THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

ist Issue
October, 1966

[WA

The IWA Region No. 1 will
press for an immediate safety
training program in line with
Workmen’s Compensation
Board regulations for new
workers.

The Regional convention
passed a resolution calling for
the program, making it man-
datory that sufficient training
be given new men before they
are allowed to work without
supervision.

The convention also decided
to seek WCB inspection of
plants and camps at least once
a month in the presence of at
least two members of the lo-
eal union safety committee.
The resolution said WCB in-
spectors are rarely seen in
woodworking plants and
camps now.

The resolution said a copy
of the WCB report on each
inspection should be given to
the camp safety committee.

RESOLUTIONS

Other safety resolutions
passed by the convention in-
cluded:

© Negotiations with the em-
ployers for supply of safety
equipment free of charge.

© Officers of the regional
council are instructed to make
every effort to standardize
safe falling and bucking pro-
cedures throughout the indus-
try. The resolution said that
to gain the safest possible fall-
ing and bucking conditions
under the provisions of WCB
regulation No. 60:46, the writ-
ten methods and procedures
should be uniform throughout
the industry.

© New WCB regulations
covering the operation of fork
lift trucks in plywood plants.
The convention was told fork
lift truck drivers now are ex-
pected by management to
carry loads over the heads of
fellow workers and this is
considered a very dangerous
practice.

In his annual report, re-
gional safety director Andy
Smith said the safety record
in the past year appears to be
no better and no worse than
the previous year,

CAUSES

: Other details of his report:
" Two groups of accidents are
often distinguished — those
due to technological, mechani-
or physical causes, and
} due to unsafe behavior
by the worker.
To the first group belong
ceidents caused, for example,
defective parts, unguarded
es, damaged electric
bles, and equipment which
worn out or in poor repair.
‘To the second group belong
‘those resulting from absent-
_mindedness, negligence, fool-
hardiness or ignorance of risk.
_ ‘The first group is often con-
sidered to comprise 15% of all
accidents, the second 85%,
and the conclusion is accord-
ingly drawn that attention
should be concentrated on the

Jatter group.

An accident is very seldom
due solely to unsafe behavior.
As already stated, accidents
are usually caused by a group
of circumstances.

One of these may be unsafe
behavior, but in all probabil-
ity unsafe physical conditions
are present as well, and so it
would be equally justifiable to
classify the accident as due to
unsafe mechanical or physical
condition.

In practice, it is possible to
classify the great majority of
accidents in such a way that
an unsafe act by a worker is
not the primary cause. It has
often been pointed out that
no useful purpose will be serv-
ed by citing circumstances
which cannot be prevented.
Hence, carelessness, negli-
gence, absentmindedness and
the like should not be consid-
ered as main accident causes
although they may be con-
tributory factors.

There are so many different
circumstances which disturb
the mind of a worker that it
is impossible to prevent mo-
ments of carelessness or ab-
sentmindedness.

We are all familiar with the
Statistics that show that one
accident of the kind that is or-
dinarily compensable, happens
for every 29 accidents result-
ing in minor injuries, and for
every 300 accidents which do

not cause injury, so-called
near accidents.

LOCKOUT

If this is accurate, the point
is that for every major acci-
dent, many dangerous inci-
dents occur which do not
cause injuries. This knowl-
edge can be use to great ad-
vantage in planning safety
programs, for if sufficient at-
tention is paid to the non-
injury accidents, there is
every likelihood that the num-
ber of accidents resulting in
injuries, and especially seri-
ous injuries, will be lowered.

In any case, it will be neces-
sary to pay special attention
to minor accidents and near
accidents, because often the
seriousness of an accident is
not at all an indication of the
frequency with which it will
happen again; nor does the
fact that an accident did not
cause injury to anybody on
one occasion constitute an as-
surance that under similar
circumstances a serious acci-
dent will not occur in the
future.

The psychological condition
of the workman constitutes an
important factor in safety.

It has been proven that the
frequency of accidents is in-
fluenced by the general at-
mosphere. When the relation-
ship between employers and
workers is bad, then workers
are dissatisfied, the number
of accidents tends to increase,
while in periods when indus-
trial relations are good, the
opposite seems to be the case.

Workers’ behavior usually
reflects their material and
psychological environment.
Good human relations inside
the operation, good under-
standing bet ween manage-
ment and labor, correct de-
cision on questions of promo-
tion, are all material if in-

SAFETY TRAINING PROGRAM

SECRETARY of. the regional
safety council is Pat Ewles of
Local 1-357, New Westminster,
who was elected at the annual
conference.

This advert ementis not published di

tangible factors influencing a
worker’s behavior that have
been found to be conducive

- of greater safety.

The same factors have a
considerable influence on la-
bor turnover, and whtre
there is a large turnover, the
potential for increased acci-
dent rate is to be recognized.

The question of the effect
of automation has not been
studied long enough to draw
a simple conclusion on the
subject. Many authorities con-
sider that fatigue increases

the risk of accidents, and the’

greater the fatigue the greater
the risk. Fatigue makes a
worker less attentive, slower
in action, and neglectful of
precautions.

However, the ordinary fa-
tigue of the working day is
not clearly reflected in the ac-
cident rates for the different
hours of the day.

In addition, the influence of
fatigue differs with different
persons. Accidents are often
related not so much to physi-
cal fatigue as to the worker’s
mental attitude. This attitude
depends to a high degree on
whether he likes his work or
not, and here again the gen-
eral environment counts.

It is unfortunately true that
workers generally have a very
limited interest in accident
prevention.

It cannot be expected that
the situation will improve
rapidly but there can be little
doubt that in the long run
safety education in its various
forms will pay good dividends.

In any case, it would be un-
thinkable to abandon the
struggle. The solidarity con-
stantly shown by workers in
times of trouble should mani-
fest itself in the field of safety.

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