SAFETY NEWS “LET US STAY ALIVE” By BOB ROSS Regional Safety Director “Mr. Chairman and Fellow Delegates: “I propose to deal first with the topic of the Workmen’s Compensation, and its effect on our people on the job. An increasing use of technicality to deny just compensation to injured workmen is more evident now than in the past. Changes to the Act itself or changes in the administrative policies of the Board are now in the hands of the Com- mission of Inquiry to which this Union has twice made strong representations. “However, we have at hand and are now using means and approaches to equip our members to best protect themselves in this area. I am pleased to report that educa- tional classes on the various forms and for- malities involved in qualifying for Work- } men’s Compensation have been enthusiastic- ally attended in several Local Unions. Where ' possible, plant and safety committees have ' met to study in detail the inferences in the | apparently innocuous questions which appear on the forms required by the Board. “Tt is already apparent that this knowl- edge is now being used to the benefit of our injured members. 5 Seine too many ae the rejected - claims which come across the desks of Local BOB ROSS : Union officers or the Regional Safety Direc- tor are the direct result of ignorance or the effects of agreeing to become one of the “walking wounded.” Almost invariably, the period during which the’ injured man appears on payroll after being assured that signing a Form 6 will protect him, is the gap between incident and present condition which the Board uses to disqualify him. “One remedy which we feel would be effective on this matter is an all- out campaign to expose those Companies who are faking safety records through walking wounded, and at the same time try to convince the operators that the only reasonable yardstick in Safety competition is the number of medical or first aid cases rather than lost time accidents. We For safer driving FIFTY PER CENT SAFER A recent British survey shows that seatbelts reduce over- all injuries about 50 per cent. Six hundred crashes involving 27 drivers were examined in the study. No significant varia- m in protection was found among the four types of belts ised—full harness, lap and diagonal with pillar fitting, lap and diagonal fitting and diagonal only. THE GALS TRAIN ’EM Peggy Sharpe, women’s field representative for the North Carolina Traffic Safety Council, has lined up a crew of volun- teers for the Charlotte Junior Women’s Club to teach a driver improvement course to civic club members (including men) in the Charlotte area. DOUBLE TAGS According to the Automobile Manufacturers Association, 33 states and the District of Columbia now require two license plates. In the 17 states that require only one plate, the plate must be mounted on the rear of the vehicle. LADIES HAVE GOOD RECORD A car assembly firm in Sydney, Australia, uses women exclusively to deliver cars around the metropolitan area. The reason? The ladies’ safety record. The firm has been using women drivers since 1935 and has had only two accidents. TROUBLE AHEAD Indiana is testing a sign to warn approaching motorists of an accident scene ahead. The sign, which was suggested by State Trooper Ralph E. Shumaker, is about 3 feet square with the words, “Accident Ahead” lettered in black on a reflectorized yellow background. - VIOLENT REACTION An item in the Virginia Traffic Safety News tells of a Pakistani woman who seems to have had strong views on the subject of whether driving is a right or a privilege. She committed suicide when her husband refused to give her driving lessons. SIGN DRIVER LICENSE COMPACT According to the AAMVA Bulletin, 12 states have enacted legislation permitting participation in the Driver License Com- pact. The District of Columbia has also joined the compact by action of its board of commissioners. SAFE CHRISTMAS ON TURNPIKES The nation’s major turnpikes recorded no traffic fatalities over the Christmas holiday. A survey of 22 toll roads made by the American Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association, showed that 1,541,126 vehicles traveled 62,499,449 miles over these facilities during the period from 6 p.m. through midnight December 25, There were 86 accidents, but no deaths. question. * deliver. THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER Don’t tell your friends about your indigestion: “How are you!” is a greeting, not a Kier FOR SALE CHEAP, wife- sized lawn mower. * * Speeches are like babies—. easy to conceive, but hard to realize that there are dangers of abuse in this proposal also, but the danger areas could be exposed before serious injury occurs. In endeavour, close cooperation will be necessary from the Local Unions, — “In the field of accident prevention which your Safety Director regards as the main responsibility directed to him by this Union, there cannot be said to be an over-all picture which could reflect progress or lack of itong ~~ Regional basis. However, there has emerged a general pattern which varies only in degree throughout Western Canada. That pattern shows that until two years ago progress in Safety was steady, each year showing a better record than the last. Then progress stopped. A slow even increase in the human effort cannot overcome. “Tt is fortunate for us that there are today plants and camps which give the lie to this last assumption. They have worked long periods in which no one lost his life, no one was injured. The goal of zero frequencies in the woods and in the mills is not only possible, it is being reached now by people who have retained and refreshed the first principles upon which our Safety Program was launched, complete cooperation based on mutual respect between Union and Management and the practical application of caring for their fellow workers on the job. ; “We have discovered that speedup, lack of training, lack of re-training in the new industrial techniques, are the brakes applied to improvement — the feverish preoccupation with increase productivity is killing and maim- ing our people and destroying their health. This futile approach is self defeating. The sought after productivity declines. “Wise management knows this. “We know this. “Let us withdraw from this silly scramble. “Let us work diligently, proudly and sanely. “Let us stay alive. “In conclusion, on behalf of the Regional Council I wish to thank those devoted, hard-working members who have done so much to protect us at work and at home in the past year.” With the bark removed a fir peeler is nearly ready for the knife. The lathe operator and the charger operator or deckman are in the danger area if the log “explodes.” “The ‘exploding-log hazard’ is very real with lathes which have been speeded up using retractable chucks which also involves increasing the speed as the a core diminishes in size,” reports J. S. Bowman, U.S. Plywood Corporation. ij To protect operators from pieces of log and large chunks of slivers, U.S. Ply- wood has designed. a protective screen which eliminates this hazard. On The Lighter Side Ad in Your Weekly Gu to Cape Cod: “Attention skiers! When you arm or leg, have your write their names on J cast. When removed, sent to me. I will transform it From the Abilene, Tex., Reporter-News: “$10 reward for south side apartment. Large enough to keep young wife from going home to mother. Small enough to keep mother com coming here.” Kei pet has not only the seal ae approval, but the mink A treasured NEW SCREEN ELIMINATES DANGER s my