Page Six B.C. LUMBER WORKER Employers Liable If First-Aid Equipment Not Handy, Up-to-date aiqmproved standards for Arst Jies from costing workmen long| First Aid equipment should be i eriods of suffering and wage, kept so convenient to where the Bi tite Annual Meeting of tn |loss, and in addition will save the |men are working that there ean and the District Convention. |Accident Fund provided by the |be no excuse for it not being used ‘As a contribution to this dis- |employers thousands of dollars|to the fullest extent, and all cussion, the B.C. Lumber |annually. TO BE CONTINUED MARCH 14 Worker requested and now pub- lishes the following article from the Industrial First Aid Attendants Association of B.C. the first in a series dealing with the subject. 7 Killed In GG This Way | Industrial First Aid in British Columbia is under the jurisdiction of the Workmen’s Compensation Board, and we quote from the Workmen's Compensation Act: mployers in uny industry in which it is deemed proper may be requested by the Bourd to maintain as may be directed by the Board, such First Aid appliances and serv ices as the Board may direct, and the Board may make such order re- specting the expense thereof us may be deemed just. Where any employer fails, neglects, or refuses to instal such First Aid appliances and serv- ices as the Bourd directs under this section, the Board may instal such First Aid appliances ‘and services, and charge the cost thereof to the cuployer: and the Bourd may en- force payment thereof, and for that purpose shall have the same pow- ers-and be entitled to the same rem- clies for enforcing payment us it possesses or is entilled io in respect of assessments.” Under this scetion of the Act the Workmen's Compensation Board from time to time, has is- sued First Aid Service Require- ments. The latest’, revision of these requirements came into ef- fect on July 1, 1949. A booklet issued by the Work- men's Compensiation Board, en- titled “Information for Employ- ers" gives specific instruction to employers in regard to First Aid service under paragraph 10. We quote from this paragraph, the following: Employers’ Responsibilities “Emplo; hould familiar- ize themselves with the Acci- dent Prevention and First Aid Service Requirements. Failure to comply with these require- ments makes employers liable for part of the accident costs resulting from such failure, and also renders them ineligible for the preferred rate of assess- ment, which is one-half of one percent lower than the regular rate. “First Aid equipment should be maintained in accordance with the First Aid Service Requirements, and be readily accessible at all times. Prompt use of first aid for all scratches and skin abrasions may prevent these trifling injur- Another Death “I Shall Pass Through This World But Once Any good, therefore, that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to my fellow-creatures, let me do it now. Let me not defer, nor neglect it, For I Shall Not Pass This Way Again.” Bill Black, our Safety Supervisor called us in today to tell us that ber Manufacturers’ Association was sponsoring a meeting for all Sai members of Associated mills. He said that the management would pay the wages of any comi was on shift that evening. : Boss Meeting We discussed this and decided to go together. I was on the aftern week, as was Harry Jones. As it turned out, I was glad that I was, been on day shift, you sure wouldn’t have caught me going to some meeting. But to get paid for a full shift to sit in a chair for a couple of that was a little different. ‘ - There were a lot of the boys I had seen at Union meetings from other Local, so I soon felt at home. . Who Was To Blame? The meeting opened with a discussion of an imaginary accident, d safety director. It went like this. ‘ A fire started at the bottom of a mill in a steel barrel used for oily away by the oiler. It was caused by spontaneous combustion. There was the barrel, but it was not in place. The fire started at noon, and caused less than $25.00 damage. How off vast clouds of smoke, completely filling the bottom floor. At the end hour it had reached the main floor. Fire When the men returned to work, an alarm was turned in to the City ment and the plant alarm sounded. The crew went to their fire stations. The City Fire Department answered the call with one of its hy pieces of equipment. On the way into the mill, the truck went t and caused a pile of lumber to topple over injuring threc employees of the Who Caused It? ‘The answers from the crowd came thick and fast, and with different ¢ Top management, Safety Committee, oiler, his supervisor, Superintendent, | ing Department, Maintenance Department, Plant Fire Warden, the injured and City Fire Chief, etc., ete. The Answer After a lengthy discussion, we found that nearly all had a share in it. the fellows pointed out that what we wanted to know was, not who was but how to prevent any such accident happening. There's no particular po blame, he said, unless some remedy is appli What Do You Say? This is an interesting point. I'd like to know what some of the other the Union think. It’s the kind of accident that could happen anywhere, ti better get our thinking straight on this point, if we are going to-do a job on The Chairman then introduced a number of guests, such as the Chief | spector of the Workmen’s Compensation Board, several company safety i and the Secretary of the District Safety Council in our own Union, I ean se IWA really means what it says about the resolution on safety adopted at Convention. It called for co-operation between labor, management and the in an all-out effort to prevent accidents. American Experience The main speaker of the evening came next. He was Mr. Ed Allen frot of Marsh and McLennan Inc., Los Angeles. He gave a brief history of vention, or as he called it, accident control in North America. He said that safety work had started in coal and steel about 30 years reasons—loss in production and contributions for compensation to injured we The companies had tried guarding machinery for five years, but found improvement in the accident rate, and came to the conclusion that proper t workmen was necessary. 2 This rang a bell with me, because I found out by reading the B. C. Lumb that that is one of the things that the Union is pressing for, when it pri to the Sloan Commission, on Workmen’s Compensation. Accident Causes Mr. Allen stated that industry-wide figures showed that 88 percent 0 dents were caused by human failure, 10 percent were due to mechanical | conditions, and that 2 percent are unavoidable. He went on to point out that in controlling accidents, at least 50 p effort should be spent on the first item and 50 percent on the second. He stressed the fact that any foreman who fired a man for being confessing his own failure. Foremen, he said, are responsible to train the that they do their work in the proper way. ‘ The right way to work is the safe way, should be the general rule. education of the workers was a prime factor in accident control. When a right, chances of accidents are substantially reduced. Planning Control He also said that we can prevent accidents about to happen by pi and correcting the conditions before the accident occurs. He also stressed there are few “fake” accidents in industry. Workmen are potentially experience across the United States shows that there are very few m: the labor forces. One interesting fact he brought out was that there is a direct ratio b ments in the first aid room, and the number requiring medical treatment, rate, or lost time. The 1001st Time The statistics prove, he claimed, that a workman on the average did a way about 1000 times before he was injured. Rie Management, organized labor, and even Government Agencies, as well as the individuals composing these groups, are too prone to place the respons- ibility for accident-prevention everywhere but on their own particular group. That had a lot of us busy figuring out what our chai £ meeting dent are. We decided that the best chance of avoiding accidents is to d right way. No man knows when his ticket might turn up. I’m not buyi on the accident sweepstake. Z A lot of guys must be doing their jobs the wrong way if we look at fl Compensation returns. I'd need a staff as big as the income tax d at one out. Every person and every organization has a-stake in accidents. The health and security of each and every individual is risked on the effectiveness of the accident-prevention effort. ‘The preservation of your health and welfare depends upon the action YOU take to prevent accidents. YOU have a responsibility to prevent accidents in your operation. WORKMEN’S COMPENSATION BOARD Vancouver Safety Means Efficiency Allen closed his talk with this statement. “Accident prevention hand in hand.” Hope some of the employers read this. ‘e also saw a few very interesting safety fil the Local Unions to get them and ato iheaeten ‘the io Neth is a picture of the right and wrong way to miss accidents. st ait Gpite of my scoffing at the start, I found it was 11:00 p.m. be it and that we had been closely interested all the way through. I more of our Union members could hi on the importance of Union Safety ee for they rosa It’s pretty hard to put the idea: - thé more of us that are safety consciewsian fRentard preg ren ve MARCH 26 Well, we have just held our a) i Local i It's a sure bet that more members of the Tiaras eee e prevention is the best and least expensive form of insurance get the Secretary's notes to help me unscramble the doings: CHRIS W. PRITCHARD, Commissioner E. V. ABLETT, Commissioner ADAM BELL, Chairman F. P. ARCHIBALD, Secretary