Document VJ3LZmDn0YpnRa9GwvJ04Kybp

G/cc. uJtcco* Rubber and Plastics Section Newsletter determining factors are vapor pressur^ molecular weight, structure, and pobtfizaoHity. Breakthrough patternjrfor severaVwcompound classes car^t best serve a\a rough guide fo^untested compounaV. within a ynomologous series. y --R. W^Hregman, B. I. Ferber, A. ApWartstein, Pittsburg Mining &Jfafet^Research Center Bpeau ofMhws, U.S. Dept, of Inferior, Pittsburg, Pa. 15230 1 Reference to trade nameAloes not ymply endorsement by the Bureau / of Mines. Management and Employee Safety Committee Safety should never be an area of controversy or dispute in managementlabor relations. There is mutual inter est in accident prevention -which re quires joint cooperative programs to prevent accidents and injuries. The lack of such effort will surely result in unhappy employees and an increase in the frequency of accidents. Although the responsibility of safety rests with management and its representatives, cooperation and participation by workers in the safety program can be a valuable tool which management should utilize. No company safety program is complete without employ ee participation. An effective method of getting em ployee participation in your safety program is to organize a managementemployee safety committee. This joint program will have a positive effect upon the worker's attitude toward his job. The worker will have the responsi bility of checking hazards in his work place. He will see direct action taken to correct these hazards as the result of his suggestion and, therefore, will find a vehicle for expressing himself in relation to his work, which in itself is of great importance. Careless acts and lack of knowledge about safety are among the major causes of accidents in industry. Em ployee attitudes must be developed to instill the sense of safety awareness in employees in performing their jobs. BFG29334 What better way could be formulated for influencing and improving employ ee attitudes than by including em ployees in the safety program through the activities of the management em ployee safety committee? Although the employee would still not have direct responsibility for finding solu tions to safety problems, he would receive direct exposure to the safety program. The administration of the OSHA law, practically speaking, depends a great deal upon voluntary compliance. Some companies have achieved this voluntary compliance fairly easily by giving employees the opportunity to actively participate in the identifica tion of safety problems and make recommendations for solutions. Such participation can be invaluable when simulated, in-house OSHA inspections are conducted. The functions of the managementemployee committee are generally divided into three categories: (1) Elim inate safety hazards, thereby, prevent accidents. (2) Create and maintain employee interest in the company safety program by employees. (3) Serve as a means of safety communica tion to members of management with in the plant and to the officers of the union. The size of the managementemployee committee is usually deter mined by such factors as the safety philosophy of management, the size of the company or plant, the degree of hazards in the manufacturing proc esses, and management-labor negotia tions. Committee members must be en thusiastic about safety and be familiar with the equipment and production processes throughout the facility. The members must be knowledgeable in the federal, state, and local safety and hygiene laws. Each member must have a personality that is compatible with the other members in order to prevent conflicts that reduce the effectiveness of the committee. Members should never be selected on the basis of popularity with the workers, but they should be well known throughout the facility. The size of the committee should be as small as possible to be effective and to eliminate unnecessary debate. The committee must be allowed by management and the union to func- Printed in U.SA. 9 tion as an independent group, free from the economic pressures of man agement and free from union politics. But this independence must be earned by the committee through its actions. To achieve this independence, the committee must approach each safety problem in a professional manner and be completely objective in solving safe ty problems. In short, the company members cannot be pro-company and the union members cannot be pro union--both aides of the committee must be pro-safety. Any other ap proach to-wiving safety problems would reduce the effectiveness of the committee. Since the committee can only make recommendations, it must build credi bility with management and the local rank and file. To achieve credibility, the committee should widely publicize its activities. This could be done by distributing the minutes of the com mittee's meetings to management and to officers of the local union. The company newspaper could be a means for announcing new safety programs or achievements of the committee. A member of management or an official of the union could be invited to attend committee meetings to observe the committee in action and to discuss specific problem areas. An effective safety program starts and ends with the worker in the performance of his duties. The em ployee and his supervisor should work through the committee in making the workplace as safe as possible. Stock No. 112.03-24024 24076001 Tt