Show Does the Widow Jones live here That was the way he put it this bungling fellow who broke the news of a hus hus- husbands husband's husbands husband's husbands husband's bands band's accidental death In a way its it's a joke But its it's one of those jokes when we laugh out of sympathy be be- because because because cause the joke grows out of a bitter reality Telling a wo wo- woman woman wo- wo woman man her husband has just been killed in an accident is isa a breaking heart Job as anybody knows who's ever had the assign assignment ment mont Twenty five years ago in the fac fac- factory factory tory and on the farm it was a com com- common common common I mon story story- SHe lIe was caught between the PA i S S S S'S S l ft S t S. S j jL L it 1 q is l jW S. S 4 tL t E S l jit S. S Qc 5 1 j S 1 i iS i'S S 'S S S. S iq i Money wasted in 1937 traffic accidents Would have built 35 Empire State Slate buildings or ocean liners like the Nor Nor- mandic mandie It was equivalent to destruction of a city like Waltham Mass or Santa ure ire While Thile accidents continue to dis dis- disable disable dis- dis disable able one member of every fourth family i in the country in one year theres there's still a big Job for safety Planning the Future Thus though in lEa a jubilant mood over aver the reductions achieved during the I past year in traffic public and occupational accidents delegates will turn aside from their celebration celebration tion Lion I of the councils council's twenty fifth birthday to chart a future course What That will wUl safety bring in the next quarter century How far can it go goI toward I cutting still further our an an- annual annual nual sacrifice of at lives to accidents I What new things will It bring Into our work and our daily habits Farms and small businesses will receive more attention In the future the council believes If accident pre pre- prevention had been given the same at at- attention attention attention S In agriculture and In all small businesses as It was given by bythe bythe bythe the railroads public utilities and larger manufacturing plants the to to- total total total S tal of lives saved would have been very much greater Last year farmers were killed in accidents Machinery was responsible more than a quarter of these tractors these tractors circular saws combines discs etc Almost as many were killed by animals No other industrial group except the trade and service industries ac ac- accounted acc counted c for tor so many fatalities in I all manufacturing there were only 2600 deaths The accident record for farmers in relation to exposure Is not so good goodas I as that of at workers In manufacturing Industries Farmers work about aboul half halt again as many man hours dur dur- during during ing tag the year but they have havo three- three S fourths again as many deaths Al Al- Although Although Although though exact calculations are out of oJ atthe r the question it Is estimated that the I occupational death rate is about 15 it I Iper per cent higher for agriculture than I Ifor for manufacturing The geographical spread of ot farm farm- farmers farmers S ers and their comparative Isolation makes slow work of at safety education education tion Lion in agriculture How to reach farmers with safety information with reminders on the safe sate use of ot machinery and the safe sate handling of animals will be one of at a a big problem problem lem for the congress Similarly with small business men It is harder to convince small Illustrated here are aro two tico common accident causes one agricultural one industrial Left stooping in front of a mowing machine hoping the tIe horses horles dont don't run mcay arcay and amI cut off 00 your legs Right A sharp razor paper cutting ma- ma machine chine c which would nip off 00 a workers worker's er fingers f in a split split- second S T 4 r. L. r II ji 1 iM i'M 41 operators that safety pays that money invested in safety instruction and safety equipment will reduce costs and increase operating effi effi- clency cleney Just as It has been proven in larger industries This too will willbe willbe willbe be a puzzler for delegates Other Jobs for occupational safe sate safety safety ty More research into the causes of at occupational accidents and diseases education of ot manufacturers to in in- insistence insistence that safety be built into ev ev- every every ery cry piece of ot machinery before it is used and more safety courses In engineering colleges and vocational schools SAFETY'S BIRTHDAY Y crane and the wall He was pil pu- piling pilIng ing sheets of at steel when they fell over The horse bolted when he was cleaning the mower No Nobody body saw but he ho must of at been oiling it when the ram come down In something like homes during 1913 there came a o knock on the door a man with his hat in hand band not knowing how to break brcak the news Aroused by the horrible tragedy of these accidents and nud on the other side of at the picture by their waste waste- wasteful ful cost to industry a small group of ot otmen men met that year and determined to t do something about it Their de determination termination gave birth to the Na Na- National National Safety council With two men a stenographer and a n battered type type- typewriter writer the council started out like David against a towering Goliath Goliath- Accidents Working on the fundamental as as- assumption assumption assumption that for tor every accident there Is a cause cause and and a cure they cure they fought inch by inch against the hope hope- hopeless hopeless less pessimism of at men who thought that wherever there f s Industry there would be accidents That was 25 years ago This year the largest safety as assembly as- as assembly in the history of at the world is celebrating the silver anniversary of at that founding Ten thousand men and women from London to Los An An- Angeles Angeles geles are meeting in Sn Chicago for five days beginning October 10 at atthe atthe atthe the National Safety councils council's silver jubilee congress The Accomplishment Before them will rise a foot 13 birthday cake but behind them will stand a greater monument monument-c-a a rec rec- record record rec- rec record ord of lives saved in those 25 years years years-a a of ot human beings who would not have been alive to to- today today to day had accidents continued at the 1913 level Considering industry's tremendous growth since 1913 1013 and the probability that increased tech tech- technology technology would otherwise have brought an even greater accident rate this figure of at seems very modest indeed And this campaign against acci acci- accidents accidents accidents dents has not been confined to in in Gradually the work has spread into every department of hu human bu- bu buman man life lite Once it was understood that accidents could be prevented by a sense common-sense safety program people realized that what was being done in industry could be done in inthe inthe Inthe the home on the streets and high high- highways highways ways and in other public places This development was hastened by business mens men's realization that quite as many of at their men were losing time from injuries at home and go go- going going going ing to and from work as from acci acci- accidents accidents dents in the plant Traffic deaths around in 1913 doubled the following year tripled the next and reached a peak 10 times as great before preventive work could pull the curve down down- ward Farm accidents mounted by leaps and bounds to the point where near near- nearly nearly nearly ly one fourth of at all nIl occupational deaths happened on the farm The home whIch home which we think of at as asa asa a haven of at safety safety became became one of at the worst accident locations of all an threatening even to surpass traffic accidents in annual fatalities And so the safety movement grew Into one of at the vital forces of at Amer Amer- America America ica l ea entrusted with the responsibility of at conserving human life Ute But still it has only begun Mem Mem- Members Members Members bers of the council are quick to say their work has only scratched the surface Last year alone they point out accidents took lives in America one America one In each families on the average The cost of these accidents aver aver- averaged averaged averaged aged for tor each family in the nation nation nation-a a grand total of at And the pain and suffering in in- involved involved involved in deaths Cannot annot be expressed in any ony mathematical fig- fig I l J S were Injured Council statisticians have estimated that motor vehicle accidents cost us last year These are the highest figures S ever reached The death toll Is four fifths as great as American losses In the tha World war It Is equivalent to the tho destruction of a city like Waltham Mass or Santa Monica Calif The money wasted in 1937 traffic accidents would have built 35 Em Em- Empire EmI Empire I pire State buildings or ocean liners like the Normandie More and more cities and states however are keeping good accident records and thus learning moro more mora about how and why accidents occur But the traffic problem still Is a challenge The council has proved that accidents can be reduced wherever wherever wherever ever a state or community Is willing willingto to apply a well rounded scientific program And for the first eight and one half months of 1933 1938 the na na- nation nation na- na nation tion as a whole has experienced a 20 per cent reduction in traffic deaths below the same months for forthe forthe forthe the preceding year without any do- do decrease crease in travel as measured by gasoline consumption That this reduction Is but a small part of what might have been achieved had we been able to apply what we have even thus far tar learned about traffic accidents Is shown by the experience of cities clUes and states which have through the application of balanced programs effected sav say savings savIngs sayings ings of at upwards of at 50 per cent in their traffic fatalities within the tho short space of ot a year Thus the lag between what we know about acci acci- accidents accidents accidents dents and what we are doing about them Is costing us something like lives this year Therefore one of ot the principal problems facing the delegates as they look into the future will vIll be get get- getting getting ting tirig across to the public information already developed about traffic ac ac- accidents accidents ac- ac accidents and enlisting the public more than ever before in the war against accidents But research statistical engi engi- engineering engineering engineering and psychological into into the tha cause and cure of accidents must go forward New developments like the chemical tests to show when I drivers have been drinking better cars and safer sater highways scientific methods of ot eliminating night haz has hazards hazards ards will be one phase of the at at- tack Another will be a continua continua- continuation continuation continuation tion of the campaign for tor uniform traffic laws including standard drivers drivers' drivers drivers' drivers drivers' ers' ers license laws accident report- report reportIng reporting Ing lag road rules signs and signals for tor regular inspection of all motor vehicles and for tor more safety train train- training training training ing in schools with driving Instructions instructions Instructions for every school chool student In home accidents safety workers face a problem similar to that in in- involved involved Involved in agriculture The fact that most home accidents do not come to official notice unless hospitalized makes It difficult to collect accurate data And like the farmer the housewife is Isolated In her house household hold and cannot easily be reached by broadcast methods of at safety tion But in recent years through women's clubs through home mag mag- magazines magazines ames women's pages in newspapers newspapers newspapers pers and housekeeping broadcasts an increasing attempt has been made to familiarize housewives with the principal hazards of their own homes Looking into the future the tha delegates must plan how to Intensify this campaign and how to carry the tha safety idea iden to contractors and ar ar- architects architects ar- ar architects so that homes of the future futuro will m be built b lt with safety in mind Does It sound like a Herculean task Perhaps It is but to men and women who have been responsible for an almost continuous drop in ac ac- accidents accidents ac- ac accidents in the face of Americas America's tremendous growth during the tha past quarter century tho the accomplishments accomplish ments meats of the past stand as a challenge hal chal lenge for the future O Western Newspaper Union I iJ i j jS j'S 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