‘ACCIDENTS AR UNTIL EVERY... E NO Principles of organization to accomplish accident prevention were boldly outlined by District Safety Director John T. Atkinson when he spoke recently on the Green Gold radio program on behalf of District Council No. 1, IWA, and claimed that ex- perience had shown “sure-fire” results when they were faithfully followed. I hope that no single person in the Green Gold audience this evening ever has an accident? An accident is something that all of us dread. As a matter of fact, we try to conceal our dread of an accident by pretending to our- selves that accidents always hap- pen to the other fellow. This evening I would like to interest you in the accident that you are not going to have be- cause you intend to do something about it. To pretend that by some magic you are immune from accidents is foolish. The person who lives with confidence and serenity is the person who frankly faces the possibilities of accidents in his workaday world, and who intelligently re- duces those possibilities by in- telligent action. Webster’s Definition © First let us agree on the de- finition of an accident. Mr. Web- ster says in very technical lan- gauge that an accident is some- thing that befalls us. He says that it is an event that takes place without one’s foresight or expectation, something that is un- designed, sudden and unexpected, resulting in injury or damage. When he discusses the meaning of the word in logic he touches the core of the question. He says that an accident is a sudden mis- hap, not entirely by reason of chance, but because it is the ef- fect of preceding causes. PICTORIA: In publishing the text of a talk recently broadcasted by Safety Director John T. Atkinson oyer Station 600, the Managing Editor decided that readers might be inter- ested in a pictorial report on the production of the Green Gold program on this par- ticular occasion. The photos interspersed with the text show in se- quence, (1) the Safety Direc- tor discusses his script with the District Secretary, who must approve all such pro- grams on behalf of the Edi- torial Board, whereupon the script is submitted to the station’s lawyers to énsure L RECORD that it complies with CBC regulations. . (2) Vie Watters puts the Green Gold program on the air, with station introduction, watching his dials carefully that fluctuations in the speaker’s voice do not “fade out” or “blast” on the air waves. (3) Jack Webster, of “City Mike” fame, CJOR, discusses the presentation of -the pro- gram with the IWA speaker, and arranges for its intro- duction. (4) The program is “taped” by Barry Clark in the late afternoon, ready for the 7:00 p.m. presentation. PREPARATION So, if we follow Mr. Webster, who is supposed to know his words, we are directed to con- sideration of the causes of dread- ful mishaps. When we use our own logic, we readily agree that it is commonsense, to remove the causes of our mishaps, if we can get at them. That’s what I’m talk- ing about now. “How do we get at the causes of accidents, and is it worthwhile.” Re “Those of us who have lived close to the consequences of ac- cidents firmly believe that it is of the utmost importance to re- move the: causes of accidents. I’ll tell you why. It is because, time and time again, we are required to break the sad news to a widow and her children, that the bread- winner’s broken body is awaiting her orders at the funeral parlor. Every day, men visit my office, whose bodies have been so broken and damaged by accidents that they despair of ever regaining useful lives. Behind them always, I can see the misery and hard- ships of the wife and children, who must live on short commons, deny themselves the full enjoy- ment of modern living, because the husband and father is a cripple, unable to earn. Lives at Stake I’m speaking to you this even- ing as the man who is charged by our Union with a large mea- sure of responsibility in the pro- motion of accident prevention through the Union’s facilities. I must take the matter seriously, because I see the problem in terms of human well-being and happiness. From close observation of the accidents which occur in the lumber industry, I know that more than ninety percent of them could have been prevented. So, I must place myself in the position of the widow, or the crippled Iumber workers. Before the tragedy happened, what could have been more important than that we should have taken the practical measures necessary to spare the widow or the stricken workman, his or her crushing tragedy. T suggest that, even though you are feeling well and in -good spirits this evening,’ that you should also take the matter ser- iously. I hope you understand that I am not suggesting that you should live in fear, or a morbid anticipation of an accident. I am suggesting that you -will have greater mental freedom and less fear, if you cultivate the habit of automatically planning your moves at work, at play, and in the home, the safe way. The Record Tl give you a few reasons why you should take the matter seriously. I have before me the record of all accidental deaths injuries on this continent during 1954. The figures were compiled by the National Safe- ty Council, through the co-op- eration of the American and Canadian governments. There were 90,000 accidental deaths in 1954 on this continent. The total of crippling injuries was 9,050,000. Usually we kill off over 100,000 persons, but in 1954, we reduced the toll by about 5%. 1954 was the lowest death rate on record, with an increased pop- ulation. Many of these deaths and in- juries happened on the highway, as well as in the homes and in industry. Let us see what hap- pened in industry. The record shows that 14,000 persons were killed and 1,850,000 were injured. The drop, due to safety efforts, was about 6%. Home Safety Just to complete the record, because we are quite as interest- ed in home and highway safety as industrial safety—27,300 were killed on our highways, and 27,- 500 persons were killed in their homes. We might argue from these figures, that the workers in industry are becoming safety conscious, and’ that the rest of the population is sadly in need of safety education. I’m inclined to agree, when I see people tak- ing reckless and dangerous chances in performing simple duties around their homes. If you are not interested in T STOP protecting your own well-being, ON-THE-AIR you certainly ought to be inter- ested in the safety of the kiddies. Pause for just a moment to ab- sorb the fact that accidents each year kill more children than any of the diseases. we are so deter- mined to conquer through medical science. Accidents form the prin- cipal causes of death among children from 1 to 14 years of age. Accidents killed almost 12,- 000 children in 1954, whereas the dreaded polio took less than 2000. Lumber the Worst Perhaps you are not very in- terested in this gloomy story about human suffering, and would rather think of the matter in terms of dollars and cents. Very well. Our accidents during 1954, cost us $9,800,000,000, Each one of us paid our share of that stag- gering loss. Certainly in prices, and in taxes it is a charge against our family budgets. The one xe- assuring feature of this situation is that our safety campaign is steadily reducing the death rate. Home accidents last year were down 8%, industrial accidents dropped 8% also, and highway accidents were 7% less than the previous year. The lumber industry is one of the worst offenders, and stands close to the bottom of the list in order of merit, with its high accident frequency rate. I should add, that in British Columbia, the picture is brighter as regards the lumber industry. Labor, manage- ment and the Wérkmen’s Com- pensation Board have joined in a determined co-operative effort to exterminate needless causes of accidents, and we now lead all sections of the lumber industry on the North American continent. In this achievement, we like to feel that our Union has taken a major role. PED Nie J of Q 3 The average man’s 12 lbs. iy. The average hard hate 12 ounces. This works out to ae against a pound 03 t An intelligent man’s ounces. An intelligent man \ protected head ta h falling, or thrown, bj (