Document qjGVOnLVn4QOwMG412579y9R

-460 T*vcntx~sc<and Congrcss--National Safety Council rocm employees mar****" and inspect daily on the repair track* and m the yard*. It ts here that personal responsibility of the ear department employee is demonstrated, and a fall appreciation of that rc*pon*2riIrty is shown, for tmdcrlying the doty of the departmait in the inspection of eqoipnwnl is the keynote of safety. First and foremmt m a roirr of the activities of inspection and maintenance of equipment, there properly comes U> mind the elaborate system of safety appliances, h as hand-holds, ladder rounds, coupler release*, etc, as established by regulation cm all ora for passengers or freight. The primary purpose is to reduce accidents to train and yard men. The condition of the brakes on the cars, inchxfing air operating features as veil as the physical parts ssdi as rods, levers, pm*, beams, shoes, etc* is another of the car department** responsibilities in accident prevention. Every one of these parts is subject to constant wear and possible breakagr. They must be cratched with extreme care to know that at all times they are tn safe and ratable condition for further service. Running gears, couplers, draft gears, etc. are parts with which many railroad employees are not familiar and their "diseases'* are not known. To the carman they are vital parts of the cafe operation -of the tram as well as in the prevention of accident*. Experience has taught him where to lode for futures, what weaknesses to check. what wear to allow and what limits beyond which he must not "take a chance** under any circumstances. Freight House Accidents--Their Cause and Remedy By L. B. HIKE Agent. Erie Railway. Binghamton, New York The speaker said in part: Freight house accidoits do not happen--they are caused. It is the agent's responsibility to eliminate them. Tins can be accomplished only through untiring effort, investigation and developing the cause of every acci dent. and the application of a remedy or cure that will prevent a repetition. There are many routines and manners to be foilowed by a successful agent, m his promotion of the safety movuuoU. and it is needless to say that this goes hand in hand with efficiency. One. know your men. Two, issue a duly bulletin, quoting a safety rule, and require each member of your force to know that rule. Three, adopt a suitable safety slogan and diangc it with regularity. Four, be fair with your men, create in their minds without a shadow of doubt that you are interested m their personal welfare: develop their confidence get them to realise the requirements of the rules and necessity for compliance with them to protect themselves and their families. Realise that the education of same men at the larger stations or piers is quite a task owing to the general class of men employed. You must not forget however, they arc human brings. It ran be dene. Have the rules and slogans issued in languages in accordance with the nationalities of your forces. Have the general foreman and the foremen give a short safety talk to their forces ruh cfay before starting work. Conduct a weekly safety meeting, at which the agent must preside. Place bulletin boards at various positions in your freight house, indicating the number of days your forces have worked without a personal injury. One of our large railroads has had what is known as the star system. A chart is placed in a conspicuous position, in which a space is shown for each day of each Safety Section ARA--Steam Railroad Section NSC 461 month, covering the current year. The foreman places on this chart before the farces go to work each day a gold star if no accident has occurred the previous day. A Mae star for a mima accident and a red star for a lost-time accident, also are used. It doesn't take long to create enthusiasm by snch an arrangement. It is by the mating of personal interest that results are accomplished. A contented man is an asset; and when the average man knows that his superior is interested in him, be is contented. When he is m that state of mind you can easily convert him into a safe man. Report of Committee on Train Accidents By G. H. WARFEL Assistant to Executive Vice President. Union Pacific System. Omaha. Neb. The speaker said in part: The subject of tram accidents is one which oftentimes docs not get the attention it deserves, particularly from railroad safety men. because only a comparatively small proportion of the casualties (and the casualty rate per million man-hours is the criterion upon which the safely men judge their work un raQruads) result from train accidents, and men arc apt to overlook their importance. Of the 1,265 collisions occurri*g in 1932, 114 were head-on or rarent cultisions between trains. There were also 112 side or raking collisions and 10 at crossings with other railroads, leaving something over 1,000 occurring on yard switches and in similar operations. More significant from a safety standpoint is tltc fact that more than 90 pci* cent of all collisions arc directly ascribed to negligence of employees. In the analysis of these negligent cases, the principal items arc: the disregard of fixed signals; the disregarding or misunderstanding of hand signals; failure to secure hand brakes: leaving switches set wrtaqg: failure to cimply with speed restrictions: improper handling of locomotives; and failure to keep proper lookout. We find, therefore, as we go through other classes of train accidents besides collisions,- that that same old factor, which m the annual statistical bulletin is described as negligence of employees, insists on showing up. Train accidents are important in another way. too. A railroad may have a very fine employee casualty rate; it may even have won an award because of its employee casualty rate on the basis of safety work among employees. It may have a good safety record alt the way around. But one train accident of serious nature may largely undo to the public mind all the advantage of those tong years of patient work in buSMing up a reputation for safety. So we get back to the same thing in train accidents that we have in the train service and in every other type of acc.wk.nt on a railroad. The alt-important thing in any safety campaign on any railroad is the proper education and training of employee*. The first thing necessary for a trainer is that he know the thing he is training the men for. If he docs nut know h from his own experience he must study h wy carefully, because the teacher cannot teach the student if the student knows more about the game than the teacher hhnsdL We have a situation on the American railroads today somewhat analogous to that in surgery a generation ago. Thirty-five or 40 years ago American surgeons knew almost as much about anatomy as they know now. The doctor knew where to cut and how to cut; he knew how to stitch; but of the number of rrv* that