. ENTERED ‘WARD (§At, under instructions of the IWA ‘olume of the year’s safety pages Yio the National Safety Council public service award made each Salaty in industry. laddwith some confidence that our official st git honorable mention, as we did last N nflabor publications on this continent nore consistent effort to promote safety, ‘ore space regularly to an attractive terial. ni Panes, the entry made last year was he fudges. Subsequently, the officials of y Council expressed regret at the over- thaf our safety pages would offer keen Ms, gntering the contest. 1 Safety Council that two full pages h issue of the 24 issues published \these pages and because of the Pperation, matters of dispute with whaje, {of the lithographic process which tions, graphs, diagrams and car- ‘ings were necessary for the letter- _gyRtifying that much of the illustrative VA tamera work. Si recognition by the National Safety lati of the cooperation extended to The ‘ety by the lumber operators acting B.C. LUMBER WORKER 5 5 ay, EDGER_GUARD ret EDGER RISKS MINIMIZED Recent discussion in these columns of the hazards encountered in the operation of edgers, especially the mountain type, has prompted experienced sawmill men to recall an invention formerly described in The B. C. Lum- IEW berman, which is considered kick-backs. This latest type of edger guard is made of steel fingers spaced 1% inches apart on a shaft which is carried through pieces of 3x8 which in turn are bolted to the base of the edger. These fingers ride the piece of lumber being edged and, being sharp, will im- mediately dig into the lumber if any reverse travel occurs. ‘On larger type edgers engin- eers recommend two shafts sup- porting fingers, one mounted ap- proximately six inches above the other to assure proper angle to engage the timber whether the piece is two inches or twelve inches thick. Finger tips must be kept sharp, as when they are worn rounded they will not catch. Installation On the mountain-type edgers or edgers with set levers at rear of feed table this device should be installed in front of the feed rolls instead of behind. Because of the hazard present, engineers recommend this edger guard on all mountain edgers. Inasmuch as edgers do not kick back very often, a great many of value in preventing edger are prone to disregard the ever- present hazard. When kick-backs occur there is no warning which would permit a workman to move into a safe position out of the line of travel of the piece of lum- ber. The resulting injuries to workmen from these accidents nearly always prove fatal. Causes Kick-backs are caused when the peripheral speed of the saw is transferred to the piece of lumber being edged. ‘There are several reasons why and how this happens: an idle saw.-left too close to the piece being edged will pick up an edging and throw it back; two pieces of different thicknesses being edged at one time; the pressure rolls not being dropped as soon as the piece of lumber is in the edger or being lifted before the piece has cleared the edger; a twisted or cross- grained piece of lumber; the teeth of the saw not being kept in proper condition or the saw arbor being slightly out of. line. The accompanying illustration indicates how the guards are installed. 1-363 PLANS AN ALL-OUT EFFORT Continued effort to secure regulations ensuring safety in the use of power saws was the recommendation of the mn. This cooperation and support has oat a et ea Officers of Local 1-363 in their annual report recently, as _ ANOTH iF es exclusively for safety material. {eile Pai : j they reviewed the fatalities which had occurred in the Eee = oy, ‘ ; |logging camps under the Local Union’s jurisdiction. Said ed to the Commissioners of the j i a j ihe: Of Gera on their report: : : su ‘ailing cooperation. eciation the direct interest taken in i¢t Safety Council and the Safety realistic safety program in the avery operation in the industry a { i ndsfargely on the manner in which it is , eyperience of the workers in these \ cerned about safety, that the value W as they assist the Editorial Board eliminate the causes of accidents yjnning because we believe in safety. { bir generous support, and to Chief |} as, we hope, fostered a growing! THIS IVEGOTTA SEE — MUNBE THE GUIS. CMALLY, TY CONSCIOUS! “The year 1952 saw five fatal accidents in the Lumbering In- dustry within Local 1-363. Out of these the majority were buck- ers who met death by falling trees. The Local Safety Council made a thorough investigation of these accidents and also, attended the majority of inquests. Regulations Urged The Local Safety Council con- ducted a thorough investigation and made recommendations to the Safety Convention held in Vancouver concerning fatal acci- dents. These recommendations were not adopted and at this time we would like to point out that there are no rules or regulations governing the use of power saws and with the many inexperienced men throughout the industry, will only create greater hazards. We regret that our recom- mendations. were not adopted be- cause many one-man power saws are in use at the present time and this can only result in more serious accidents unless some confrol is effected. “Don’t Do It” Safety Grievances were dealt with on a broad basis. However, we still find employers who put production before the saving of lives and safe conditions. The recommendation we have to offer is ,“if the job is not safe do not do it”, in this way safety.can become a reality. Greater education is necessary throughout the Local, participa- tion by the average member is still limited, however, progress has been made and some of the Committees have done a good job in promoting safer conditions for our fellow workers. Cooperation Vital Safety is a co-operative effort by all concerned. If worked at, sincerely it will do a lot to elimi- nate suffering pain and fatalities, | which leaye many children with- out fathers. at an early age. In 1958 let us all be determined to help save lives and prevent acci- dents.” ‘PROVIDE _ |GUARDS | Inadequately guarded head sprocket in a ‘mill slab deck re- sulted in painful injuries to worker employed as a slab deck straightener, in one of the Coast mills recently, Investigation disclosed that the accident was caused when the worker attempted to pull a slab off the pony rolls and stepped into a gap in the slab deck for head sprockets. His right leg was pulled down and severely lacer- ated by the dogs on the chain, Fortunately the chain was stopped sdon after the accident. Otherwise the worker might have been fatally injured. Correction Report of a meeting of the Forestry First Aid Commit- tee, which appeared in the last issue of this publication, was in error in stating that Mr, W. M. “Scotty” Allison had been elected Chairman of the Committee. aN The, facts, “herewith cor- rected, are that the Chairman elected was Mr. Chris Prit- chard, Commissioner of the Workmen’s Compensation Board. “Scotty” Allison, B.C. Lumber Manufacturers’ As- sociation, was named Vice- Chairman. ——EEE——Ee _———————————_!