February 1, 1951 ww B.C. LUMBER WORKER ORT . AHEAD and 1951 plans for expansion of officers of the IWA District Safety Victoria, Janvary 18. In view of the rim. officers of the District Safety Coun- for accident prevention in 1951 than and what there is yet to do we find ed Dearborn, President of the National ‘of the National Safety News, “Safety st everlastingly learn new methods mity has created. been accomplished in the past two years, ime out to congratulate ourselyes on ske what concessions are necessary and he old and the new hazards to life and 1951 ures in our industry where already in isting in the industry. wk into small operations and outlying ittees from plant to Local to District. olicy of Labor, Government, Management jafety Council. e job. jo find ways and means of arousing a gle of our membership. No longer ith the problems. ‘er need the contributions of hundreds nsibility lisregard of responsibility on the part of Accident Prevention should be a subsidiary interest, one deserving of far ‘ing given. fety Committees in every operation. Four Safety Awdrds were won in 1949, ely concerned with the Safety pages ion Officers, a brief to the Royal Commission amendments dealing with the rates of cident Prevention. This presentation months to prepare to build the ‘measured. Actual results will not be Chief Justice Sloan’s report, probably ‘year, and endorsed by the Convention as possible due to lack of time by the ion. We are of the opinion that they ‘to see that definite action is taken. n touched and a thorough examination Ui to be maintained at their present obtained for the ensuing year. nding delegates to the next National be chosen with a view of having people ’revention. its last year, we feel that consideration they take jobs in the industry. This lendants Association should be con- and mills are a valuable source of mediate representations be made to uting a helicopter service for outlying be brought to the attention of the ndaion of the: 1949 Convention re- the Council and to quarterly meetings capita basis. of impressing all members of the Locals and their executives that ponsibilities and worthy in the main . jis now given to it. » 1, WA. % ctor, -Director, APL MILL CUTS RATE Safety Committee Chairman of the Alberni Pacific Lumber Mill (Local 1-85), reports that an energetic safety program has re-| duced the accident frequency rate for 1950 by two points over that established for 1949. This rate of 25.1 brings the mill one point below the average of the past five years. It stands in marked contrast to the indus- try rate of 65. Due to prompt attention to minor injuries all infection cases were eliminated during the year. Fracture cases increased fo tel but this was attributed to un- usual winter weather experienced earlier in the year. Chairman Jensen states that the Safety Committee in the splant is working with zeal and efficiency, and as proof of this its r REHABILITATION OFFICER RINCIPLES of rehabilitation lined for delegates at the IWA District Convention in Vi ¢ address of Jack Humphrey, | . toria, in the thought-provoki Rehabilitation Officer, Workmen’ mer officer of the Bakery and national Union. Rehabilitation has been de- fined as “the restoration of the) individual to the highest physical, mental, social, vocational and economic usefulness of which he or she is capable. You and I know the importance of rehabili- | tation to the worker, but there are many people who believe that because a man has been fitted | with an exceptionally good arti- ficial leg this is the beginning and end of rehabilitation. | Mr. H. E. Griffiths, surgeon to the Albert Dock Hospital in Lon-, don, England, submitted a paper Highlights of his remarks are quoted below. | i USEFUL LIVES WON _ for injured workmen were out- 's Compensation Board, and for- Confectionery Workers Inter- largest. I will mention just a few | of these problems in logging be-| cause they are familiar to you all. Severity of injuries is first and, foremost and. this precludes po: sibility of retarn to the same in-| dustry for so many. Then there are those who have been employed in logging camps | almost continuously through their | working days and it is not easy, | therefore, for them to adjust to | work in the city, or for that} matter, to city life, even were | bd Ae ACK HUMPHREY, Rehabilita- tion Officer, Workmen’s Compen- sation Board, pleads for better deal on behalf of handicapped workers. tion between the first aid attend- ant, the doctor and management to ensure that the injured work- man receives the best of care and members devote the lunch-hour| on rehabilitation of the handi- period to canvassing their fel-| capped recently to the Institute | low-employees for recommenda-| of Industrial Psychology, taking tions about accident hazards. as his text, “Strengthen me by} sympathizing with my strength, ; |not my weakness.” I rather like | | that text—in other words, “Find out what I can do and let me do it; forget what I cannot do and let me forget it.” Economic Independence | | Work, with resulting economic | independence, is the only satis- factory form of rehabilitation for !the working man. The doctors, | specialists and others in the re- |habilitation team may have done | an exceedingly good job of physi. |cal restoration, but the end re- | sult is the important thing to the | |patient. He wants to know} | whether or not he is going to be | jable to make a living. | You are doubtless aware that | there are many problems con-| ee | nected with the re-establishment | W. S. LYNCH, elected 3rd Vice-| of the industrially disabled as a) Director of the District Safety| whole, and particularly with) Council at the Annu] District those employed in the basic in-| Convention. | dustries, of which logging is the| | important and worthwhile work. there jobs for them to go into. |is speedily transported to hospi- Age is another factor, perhaps | tal, if such is indicated. the largest, inasmuch as em- Teamwork should be continued ployers seem reluctant to employ! while the patient is in hospital the so-called physically fit today|and through the convalescent if they are over 40 years of age| period. Upon discharge it may —and even less, in some cases._|be necessary for the man to Other problems are those of |undergo a course physiotherapy. language difficulties and educa-| Again, this same principle of tional standards. These latter | teamwork applies, although there problems are extremely importan: a change in the team. where consideration could other-| When reference is mage to the wise be given to restraining for | Rehabilitation Centre, the Medi- another occupation. | cal Director vibes the type There are many other difficul- | of treatment indicated and while ties with which we are daily con-| the workman is in attendance at fronted, but I mention these few| the Centre there should be a to give some indication of the| complete understanding between work ahead for all of us. If we|the workman’s doctor, the medi- believe in the right of every per-|cal staff at the Clinic, physio son to a free, happy and useful| and occupational therapists and life, it is our bounden duty to| the Rehabilitation Counselior. him and co-operate to the) Attitudes are very important; extent in this extremely | in fact, they are the very crux | of the caltuations The workman being the most important person Teamwork jin the rehabilitation team that Teamwork should start right|we have been discussing, it is at the scene of the accident and | vital that we know his attitude should continue through until re-/| to his. disability, to other mem- habilitation is completed. There | bers of the team, to his employer should be a complete co-ordina-| and others. fullest “If You Can't Do It $ Don’t Do It at All | "THE more powerful you become, the more responsibil you have,” was the sage advice given the IWA District Convention, Victoria, January 20, by labor’s representative on the Workmen’s Compensation Board, Commissioner Chris Pritchard. His remarks, dealing mainly with accident pre- vention, were warmly received by the delegates. The Commissioner informed the delegates that he was barred| grown. The co-overation ex-| from dealing extensively with the | tended by the IWA in preparing provisions of the Workmen's | amendments to the accident pre- Compensation Act, because of | vention regulations had yielded the Sloan enquiry now under important results, for which the afely | “Rehab 3 In addition, two deal! iicosis questions, one with | ventior with s | first aid, and one with industrial hygiene. | As a result of representations | from trade unions, one was now | stationed in Victoria, and one in| Nanaimo. That the tion of handicapped worke: considered a cause deserving of all-out support by the IWA was made evident by delegates attending the Annual D; t Convention. Resolution on proper rehabilita- Death Toll The’ speaker took the conven-| tion into his confidence regarding | the volume of work assumed by the Board, He said that 20,920 | employers are now covered by the Act, and over 360,000 em-! the subject WHEREAS: The Workmen’s Compensation’ Board has way. The work of the Safety Branch of the Board was a ques- | tion in which the IWA had taken a genuine interest and for which | the Union deserved great praise. | The speaker enunciated the principle that however import- | ant payment of compensation | might be following an accident, | the paramount consideration was that the workman should work | with safety. i IWA Helped | Accident prevention regula tions had been prepared in con- sultation with the unions affected | and the employers. He express- | ed gratification that interest on | the part of the trade unions had | \ | | tions would considerably enhance | workers, on the other hand, have Union should be complimented. New Regulations | Distribution of copies of the amended accident prevention regulations was now under way, the Commissioner announced. He felt sure that the amended regu- lations respecting logging opera- protection for the man on the job. The employer has the initial responsibility to. see that the regulations are enforced, said the board’s representative. The responsibility to demand proper enforcement. Contract Provisions As a trade union member him- self, the speaker advised that safety should have the same em- phasis in contract terms as any | other clause. Definite provision should be made that any worker has the right to refuse work under unsafe conditions. If dis- missed for such refusal, he felt confident that official support would be tendered action to cor rect any such injustice. “Safety is the business of | every individual in the opera- tion; otherwise we do not get genuine accident prevention,” was | the dictum of the Commissioner. Alert employers, he had found, said, “If you can’t do the job! safely, don’t do it.” | Inspection Limited It would be impossible for the Board to supply an army of in- spectors large enough to police every operation with the fre- quency that would ensure safety, he contended. Inspectors now number 19, he informed the con- ployees. | In respect of the whole of | B.C. industry, the Board. had | dealt with over 71,000 claims | in 1950. Of this number of accidents, fatal results had fol- lowed in 210 instances. | Fatalities in the lumber in- | dustry for 1950 he estimated | at 62 in logging operations and | eight in sawmills for the proy- | ince. ‘ | Commissioner Pritchard’ ¢ on -| cluded his address with the| statement, “The Workmen’s Com- | pensation Act is good social legis- | lation. See that it is not| mutilated.” FOOT SAVED established a Rehabilitation De- partment without a permanent rehabilitation centre on Van- Gouna Island. THEREFORE BE IT RE- SOLVED: The 2nd, Annual Safety Conference of District No. 1, IWA, recommend to the 14th Annual Convention that the Workmen’s Compensation Board be asked to establish a permanent rehabilitation officer on Vancouver Island and, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That the officers and members. of the IWA co-operate fully with the rehabilitation de- partment of the Workmen’s Compensation Board in placing permanently disabled workmen in gainful employment. JOHN T. ATKINSON (left), President of the International Safety Council, hears J. Krouch, IWA delegate, Local 1-118, explain how a safety shoe saved the foot of a fellow-worker. Shoe was almost torn apart when the man’s foot was caught in a sprocket while working on the green chain, but his foot escaped any injury.