iw i a ® } H | ‘a a By BOB ROSS, Safety Director The strong need for a review of the accident prevention pro- gram in the forest products industry is indicated by the Annual Report of the Workmen’s Compensation Board just released which shows that accidents in the woods and mills during 1963 increased 12 percent over those in 1962. While | recognize that this 12 percent increase reflects a boom year in which there has been an over-all increase in the number of employees engaged in the industry, what is most dismaying is that _ the FREQUENCY RATES in all sections and areas of the forest in- dustry have risen in the past three years. Some of these increases have been startling, some just slow but steady. We must remember that frequency rates eliminate from consideration the factors of higher employment and higher production. Let us examine the meaning down on the job of some of the facts and figures, out of the welter of statistics contained in the report. Let’s ask these questions and supply these plain answers: Is Speed-up a Factor? Reports show that the shingle mill frequency rate has sky-rocketed from 41.27 in 1961 to 69.81 in 1963! Have our pieceworkers in this industry caught the production fever from management? Let’s hope that the recent settlement in shingle will serve to eliminate some of this tragic waste. In Plywood, | have personally ascertained that unevenly im- | proved production lines have produced work loads too heavy for ‘some on the line. Others whose jobs have appeared to be eased _ by new machinery have been made accident prone by the very _ SPEED of this machinery. | have seen department quotas raised reg- _ ularly, just out of reach of the tantalized worker. In the sawmills, | have watched frantic departmental heads bully _ crews into efforts that cannot be safely sustained for an eight-hour shift. In the woods | have seen beautiful new mechanical monsters ' not only replace men on the job, but force those who remain to work at a killing pace, and it is a killing pace, for the accident frequency / rate jumped to a four-year high of 88.62 from a low of 85.13 in | two years. é The answer is yes. Is Lack of Training Part of This Bloody Record? According to the W.C.B. statistics the 20-21-year-old age group were the most likely to be hurt in 1963. This is new! Does this mean that in this insane scramble for production the older employees no longer have the time to instruct the be- THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER TRUTH BEHIND THE STATISTICS ginner — that not enough new solid programs of job safety training have taken the place of this older method? Does this mean that the foremen and more experienced hands are too busy trying to understand ever changing methods of production, to look after the fledgling? Does this mean that the thirty-day probationary- period in our Master Agreement can be interpreted to say, “Stay alive for thirty days, kid, and you'll make it!’? The answer is yes. Is Lack of Re-training Built Into These Figures? Board records show that the second most hazardous age group of workers is in the 35-year and over area. Is this because of lack of proper re-training of older workers with the seniority to advance to these new jobs? The answer is yes. Is Fragmentation of the Industry to Blame For Some of the Casualties? Safety officials in the forest industry state that the greatest num- ber of accidents occur in the Northern Interior. They put this down to the large number of small isolated operations working without effective safety committees. We say that the larger operators who control industry in the Interior are maintaining and spreading a pattern of contracting and sub-contracting of their operations in order to avoid their responsi- bilities in accident prevention and to avoid union organization. We say, particularly to the Northern operators, get together, plan a united comprehensive Safety Program. Take back management and responsibility in your holdings, the IWA will work with you to save the accident costs which you now pay through your contractor. The answer is yes. Has Complacency Been a Factor in the Mounting Toll? The area of operations represented by the B.C. Lumber Manufac- turers Association (largely Coastal) has had a long established record of co-operation with our Union in lowering the death and injury rates until three years ago. Suddenly progress stopped. A small steady rise in accidents took place. This has shocked some earnest people in both Union and management. | believe that this shock must produce a change in the old ways of accident prevention — that Union and Management must take time out from the production race to find out how we work with this new machinery and what it all means to PEOPLE. We must then plan a new joint program. The answer is yes. Regional Safety Conference Meets at Woodworkers House GREETINGS: September 27th, 1964, and Local Unions in the Regional “The Officers of Regional - Council No, 1, IWA, AFL- CIO-CLC, issue this Call to ' the Fifteenth Annual Region- al Safety Conference to be held in the Auditorium of the Woodworkers’ House, com- mencing at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, continuing through the day until the business is com- pleted. “The high standard of our Safety Program which has been developed over a period of years requires the atten- tion of Delegates from all Best wishes offered Gil Ingram, longtime Chairman of the Regional Safety Council entered hos- pital on July 28th for a ser- ious lung operation. We hear the prognosis is excel- lent—there’s a word for you Gill! Hurry up and get well, we can’t afford a dull Safety Conference. BOB ROSS, Safety Director Gil, we hear you are in Vancouver General Hos- pital. From all of us, hurry up and get well. We don’t look forward to a Safety Conference without you. Signed, All members of the Regional Council. Council. It is only with con- tinued vigilance that the membership will have a safe place to work in the lumber industry. “Tt will be the duty of the Delegates to prepare a pro- gram for recommendation to the 27th Annual Constitution- al Convention of Regional Council No. 1. “The Officers of the Region- al Council urge that Local Unions be fully represented in order that we may have a full discussion on the safety problems confronting our membership. “Registration will take place on the same day com- mencing at 9:00 a.m. RESOLUTIONS: “All resolutions dealing with accident prevention and other safety matters should be presented to the Regional Secretary-Treasurer at least twenty (20) days prior to the Conference. The deadline for resolutions reaching this of- fice will be September 4, 1964.” The Call outlines the basis of representation.