iwa) SAFETY

By ANDY SMITH

Regional Safety Director

As the year 1966 begins,
may I express my sincere
thanks to all of the people
who worked so hard during
the past year in the field of

. accident control.

Statistics will probably
show that we did not accom-
plish all of the things we had
hoped to do in the past year.
However, there are no statis-
tics to show how many acci-
dents, and even deaths, were
avoided through our efforts

in the safety program of the
IWA,

FIGURES

The figures for the year
1965 when they are released
will probably show that we
did not increase our accident
ratio greatly over preceding
years. I am quite confident
too that these figures will
show that on the basis of
hours of exposure and num-
ber of man-hours worked by
the vast number of people in
our industry, certain progress
has been made not only in
preventing injuries but also in
the severity rate.

Recently I spent a week
on Vancouver Island where I
had the opportunity of tour-
ing several of the operations
in the Victoria local, and in
the main I find that they are
in good repair safety-wise,
with the exception of Victoria
Plywoods which has a very
dangerous condition on the
dock; also, their storage of
stock within the plant left
much to be desired.

PROBLEM

I also had the opportunity
of attending Safety Commit-
tee meetings at Victoria Ply-
woods, where a problem ex-
isted in the wearing of safety
equipment, particularly for
eye injuries. I am quite con-
fident however, that this mat-
ter will be satisfactorily con-
cluded in the not too distant

; future.
| One of the greatest chal-
lenges facing management and
safety committees is the job
~ of selling personal protective
equipment to our members,
who must be convinced that
the recommendations made by
the safety committees are in
the interest of their own
safety and are ge to
change, even as our industry
changes so rapidly.
_ Personal protective equip-
mt that was suitable and
quate last year, through
-a technological change may
be totally inadequate as the

sy

THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

REPORT

and even though it may incon-
venience the wearer for a cer-
tain period of time he can be-
come accustomed to it. There
can be nothing more disas-
trous for a person than to
lose the sight of his eye or
eyes through the lack of
proper protective equipment.

I also spent two days in the
Duncan Local visiting Hill-
crest and addressing the crew
in that operation. I visited
Doman’s Sawmill in Nanaimo,
as well as the Mayo Lumber
Company mill where I ad-
dressed the crew. ;

Of interest to all local un-
ions will be the Regional
Safety Conference to be held
in the CCF Hall, 17 Bastion
Street, Nanaimo, B.C., com-
mencing at 9:30 am. Satur-
day, February 19, 1966. All

-

local unions and local Safety
Councils should take note
that this is the: one confer--.
ence of the year when safety
reports must be submitted in
writing, and should be sent to
the Regional Office not later
than February 7, 1966. Only
written reports will be dealt
with by this Safety Confer-
ence.

I should like to express my
warm wishes to everyone for
a happy and safe year in 1966,
and my thanks to the officers
of Local 1-118 and Local 1-80
for their cooperation during
my visits in their local unions
with a special thanks to
Brother Barney Doherty,
safety director of Victoria
local and Brother Jack
Mumm, safety director of Lo-
cal 1-80.

THE GARBAGEMAN KNOWS

“During the recent federal
election campaign, pollsters
once again went through the
elaborate process of testing,
collecting and predicting the
political climate of the coun-
try. %

“As usual, none thought to
query the nation’s garbage-
men. It’s surprising, because
few men are closer to how
people are thinking. Had
anyone cared to inquire, the
garbagemen in the York
South riding in Toronto could

have revealed that NDP can-

didate David Lewis would
carry the riding with little
trouble.

“No one reads campaign lit-
erature,” explains Bill Tom-
sett, a veteran of 30 years in
York South garbage. “They
just pitch the stuff right into
the waste basket.” But Tom-
sett and his colleagues noticed
a difference when they

LOCAL 1-80

Financial Secretary Ed Linder of
Local 1-80 IWA, visited the following
patients in hospital and distributed
candy, cigarettes and copies of the
Western Canadian Lumber Worker.

NANAIMO GENERAL

Mr. Donald Wilson, Nanoose Bay;
Mr. Allan Graham, Cassidy; Mr.
Charles Scarff, Wellington; Mr. Ev-
erett Nixon, Courtenay; Mr. Glen
McGillivray, Qualicum.

CHEMAINUS

Mr. John Viniar, Chemainus; Mr.
James Burdes, Copper Canyon; Mr.
B. Feaney, Chemainus; Mrs. Doug
Dunsmore, Chemainus; Mrs. Mabel
White, Chemainus; Mrs. Rose Brooks,

Crofton,
LADYSMITH

Mr. Howard Hartley, Ladysmith;
Mr. Les Robertson, Ladysmith; Mrs.
Mike Wavrecan, Ladysmith; Mrs.
Jean Ouellette, Ladysmith.

KING’S DAUGHTERS

Mrs, Aleck Erickson, Hillcrest Rd.,
Duncan; Mrs, Harold White, Caycuse
Beach; Mrs. William MacGregor,
Somenos Rd., Duncan; Mrs. Otto Hal-
verson, Youbou; Mr. Daljit Sandhu,
Lake Cowichan; Mr. Ray Manweiler,
Youbou; Mr. James Long, Caycuse
Beach; Mr. David Aitken, Balsam
Drive, Cobble Hill; Mr. Stan Cook,
rea ae en Wt neg Brown,

Cowichan; Mr. asti
Howard Ave., Duncan. —

dumped this year’s literature
aboard their collection trucks.
Lewis’ earnest visage peeped
out from behind each egg-
shell, orange rind and can of
spaghetti sauce, indicating
that voters were at least open-
ing his campaign envelopes
before tossing his literature
out.

“We figured if people were
that interested,” says Tomsett
with the wisdom of hindsight,

“Lewis would win easily.”
—From Maclean’s Magazine, January
1966.

_N.D.P. MEET

One of the largest political
conventions ever held in B.C.
will take place April 15, 16
and 17, when the New Demo-
cratic Party gathers for its
fifth annual convention.

The big event opens Friday
evening, April 15 in the Royal
Towers Hotel and it is expect-
ed that over 400 delegates will
attend.

Ernest Hall, provincial sec-
retary stated that among im-
portant topics to be discussed
at this convention will be:

@ Pre-election planning in
readiness for the next B.C.
provincial election when it
is called.

e Organization finances. The
party places emphasis on
provincial organizing.

Guest speakers at tne con-
vention will be announced in
March.

QUOTE

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much about what other peo-
ple think of them if they
realized how seldom they do.

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