2

November 15, 1951_

B.C. LUMBER WORKER

Page 7

TWO WEEKS

fety Council

d on these pages as having occurred
one has been a grim and tragic
safety have not yet been estab-

take heed. Unceasing vigilance is

lent safety records suffered severe
suffered three fatalities in the opera-
ver Island within a week. Local 1-367,
vestigating three accidental deaths in
foproximately the same period. The
ist logging camps as well.

an erroneous report in a Vancouver
Island crew had walked off the job in
axed. The simple fact was, as later
tq attend the funeral of an accident

bout dents, because we know that
e conditions. There are no evil demons

‘orkers. If any operation is jinxed,
rE observed by either management

dents was investigated by IWA repre-
or presentation at the inquest in each
ras it possible for the coroner’s juries
eneral character. No blame could be
nce of the accident prevention regula-
rement noted.

t
i Be Safe

‘of judgment, either on their own or
| because of failures to follow well-
by themselves or those in charge of
d| doubtful exception, these men died
n prevented.

<¢ed. Are we any better when we shrug
id, it’s just one of those things”? We
less we use whatever intelligence we

less. Carelessness on the part of
iS from conditions that can be cor-
for safety. i :

e the job safe. We know now, who
to an absolute minimum. :
; id is the responsibility of managa-
ve this requirement, the penalties of

i
a
al

n:

ly essential. Inexperienced men must

the accident hazards of their occupa-

it the right way to do the job, the
? better play.

1 to ensure safe working procedures

ist accidents. If this supervision’ is
Will be appreciated, and those super-

io, it is reasonable to expect that
zids will readily go along with safe
i: greatest degree of safety possible.

iittees Vital

afety program is to be found in the
job. They have the right to form a
to make that safety committee
the requirements of safety, and acts
Safe, there are few obstacles that it

P

ittee on the job that puts steam into
it may or may not-do. Top man-

‘agrees that safe procedures make

from any point of view.

e penalties of the Jaw can be

The law can punish the worker

same token, the law gives the

unsafe conditions.

-management committee. This

to make the job safe. The safer
them.

do a conscientious job for safety,
response from the crew. If

who can be trusted to give

Be odds are that manage-

pull the trigger on a program

INQUEST
VERDICT
QUERIED

Full-scale investigation into
a fatal accident which occurred
in a Queen Charlotte Islands
logging operation in October
last was. urged by the IWA
District Safety Council in ses-
sion, November 2. The recom-
mendation was upheld by the
quarterly meeting of the B.C.
District Council, and represen-
tations will be made to the
Workmen’s Compensation
Board accordingly by Local
1-71 IWA.

Information furnished to the
Safety Council by the Camp
Committee was to the effect’ that
a crew member had been killed
by a loading boom chunk. Appar-
ently the-chunk line had been
sawn through by the main line or
the haulback line.

| The chunk line had been rigged

so that the chunk was hung in
the middle of the landing. Ac-
cording to evidence given, this
method of rigging the boom had
been followed for the past three
years although five chunks have,
been known to fall dangerously
in that period.

When the turn was unhooked,
the chaser went to stamp the
logs, while the rigging was being
skinned back, The chunk fell on
him while he was stooping to
pick up his stamping hammer.
He was instantly killed.

Wrong Procedure

The contention of the crew is
that the chunk should have been
rigged in the proper place, name-
ly the square opposite from that
in which the yarding was being
done. Experienced loggers pres-
ent at the Council agreed with

| this opinion.

One purpose of the investiga-
tion, in which the Board, the
company, and the Union would be
represented, would be to deter-
mine the safe procedure to be
followed in the future.

Hurried Inquest

The crew members questioned
the vertlict of the coroner's jury
at the inquest, as determined
without proper consideration of
the evidence. The inquest was
called without due notice after
the fatality, thus preventing rep-
resentation from the Union or
the crew members who were
competent to give expert opinions
on ‘the procedure followed. En-
| quiry will be made to ascertain
|the RCMP responsibilities in
such cases that in future effec-
tive steps may be taken to pre-
vent recurrence of accidents of
this type.

RISING U.S. ACCIDENT RATE
MAY HIT HEALTH PLA

Alarming increase in the accident rate throughout the |

Pacifific Northwest States has confronted the IWA in that
area with the possibility of eliminating the first three days
from accident benefit under the Union’s health and wel-
fare plan. This report was heard by the delegates attend-
ing the IWA District Safety Council in Vancouver, -No-

vember 2.

The Council meeting was at-
tended by Editor Manley Wilson,
International Woodworker, and
Research Director Virgil Burtz,
both of whom confirmed the
seriousness of the situation.

The report prepared by .offi-
cials representing the admini-
strators of the Health and Wel-
fare Insurance Program empha-
sized the recent increase in the
accident frequency rate in Ore-
gon and Washington, and pointed
to the results achieved in British
Columbia as demonstrating the
value of a, well-rounded atcident
prevention program.

Safety Program Cheaper

Two widely different. ap-
proaches were considered in fac-
ing the possibility that a high
accident rate might upset the fi-
nancial stability of the Health
and Welfare Plan. One was to
inerease the premiums to provide.
for all expenditures necessary to
maintain benefits despite a high
frequency. The other was to take
positive action to reduce the acci-
dent frequency.

Lumber operations in the Pa-
cific Northwest now provide 7%
cents an hour in respect of the
plan. IWA officials declared that |
the Union would first engage in |
an effort to reduce accidents in}
preference to any reduction in|
benefits as now seriously pro-|
posed,

Facts relating to the lumber |
industry in Oregon were: |

Western Oregon sawmills have
shown consistent increases in
i ency during the p
. Logging operation:
decreased in 1949, as compared
to 1948, but went up again in
1950. The accident frequency in
sawmills has been more than
three times the average Oregon
industry combined and in logging
it is about four times the aver-
age.

In Washington lumbering int
dustry the: general trend of
cidents has shown an upward
trend, with a marked increase in |
fataliti

Credit: to B. C..District |

Insurance officials referred to
the experience in British Colum-
bia and stated that a good share
of the credit for a declining acci-
dent rate in the province belongs
to the B.C. District 1, IWA.

In answering the question, why
did the accident rate go up in
Oregon and Washington, while it
went down in British Columbia,
the assertion was made that this
was due to the active work for
accident prevention conducted in
this province.

Points about the B.C. safety
program which found commenda-
tion by the insurance authorities
were:

Co-ordination of effort between
the Provincial Government, the
employers and the Union.

An active and continuous safe-
ty campaign. Reference is made
here to the safety educational
features of the B.C. LUMBER
WORKER, and the policy pur-
sued of attacking unsafe working
conditions without attempting to
fix blame.

Safety contests conducted on
the job by the employers.

“Training for new employees in
many operations.

Dismissals for persistent viola-
tion of safety rules by mutual
consent.

Strict safety laws, with penal-
ties for violations.

Pride Justifiable

The concluding paragraph of
this summary states:

“Pride in accomplishment, re-
sulting from the above activities
plus constant reiteration of safe-
ty messages, has begun to make
individuals ‘consciously _safety-
minded. The Province, the em-
ployers, and the Union are all

and are constantly seeking ways
to further improve their record.
Everyone has his shoulder to the
wheel and cooperates in this
movement.”

Other pertinent paragraphs
from this report are:

“One very important point
in any safety program, then, is
to make certain that every new
employee going into an opera-
tion is immediately taught how
to do his work safely, so he
will not endanger himself or
others...” °

“There is evidence in B.C.
that fatigue is a major element
in man-failure accidents. This
was statistically observed, and
resulted in strict rules being
placed on overtime. work. Oyer-
time is held to a minimum and
can be engaged in as an emerg-
ency measure only by mutual
consent of the employer and
the union Local. The Bureau of
Labor Statistics, U.S. Labor
Department also (said) . . .
that longer hours have con-
tributed to the increase in ac-
cident frequency.”

* The report stressed the value
of safety committees in each Lo-
cal Union and the active organi-

zation of safety activities by the,

envious of their ‘safety’ record! Union on the job.

AGE: 25.

OCCUPATION: SECOND. LOADER.

EXPERIENCE: 5, YEARS.
DATE: JUNE 18, 1951.

There had been a delay in the loading operation waiting for a
turn to come in, and straightening a log which was across the road.

The second loader was seen to stand on a small log beside the
road as the truck backed in slowly. He was next seen with his foot
beneath the truck wheel whicH was pulling him down. i

The stop signal was given at once and the truck stopped and
pulled ahead. The truck is estimated to have backed 43 inches after
the stop signal being given and before actually coming to a stop.

The injured man died from a broken leg and internal injuries

ten hours after the accident.

| O70 KWOWEETTER

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