B.C. LUMBER WORKER

Clean-up Paid Dividends —

participation. a
Under this policy, the plant of,

ne

Safety record which won for Universal Lumber and Box Co., Vancouver, second
highest place on the continent, in the 1952 rating made by the National Safety Coun-
cil, Chicago, clearly demonstrates the value of labor-management cooperation in acci- U
dent prevention, it was stressed this week by IWA officials. A sharp drop in the| Universal Lumber and Box Co
accident frequency rate and subsequent steady decline has coincided with the Union’s | #28 been expanded until it is on:

: of the most modern plants it

ETO Oe ea alr. America. The number of em, -

It is predicted that the safety ployees now totals 600, and thel : }

record established in the mill will monthly output is in excess of;
capture the 1952 award of the 10 million feet of finished lumbe:

Workmen's Compensation Board and boxes, together with new,
for the classification, when the products such as pulp chips andl

results are officially released. lamboard made from waste.

Story told by employees is that | this time the IWA, under new men into safe procedures is|_ Th labor turnover is now
ten years ago the plant was in | practically nil, and the plant ex:

leadership, introduced the safety shown by a contrast between thi -
a delapidated condition, and| program, which has since proved | old een meas, | ANS ae pansion has opened up new oe
poorly equipped, As indicated in| generally successful. | plant expanded a third shift was | Povtunities for promotion an
the accompanying illustrations,| The advantages of properly | added in 1947. In the first month | *4Vancement.
little attention had been given to] defining responsibilities regard-|the compensable accidents to-| The fight against accidents is
the care of the plant, much less| ing safety as between the work-! talled 19. In September, 1952, a | Still being continued in the plant,
any safety engineering. ers and management, and then| third shift was again added and | with unabated zeal. A hardwork-
cooperating in joint responsibili-| to date no compensable accidents | ing safety committee has been
ties became clear. Immediately | have occurred. heartened by the international
the accident rate took a sharp| The stimulus contributed to the | recognition given their efforts;
drop, and has been steadily im-| success of the program by IWA | and are entering into an expand-
proving. organization, following the dem-| ed program, which now includes,
All foremen were instructed to onstration that managemént | home and traffic safety. >
| would also exert a sincere effort, |

plant“was lowered, as men found
conditions safer and more satis-
factory.

Union Cooperation

It is reported, that at the out-

set the employees as organized i
were suspicious and scoffed at | New Men Trained

the idea of cooperation. At about; The value of initiating new

A change in management re-
sulted in a decision to check the
obvious waste represented in a
high. accident rate, and careless
handling of material, by intro-
ducing plans for a- well-ordered

plant.

Good Housekeeping

One rule estublished from the
start was that cleanliness breeds
safety. A program of good house-
keeping was introduced as man-
agement proceeded to modernize
the plant. As safeguards were
provided against obvious hazards
in the operation of machines, at-
tention was given to the human

accept their responsibilities in the
safety field, and to encourage
and supervise safe working pro-
cedures.

Courses were given in job|
safety education, and special at-|
tention was given to the training
of inexperienced workers. Safety |
was given priority in the produc-

Said the District Safety Direc-

was expressed mainly in the| , i ae
peenee y_in the | top, John T. Atkinson, after visit-
Ae eee following prin-| ing’ ‘the plant and addressing!

é | meetings: “Employers of labor
Accidents can be prevented, | everywhere should study the his-
if all concerned work sincerely | tory of Universal Lumber and
to eliminate hazards, and adopt | Box Co., visit the operation if!
safe working habits. | possible, and learn for them-
Good housekeeping is funda- | selves what can be done when

tion program, for the reason that |
safety was found to be a neces- |

sa)

Safety

mental to safety.
efficiency

and

twins.

are ja genuine safety effort.

| management enters sincerely into
When

| suspicion and resentment are re-

a0 an T
T

y accompaniment of efficient |
production. |

It was immediately noticed |
that the labor turnover in the

The Union must haye a cor- | placed by team-work, the maxi-
rect job policy regarding | mum results in efficiency and
safety. | safety are certain to result.”

factors, and conditions were made
safer for the performance of
eniployee functions.

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UNIVERSAL BOX -
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