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18 1955 Xational Safety Congress company is building a second "Farm of Hazards," and next year will have two dem onstrations on the road.. "`Is Your Farm Safe Frotn FireI'' This is the question posed by "Farm of Hazards" demonstrator Art Henderson. Following this question, Henderson dis tributes to his audience a check sheet of some 40 questions covering farm fire haz ards. Random samples: Is the attic free of trash? . . . Does anyone smoke in the bam? . . . Is there a fused safety switch (in the com crib) ? . . . Arc the heat lamps (in the hog house) properly protected? . . . Has your family discussed the fire fighting tech nique they would use in case a fire breaks out? On most farms, answering 40 such questions as these will uncover at least one serious hazard. We believe farm fires can be prevented ii farm residents will take the time to--inspect and be sure. Industry's Stake in Farm Safety By IRVING A. DUFFY Vice-Pres. and Member of the Board, Ford Motor Co^ Birmingham, Mich. "Industry's Stake in Farm Safety" is a title which has a much deeper meaning than simply 'the concern of industrialists that measures be taken to keep their customers alive. Customers not only are a prime asset to any successful business--they are a down right necessity. To me, "Industry's Stake in Farm Safety" means people--the people of industry*, for industry is composed of people, not buildings and machines alone--people filled with a genuine concern for the welfare, productive ness and happiness of their fellow man. The eminent scientist and humanitarian, the late Albert Einstein, once said /`Concern for man himself and his fate must always form the chief interest of all technical en deavor. Never forget this in the midst of your diagrams and equations." Today, a vast majority of American indus try is acting on the advice of this wise man. Never before have manufacturers of the products which make our economy great backed up their deep concetti for the safety of their customers with such extensive re search programs and new manufacturing processes aimed specifically at producing greater margins of safety* in their products. Last September, in Dearborn, Michigan, Ford Motor Company held a-National Safety Forum. Attending were leaders in many fields of safety research. The purposes of this Forum were to focus attention on prog ress being made in highway safety, and to present a new concept of injury prevention in automobile accidents. From the reports that have come in since that Forum--many from safety specialists participating in this National Safety Con gress--the Forum not only helped increase public awareness of the problem, but also highlighted some very* definite progress to ward its solution. It is to the everlasting credit of enlight ened industry that life-saving research where applicable, now is an integral part of the program of every major industrial firm of which I have personal knowledge. Call it humanitarianism. call it human engineering, call it acceptance of a moral responsibility on the part of industry'* No matter by which name you call it--let me assure you that industry* as a whole it keenly aware of its stake in safety. Let me assure you also that you who count it one of your prime missions in life to save the lives of others have a sympathetic, able and energetic ally in industry- I am confident that everyone in this room is well aware of the size of our mutual problem. You know that the accidental death rate in fanning has a grim standing of third highest among the major industries of this country. It is behind only* mining and con struction in the hazard parade. You know that acddoits kill approximately 14.500 farm residents and injure 1,250,000 Farm Safely 19 annually. You know that motor vehicle ac cidents account for about 6^00 deaths to farm residents each year, and work accidents account for another 3,800 deaths. You- know, too, that statistics show farm ers are involved in fatal traffic accidents more frequently than other drivers. That is a rough outline of the gruesome problem we face. It seems to me that safety can be pro moted with "E*s". 1 don't refer to the word ease--spelled e-a-s-c. Few things that are north while are done with ease. I refer to two letter "E*s". One of these "E's" through which safety can be promoted is Education --a field in which many of you people here in this room and others have made some spectacular gains in recent years. The other "E" stands for Engineering-- engineering danger out and safety* into the products of our mechanical age. 1 have heard some criticism directed to ward industry- The charge has been that some industrialists refuse to admit that their products are not up to safety standards. Let me say that I know of no reputable industry* today which stands aloof and claims that its products are blameless, and that any death and injury' which may result during their ue stems solely from the ignorance or care lessness of the user. Statistics show that active Americans arc so ingenious at discovering new way's in which to be injured or killed that no manu facturer can afford to relax his vigilance and his emphasis on safety engineering. Children still drown in a shallow basin of water. Grown-ups still injure themselves ser iously falling out of bed. You have every right to expect industry* to lend a strong hand in both safety educa tion and in safety* engineering. Others will join me in pointing with pride to the progress made in safety education and in safety engineering by* the farm equipment industry since 1938, when the Farm Equip ment Institute appointed a Farm Safety Committee and its Advisory* Engineering Committee. Since that time, uniform safety first signs have been used at specific points on all power-driven machines; power take off shafts have beat more effectively shielded; standard dimensions have been adopted for the location of the power take off shaft and draw bar hitch point to make it unnecessary for fanners to resort to make-shift methods of hitching tractors and implements which were not originally de signed to work together. I won't attempt to get into the discussion of any specific problems in farm machinery safety*. But I would like to point out for you some of the broad concepts cf safety* engineering which are gaining considerable favor in the farm equipment industry. The first broad concept--and it's an old standby--is that the safest equipment is the equipment which gives the farmer the most trouble-free service. Farming, being a sea sonal business, has its periods of high ac tivity in which machines and men alike bear an extra burden. When a machine break down occurs, it is not mere happenstance that the breakdown often comes during a heavy* work period, such as at harvest time. We like to think that farm equipment dealers are ever ready to rise to such emer gencies. Yet we know that all too often the dealer never is called in. and the farmer re sorts to baling wire and other expediencies to keep equipment running. Make-shift re pairs and expediencies often spell danger. Thus we say that the most dependable equipment is the safest equipment. You may well ask--just what steps is the farm equipment industry* taking to build added dependability* into their machines and avoid the dangers of make-shift repairs? As an example, let me tell you that we have just this fall completed two new facili ties at Birmingham, Michigan, where a major emphasis is on safety engineering. I refer to a new, indoor Farm Machinery* Research and Engineering Center and an outdoor Eval uation Center, or proving ground for farm equipment. The indoor Research Center is manned by 500 engineering personnel equipped with the very latest facilities for research in hy draulics. plastics, electronics and other mod em sciences haring a relationship with farm equipment Five dynamometers ranging from 250 horsepower to 400 horsepower test en gines, transmissions and differentials. Here, under one roof, engineering tech niques that have proven effective in the auto motive and aircraft industries are bring ap plied-some of them for the first time--to the farm equipment industry-