May 17, 1951 B.C. LUMBER WORKER s ett in motion, Loose clothing may »|with serious consequences. —Fye injuries may easily become rom the outset. Jon our way here to beating our “DON’T LEAVE IT ALL TO POOR JOE” By J. M. Millmore, 2 Local 1-80, IWA, Chemainus After nearly two years of hard _ Before closing I want to say work on the part of several mem- just this: “Don’t-rely on ‘Joe’ to bers of the IWA, it is with a|do it.” It only takes a few sec- great deal of pleasure that at' onds to think of it, a few minutes last we can go to the District to do it, and these two when Officers and tell them we need coupled can save so many years more space to accommodate our of pain and suffering to someone Quarterly Safety Council meet- we mean so much to. ings. As one who has attended all such meetings, I’m glad to see that at last the Coast Locals are headed in the right direction. You will notice I say Coast Locals because once we are well enemy then so much sooner can a stronger and more informed District Safety Council tackle the problems of the Interior safety. One correct portion of our own plant Safety committee that can help a lot of others I believe is the introduction of Job Safety Forms. These forms are filled out by any workman and signed, then on signature from that Depart- ment Safety Committee member it is passed in to the Chairman of the Plant Safety committee for action. This plan eliminates the collec- tion of a large number of recom- mendations being turned in and 5 FOOD FOR eae) THOUGHT | Safety Instruction | Another good point, I believe,| [* someone asked you if you) we are about to launch is seeing |*- ¢at safely, you couldn’t be that each person on the plant, |blamed much for shutting his big | regardless of who they may be,|™outh with a knife and fork! will be scrutinized by the fore- man and if necessary will be shown his or her mistakes and But actually there is a connec- tion between eating habits and i safety. Scientists have found, for | Eanghtjeaten/job methods ‘on’ the ee that when people don’t | Job by the foreman. eat a good, big breakfast, their | I firmly believe that so long as|alertness falls, their reactions a committee goes along with the|slow down, their muscular action | idea of curing all mechanical de-| gets awkward or feeble, they’re fects in an operation then very | more irritable or tired, and they | little success will come until the|are more of a setup for an acci- | human element is also treated | dent. nee So don’t be two-thirds safe by | 0 don’ e two-thirds safe by So Few, So Many depending only on lunch and the | I fully endorse this program, Jevening meal. Don’t be too hur- | put out by the management, to |ried, worried, dopey or mopey to | install the safest methods pos-|do full justice to the eggs and | sible in the minds of the men on |bacon, fruit juice, cereals, milk, | the job, then you can really |and so forth. accomplish what so few are try- | And go forth to work with a/ ing to do for so many in as short 0 a time as possible. good feeling to start a good day. KEEP HONEST SCORE Plant managers or company of- ficials frequently quibble over AN unusually good safety seore can sometimes be built by pencil engineering, but it is more difficult to achieve an unusually good safety record by true acci- |dent prevention work. A high standard of record keeping is something that should be funda- mental in the organization of every safety department. Where sound accident preven- tion work prevails, the safety re- cord will be created without the need or temptation for splitting hairs over the borderline cases. All of us know that there are borderline cases which are subject to decision in more than one man- ner, such decisions, looking to the fre- quency or severity rate figure ra- ther than the soundness of their safety work. One fact that could | always be mentioned is that if the accident had not happened in | record. | Honesty Pays i The feelings of competition and pride of achievement are, of course, largely responsible for | these situations in which all of us find ourselves from time to time: | To make a record with means | open to criticism; or to record the | facts honestly and let the record | reflect the true situation. | If our safety records were | available to no one outside the | company official to whom we re- | port, and if there were never any | comparison with the safety re- | cords of other departments, | plants, or companies, there would | be less temptation to make safety | records show the picture we want | them to show rather than to let | them show the actual situation, | No Perfect Score | Some of us may hope, but few expect, to see the day when a | plant may operate for years with- | out a single accident. We know that is just not in the cards. We admit that we cannot pre- vent all accidents, but such a goal can serve as our ideal. | In shooting for such a goal, let’s not be afraid to chalk, up against our score the accidénts Which should truly be charged to pt worth a few points in the fre- | quency rate. * Good Lighting Essential Uniform level of good gen- eral lighting is the correct method of illumination in saw- mills, state Safety Engineers after a comprehensive survey of the problem. Engineering for safe plant op- eration consists essentially in preparing a safe working envir- onment. This should be designed to match and to compensate for the limitations of human capabil- ity. The potential injury fre- quently can be avoided if only the worker can see causes quickly and accurately and act to prevent the accident. Eye Comfort High quantities of light alone are not sufficient. It has been found that comfort in seeing is as important as the quantity of light provided. If all light is thrown ‘down on the work and none of it upward there is a strong contrast between the light and dark areas. The better lighted industrial plants now aim at providing about one-third as much light up- ward as is thrown down. Requirements The amount of light required in most mills is a minimum of 20 foot candles. There are, however, certain jobs more exacting on workers’ eyes which demand the minimum of 50 candle foot main- tained at the task. Some of these are: at saws; planing machines; sorting and grading tables; shap- ing machines; machine shop and for saw filing. Where ceiling heights are high, incandenscent lighting, or a com- bination of mercury and incan-| descent units have a distinct ad- vantage over fluorescent units as less light is wasted on walls and windows. The cost is less for op- eration, replacement of lamps, and cleaning of fixtures. Industry has found that clean- liness pays. Poor illumination makes it difficult to see into corn- ers or under machinery and these dark areas collect dirt that would otherwise be cleaned out. 'HREE common alil victims of occupational acci- dents: “I didn’t know .. .” “I didn’t see...” “{ didn’t think...” Three good general rules to R. W. MUIR, Chairman, Safety Committee, Local 1-85, IWA. $1500 Damages For Widow An employer, who, through breach of duty to his employee aggravates a disease from which the: worker is suffering, and accelerates his death is liable; even though he has com- plied with all safety require- ments. This was the judgment rendered in the Ontario courts, when $2,500 damages was awarded the widow of a worker whose death had been hastened by his working conditions. ‘The deceased was employed as | a spot-welder. His job consisted |of welding blades and tubes of | skates together by making about eight welds on each skate. The skates were covered with a film of oil, which caused a small wisp of smoke as each weld was made. He inhaled on an average 3,200 | puffs of smoke every hour. The workman complained and |the management supplied ap- | paratus to help lessen its effect. Nevertheless, as shown by medi- cal evidence it aggravated a lung condition and finally hastened his death. Compensation was refused as under the Workman’s Compersa- tion Act, the lung condition was not listed as an occupational disease. The widow was granted permission to sue for damages. Mr. Justice Ferguson stated: “It is the duty of an employer not only to warn his employee against unusual danger known to him, but also to make the place of employment as safe as the exercise of reasonable care will permit, or, conversely not only to make the place of employment as safe as the exercise of care will permit, but to warn the employee of all unusual dangers known. “I think the defendant knew that there was unusual danger for the deceased, and its officers failed to take the precaution of warning him of it,” the first place, there would be no | = make those alibis unnecessary: Know your job. Keep your eyes and mind on it. Use common sense. In awarding damages, His Lordship took into account the fact that the date of death had not been advanced many years. FALLING & BUCKING UST Pomur WHERE ‘AEE TOUCHED OFFORE BuckiNG Age: 48 Occupation: Head Faller Experience: 22 years Date: January 12, 1951. A 36’ log was being bucked from a 110’ tree, 50’ of which was hanging over a steep bluff. The crew was working on a sidehill, The peace of mind alone is | The tree was too close to the ground to be undercut. On being cut the log slabbed 16’ and rolled downhill. The slabbed porti the head faller and he was instantly killed. ee