Document bB0wM182yYK4Rjxr6VX0VZaoy

1961 Xattend Safety Congress eye protection was established to prevent serious eye injuries, himself ineluded. The man was then informed that because his record did not show any previous cita tion for rule violations the disciplinary ac tion report resulting from this case would show tliat he had merely been given a reprimand and warning without the loss ox any time. The warning indicated that he had been informed that any subsequent violations of the rules might result in in creased corrective action on a progressive scale. Here again, the case was dispositioaed with only enough "constructive discipline** to arrive at the desired correction of the employee's attitude and performance. This program of scaled action to fit the case is carried out through the whole range of cases which might occur. Each succeed ing time that it is necessary to apply dis ciplinary action to an individual employee, his previous record is taken into considera tion. In those cases where it is clearly evident that the previous actions liave no: resulted in the expected improvement in the employee's attitude and behavior, ad ditional motivation is applied, each step be ing progressively more severe. In a few very serious case*, the end result may finally be a discharge. I am glad to be able to say that very few cases go to this extreme. The lack o extreme cases indicates that the system of progressive actions takes hold and does the job some where along the line before the final stage is reached. Since a disciplinary penalty i? imposed solely to obtain improvement of future be havior. follow-up i< important in determin ing whether it has been effective, cr whether further action as necessary* Up to the present time we have dwelt extensively on the techniques utilized is the "constructive use of discipline :n safety violations." Now, let's give a little considera tion to the end results of such actions. This is the meat on the menu. This is the pay off. While we do not, by any means, give our company program of "constructive dis cipline" the zehole credit, we are sure that it played a Z'cry important part of the re cent accomplishment of the Cleveland foundry of the Ford Motor Co. in establish ing a new all-time National Gray Iron Foundry Best Record of 3,421,133 man-hours of exposure without a di<ahing injury. We also are sure that this technique of using discipline for corrective purpose* played an important pan in the record of our two Cleveland engine plants. These two plants have, within the span of less than ten years, posted periods of over 3,000,000 man-hours of exposure without disabling injury on seven separate occasions. The use of "constructive discipline" can never be the answer to all problems. I: can. however, help in the efforts to create a safety azvareness in our employees which we all are striving for. Safety awareness? Now there is a term I like! Turn that over on the tongue of your mind for a minute! Get the taste of it? Let me give you an example. Recently, while I was walking through an aisle in our foundry at Cleveland, an hourly man walking in the same direction but some distance ahead, noticed a small length of pipe lying in trie aisle where it had apparently fallen from a passing scrap truck. Tiie man, with scarcely a pause, stooped down, picked up the pipe and tossed it into another scrap truck and continued on his way. It was done in such a casual manner it appeared to be an act of habit. That is zvhat zee zrant! We want safety so ingrained in our employees that they exhibit similar thoughtfulness in all their actions. Thoughtfulness that is a habit! And there is no contradiction of terms in this instance. Here was living proof of the "safety awareness'* we are striving for. Here was evidence of one of the factors which helped the foundry set a new record, helped the foundry exceed the old record, which had stood for five years, by a margin of well over 500,000 hours. Here was evidence that, properly motivated, employees can be moved to consider the "other fellow's" welfare as well as their c vn. This man's action may well have pre vented the next man coming along front taking a bad spilL Such patterns of thought can cause a man who, in the past, had been guilty of leaving a guard off a machine, to now pause to replace it upon completion of his job. Development of sueh safe work habits can truly make a man become, al most unconsciously, his "brother's keeper." Industrial Subjects Sessions We do not know whether this man had ever had occasion to have "constructive discipline" applied to him. We have no way os determining since the man was not iden tified. We like to think, however, that this is the sort of attitude which can be developed by the technique of applying discipline in a corrective sense, rather than in a punitive sense. You all know what happens when you pu-h a pendulum. You give it a push and it -wings right back at you. If you give a man a push lie also has the same reac tion : he has a tendency to take a swing at you in return, in one way or another. It i- .ur thinking at Ford that much more can }< accomplished by leading a man onto the right road by correcting his errors in a constructive manner. This leading, never theless, must be firm to avoid being mis understood as weakness. Someone says, "Nuts! There are some guvs you can't reach with anything but a big dub and a size 14 boot.*' There may be seme truth in this staiemcit. but. (and that is a big but) these cases are few and far between and we should not fall into the trap of accepting this as a dump for all of our problem children. It costs money, a lot money, to train employees to perform todays complex jobs. It costs money, a lot of money, to have our employees suffer in dustrial injuries. It is our job to save our employers from the unnecessary expense ox" discharging er rant employees. It is also our job to save our employers from the unnecessary expense i accidenxal injury** It is even more cur job to discharge our moral responsibility of preventing the human misery' to the em ployee and his family which invariably re sults when the bread-winner is laid 1 \v hccause he or his fellow-employee failed : heed the safety rules. In nearing the conclusion of this di.-cu^-ion, let tis remember that the old days *.: the woodshed as a symbol of discipline ar*._-one and past. More enlightened thinking :utd the teaching of experience has opened a better door. A wider portal with broader vistas: "constructive discipline." based * : correction, not punishment. It is a prime tenet of psychology that the human animal has a greater tendency to re member pleasure than pain. How many n: you can remember the occasion* on your Ma or Pa bent the bejnbher? out - :* your little hind-end? 1*11 bet not one of you can. or, at most very faintly. On the other hand. Ill also wager that many of you cur. still clearly remember the old swimming hole, how much fun you used to have at the County Fair or many other pleasure- of your childhood. Not that we mean to imply that applying even "constructive discipline" to our em ployees will be a pleasure to them. Rather, we should attempt to remove as much c: the pain as possible from our corrective ac tion to lc?en the tendency* to forget un pleasant experience?. Educate, teach, rorr,*.-*. that's the ticket. Punishment for pun:-'., ment's sake belongs !' the Dark Ages. SAFE APPLICATION OF ELECTRIC CONTROLS ON MACHINE TOOLS By F. C. PEREGOY Supervisor of Safety, Wesiinghouse Electric Corp.. Baltimore, Md. By definition, machine tools include all power-driven equipment performing coldworking of metal by progressively removing metal in the form of chips. The National Association of Machine Tool Builders has classified some 200 types of machine tools under five basic functions--turning, boring, milling, planing and grinding. Authorities agree that injuries from ma chine operation are likely to be more severe than injuries irr,m other causes; and more likely-to result in liCrmancnt disability. For example. Accident Facts shows machinery to be the source of 10 per cent of all injuries, but the source of 19 per cent of permanent disabilities