B.C. LUMBER WORKER

Ist Issue, Novel

“Fewer people killed! Fewer people
Hurt! Safer working conditions”

Organization and structure of the IWA safety programme in British Columbia, was
the basis of a talk given by IWA District Safety Director, John T. Atkinson, during the
one day Labour Session on Safety, which was presided over by Lloyd Utter, Director of
Industrial Health & Safety Division of the UAW, at the 46th National Safety Congress
and Exposition, October 21, in Chicago, Ill.

Following is the text of the
+Safety Director’s speech:

“Today I am going to speak
on the organization and: structure
of the IWA safety program in
the Pacific Northwest. In the
forest industry of British Colum-
“bia there was a time when hun-
dreds of men were killed and
thousands injured on the job every
year and where it became a prob-
Jem for us in our union to solve.

Lack of Concern

“For many, years we scorned
and condemned the employer for
what we considered lack of con-
cern and attention to this serious
situation. We also criticized the
state for its lack of enforcement
ef safety rules, but we did not
Tealize that we, too, had a re-
sponsibility of doing something
about this terrific waste of human
Tife: 3

“Our union decided to fulfill its
obligation and to undertake its
proper part in industrial safety.
With that objective in mind we
wrote to the National Safety
Council, the AF of L, the CIO
and the Canadian Labour Con-
gress for advice and guidance in
union participation in safety.

Own Safety Program

“But results were negative. So
we planned our own safety pro-
gram, using the idea proposed at
President Truman’s Safety Con-
ference of 1946 on joint union-
management-government _partici-
pation, This planned program of
co-operation was carried out and
the records will show that during
these last ten years industrial
accidents in the lumber industry
have been reduced by 68 per cent.

“This month is the 10th anni-
versary of the establishment of
this program and I am happy to
report that last year there was a
50 per cent reduction in fatalities
and a 25 per cent reduction in
time loss accidents.

Dividends We Seek

“These are the dividends that
we seek from accident prevention
programs; fewer people killed,
fewer people hurt, and cleaner
and better and safer places in
which to work.

“This program I speak of must
be established on a co-operative
basis and when all three partners
in safety co-operate fully, the re-
sults are tremendous.

Union’s Opinion

“In the opinion of the union,
the respective responsibilities of
management, government and the
union should be clearly and cor-
rectly defined, and failure to do
this will only result in chaos.
Management has the legal and
moral responsibility to organize
and direct a safety program and
to see that it is carried out. They
must provide safe working prem-
ises, proper instruction of work-
men, and adequate training of su-
pervisors.

“One of the big reasons for

Logging camps win

centennial

Centennial safety awards have been won by two B.C. Forest
operations — Renfrew Beach, on the west coast
of Vancouver Island; and Pitt Lake camp.
The Centennial awards, initiated this year by the Provincial
Labour Department, recognize for the first time the combined
ployee in a safety program. Dual
ewards are presented to the company and its workers who
the required number of accident-free man days established

Products loggi

inagement and.

for that specific industry.

L. R. Way, Renfrew, and A. Bergland, Pitt Lake accepted

the awards on behalf of the com

B.C. Forest Products has now won eight Centennial safety

ewerds.

the success of the safety program
in the Pacific’ Northwest is that
management is carrying out its
obligation, and it is our duty as
a full partner in the program to
see that he does.

Management Has Gained

“Management has gained a lot
from safety. He saves money on
his insurance costs, he saves
money on the protection of his
equipment and material, he pro-
tects the investment by continuity
of production, and develops bet-
ter public and union relations —
so we must believe that safety
is good for management.

“Safety is good for us, too. We
receive dividends. Dividends in
human happiness and worker wel-
fare, better and safer working
conditions, and a better way to
live.

Adequate Foundation

“We started ‘to build our safety
program on a foundation of ade-
quate, proper and complete first
aid standards. We made sure that
every industrial unit had proper
first aid facilities and personnel
as required by the state regula-
tions. We insisted that proper and
swift transportation was provided
for injured workmen by land, by
sea and by air.

“We undertook to organize and
set up a joint safety committee
in every operation under contract
with our union, and that safety
meetings be held regularly at
least once a month without fail.
As ‘the program developed we
sought and got adherence to the
state regulations. We also pro-
posed new ones and recommended
them to the proper authorities,
believing in the principle that

there would be greater adherence

awards

ny.

DISTRICT SAFETY DIRECTOR, John T. Atkinson ”. . . we scorned and
condemned the employer for what we considered lack of concern.”

to safety codes that we helped to

write.
W.C.B. Aid

“Thus it became necessary to
work with the Workmen’s Com-
pensation Board or the state en-
forcement agency. They are al-
ways available for. interpretation
of the safety codes. They provide
expert advice and consultation on
mechanial and industrial safety
problems.

“Many states and provinces rely
upon them for safety posters and
educational material. Field staff
inspectors cover industrial units
and issue stop orders to employers
whose equipment and/or work
methods violate safety regulations.
They are the keepers of accident
statistics and records of fatalities
and work exposure.

Partner In Teamwork

“They cannot make our indus-
tries safe places in which to work,
however, regardles of size or sin-
cerity of administration, but they
do make a full and great contri-
bution as a partner in this team-
work with labor and management
in safety.

“Many union theories were de-
veloped. The end objective of
our safety program is the devel-
opment of a safety consciousness
in every worker that would pro-
tect him on the job, on the high-
way, and in the home. We be-

COVER THAT SWEEZE/

sf YOU
po es

lieve that safety must start at the
top, and if you want a safety-
conscious worker you must give
him a safety-conscious boss.

“We are of the opinion that
safety must start at the top and
be carried right down through all
supervisors and departments, right
down to the worker on the job.
Indeed, most of the success of
the program and the results ob-
tained are due to this enlightened
supervision. These are the things
that we believe. in.

His Own Protection

“No one: — no safety director,
No state inspector, and no super-
visor can protect the worker who
is not interested in his own pro-

tection. The hazards of industrial }j

units will always be there, so it
is very necessary that an educa-

tional program be adopted that};

will sell him the idea that safety
is good for him.

“Our work in the union safety
program became so vast and com-
plicated that it was necessary to
appoint a safety director on a
full-time basis ‘to educate and
train safety

the local unions.
Local Safety Councils

“Tt was necessary to organize
a local safety council in every
local union
director and to hold meetings on
a regional basis every three
months. The union policy is de-
veloped and recommended by
resolutions at our annual union
meeting and, when adopted, be-
comes official union policy. In-
deed, I am happy to state that the
IWA is the only union in North
America that has its statement of
policy on paper and is used as a
guide by all its local unions.

“The educational plan is carried
out through our media of propa-
ganda by our union newspaper,
our radio time, and television. It
is the duty of the safety director
to conduct lectures and safety
talks in plants and logging camps.
This has resulted in the develop-
ment of an attitude and a climate
for safety in this industry.

Step By Step

“The institution of this pro-
gram was most difficult due to the
fact that there were no footsteps
to follow and progress in this field
of union endeavor had to be es-
tablished step by step.

“As a union safety director I

do not class myself as an “expert” |i

in industrial safety. Personally,
I believe there is no such thing.
Some state inspectors and com-
pany safety directors often make
this mistake of setting themselves
up as experts, but I believe that
the worker himself, with his skill,

his knowledge and experience, the

See page 7

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