Ist Issue
June, 1961

WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

~ Northern

b Holst, Local 1-424, IWA,

_ June 13, and launched plans for
The speaker reviewed progress
made during the past five years dur-
ing which a planned joint effort had
been made to correct alarming con-
ditions found in many scattered and
isolated operations. He congratulated
all those, who, at the job level had
4 established a rewarding record, and
$ expressed confidence in the value of
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continued co-operation.

d been reduced to
10.92 and in logging camps to
46.99, a reduction in one year of

_ twenty per cent. No fatalities had
been reported for the first five
months of this year, he said.

The Local Union President was re-
quested to state labour’s attitude to-
ward safety problems. He said in

ate
“The IWA attitude toward safety
has been demonstrated in deeds and
not merely in words.”

He quoted a recent bulletin of
Pa the Workmen’s Compensation

Board which stated, “B.C.’s

largest labour union, the Inter-

national Woodworkers of Amer-
ica, back in 1951 recognized its
responsibilities ... They were the
-first union to appoint a full-time

Safety Director, and they picked

a good man for the job, John T.

Atkinson ... The IWA has met

the challenge of accident preven-

tion with direct action.”

In further proof of IWA action
on safety, the IWA Local Union
_ President referred to the establish-
"ment of the Standing Committee on
- Occupational Health and Safety by
* the Canadian Labour Congress, with

Regional President Joe Morris as its

Chairman.

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Interior

_ Outlines Program

A further reduction of twenty per cent in the accident fre-
Jaco rate in the Northern Interior was predicted by President
aco

when as Chairman of the Joint

orest Products Safety Committee he addressed a public rally

Safety Week.in that area.

~| damentally

A National Campaign

The functions of this national Com-
mittee, he explained, would achieve
closer co-ordination ‘of safety efforts
at the national and international
levels. He claimed that the appoint-
ment of Regional President Joe
Morris was in recognition of the ex-
cellent safety promotion carried out
by the IWA.

Clear-cut Policy

The Union’s attitude toward safety
was written into the statement of
policy respecting safety, and in the
possession of all safety committees.
Clear-cut principles for co-operation
had been laid down.

The speaker challenged the state-
ment, sometimes made, that “it is
futile to carry on a safety program
because of the factor of human fail-
ure,” We have learned, he said, that
while human. nature may remain fun-
the same, human be-
haviour can be changed through edu-
cation.

He contended that although safety
education is comparatively new, the
promising results already achieved
support a firm belief in its value. “We
know now,” he said, “that safety is a
realizeable ideal, but like all ideals
it must be organized.” :

Decade of Progress

Holst contrasted conditions in 1949,
with those ten years later. In 1949 the
time-loss claims were 9,347—a ratio
of .232 to production. In 1959, with a
vastly expanded production, time-loss
claims dropped to 7,033—a ratio of
.114. In that period the accident fre-
quency rate was lowered from 86.35
to 45.58 in the industry of the
province.

PRINCE GEORGE Joint Forest Products Safety

ae -

a Re ena

Committee headed by Chairman

Jack Holst, President of Local 1-424, IWA,

completing plans for this year’s Northern Interior forest products “Safety Week” to be held June 19-23. Group left stand-
ing Howard Webb; Fred Wade; seated left Don McEachnie; John Dinsmore; Jack Holst; Don McKay; Ross Inglis. Missing from

picture is Tom Dilworth.

’ Hal Vandervoort photo
“The Citizen”

The Task Ahead

All agreed he contended, that
much remains to be done. Each
year more than 560,000 workers
in Canada sustain injuries. On
an average 1200 deaths are
accounted for by industrial acci-
dents. In 1948, the fatality rate
for every 10,000 workers was.2.8.
This is still 2.2 deaths for every
10,000 workers.

Canadian industry picks up the
tab for $700 million each year as
the total payment for compensa-
tion, safety education, and safety
equipment.

It is estimated that for every
$1 paid out for compensation, $4
is paid out for indirect losses,
such as damaged equipment, lost
production time, and paper work.

Changed Attitudes

“It is gratifying to know, that,
through the years, there has been an
amazing change in attitudes. Safety
was once a dirty word in the industry
because to the hard-driving woods
bosses it represented an unwarranted
interference with production sched-
ules. Now the great majority of

operators realize that the safe opera-
tion is an efficient operation. Manage-
ment knows that accident prevention
has paid them rich dividends in
dollars and cents, apart from humani-
tarian and working force morale con-
siderations. Accident prevention
enormously reduced production losses.
Safety is economically sound as well
as humanitarian.

As human beings we have the duty
to each other to help protect that
which we value most—life, limb, and
happiness.”

PART OF THE CREW of
ee Safety Director, John T.

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the Canada Creosote Plant in New Westminster, who are now in their 4th accident-free year. [WA
tkinson, is in the centre of the picture. The machine the men are gathered around is one
the two steam cranes still left in the industry. ;

ecognized by the National
Safety Council in 1954 as the first
accident-free plant in North
America, the Canada Creosote
Plant in New Westminster, a

setting another record of now
working in their 4th accident-

58. Since that time the Plant
ely accident-free.

Canada Creosote Gains
: 4th Accident-Free Year

for going accident-free from January
20, 1958 to December 31, 1960.

One of the major reasons for the
remarkable safety record in this op-

new employees b
Plant Manager. These new employees
are told by House that regardless of
who gives them the order to do some-
thing, if they don’t think it’s safe,
don’t do it!

He cautions them also not to worry
if they are proved wrong and no
action is taken against them for dis-
obeying such an order.

Because of this genuine safety in-
terest-on the part of the Plant Man-
agement, accidents have been elimi-
nated for nearly four years in an
industry highly hazardous due to the

constant handling of heavy timber
from great heights. ;

Ti Out
Have you ever noticed that when-
ever someone has an hour to kill they

always spend it with someone who
doesn’t?

* *

The kids are out of school. Keep
alert and help keep ’em alive when
you're driving.

* * *
_ After the checkup, the doctor asked
his patient. ‘Have you been living a
normal life?’’ : ;

“Yes, doctor.”
“Well, you'll have to cut it out for

a while.”

* * *

A fifth will go into three with none
left over, but there may be one to
carry.

* * *

One thing the compact car does is

bring the family closer together.

* * x

One sure test of willpower is to see
a friend with a black eye and not ask
any questions. Z

Fire Fighters Face

High Death

Toll

The death rate among fire fighters has reached a new high for
recent years, a survey of the record has revealed. The death and
injury list, compiled in 1,200 communities by the Research De-
partment of the Fire Fighters, showed that 68 per 100,000 were
killed in the line of duty during the past year, compared to 66 per

100,000 the previous year.

In 1958, 37 per 100,000 lost their
lives, and 1957 the toll was 54 killed
per 100,000.

-The survey also revealed that 21
out of every 100 fire fighters suffered
injuries in the line of duty. This com-
pares to the general injury rate of
workers of 3 per 100.

Hazards Increasing
The survey showed that hazards

|facing fire fighters are becoming

greater as science and technologies
advance.

It has been reported that more
than 45 radiation releases have oc-
curred through fire or explosion since
1955. The number of industrial plants
using radioactive materials has mush-
roomed to 6,700. Construction tech-
niques are also making fire-fighting

desity of traffic flowing through city

streets poses as a particular hazard

to fire fighters.
Death Causes

Other causes of death and injury
were burns, asphyxiation, structural
collapses, electrical shock, heart at-
tacks from over-exertion and acci-
dents due to false alarms.

Injuries stemmed from multiple
factors, : including collisions, falls,
smoke inhalation, falling objects,
sprains and strains, flying glass and
metal, burns, ascending and descend-
ing ladders, nails, etc.

ere They Died
- During 1960 fire fighters were killed
in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, New
Westminster, Prince George, Hali-
fax, Scarborough, and York Town-

more difficult, and the increasing | ship.
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Occupation: Faller

Experience: 4 months

Age: 39

A faller was clecring a right of way Ina flor area with little undergrowth.

He felled tree that was limb tied to a snag which pulled over enother snag in falling,

The second snag struck and killed the faller.

~ WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION

BOARD OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
ACCENT BtMIED C26t