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\ PLAINTIFF'S
1934
TRANSACTIONS
National Safety
Council
Incorporated
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TWENTY-THIRD ANNUAL SAFETY CONGRESS
Cleveland, Ohio October 1 to October 5, 1934 The Cleveland, Carter and Statlcr Hotels
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8 Twcnty-lltiril Minimi/ Safely L'anyrcsx--National Safely Louneil
Dr. F. M. Suez,van, Troy Safety Council.
Alfred H. Swaynf, General Motors Cornoration.
Clarence P. Tavlor, Massachusetts Safety Council.
Arthur M. Took, Consulting Marine Engineer.
W. YV. Trench, Schenectady Safety Council.
W. D. Turrkvtlle, San Antonio Safety Council.
J. A. Voss, Metals Section.
H. A. YValkf.r. Rubber Section.
Gf.orc.e H. Wakfel, Union Pacific Railroad Company.
Dr. Cassius H. Watson, American Telephone & Telegraph Company.
Harry' M. Wf.riirr, Illinois Bell Telephone Company.
Albert C. White, Jr., Springfield Safety Council.
S. E. Whiting, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company.
A. YV. YViiitney, National Bureau of Casualty & Surety Underwriters.
W. H. Winans. Union Carbide & Carbon Cnrp.
Dr. C.-E. A. YVtNSLOw, Yale Medical School.
Harry YY'jsf, Sr., Chattanooga Safety Council.
J. M. YVoltz, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Company.
YV. E. YVorth. International Harvester Company.
E. J. Zauft, Safety Bureau, Duluth Chamber of Commerce.
Earl \Y". Zimmerman, Safety Div., Syracuse Oiamhcr of Commerce.
J. B. Zook, Cement Section.
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TIV II NT Y- T II I R I> ANNUAL SAEETV CONGRESS N ATI U N ,! L S A /' ET Y C 0 U N CI L
^&
Dust in Industry
FRIDAY AFTERNOON SESSION
October 5, 1934
The session devoted to a discussion of Dust in Industry was called to order by Dr. E. G. Mcitcr, Director, Industrial Hygiene Laboratory, Employers Mutual Lia bility Insurance Co., Milwaukee, who presided. Dr. Mcitcr briefly welcomed the delegates and then introduced the first speaker.
Types of Dust That Cause Occupational Diseases
r By LEROY U. GARDNER, M.D. f -jf Director, Saranac Laboratory for the Study of Tuberculosis, of the Edward L.
Trudeau Foundation, Saranac Lake, N. Y.
The speaker said in part: Experience has demonstrated that the lung tissues can lolcr.nc very large amounts of most kinds of foreign dust particles without serious interference with function. The lung may be intensely pigmented by colored dusts with no evidence that respiration is impaired. But dusts composed, in whole or in part, of silica have been shown to be dangerous because they stimulate the ; growth of the connective tissues of the lungs and bring about the formation oi scar tissue. This destroys the normal elasticity of the organ which is necessary for respiration and it thickens the dciicatc membranes so that a free interchange ot gasses is impeded. Fortunately, these results only follow the prolonged inhalation of very large quantities of silica.
Experiments have demonstrated that the injection;of silira into the tissues--it animals kills the cells where the substance lodges ami excites an iufiapmiati..n. When healing takes place a very dense anti characteristic kind of sear tissue forms. Most non-siliccous dusts produce no inflammation and very little scar. It has been shown that such changes do not follow the injection of silica unless the particles arc very fine, three microns or less in diameter, and unless enough of them localize in one area. With larger particles the rate of reaction is so slow that little change occurs within a year. As a general rule, the finer the particles, the more rain'd the cellular response. The reaction to fine silica begins within four or five hours and it continues for a period of years.
If the silica is combined with bases in the form of silicates, it rarely produces such active and progressive changes. The silicate of magnesium, asbestos, does cause the formation of scar tissue in experimental animals and in the human In.ig, but most other silicates are not generally rccn'gnizcd as irritating. Recently it has been claimed that a hydrated silicate of aluminum and potassium, called sericile, is responsible for most of the cases of silicosis. This silicate, a transformed feldspar, is often associated with quartz and it has been identified in the lungs of persons suf-
23
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24 Twenty-third .`linitial Safc/v Conyresx--National Safety Council
ferine; from silicosis. However, ;it least two types of sencitc liavc failed to excite significant chances when injected into animals. iixperitnents with this substance arc still in progress. Kaolin, cm almuino-silicatc of potash, has also produced quite characteristic changes in the lungs of rahhits. lint our present knowledge docs not permit us to assume that silicates as a class will produce serious tissue damage.
Most observers now believe that unenmhined silica, or quartz, is poisonous to the tissues because It is slowly dissolved in the fluids of the body. Certainly the majority of the experimental observations suggest a chemical injury, but it is diffi cult to understand how enough of such an insoluble substance as quartz could be dissolved within eight hours to produce a well marked, acute inflammation. If solubility were the only factor one should discover a more active response after the injection of the more readily soluble silicates, but such is not the ease. For merly it was held that silica produced its effect mechanically. The hard sharp quartz particles were believed to abraid the lung surfaces and excite the forma tion of scar tissue as a manifestation of healing. This theory is no longer tenable for when animals are injected with other hard, sharp particles like diamond, carbo rundum or aluminum oxide, there is no inflammation and practically no formation of scar tissue. Ultimately it may he shown that the irritation of silica is due to some unrecognized property possibly related to its atomic structure.
When quartz particles are inhaled they produce three specific effects which are not excited by any other type of dust yet studied. They alter the behavior of the pulmonary phagocytes; they stimulate the formation of circumscribed nodules of scar tissue; and they subsequently increase the susceptibility of the lung to infection, espe cially tuberculous infection.
Phagocytes that ingest ton maiiv quartz particles are killed by this irritating substance. As the cells die they liberate their burden and several new phagocytes come out to take it up again. I3y a repetition of this process enough phagocytes accumulate so that many of them ingest only a few particles. Under such circum stances the stimulus is not strong enough to kill Imt merely accelerates'the motility of the cells. They naturally tend to Icavc'thc air spaces, enter the lymphatic ves sels and accumulate in the lymph nodes. This process liecomes more rapid under the inlhicncc of the irritating silica and very considerable numbers of particles arc consequently localized in the nodes.
After six or eight years the quartz in the nodes has caused a marked over growth of the fibrous elements in these structures. Ultimately the reaction develops to such an extent that the norlo is entirely replaced by. a mass of coarse, glassy scar tissue fibres, often several limes as large as tlic original node. Such nodules en croach upon and compress the lymphatic vessels. The drainage system of the hmg is choked and effective removal of subsequently inhaled dust is gradually diminished. Ilust now accumulates around the lymph vessels and sheets of scar tissue develop in this location.
These preliminary changes do not constitute the disease, silicosis: die/ nvolvc only the lymphatic system. The respiratory tissues arc not npprcciabi; affected. In good stem X-ray films these preliminary changes may lie visualized as a thick ening and heading of the shadows cast by the Mood vessels together with widen ing of the shadow of the. root of the lung. The blood vessels arc thickened because the most important lymphatic vessels course through their walls. The leading is due to the minute nodules of silicotic scar tissue in the lymph nodes within the lung. The root shadow is widened because of the silicotic reaction in the lymph nixies in this location.
If still more dust is inhaled it can no longer lie effectively carried off through the lymph vessels. The phagocytes now carry it into the walls of the air spaces. Often the cells group themselves in nodules but sometimes they arc scattered. In these locations the silica again stimulates the formation of scar tissue. The result is a general thickening of the xepta between the spaces and undulation throughout the functional portion of the long. This change seriously interferes with function as interchange of gas cannot take place through the thickened walls of the air spaces and the tissues lose their normal elasticity. Less involved air spaces dilate and their walls stretch, producing the condition known as emphysema, which is also incom patible with effective respiration.
Willi the formation of silicotic nodules in (lie functioning parts of the lung the
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ailed to excite this sul.stance produced quite
knowledge does tissue damage. :! poisonous to
Certainly the . but it is diffipiartz could be e animation. If
response after the ease. Hor ne bard sharp ire tbe fornia longer tenable iarnnnd. cnrlio.- no formation -ilica is due to *. Tts which are ehavior of the nodules of scar infection, espe-
. this irritating "w phagocytes :gh phagocytes r such circuinte$ the motility
lymphatic vesv rapid under rs of particles
marked overiction develops -e. classy scar h nodules cnm of the lung lly diminished. t'ssue develop
: they involve ably affected. - 1 as a tliickwitli a. wiifi-n: -kened In-cause i lie (leading is les within the in tbe lymph
-1 off through :hc air spaces.
-cattcred. In The result
-ii throughout with function lie air spaces blate and their is.also iucom- -
i the lung the
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25
disease, silicosis, is said to begin. On (lie X-ray film such imdnlcs cast clear cut, round shadows. As they increase in mimher and size they hint nut the formerly accentuated linear shadows of the hlnod vessels. In a well marked case both lung fields may he thickly seeded with hundreds of such sharply defined, rounded, iindular
shadows. Where there is emphysema, often at the bases, no markings arc visible and the film appears black.
The condition of silicosis is a progressive one and it continues to develop after a man has lcit his dusty occupation. Serious results only follow, however, when he. leaves with many nodules in tiie lung tissue itself. As such nodules increase in size they replace important functional elements. Obviously the continued growth of
only a few nodules situated in the lymphatic system could have little cltect other than to increase the obstruction already present.
The serious part of silicosis is its frequent complication by tuberculosis. This may arise from reactivation of a prc-cxistant latent infection or it may result from a new infection from without. The danger of infection increases with the amount
of silicosis present. The course of the infection in the silicotic is usually chronic and it often fails to produce characteristic symptoms for months or years after its onset. Many times it is accidentally discovered in routine X-ray examination of groups of active workmen. However, evidences of disability are much more marked in silicotic individuals with infection than in those with uncomplicated disease. Occa sionally tuberculosis may run a very acute course in the silicotic subject but this is also true in other persons. The cansc of the susceptibility of the silicotic lung to tuberculosis is not perfectly understood, but it would seem that the action of tbe silica on tbe tissues creates a medium favorable for the growth of tbe bacteria. The tubercle bacilli multiply and a slowly progressive tissue reaction ensues, but tbe usual clinical symptoms of tuberculosis arc oiten held in abeyance for a long time because the chances for absorption of poisonous products of infection are mini mized by the obstructed lymphatic system. It is also possible that some of these poisons may be absorbed on the silica particles, as Cummins has suggested. Ulti mately the infection gains the upper hand, symptoms develop and death in mi tuber culosis ensues.
The only other, type oi dust which is generally recognized as a cause of severe pulmonary injury is asbestos, a silicate of magnesium. This substance is fibrous in character ami is more readily soluble than quartz. Apparently the |Votcctivc upper respiratory mechanisms seem inadequate to prevent the inhalation many such fibres and even quite long ones may penetrate into tbe finer bronchial tulics, Tliee structures have irregularities in their walls which seem to hold the fibrous
dusts. fn this location the asbestos particles arc surrounded and ingested by phago cytes. The cells do not seem to be particularly irritates] for they are not espe cially numerous nor do they migrate rapidly into clumps as in tbe case of phago cytes dealing with quartz. Apparently most of them carry their burden of asbestos fraemcnls directly into the walls of the tidies in which they lie. The mildly irri tating {lust sets up a proliferation of the connective tissue cells in the walls result ing in collnr-likc thickening of the tidies. Contraction of the new connective tissue narrows or closes the tube and thereby shuts off the ingress of air to the more peripheral air spaces. These spares then collapse, a condition known as atelectasis. This in itself is a cause of fibrosis or scarring of lung tissue. Tbe result is a fibrosis of numerous relatively small areas in the lung due tu the collar-like constricting fibrosis about many small terminal bronchial tubes. The, lymphatic system seems to play little part in disposing of asbestos dust aiuL.lZ^-/-`uisignilieant amounts of this dust are found in tbe lymph nodes.
Xnt a few' eases of asliestosis die of tuberculosis or bronchopneumonia but the prevalence of tbe former infection is probably much less common than in silicosis. Surveys of large groups of asbestos workers fail to reveal such a high incidence of tuberculosis as found in similar studies on silica workers.
The inhalation of unusual amounts of non-siliccons dusts apparently fails to pro
duce significant alterations in the luuc. It is of course possible that injurious ones may ultimately be discovered, but none arc recognized today. Tbe non-siliccous particles enter the lung ami are ingested by phagocytes ns in the ease of quartz. The cells arc not" stimulated to move very rapidly anil as a consequence many of
them remain within the air spaces for a long time. Some, particularly those con-
26 Twenty-third Annual Safety Congress--National Safely Council
tabling relatively few particles, make tlieir way into the lymphatic system and accu mulate in the lymph nodes. In sufficient concern ration, or perhaps because they are mixed with small amounts of silica, they set up a low grade, non-progressive chronic inflammation. 13ut this reaction results only in a little thickening in the lymph nodes and about the lymphatic vessels. The lung tissue may be variously pigmented, black from coal or rctl from iron, hut there is no formation of scar tissue that inter feres with function. The susceptibility to tuberculosis of the person with such pig mentation is not increased but it is apparently rpiite definite that pneumonia is unduly prevalent in coal miners and that chronic bronchitis results from the inhala tion of cement. The X-ray films of men working in nou-siliccous dusts shows cither nothing at all or a more or less marked accentuation of the linear shadows cast by the blood vessels. This, of course, is due to the chronic iullammatory changes about the_ lymphatic trunks in walls of blood vessels.
The effects of mixtures of free silica and nou-siliccous materials are less clearly defined and should receive more serious attention. It would seem unwise to assume, as has been done in the past, that the nou-siliccous substances serve only as inert diluents and that only the quartz component of a dust is of significance. Experi mental and clinical data arc accumulating which suggest that at least some other diists may materially modify the action of quartz, both in its capacity to produce nodular fibrosis in the lungs and to increase the susceptibility to tuberculosis. For example, animals inhaling heavy concentrations of a mixture of equal parts of pure silica and hematite dust for eight hours a day over a period of 14 months have shown not even the slightest indication of nodule formation in the lung, whereas pure quartz dust, inhaled for only two hours a day,.produces definite nodulation. It also seems to be true that animals inhaling such a mixture arc much less susceptible to tuberculosis than those exposed to pure quartz. In the case of the human iron miner, some lungs show definite silicotic nodulation, others only a very few nodules awMnanv no nodules at all. All exhibit heavy deposits of iron particles with a yccl&hr jSoimcctive tissue reaction. When these findings can lie correlated with chemical "analysis of the lung tissues and the approximate amount of rock work which these miners have performed, some relationship lietwccn the exposure to silica and the fibrous nodule formation may lie established. Tuberculosis in these iron miners is apparently less prevalent and much less severe than in men exposed to pure silica. What has been said of iron miners is also probably true of loumlrt workers and coal miners. It is generally accepted that men in the latter occupation have less tuberculosis than the average for the age period: Cummins liclievcs that they have the infection but that it is so atypical and benign in its manifestations that it escapes diagnosis.
Mention should also be made of mixed dusts like certain slates anil granite containing large amounts of free silica in combination with silicates. Experimentally these substances behave atypically and do not produce nodular fibrosis unless there is complicating infection. The same may also he true in human beings. Unques tionably such dusts arc capable of producing typical silicotic nodules ami they pre dispose to tuberculosis. From a theoretical standpoint they should receive much more intensive study to clarify our views on the whole subject. At the present time it appears that the action of their quartz component is modified and partially neu tralized by the other substances which they contain.
Using Exhaust Systems and Respiratory Equipment
To Protect Workers Exposed to Dust
By STUART W. GURNEY and DAVID S. BEYER
Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, Boston
The speaker said in part: A number of our states have had references to dust elimination in their labor laws for a good many years, but no state lias as yet thoroughly enforced these laws. The codes of live states which we investigated provide that grinding, buffing and polishing wheels should be exhausted, although two of the states exempt from these provisions wheels oil which water is used.
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30 Twenty-third Annual Safety Canyress--National Safety Council
large groups of workers liy discovering early not only occupational diseases, but
many other conditions that go undiscovered until the worker is acutely ill or be
comes disabled. If the various contagious conditions go unrecognized others la
conic infected, thereby causing serious economic loss, as well as endangering the
health of a group of individuals.
The information obtained from physical examinations affords the medical super
visor the opportunity to make certain that employees are engaged in suitable work
out of which they arc getting maximum results, to correct the effects of undue ex
posure to harmful environmental conditions, and generally to lessen all occupa
tional hazards. As a public health measure, it is impossible to over-estimate the
value of periodic examinations in establishing interest in sickness prevention.
The set-up of a proper program for medical control of workers exposed to dust
depends upon the number of employees involved and individual plant conditions.
A series of articles tinder the title of "The Medical Department Manual" by Dr.
Hart E. Fisher, appearing in current numbers of "Industrial Medicine." gives a com
prehensive account of the organization and operation of a medical department.
1. The establishment of a medical department with adequate facilities and med- _
ical personnel who have qualified in the field of industrial medicine. A process
analysis oi all operations in the plant should he made anil the medirat supervisor
should list all possible health hazards and familiarize himself with their physio
logical effects. If necessary, he should conduct research studies to determine the
harmful effects of new' substances introduced into plant processes about which little
is known. In cooperation with other departments, he should investigate the extent
of the hazards and devise measures of control.
2. The routine examination of all applicants for employment. The procedure
should include a detailed history of the applicant's previous illnesses and accidents
classified under fa) diseases of childhood, fb) general infectious diseases, fc)
respiratory diseases, fd) venereal diseases, and fc) accidents and resulting physical
dciects. A detailed history of previous occupations engaged in is very important.
A mere statement of the type of industry-in which the applicant was engaged has
slight value, if any. The exact duties performed in each occupation should lie
noted and information ascertained as to the probable length id exposure to hazard
ous substances. After the history has been taken and a photograph for identifica
tion purposes fif part of routine) is made, the applicant should be directed to the
examining room where he is instructed to remove bis clothing for physical exam
ination. This examination should be made as complete as is considered necessary
to determine the applicant's physical rondiliou.
If the applicant lias been or will he exposed lo dusts which induce lung dis
eases. an X-ray picture of the chest is an important part of the examination. This
part of the examination may he referred to an experienced roentgenologist, as
the value of this method of diagnosis depends upon the type of pictures taken and
the experience of the reader who interprets them. The examining physician also
may need additional information obtained by laliorntnry analv-ri
the blood,
sntitmn. and the ttrine. These aids lo diagnosis should lie provided or made avail
able when desirable.
.1. The rating and placement of applicants. In cooperation with the personnel
department, the applicant should he rated and placed, not only on his training and
[i.-ist experiences, hut also on his physical and mental abilities to fill vacancies occur
ring from time to time. The rcrord of his physical and mental examination should
he the confidential property of the medical department.
4. Periodical physical examinations. The frequency of periodical examinations
neressarily must depend upon individual circumstances according to the need for
sttrh examinations as determined he the supervising phvsician. Where physical
examinations arc made for the first time, the employees of long standing- should he
given ample explanation uf the benefits of such examinations and he given assur
ances that I heir jobs are secure.
a. Provision for the disabled. Employees who develop disabilities during the
course of employment should he re-assigned to occupations which wiil not interfere
with or aggravate the disability, or they should he provided for in other ways.
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c Tll'ENTY-TIl IRf) ANNUAL SAFETY CONGRESS NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL
Safety Section, A R A ~ Steam Railroad Section, NSC
^Chairman--C. I.. LaFountaine, Great Northern Railway Co.. St. Paul. Minn. First d'irr-Chairmnn--H. A. Parish. Chicago & North Western Railway. Chicago. Second Ficc-Chuinnnn--W. H. Failing. Central Railroad of New Jersey. Secretary--J. C. Caviston, American Railway Association. New York City.
A complete - report of these sessions is published l<y the American Kaihi'ity Association in a booklet entitled, "Frorcedinns of lh,- Fourteenth Annual Meetinti of the Safety Section, Cleveland, Ohio. October 2-4. JQ.V." Copies of the booklet are available from the Association of American Railroads, N. Y. C. The following is a condensed' record.
TUESDAY MORNING SESSION October 2,. 1934
The n|icning session of the Safety Section. American Railway Association-- Steam Railroad Section. National Safety Council was called to order by Chairo ..n
'.al'ouiilaine. Great Northern Railway, St. Paul, Minnesuin. who presided. The invocation was delivered by L. G. Bentley, Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. The report of the Secretary. J. C. Cavistou, New York City, in which he outlined briefly the activities of officers and standing committees during the last year, was read and approved. The Chairman then presented his annual report.
Annual Report of the Chairman
By C. L. LA FOUNTAINE ' Great Northern Railway, St. Paul, Minn. The s|ieaker said in part: Let us go hade for a moment to the resolution adopted at our annual meeting in 1024, which set a goal calling for reduction, based on the 1923 record, of 33 per cent in casualties to employees on duty. Class I railroads, by
,Mi
.. gave' a ' great
llic re tying oil rganized be safety ; downnot know at period. "117 to a that date liicli year r accom-
in the M'fr. On . 'iinlicr of '*J3 under
to speak, .n during analogous the years when imnachincry, ' "it in due lent im-
thc acci possihlc :: of the
last ten Not-
;-read heting that i-sig the
in 1933 as 10.02. '*), the
nted "to ipinions
_ causes :npiuyccs HTvisory is, from
vc is to -ible l>er, is not liould he
ust first The diffi way to training, and dis eases of
:.>ject on
i
i j jJ ' I; f r I"
! [ .
`
I
I '
. '
Safely Seel ion, AHA--Shut in Hailroatl Seri ion. fa'SC
3S9
.
which one is to train another. In safety.- it is knowledge of safe practices. These
are shown hv the causes of accidents and lie jnh analysis. When safe practices arc
reduced to writing they are usually called rules, or at least they are equivalent to
rules. Therefore, if all safe practices in any occupation were reduced P> rules and
if complete obedience to such rules were secured, it would insure complete immunity
from accidents from man failure. This means that the first step in safety is to
iwovidc adequate rules; the second step is for local olliecrs and supervisors (the
teachers') to know and understand the rules; and the third step is to see that the
employees know, understand and oliev the rules. Fn consonance with these ob-
servatious, the following items are presented for the consideration of the Safety
Section as some of the essential elements in an effective safety program:
1. A comprehensive set of safety rules outlining the safe ways of working.
2. A practical, working understanding of the rules or safe practices by all
local officers, supervisors and employees, to he assured by suitable examinations.
3. Invariable obedience to all rules, violations not resulting in accidents repre
senting the same degree of culpability as when accidents do result from such
violations.
4. Definite and not perfunctory observations hy local officers ami supervisors
to detect violations of safety rules and formal report of violations detected as a
requirement of management.
5. Formal disciplinary action on proven violations, with entry on discipline
Tecord covering every ease.
6. A monthly and cumulative record of the violations of rules nr unsafe prac
tices detected liv each local officer and supervisor, ami a monthly summary hy
dcpartmenti__for divisions and system.
7. Alfaccidcnts. regardless of how trivial, shall he reported and investigated
promptly to determine cause, responsibility and disciplinary action to lie taken
where responsibility is shown.
8. ,.Tnvcstigatipj; should invariable develop an answer to these two questions:
fal .tva.Tjjlceidcnt due to the violations of a rule? fl>) If not. should a rule be
provided?
*
TUESDAY AFTERNOON SESSION October 2, 1934
The "Green Book"
By LEW R. PALMER
Secretary, Committee of Award, Railroad Employees' National Safety Contest and Conservation Engineer, Equitable Life Assurance Society, New York City
The speaker said in part: The year 1933 ended the ten year period of the
Railroad Employees' National Safety Fomcst as set up by the National Safety
Council and recorded in tiic respective issues of the "Green Hook.".
A constant study of railroad safety contest records during a period of ten years
has established what I believe to be a fundamental fact: that it is necessary to break
down our entire Class I railroad exposure into a sufficient number ui competing
groups so that there will not he too wide a variation between the man-hour cxjiosnre
of the largest group contender as compared with the man-hours of the smaller
contenders in the same group: otherwise, the larger unit, with it* more uniform
casualty rate, will be handicapped hv the more. widely fluctuating rates of the
smaller contenders: for it is generally recognized that under normal conditions the
greater the man-hour exposure the more uniform the casualty rates arc year by year.
For that reason, the revised plan suggested ior the 1934 Railroad Employees'
National Safety Contest includes six groups for standard Class I railroads ami two
groups for switching and terminal roads, it being a matter of record in connection
with switching and terminal roads-that a great deal more interest has been developed
in our annual contest since these roads were given what was considered a fighting
chance for competitive honors.
*
intcih
tapped lightly , joints may lias been laid die light rail
track struc-
.
ilder climates, re is scarcely
aonts, some of loth laterally nen the frost
.aiformly. a hane to the i -sponsible lor .-dreads, there
tl in a period ban three feet -.on-foot flood.
:.vv-ways must
A'ooden bridge
-i;.. Refuse at ,ay. Adequate l>e provided. ; not only to Me of the sub-
- danger, due denser, mure
-Mpixirting top cause of the H of a train, dmd of drains. lialfa or Uersablc driiting
ars off sidings her obstacles ...is. especially
from the track jiccial hazard
- ces. oiling of vegetation are -
steel hut on :.e to come. In -tal to prevent t away from
,n this item is .11 fire in tics
a single panel or to depress
: mid lie taken id underneath
now. or other due to snow
due to vehicles -* Here it com-
> ; j I I
1 j j
1
l
Safi'ly Section, ARA---Stciun Railroad Section, NSC
3')5
pacts under traffic. as more and more is deposited, until eventually the wheels of a passing train are lifted up and over the rail. Highway repairmen operating roadscrapers arc sometimescareless or ignorant of these dangers. Track foremen should make it their duty to advise all such persons of the-possible consequences of this dangerous practice.
Mo far very little has been said about inspections. It is, however, by regular
and careful track inspections that incipient dangers may best be found and cor rected. The trackmen, the foremen and the supervisors should train most carefully the men upon whom they are to rely. With sections rapidly becoming longer and longer, it is not always possible for the foreman to supervise his gang and also patrol his track. The track inspector therefore liecomcs the first line of defense. He must he able to think clearly and rapidly in whatever emergency may arise, always remembering that the safety of the train service rests in his hands.
Moreover, the foreman himself must be ready at all times of high wind, heavy rain, or any unusual weather conditions to patrol his track, and to him is given the power to preserve the lives of passengers and trainmen, and to him is given the privilege of speeding up the wings of transportation!.
WEDNESDAY MORNING-SESSION October 3, 1934
Report of Committee on Prevention of Highway
r.
X
Crossing Accidents
By H. A. ROWE
Manager, Claims Department, Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, New York City
The speaker said in part: The report of this committee for the year 11/3.1 again shows a slight-reduction in the number of accidents and fatalities at railroad
highway crossings and a substantial reduction in the ntnulicr of injuries lor the
fifth consecutive year since the year 1923. The record is as follows:
Year
Accidents
1923........................................... 5.81)0
l-'alalities 2,508
Injuries 0//.7
1933 .......................................... 3.235
1,511
3.097
Reduction..................... 2.505 (44%)
1,057 ( 41 7c)
2.970 (44%)
Casualties .hiring the four months of June. July, August amt September in the
Careful Crossing Campaign, compared with the same period. 192S to 1933, inclusive,
were as follows:
Year
Accidents
Fatalities
Injuries
1923........................................ 1.799
858
2.092
1929.............
1.827
749
2.140
1930..............................
1.371
040
1,505
1931..............................'......... 1.103
490 . -1.190
1932........................................ 1933 ........................................
899 990
432 491
1.022 1.124
It will he noted that automobile registration in 1933 was 23.827.290. and repre sents an increase of 1.4 per cent over the preceding year; this is quite comparable with the number of automobiles registered in the peak year of crossing accident casualties.
Gasoline consumption, which is a fair barometer of nutmnnhilu use. was 10.025,502,001) gallons during the year 1933; which is an increase of a trifle less than 2 per cent over the preceding year. The increasing uso of smaller cars with greater mileage per gallon of gasoline, indicates that the traflic over and across railroad
tracks was fully equal to that of 1932.
" V<
Co'lll: ii
/
tsings
.. Mo.
. mi the railroads run over, not at
,er can he clasi.>iit first looking
when he could . i car in a live
dy telling them. ;-y shouldn't do when all of them in that wav last -.iiswer is. in an
..-ved no problem iiitst include that ation of the men.
supervision. In .1 without goggles !d:n for five days
r. rather, a part ivllows. 's family was in ays a month at turn: In's, guggles, ve little children, id in that lmuse vy had was one
. and took up a
thanked me with that we had not
.11 never find me
. ::cst influence on .::u was given ids
. the other day. vas not wearing mu down "It the .vs. that he was what the fellow's
our home, eleven to put her feet
.re of that invalid nr wife that you at you were no . r in the struggle
king to him. He . r licen talked to as a lot of hooey
.Siifety Section, Ai\.l--Steam h'ttilnmii Section, NSC
403
in this safety movement. But 1`now realize what it-means to me, and you can rest assured that never again will I do that kind of work without my goggles on."
That is some more .supervision. Notice the results. Don't think for a moment that l am deprecating punishment for non-enforcement of rules. Safety rules should lie adopted and they should he rigidly enforced liy whatever methods arc necessary to cause the employee to comply with them. Hut enforcement is only a part of supervision.
Here is some more supervision that brought good results. On the Wabash Railway this year we laid 00 miles of new 110-pound steel. We had a gang of 115 or 120 section men engaged in that work. About the time they started this work we happened to have a division saicty meeting within four or five miles ol where this camp was. The supervisor, a Mr. Watkins by name, loaded his fellows up and brought them in to the safety meeting.
1 was there and I told them just how to do their- job without anybody getting hurt. Aliout three months later, they completed that job, and not a single man had hcen injured.
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON SESSION October 3, 1934
Interesting Employees in Looking After Their Own Safety
By J. CLYDE MIXON
r- *
Chief Cleric to General Superintendent, Northern Division, Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company, Savannah, Ga.
The speaker said in part: One of our South Carolina philosophers, Huh (Juillan, once said: "If we would pray more often tor common sense, wc would not have to pray for rain." Expand that thought for yourselves. Safety is common sense in action.
"Interesting employees in looking after their own safety" is hut another way of
saying, "Sell the idea of safety to your men.'" Before one can sell anything to someone else one must sell oneself. You may he sure that in a section where there
is a poor safety record it is primarily the result of the indillerenee of a supervisory officer, or the result of his inability to sell the idea to his men and keep them sold
on it. We must keep everlastingly at this proposition of safety. A wise man who
lived in the Orient once said: "Nothing is ever definitely finished among men. for cacti thing stops only to begin again." We can put that down as a law of nature. It lias been said that "eternal vigilance is -the price of safety", and that is unite true. We must constantly drive home the doctrine of safety mindedness.
It the supervisor is indifferent, there isn't anything to do about it but "decapitate" him. and the sooner the hotter, because it is an indication not only of narrowness
but of his umvorthiness to be a leader of men and a representative of enlightened management.
It should not be difficult to get men interested in looking after their own safety. The first law of nature, the law of the jungle, the law of sell-preservation, is or should be invoked by every worker. It requires some time, however, ior men to be soltl on this idea--that they must look after themselves. There is also, of course,
the appeal to a man's higher nature, the duty he'owes to his family, then to his
fellow workers and the public whom he serves. But I want to approach this subject largely from the angle of rcsponsibility
and the opportunity of the supervising officer. It thrills me sometimes when I think
of the opportunities the supervising officers--the foreman, the master mechanic, the
trainmaster, the superintendent--have it they exert themselves as the loaders of the
men working under their supervision. What an opportunity this man has to aceom-
I