Document dY79LBQpodKVgxmMeVrZ2xk7R

REMOVING THE HAZARD FROM THE JOB been installed He will be in frequent con sultation with the safety department in mak ing all purchases where safety u a factor He will also be particularly careful to see that every purchased machine complies fully with the safety regulations of the state in which it is to be operated The matter of price When considering plant purchases from the standpoint of safety, the item of cost cannot be minimized There is a constant struggle in the muid of the purchasing agent to reconcile quality, work efficiency, and safety with the price of an item Sometimes it may seem that the cost of an adequately safeguarded machine is out of all proportion to the cost of an unguarded machine plus the estimated cost of adding homemade safeguards But the experience of many industrial plants has proved again and again that the best time to safeguard a machine or process is in the design stage Safeguards planned and built as integral parts of a machine are the most efficient and durable The purchasing agent, through accident information supplied by the safety depart ment, will be famibar with the costs of spe cific accidents in the plant He will know that every accident has both direct and in direct costs He will remember specific ex amples of accidents and their costs Of course, the purchasing agent must be able to defend his judgment If he bas made a study of the accident experience of his plant over a period of years, and if he has familiarized himself with accident de tails and accident costs, he will be able to justify his decisions He will be firmly con vinced that the safety program of his plant is necessary for production efficiency and profit, and that the safety department, with which he is cooperating, is really a produc tion division, producing wealth by the elnnination of accident wastes These are arguments that must appeal to all execubves who are responsible for the success of the industrial organization. The executive who is already sold on safety will be favorable to expenditures reasonably jus tified in the interest of accident prevention If an executive does not have this atbtude, means of increasing his interest and of broadening his understanding of the aca dent situation must he sought In this un dertaking, the purchasing agent can un doubtedly count upon the active co-opera tion of the safety man In some instances, the purchase of ma chinery or equipment involves engineering details of great importance For such pur chases, the industrial establishment will un doubtedly have a system whereby, first, defi nite speoficabons, perhaps including draw ings, will be prepared by engineers These plans and speoficabons will then be careful ly checked by the head of the safety dejiartment before bids and estimates of cost aTe sohcited The purchasing agent will have the plans and speoficabons at hand when he asks for prices However, he will want to keep in close touch with the safety man throughout the negobahons of such purchases, for he will want the benefit of the latter's knowl edge and experience m picking any flaw in relabon to accident prevention details After the purchase order has been made out and before it is signed, one other most important detail should not be overlooked This is a statement, in language that cannot possibly be misinterpreted, that the articles ordered must comply fully with the safetv laws and regulations of the state in which they are to be used This statement must be made a part of the purchase order References Bethlehem Steel Company, Bethlehem, Pa "Job Safety Analysis " Bethlehem Steel's Supervisory Solely Manual Chapter S McFarland, Ross A "Human Engineering Aspects of Safety " Mechanical Engineering, 76 407-10 (May 1954) Nabonal Safety Council, 425 North Michigan Ave, Chicago, 111 Accident Facts, 1964 Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, Harrisburg, Pa Industrie! Injuries in Pennsylvania. 1960. 4-18