Document M4dE3jVyLMbdGmqj9oEBj9yjx

COHin/J FROMTHE CCJLLE(TION.S IN THE CENTER FOR AMERICAN HtSTOK 'I Was Downright Scared; They Could Have Taken My Money' A seagoing employee had a narrow escape recently when he was walking along a dimly lighted street from his ship to a grocery store several blocks away. Three men approached and as they came directly in front of him, they stopped, blocking the sidewalk. "You off that ship back there?" one of them asked. "Yes," answered the seaman. "Where are you going?" an other of the three asked. "It suddenly dawned on me that these men probably weren't being friendly just to pass the time of night. The longer I stood there the meaner they looked and I started to get nervous," said the seaman. "You can say that I was downright scared, and for good reason. I had just cashed my pay check and had several hundred dollars in my pocket. As it turned out, a truck from the Exxon Ter minal back down the street came along and I quickly stepped out in front of it, waving frantically. The truck driver didn't want to stop, but he had to, or else run over me. I got in and told him what happened and he drove me to the store. I took a cab back to the ship." This incident leads to a case in point: It is not a desirable or even a healthy situation to carry large sums of money on your person, or (See PAYCHECKS, page 3) EQUITY UNITS $8.14 The value of each unit in the equity portfolio as of the last business day in October was $8.14. Ocean Fleet Sets New Safety Record November 14 was an his toric day for employees in all 17 ships in the ocean fleet. On that date, personnel in these vessels completed 1,000,000 manhours without a disabling injury. Prior to this record, the fleet last reached the 1,000,000-man hour mark on December 23, 1970. The Port Safety Commit tee is evaluating an ap propriate award for each ocean employee in recogni tion of the current record. Of course, one obvious re ward has already been recognized by employees in setting this record: They have avoided the persona! cost in health and money that normally results when a disabling injury occurs. FREDERICK J. SCHILEIN, A/Oiler in the Exxon New Orleans is inspect ing a pair of unusual safety goggles. What makes them unusual is that the lenses contain a chemical coating that absorbs moisture invisibly instead of condensing it. This provides a clear, undistorted fog-free vision in humid and vaporous atmospheres, such as when cleaning tanks. Six of the new-type goggles were put aboard the Exxon New Orleans recently--three for the Deck Department and three for Engine Department use. The fog-free goggles will be supplied to other ships as they load stores in the near future. I u a EXX-MOR-007947 Q & A With Company Doctor Dr. Lione Describes How Medical Policy Relates To Marine Department Employees "The company regards the health of its employees as a matter of primary concern. Through the years it has maintained the policy of providing healthful working conditions, proper sanitation, and en couraging the individual employee, through his personal physician, to seek optimum health goals." This quote, taken from the company's medical policy, indi cates the interest Exxon manage ment has in the health of its employees. To learn more about the medical policy and how it re lates to Marine oceangoing and inland waterways employees, Fleet News interviewed Dr. John G. Lione, medical director for the Marine Department. Q) Dr. Lione, is the company's medical policy designed primarily for the company or the em ployee? A) For both. The policy states that the Medical Department will do all it can to assist company units in providing proper sanita tion and healthful working condi tions to prevent illnesses and in juries before they occur. This is just good business with dollars and cents savings because these actions decrease absenteeism and increase employee efficiency. The policy also lists other items that relate directly to the em ployee himself. Probably the most significant of these items is the regularly scheduled medical ex amination for all employees at certain specified times related to age. Q) There seems to be some con fusion about when employees who are ill or injured should go to a company doctor instead of to their own personal physician. Can you clear this up? A) Yes. I can understand this confusion because some em ployees may see us only during regularly scheduled physical ex aminations or during a minor ill ness or injury. I would say that if an employee becomes ill or is in jured at work, he should notify the master of his vessel and re port to a company doctor at the earliest opportunity. The company doctor will treat the patient and/ or arrange for additional medical care as required, whether he re fers the patient to his personal physician, recommends sick leave, or some other action. If an employee becomes ill or is hurt while on paid leave, he should go immediately to his own doctor and not wait until he returns to work to contact the company doc tor. The role of the company doc tor is to supplement rather than replace or compete with the pri vate physician. The employee must maintain his own personal health. Q) Do you mean that the em ployee can't use the company doctor as his personal physician, too? A) Exactly. It's obvious that com pany doctors cannot play the role of family physician to all em ployees; there's 28,000 of them. Therefore, it's important that each employee have his own doctor-- one who is familiar with his medi cal history and that of his family. If he doesn't have one, the com pany doctor will be pleased to furnish names of physicians in the employee's community. We'll even provide the physician with a copy of the medical record if the employee requests that we do so--otherwise all records are kept confidential. Q) In addition to the pre-em ployment and periodic physical examinations, are any other types of examinations ever given? A) Yes. Physical examinations are given in special situations such as prior to an employee's return to work after a disability or serious Dr. John G. Lione illness at which time he should bring a report from his personal physician. The company doctor then verifies that the employee has recovered sufficiently to carry on his job. We also give special examinations to employees who, for example, work with potentially toxic materials to insure that their health is not being affected. And special examinations are given to individuals who indicate they have some health problem or who have excessive sickness absences. These are the main types of special examinations. Q) You mentioned that physical examinations are given at regular intervals. What are these inter vals? A) One to four years, depending on the age of the employee and his condition of health. Q) Dr. Lione, obviously it is not as simple for an oceangoing em ployee to schedule a physical ex amination as it is for someone in the Inland Waterways Fleet or who is shore based. What are the steps involved and some of the problems? A) "You're right it is not simple, Page 2 Exxon Fleet News EXX- either for the employee or the Medical Department. As you know, each employee is notified by mail when his periodic physi cal is due. The employee is in structed to contact, or request the master to contact the branch office at either Bayway, Baton Rouge, or Baytown to arrange an appointment. If assigned to a ves sel at the time the physical is due, the master should always be notified and requested to make the contact. The branch office then arranges an appointment with the Medical Department based on the vessel's estimated time of arrival and advises the master accordingly. If the ship's arrival is delayed however, this can complicate mat ters, since the physician then has to juggle his appointment sched ule to fit the Marine employee in. This is done whenever possible although sometimes it means the employee has to wait for a short while to see the physician. Q) Some ships don't normally dock at Bayway, Baton Rouge, or Baytown. How do employees on these vessels obtain their physi cals? A) There are a number of phy sicians who have been selected by the Medical Department who pro vide services to employees at other locations. Agents at branch office locations know who these doctors are. Q) Dr. Lione, how is the health of Marine Department employees generally? A) It's good, but there is one flag that I'd like to raise. We have some concern about the great number of disabling injuries that occur during leaves. It's always true that employees suffer more injuries at home than at work. If they applied the same safety conscious attitude when on leave as they do on the job, then I am sure that we would see a signifi cant reduction in injuries. If you have any questions on either your paycheck or the distribution of your pay, these are the people you can contact in the Payroll Accounting Office in Houston: Harry Cody, left, Extension 3353; Jim Morrison, Extension 3354; Linda Sparks, Extension 2624; and Marion Dunn, seated, Extension 5077. PAYCHECKS, continued from page 1 even have it aboard ship if you can possibly keep from it. There are three main ways that you can handle your pay: 1) Allocate all or a percent of it to a bank. 2) Allocate all or a percent of it to be sent to your family. 3) Obtain all or a percent of it in cash on board the vessel. In this case, it is recom mended that any excess cash be kept in the ship's safe. By signing a Draw Check Order Authorization Form, a seagoing employee may at any time change the distribution of pay presently in effect to any of the options out lined here. Many seagoing personnel have authorized the Marine Payroll Of fice in Houston to send all their pay to their bank for deposit, either to their checking account or to their savings account. They can still obtain spending money as follows: 1) The master will cash per sonal checks for up to $100 every five days. 2) The master will cash a com pany check for up to $400 (such as a Thrift Fund check), or a government check for up to the same amount (such as a tax re fund). If you have any questions on either your paycheck or the distri bution of your pay, contact the Marine Payroll Office in Houston, Extension 3353. Inland Waterways personnel are not involved in this arrange ment since they have their checks sent either to their home ad dresses or to their banks. William Wasko Retires William G. Wasko retired on September 1. He began his career in the ocean fleet in November, 1946, when he joined the John D. Archbold as OS. He later be came deck maintenanceman in the Esso Char lotte and sailed in various Deck Department ra tings from 1947 until he retired as AB in the Exxon Boston. Mr. Wasko, who lives in New Brunswick, New Jersey, plans to travel and make movies. December 2, 1974 Page 3 the cui lections in the center for American histor' cofifu m m : What was a school bus is now a paneled rolling vacation home for the William L. Thompson family. Note personalized name plate at top of bus. Thompson Converts Bus To Motorized Home When Second Assistant Engi neer William L. Thompson goes on paid leave, he swings by his home in Rose Hill, North Carolina, picks up his wife and three chil dren--and a bus--and takes to the highways and byways for an other scenic tour of America. A bus? Yes. Mr. Thompson purchased a 1968 Ford school bus in 1971, removed the seats, and began renovating it according to his own custom design. One of the first things he did was to install panel ing. He then built a 32- x 32-inch shower, installed a toilet, stove, refrigerator, a 10-gallon hot water heater, a double kitchen sink and a separate sink for shaving, and beds and fold-down bunks to sleep at least 8 people comfort ably. He also has 12-volt flourescent lighting throughout. Cur rently, he can carry 50 gallons of water, but plans to increase this capacity soon. "The bus--we call it our motorized home--is so self contained that we could park it in the middle of the Sahara Desert and have all the comforts of home," he said. The family has already made trips to Disneyland in California, and to Arizona and Mexico. I Obituary I Millard G. Gamble, who retired in 1959 as president of Esso Ship ping Company, died on November 5. Mr. Gamble, 80, had a 39-year career with the Exxon organiza tion and served for 10 years as president of its shipping arm. He was graduated in 1915 from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis and served five years in the navy before joining Esso in 1920. Starting in the construction and repair division of Standard Ship ping Company, he worked his way up to the presidency of Esso Ship ping Company in 1949. In this position he administered the largest merchant fleet in the world, whose tonnage exceeded that of the U.S. and British navies during World War II. During that conflict he coordinated the Exxon tanker fleet and was responsible for the development of 18,000-ton tankers, four of which were con verted to small aircraft carriers. In December, 1958, he was ap pointed by President Eisenhower to head the first U. S. delegation to the Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organization, a UN maritime agency. He held this post until his retirement the following year. He is survived by two sisters, four children, and seven grand children. He was buried in Arling ton National Cemetery. Aage Petersen, 80, died No vember 13 at San Antonio, Texas. He held the rank of master when he retired in December, 1957, with 35 years of service. Captain Peter sen was born in Denmark and shipped out at age 14 in a Nor wegian freighter. He obtained his first license in 1918 and joined the company in July, 1922, as 3rd mate in the Josiah Macy. In his next ship, the Joseph Seep, he rose from 3rd mate and was a relieving master by April, 1931. He was regular master from June, 1933, until retirement. During WWII, Captain Petersen com manded the R. W. Gallagher until she was torpedoed, then four other ships. He was master of the Esso New Haven for seven years and the Esso Gloucester for four years. He is survived by his widow. Anders Isefjer, who retired in 1957 as chief mate, died in Nor way recently at age 81. Mr. Isefjer shipped out at age 14 in sailing vessels and later served in steam ships. He joined Esso in the M. F. Elliott in June, 1923, as third mate. He was in the port relieving staff during WWII, returning to sea in 1946. He first sailed as master in the Esso Providence in January, 1948, and continued as relieving master until retirement, including seven years in the Esso Linden. He is survived by his widow. James F. Morris, cook, died in the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital, Staten Island, on Oc tober 5. He was 59. Mr. Morris joined the fleet in January, 1946, as 2nd cook in the Esso Concord and was promoted to cook in the John D. Archbold in December. 1947. He sailed in that capacity in various company vessels until going on sick leave last May. He is survived by a cousin. EXXON FLEET NEWS is published every other Monday for active and retired em ployees of the Marine Department, Exxon Company, U.S.A. (a division of Exxon Cor poration); O. R. Menton, General Manager. GENE LEGLER....................................... Editor Page 4 Exxon Fleet News jP I EXX-MOR-007950