B.C. LUMBER WORKER 9 From Page 8 “RESULTS” sentations to the authorities. Achievements On all the points mentioned above, the work of the District Safety Department has made substantial progress during the past year. 1. Co-ordination of the safety activities conducted by the Local more job safety committees than at any time in the history of the IWA. The measure of success in this regard is plainly seen when we compare our work with the experience in other industries and in the United States. Special reference will be made later to the developments in the Interior. y A ETY -HOME litish Columbia has had how to protect himself ie Are YOU smart $, practices, and philoso- hole twenty-four hours an be just as painful and x as work accidents, and only about one workman y accident insurance that fits to take the place of evered by an organization will be relieved of direct costs are a direct charge nd his fellow workers, and ulting from non-industrial he injured man and th t or a house fire might be nee company, but the cost ders of that company. sts may be shared by nd distressing aftermaths you for protection and ome with you and make it yliving. The price of in- us, bitter, and wearisome : Bi S) ‘ jensation Board mon Secretary > |ARD, Commissioner nmistioner Unions has been steadily improv- ing through the agency of the District Safety Conference, and the systematic tours assigned to the Safety Director. As a result of this co-ordina- tion, it may be claimed that the | Union’s safety programme blan- kets the entire Province. It has penetrated areas, where any at- tempt to work safely had pre- viously been completely neglected by the employers. All Local Unions have reported to the District safety department and in every instance they fur- nish with pride, concrete evidence to’ show that an effective cam- paign has been waged against needless accidents. f More Participation 2. The members of our Union are now participating actively in 3, A constant stream of infor- mation has been directed in and out of the District Safety Office, all of which is designed to stim- ulate and inform the work of the job safety committees. One important source has been the National Safety Coungil. The Union’s delegates attended the Congress of the Council in Chi- cago last autumn, and by parti- cipation in the panel discussions sponsored by the Wood Products section, gained a knowledge of the most modern safety engineer- ing methods. 4. As directed by the District Officers, the District Safety Dir- ector visited a large number of points in the Province during the year. The main feature of these tours was discussions with job safety committees, Local and SUPPORT Building, Vancouver. CONTINUING DISTRICT SUPPORT is assured delegates attending the Annual IWA Safety Conference, by District President Joe Morris, as he addresses their gathering, February 13, in the Medical-Dental ASSURED oe Te Sub-local meetings, plant meet- | ings, and in some instances, pub-| lic meetings. These tours were | utilized to publicize the safety | aims of the IWA, in every way | | possible. | Cooperation Sought | 5. The work of relating the | Union’s interests to the various | projects sponsored by employer and government agencies has ‘re- | | men’s Compensation Board, to the quired considerable time during the last year. It has proved worthwhile, inasmuch as it has saved the time and money for the members of the Union engaged in safety work. This involves fre- quent discussions with the Safety Directors of the employer corpor- ations and Officials of the Work- end that conflict with the Union’s DIRECTOR JAMES MILMORE (left), and Secretary Leo Stadnyk (centre), of the IWA District Safety Council, submit the report of their Annual Safety Conference to IWA Convention delegates. On the right is Bill Gray, District 1st Vi -President. APPROVED Major recommendations advanced before the Annual District Convention by the Annual Safety Conference, as a result of the one day’s deliberations on February 13, were as follows: 1. That our District Safety Director, together with the Local Unions, ‘investigate safety practices in air transportation in their areas, with emphasis on feeder lines. 2. That Local Unions take a more active interest and participa- tion in the industry’s annual “safety week”. 3. That more emphasis be placed in our accident prevention pro- gram, on educational work to eliminate slips and falls. 4. That the District Safety Council and all Local Unions viously consider membership in the Canadian Industrial Safety Con- ference. objectives may he eliminated, As a result,.more effective and cor- dial co-operation has. been devel- oped, without compromising. in any way the Union’s position on other phases of labour-manage- ment relations. 6. The office of the safety de- partment has been’ burdened with individual claims regarding Workmen’s Compensation, alleged violations of the accident preven- tion regulations, and inquests fol- lowing fatal accidents. This work has, to some extent, relieved the District Officers of the necessity of devoting their time to such matters, and has served to equip the safety de- partment with first-hand inform- ation on conditions prevailing in the industry. It has also provided material of value as evidence in making representations to the Provincial Government authori- ties, Interior Program ~ As instructed by the last Dis- trict Convention, priority was given this year- to the crying need for the organization of a safety programme in the Interior. Your District Safety. Director spent the major portion of /his time devoted to travelling in the Interior, Enthusiastic co-operation was extended by the members and Officers of the Interior Local Unions. For the first time in his- tory, the employers were per- suaded to be co-operative, and they actually arranged safety meetings during production time. Excellent support was tendered by the Interior press, and this led to a cordial reception by the public. The results obtained have been reported in more detail to the District Executive Board. In sum- mary, it may be claimed that a sound basis has been laid for a safety programme in the Interior, which the Local Unions may now easily expand. Accomplishments Job safety committees have been established wherever pos- sible and will be organized in the remaining operations as quickly as conditions permit. A determined and co-opera- tive effort will now be made to reduce the appalling accident rate East of the Cascades. Safety in the Sawmills The sawmills have been made afer. The accident frequency rate on the average was lowered in 1954. This achievement was made possible by the better organiza- tion of job safety committees, better safety education, and the more wholehearted participation by IWA members. It is a pleasure to report that six operations operated through the entire year without a single compensable accident. A number of the larger corpor- ations, have made commendable progress, in attaining very low frequencies, as the outcome of efficient co-operation on the job, and persistent attention to ber Manufacturers Association, nearly all of which are certified to the IWA, reduced the average frequency rate by «another ten percent. It is a matter of sincere regret that the number of fatal and time-loss accidents increased in the logging section of the indus- try during 1954. It should be pointed out that there has been a high level of production during the year. A considerable number of inexperi- enced men entered logging opera tions. It would not be fair to attri- bute this situation to any slack- ening of attention to safety on the part of IWA loggers. It is More correct to say that had it not been for their attention to safety through the job safety committees, a much greater acci- dent toll would have heen re- ported.” Elected Elected as the officers of the District Safety Council by the recent Annual District Convention upon nomination of the District Safety Confer- ence were: Director, Jas. Milmore; 1st Vice-Director, John T. Atkin- son; 2nd Vice-Director, Geo. Walker; 3rd_Vice-Director, Ross Davis; Secretary, Leo, Stadnyk.