio. Poster Committee--L. F. NIXON, Chairman, Canadian Synthetic Rubber limited, Sarina, Ont; M. R BATCHE, Xylos Rubber Company, Akron, Ohio-; & A. MILLER, The Gates Rubber Company, Denver, Colo. Statistic Committee--C E. FRICK, Chairman, Van Qeef Brothers, Inc, Chicago, 11L Members-At-Large--*H. L. ANDREWS, The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company, Pottstown. Pa.; M. E. BADSTUBER, Ohio Rubber Company, Willoughby, Ohio.; *E. W. BECK, U. S. Rubber Company, New York, N. Y.; *T. H. BOYD, Manhattan Rubber Manufacturing Division of Raybestos Manhattan, Inc, Passaic, N. J.; *R A. BULLOCK, Corduroy Rubber Company, Grand Rapids, Mich.; *R S. FAJRNUM, U. S. Rubber Company, Detroit, Mich.; *0. HOPKINS, U. S. Rubber Company, Providence, R L *ROLAND KASTELL, U. S. Rubber Company, New York, N. Y.; *J. M. KERRIGAN, U. S. Rubber Reclaiming Company, Bufialo. N. Y.; *J. T. KIDNEY, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Akron, Ohio; *J- E. LOVAS, U. S. Rubber Company, Passaic; N. J.; *W. L. SCHNEIDER The B. F. Goodrich Company, Akron, Ohio. Staff Representative--F. A. VAN ATTA, National Safety Council, Chicago, I1L Past General Chairman 19 Other Volumes in this Series Users of this volume will find much value in its companion volumes. Here is the list: TITLE VOLUME No. General Sessions and Detailed Index to all Volumes............................................................ 1 Aeronautical Industries ............................................................................................................ 2 Air Transport Industry................................................................................ 3 Automotive and Machine Shop Industries............................................................................... 4 Cement and Quarry Industries................................................................................................. 5 Chemical Industries ................................................................................................................. 6 Coal Mining Industry................................................................................................................ 7 Construction Industry*............................................................................................................... 8 Electrical Equipment Industry................................................................................................. 9 Farm Safety................................... '.............................................................. ........................... 10 Food Industry............................................................................................................................ 11 Glass and Ceramics Industry..................................................................................................... 12 Home Safety..............................*........................................................................................... . 13 Industrial Nursing....................................................................................................................... 14 Industrial Subject Sessions (Sponsored by ASSE).................................................................15 Maritime Industries (Marine Section)...................................................................................... 16 Meat Packing, Tanning and Leather Industries........................................................................ 17 Metals Industry............................................................... 18 Mining Industry.............................................................................. 19 Motor Transportation Industry (Commercial Vehicle Section).............................................. 20 Petroleum Industry......................................................................................................... 21 Power Press and Forging Operations........................................................................................ 22 Printing and Publishing Industry............................................................................................... 23 Public Employment (Public Employees Safety Committee)................................................... 24 Public Utilities Industries.......................................................................... 25 Pulp and Paper Industry............................................................................................................ 26 Railroad Industry................................................... i.................................................................27 Rubber Industry...........................................................................................................................28 School and College Safety.......................................................................................................... 29 Textile Industry........................................................................................................................... 30 Traffic Safety*............................................. 31 Transit Industry......................................................................................... 32 Wood Products Industries.......................................................................................................... 33 Speaking With People (Early Morning Sessions).................................................................. 34 PRICES OF EXTRA COPIES OF INDIVIDUAL VOLUMES TO MEMBERS VOLUME SIZE lto9copies ' Each 10to99copies Each 100to999copies Each 1000ormort Each Less than 24 pages-- $0.25 $0.20 $0.15 $0.15 24 to 48 pages-- -30 25 20 20 49 to 96 pages-- Over 96 pages-- .40 .60 J5 .55 JO JO JO JO Complete set of Transactions (34 volumes)--$6.00 NON-MEMBER prices are double member prices, except volumes 10, 13, 29 and 31. NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL 425 NORTH MICHIGAN AVE. CHICAGO 11, ILL num fa ijx 20 ^ 1000--2JI--WHP