B.C. LUMBER WORKER it

ACCIDENTS

1955

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WHY DO SOME GUYS, WHEN
THERES NOTHING TO GAIN,

MAY

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JACKET
SAVES
WORKER

Boom man Charles Weather-
itl, employed at the Eburne
Division of the Canadian For-
est Products Ltd, owes his
life, following a boat explosion,
to the new Workmen's Com-
pensation Board’s directive on
the wearing of flotation equip-
ment for workmen engaged in
hazardous water occupations in
British Columbia,

“Chuck”, as he is known to his
fellow employees, was in the pro-
cess of draining water from a
radiator of a boom boat. While
the water was draining, he
struck a match for his cigarette
and the accumulated gasoline
fumes in the boat were ignited
by the flame.

This resulted in an explosion
which threw “Chuck” into the
Fraser River with burns to the
face and hands and in a dazed
state. Fortunately for him he
had on a life jacket, which kept
him afloat until the shock wore
off and he could pull himself to a
nearby wharf.

“Chuck”, who has 12 years’ ex-
perience on boom work and is a
strong swimmer, admitted that
when the new WCB flotation or-
der first was announced, he
viewed it with a jaundiced eye.
Now, he claim, “I wouldn’t be
without one.”

Last year there were 38 B.C.
workmen who lost their lives in
industrial drowning accidents
and but for the new order com-
pelling workmen to wear the flo-
tation equipment, Charles
‘Chuck’? Weatherill’s name
might have been on the new in-
dustrial drowning list for 1957.

ABC

Always Be Careful

Rusty Metal Objects

can be just as dangerous

Snake-bite is not a major hazard in B.C. despite the
presence of poisonous snakes in some parts of the
country. Workmen whose work may take them into the
home grounds of rattlers usually carry snake-bite kits.
They know that the first rule is speed in using the kit.
Each second wasted allows the blood to carry more of
the poison further about the body and increases the
pain and nerve damage. In the case of a bad bite, a
delay may allow the poison to be circulated to cause
irreparable damage or death. Snake-bite, treated in-
stantly, and properly, need occasion only small dis-
comfort. Workmen know this, so they keep kits handy
and use them promptly. They would never neglect a
snake-bite, even though it were just a scratch.

Is there much difference essentially between a snake-
bite and any other wound? True the presence of poison
is accepted as more of a surety in the case of snake-
bite, but any wound allows entrance to germs even if
they are not already introduced by the instrument
causing the wound. Any infection can be certain as
snake-bite in its deadly effect. Both venom and bac-
teria are carried at the same rate in the bloodstream
until they find lodgment and go to work to disorganize
body functions.

A slight wound, no larger than a snake-bite, is often
ignored as “just a scratch” while the infection goes
coursing through the bloodstream gaining in strength
as time passes. There is no such thing as a clean
wound. Even.a surgeon with all his resources spends
much time reducing and countering infection when-
ever he makes an incision. How much worse then is
an incision from a stranded wire, an old nail, a saw
chain or a nut burr which may have been kicked and
dragged around in mud and pollution for weeks. In
any such case, at anytime a workman suffers a wound,
the important thing is to get proper First Aid and

Get Ut Fast!

British Columbia :
Workmen's Compensation Board