MURDER IN THE WOODS ‘ By JOHN T. ATKINSON, Safety Director Regional Council No. 1, I.W.A. (in Canadian Labour) The most enthusiastic fan for the safety program in the western lumber industry is the man whose working life has spanned the transformation from unbelievable carelessness to sane working proced- ures. He remembers the day in the mill when a flying cant from the edger crushed the life of a fellow- worker. Then he recalls the day when Bill was cruelly trapped in the burner. He would like to forget the times when hands or legs were mangled or wrenched off by whirring machinery. Never had he worked more frantically than the day they failed to rescue Andy from under a collapsed lumber pile. “I’m in the wrong racket,” he would say to himself as he watched increased production multiply accidents. He wondered what would happen to his kids if the same thing happened to him. In the woods the old-time logger has gruesome memories of the days when he helped to pack out the bodies of bunkhouse pals, flattened by falling trees, or decapitated by the whip of powered moving lines. Sometimes he went to the coroner’s inquest. When the facts were laid out “cold turkey” he began to think, “This should never have happened.” Many an evening in the bunkhouse he told the boys, “He would still be with us if it hadn't been for this "Who Didn't Fourteen years ago a logger who didn’t take chances was a “sissy.” Whether climbing a spar tree, or set- ting chokers, the logger was tradi- tionally a “tough” guy, who would look death in the eye without a quiver. He probably worked for an operator who was screaming for more and still more logs to meet the demand of hungry mills. His motto was “cut and get out.” Thoughtlessly, life and limb were reckoned as expendable. He gave scant attention to the human scrap- heap which grew larger and larger on the city’s skidroad. Operator and worker alike were conditioned to regard the appalling death and injury toll as an inevitable feature of the job. Fourteen years ago, the Union was content to cry “murder in the woods” and to blame crazy blankety-blank setup.” Most of all, they vividly remem- ber the tragic missions to the homes ofthe bereaved. In stumbling words they tried to explain that Dad would never return. His body was at the morgue, the hospital or the funeral parlor. “All the boys are terribly sorry. We'd like to do what we can to help.” And then, helplessly, they faced the look of stunned tragedy. They had no answers for the ques- tions, “What are we going to do?” Take Chances everything that went wrong on the “mad speed-up.” Little was done constructively to stop the continued murdering of men—for murder it was—murder by negligence. Some thirteen years ago a small group of IWA mill workers and loggers with sound humanitarian instincts made up their minds that action could be taken to halt the growing casualty trend. They said to themselves, “We're not getting anywhere by just ‘yacking’ about this. We know that every accident has a cause. Let’s do something about these causes in an organized way. We have a Union strong enough to demand safe work- ing conditions. Safety is sanity. Dis- regard of safety is insane.” They found a sympathetic re- sponse from officials of the Work- men’s Compensation Board, who or “Couldn’t you men have done something to prevent this?” Their feelings about the situation came to the boil in many a lunch- bucket session. “Why can’t we do something about it?” they said, as they discussed the circumstances of recent accidents. They faced the fact that each accident had a man-made cause — either defective equipment, poor working conditions, or down- right carelessness or chance-taking. Was a Sissy” had been forced to levy extremely high assessments on high frequency operations. These dedicated IWA crusaders talked and argued inces- santly with the employers to con- vince them that the direct and in- direct losses caused by accidents were needless and downright eco- nomic foolishness. They pointed out that skilled men were not expend- able, and that a safe operation was the. most efficient operation from the standpoint of production as well as morale. Long standing prejudices stood in the way. Finally the advantages of progress in the field of accident pre- vention became as apparent to the employers as it was to the workers. Safety regulations were devised, im- proved and given better enforce- ment, but enforcement was not enough. "The Life He Saves May Be His Own" The IWA established a Safety Department with a full-time Safety Director in 1951. The Director was instructed to co-ordinate mem- bership support of a safety pro- gram in all Local Unions and opera- tions. The organization of joint labour-management job safety com- mittees, where twenty or more men were employed, became a compul- sory feature of the Union’s agree- ment and the law. Safety confer- ences both at the Local Union and regional level were regularly held to provide for an exchange of ideas, to shed more light on danger spots, and steps to remedy them. The Union found common ground with the em- ployers and the Workmen’s Com- pensation Board in a full scale edu- cational campaign using all available media directed at supervisors as well as workers. It was designed to make safe behaviour an instinctive reaction to the job environment. The important question is “What is the attitude toward the safety pro- gram today?” The IWA can back its statement that organized safety reduces accidents by an impressive array of statistics, corroborated by the Workmen’s Compensation Board. Safety is a subject that is given high priority at Union meet- ings, conferences and conventions. Membership interest in accident pre- vention is growing. The IWA has taken an active part in public hear- ings under the auspices of the Work- men’s Compensation Board when safety regulations are under review. Usually the Union makes its point, because its men experienced in job safety requirements deal with the issues, How does the average worker in the industry feel about the safety program? Making due allowance for occasional impatience with “fussy” precautions, he realizes, for the most part, that a well-organized safety program in his own operation is the best form of insurance against an untimely accident. He wants all accidents investigated by the Union on his own behalf, not to fix blame so much as to eliminate the hazard that caused the accident. He no longer resents the visual reminders on every side that safety pays; the life he saves may be his own. He demands that a representative of the Union should accompany the Board’s Inspector when he makes his official inspection. "There Are Always Loopholes To Be Plugged” i Yet impressive statistical compari- sons showing annually a substantial ditions of the fall. Some boommen complained that the type of life- jackets prescribed were cumbersome and uncomfortable on the job. It was the assembled loggers them- selves who said, “We've worked on booms and around booms. We know exactly what you are talking about. We have seen these life-jackets save lives which would formerly have been fost, We vote for the regula- tions and steps to improve the equip- ment. Remember how we used to kick about ‘hard hats’ when first _ introduced? ... Now we know that fallers and buckers, contrary to regu- lations, in his haste to get the logs out from under the falling snow. The tragic result was that a choker- man, standing by a “tractor,” was crushed by a tree only seventy feet away, which fell the wrong way when the faller unexpectedly cut into dry rot. In the same operation a mechanic was instructed to do a welding re- pair job on a fuel tank truck, which at the time contained eighty gallons of fuel oil. Lax, impatient super- vision was responsible for the result- ing explosion which made the victim a flaming torch. Nothing but ashes could be found by crew members that could be used to extinguish the flames, until the frantic man jumped into nearby water. No proper vehi- cle was available to convey him to | w ea SAFETY DIRECTOR ATKINSON men’s Compensation Board, and to the coroner’s jury on which men sat who knew the language of the in- dustry. A full investigation of the circumstances was made by the Union’s Safety Director. Manage- ment’s witnesses at the inquest were grilled in cross-examination by the Union’s officials. As a result of the submission and evidence adduced by the Union’s representatives riders were added to the verdicts recom- mending observance of required safety precautions and management was penalized by the Workmen’s Compensation Board for negligence. The obvious results followed. The employer had his lesson. The shocked crew members became ar- dent converts to the safety program because, under Union prompting, they now know that they have an important share in organized safety. > idea a aie PROTECT YOURSELF British Columbia cic | COMPENSATION BOARD | AS Re eae gi ot They have gained a rock-ribbed and informed determination to make their operation a safe place in which to work. They know. how. There are wide areas throughout the lumber industry in which such tragic accidents could not occur be- cause of alert and trained IWA safe- ty men. On the other hand there are a few remaining operations where reckless employers undermine safety organization to give results which mar an otherwise enviable record. The work of the Union to promote safety is never done. Safety is not found in impressive statistical charts nor in mere lip- service to the ideals of safety. Safety is found only when the Union suc- ceeds in getting the workers to shoul- der their own responsibilities in a never - ending effort to make their daily work safer for themselves and their fellows.