Show THE SAFETY BONUS IN METAL MINING by F C gregory Gregor yr the safety bonus in metal mining is a sum suin in addition to the regular 6 wage paid to foreman or bosses for keeping the accident rate down to a specified minimum it has been used with success for some time by certain companies as a regular part of their safety work it is desirable from the employers point of view in that the desired results in accident reduction must be accomplished before the bonus bolius is earned and from the standpoint of the recipient in that he receives a reward for the additional effort lie he has put forth in order to earn the bonus while this paper relates to the safety bonus as applied in the metal mining industry the bonus system discussed herein will apply equally well to coal mining oil field work and other mineral industries various estimates have been made as to the percentage of accidents that can be prevented through physical safeguards adoption of safe working b methods and other safety measures which can be initiated an and d carried out wholly through the management or the safety department this percentage b will abw always ays be a variable according to the local plant and conditions but all who have been engaged in accident prevention agree that such work alone cannot bring the accident frequency down to where it should be and that it is very necessary to work directly with the workmen in an ef effort fort to make each individual do his share in making the work safe in this latter phase of the work the boss who has immediate supervision of the men is the one who can do the most since ince lie he is in dally daily and frequent contact with the men while they are at work in the metal mines the shift and bosses are the key men in the oil fields the tool pushers or sub fore f and the same applies to all industries so it becomes necessary to keep these sub f foremen orelien constantly con interested in accident prevention both because they are in personal touch with the men and because they are responsible for production and hostile with any plan which they think will interfere enter fere with their output in lar large lare b e or organizations a it is the shift boss who represents the company and its policies to the man on the job placing responsibilities and costs the responsibility for seeing that the working places are safe goes with the shift boss job but it is not always taken as seriously as necessary to get the best results there are many little things in a place which can be called reasonably safe which may inay cause accidents and still may be overlooked or remedied according to the attitude of the boss in a plan whereby the bosses and men receive a bonus for production safety details are very apt to be disregarded as all are willing to take more inore chances in their efforts to increase their production bonus through b h his intimate contact with the men under his direction the shift boss has the best opportunity of any one in the organization of influencing the attitude of the workmen toward accident prevention and also can best keep in touch with their mental condition as influenced by their home life and personal affairs if it is granted that these sub foremen occupy the key positions as outlined above it is surely well worth while to make an effort to see that they use that position to the best advantage in the prevention pre venion of accidents they can be readily assembled for instruction in the essentials of such work and with their cooperation the work of the safety department is assured of a chance of success it is true that much has been accomplished zA lining engineer bureau of mines department of the interior adams badams W W metal mine aline accidents bureau of mines dept of investigations serial no 2579 february 1924 ja lost time accident is one where disability lasts beyond the day of injury but less than 14 days aa serious accident is one causing disability for 14 or more days through these men without any other incentive than their interest in protecting protection b their men but the burden of production is placed upon the them m and unless the safety side of the work is also impressed upon them it is apt to be subordinated to production I 1 where it has been tried out the safety bonus has furnished the needed stimulus to the bosses to keep them constantly interested in keeping the accidents down to a minimum the boss is impressed by the fact that the management will pay him real hard cash for helping to keep his men from being b injured and as a result of his desire to earn the bonus he will put into his work the extra effort necessary to see that the men protect themselves the direct cost and results from froin the safety bonus can be estinia estimated ted more closely than most plans for safety work vork since since a standard is established and there is no expenditure on the part of the management if this standard is not reached the bonus must be earned before it is du due it is hard to estimate the total cost of accidents in an industry as there are many obscure results lost time from production by others than the injured the expense of hiring and training b new men to take the place of the injured employee and the effect of a high accident rate on the morale of the men are some of thern them adamse adain sa states that computing the value of fatal accidents at days the time lost through M fatal and nonfatal non fatal arn amounts to about one shift in ten with wages computed at 5 a day and compensation at 50 of wages v ae the direct cost of accidents as measured by compensation only is 25 cents per shift for each employee it is believed that this is belo below belov v the actual average in the industry since few of the bonus systems in operation are the same in detail an outline of four plans all considered fairly satisfactory are outlined below four plans outlined 1 each shift boss who supervises 2500 shifts without a lost time accident 3 shall receive a bonus of 30 no penalty for an accident shall be imposed except that all credit I 1 up to the day of the accident is lost the new bonus period starting on the following day A yearly bonus of shall be given iveli to the foreman havin having the best record for the year seriousness of accident if cisal disability clity is beyond day of injury y P is not considered J 2 A monthly bonus shall be paid to both foreman and shift bosses for accident prevention with 1000 shifts as a base for shifts above or below this nu number niber the bon bonus us is in proportion for foreman supervising 1000 shifts no bonus when lost time exceeds 12 evlo of time worked with no lost time accidents with lost time from accidents less than afe of time worked aed 40 d with lost time from accidents less than 1 aclo of time worked so 9 t with lost time from accidents less than ay 1 2 clo of time worked 5 a shift bosses shall receive one half hair the above bonus for the sayne same records the calendar month is the bonus period if a fatal accident occurs all foremen and the shift boss bos s on duty lose bonus for the month 3 A bonus of 25 to each shift boss working 1000 man inan shifts without a serious 4 accident and no lost time accidents ci graduated down to for no serious and not oyer over j three lo 10 lost st tinie time acci accidents dents after a serious accident to one I 1 of liis his men the shift boss must work man shifts before I 1 starting b on bonus period again for preventing the report of an accident the shift boss shall be penalized 1000 shifts tor for the first offense and debarred barred de from bonus for a second offense 4 A bonus of 10 shall be iid to each shift boss work ing shifts without a beriou beriou 5 4 a accident CC ident five dollars per month shall be paid each j jigger I 1 e r boss in charge of t ten en or 7 more nien mentho icho works the month without a serious accident these four plans represent the extremes of the conditions that are required before the bonus is earned under each plan the bonus is earned at frequent intervals which is one of the requisites of its success if the conditions are so severe that they can not be met by a sincere effort on the part of the bosses the bonus will not have the desired effect the safety bonus has resulted in a reduction in the cost of inspection by the safety department |