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