Show Does the Widow Jones live true here That was the way he put it this bungling fellow who broke the news of a husbands husband's husbands husband's husbands husband's hus hus- 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 because be be- c cause ause the jo joke e grows out of a bitter reality Telling a woman woman waman wo wo- man her husband has just been killed In an accident is isa a heart-breaking heart job as II anybody knows known who's ever had the assign- assign m mint int Twenty-five Twenty years ago in the factory fac tory tort and on the ta farm m it ft was a common common com corn cornmon mon story story- lie Ill was caught between the j t I i L S L 4 It w SAFETY'S BIRTHDAY crane and end the wall He lie was piling piling pil pU- ing sheets of steel when they thel fell over The horse bolted when he was cleaning the mower Nobody Noody Nobody No No- b body ody saw but he must of been oiling it when the ram come down In something like homes during 1913 there came a knock on the door a man with his hat in hand not knowing how to break the news Aroused by the horrible tragedy of these accidents and on the other side aide of the picture by their wasteful waste waste- ful tut cost to Industry a small mall group of r men met that year and determined t to do something about it Their determination determination de de- de- de ti te termination gave birth to the National National Na Na- Safety council With two men a stenographer and a battered typewriter typewriter type type- v writer the council started slatted out like David against a towering Goliath Goliath- Accidents Working on the fundamental assumption assumption asumption as as- s that for every accident there Is a cause and cause and a they cure cure they fought Inch by inch against the hopeless hope hope- I less pessimism of men who thought that wherever there was Industry there would be accidents That was 25 years ago This year the largest safety assembly as as- assembly in n the history of the world is celebrating th the silver anniversary of that founding T Ten n thousand men and women from London to Los Las Angeles An An- g geles eles are meeting in Chicago for far five days beginning October 10 atthe at atthe atthe the National Safety councils council's silver j jubilee congress The Accomplishment Before Detore them will rise a foot 13 birthday cake but behind them will stand a greater monument monument-a a record record rec rec- rec- rec o ord rd of lives saved in those 25 years years years-a a of human beings who ho would not have been alive today today today to to- day had accidents continued at the 1913 level Considering industry's tremendous growth since 1913 and the probability that Increased technology tech would otherwise have brought an even greater accident rate this figure of seems very modest indeed And this campaign agaInst accidents accidents acci acci- dents h has s sn n not been been confined to to to in in- I Gradually the work has spread into every department of huan human human hu hu- hu- hu m man an life 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 Inthe in inthe inthe the home on the streets and high high- highways ways way and in other public places This development was hastened by business mens men's realization that quite as many of their men were losing time from injuries at home and goIng goIng go- go Ing tag to and from work as from accidents accidents acci acci- dents in to the plant Traffic deaths around deaths around in 1913 doubled 1913 doubled the following year tripled the next and reached a peak 10 30 times as great before preventive work could pull the curve down down- ward Farm accidents mounted by leaps and end bounds to the point where nearly neary near near- l ly Iy y one fourth of all occupational deaths happened on the farm The home which home which we think of asa as asa asa a haven of safety became safety became one of the worst accident locations locations' of all threatening even to surpass traffic accidents in annual fatalities And so the safety movement grew into one of the vital forces farces of AmerIca America Amer Amer- ica entrusted with the responsibility of conserving human life But Dut still it has only begun Members Members Mem 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 one America America one in each families on the average The cost of these accidents averaged averaged averaged aver aver- aged ills for tor each family in the nation a nation a grand total of And the pain and suffering involved involved in in- in deaths cannot be expressed in any mathematical fig fig- t. t G J l fA r e Yb i f j Y h t Ye r Irv I ts s1 i i 1 ii S rift t l i t ICy w W 4 a s tt r Ai y tt ji k 4 Na 1 i I i I is li f 1 h s t fi s 1 t yi 1 i s y r t si a S t xit y ba l A t 5 5 tt 4 f t t p. p n nf q f gj t LJ rS Money Moncy wasted in 1937 traffic accidents would have built 35 Empire State Stae buildings building o or r ocean liners liner like the he Normandie Nor mandie It was teas equivalent t to o 0 destruction of 01 a city lik like e Wallham Waltham Mass or Santa Sant a Monica Cali Calif I. I ure While accidents continue to disable disable dis die able one member of every fourth four Family in the country in one year theres there's still a big job for safety Planning the Future Thus though in a jubilant mood over the reductions achieved durin during the past year in traffic public an and d occupational accidents delegates delegate s will turn aside from their celebration tion of the councils council's twenty filth birthday to chart a future course What will safety bring in the nex next t quarter century How far can it go g toward cutting still further our annual annual annual an an- nual sacrifice of lives to accidents What new things will it bring int into our work and our daily dally habits Farms and small businesses will wl ll receive more attention in the future the council believes If accident prevention prevention pre pre- had been given the same attention attention at at- in agriculture and In a all al small businesses as it was given b by bythe bythe y the railroads public utilities an and d larger manufacturing plants the total total total to to- tal of lives saved would have been bee n very much greater greate Last year farmers were e killed in accidents Machinery was wa s responsible for more than a quarter quarte r of these tractors these tractors circular saws saw s combines discs etc Almost a amany as s many were killed by animals No other industrial group except pt the trade and service industries accounted accounted accounted ac ac- counted for so many fatalities in 1 n all manufacturing there were on only y 2600 deaths The accident record for farmers farmer a in relation to exposure is not so good goo d i as that of workers in manufacturing g I Industries Farmers work about abou ut half halt again as many man-hours man d dIng during dur duro ing the year but they have three three- fourths again as many deaths Although Although Al Al- though exact calculations are out o othe of t the question it is estimated that iii the occupational death rate is about II 15 per cent higher for tor agriculture th than an for manufacturing The geographical spread of farmers farm tarn ers and their comparative isolation o n makes slow work of safety education education tion in agriculture How flow to reach farmers with safety information with reminders on the safe sate use o of machinery ry and the safe sate handling o of animals will be one of a big problem problem lem lam for tor the congress Similarly with small business men It is la harder to convince small smal Illustrated here ere are two 0 common om man accident causes one agricultural one industrial Lefts Left stooping in front Iron of 01 a mOlring machine hoping the horses horse dont don't run away mcay and anti cut fit off 00 your legs Right A rasor sharp paper cutting machine ma ma- chine ir i dun would foul nip off 00 a I workers worker's fingers finger in a split split- second operators that safety pays that Chat money monel invested in safety instruction and safety equipment t will reduce costs costa and Increase operating efficiency efficiency effi em elenc just as It has it-has has haa been proven in larger industries This too willbe willbe will be a puzzler for delegates Other jobs for occupational safety safety safety safe safe- ty More research into the causes of occupational accidents and diseases education of manufacturers to InsIstence insistence insistence in In- that safety be built into every every ev ev- ery cry piece of machinery before it is used and more safety courses in engineering colleges and vocational schools Death at the tile Wheel Traffic of course has become our principal national accident problem Last year lives were lost in traffic and an estimated other citizens of the United States were injured Council statisticians have lave estimated that motor vehicle accidents cost us last year rear These are the highest figures ever reached cached The death toll is four four fifths as great as American losses in the World war It is equivalent to the destruction of a city like Waltham Mass or Santa Monica Calif The money wasted in 1937 traffic accidents would have built 35 Empire Empire Em- Em pire State buildings or ocean liners iners like the Normandie More and more cities and states however are keeping good accident records and thus learning more about how and why accidents occur But Dut 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 o apply a well rounded scientific program And for the first eight and one halt months of 1938 the nation nation naion na- na tion ion 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 decrease decrease de de- crease in travel as measured b by gasoline consumption That this reduction is but a small part art of what might have been achieved had we been able to apply what we have even thus far learned about traffic accidents is shown by the experience of cities and states which have through the application of f balanced programs effected savings sayings sav- sav ings of upwards of 50 per cent in their traffic traffic fatalities within the short space of a year Thus the lag between what we know about accidents acci seer dents and what we are doing about them Is costing us something like lives this year Therefore one of the principal problems facing the delegates as they look into the future will be get get- getting ting across to the public information already developed about traffic accidents accidents ac ac- accidents ac- ac and enlisting the public more than ever before in the war against accidents But research statistical engineering engineering engineering engi engi- and psychological psychological into into the cause and cure of accidents must go forward New developments like the chemical tests to show when drivers have been drinking better cars and safer aster highways scientific methods of eliminating night hazArds hazards hazards haz haz- ards will be one phase of the at at- tack Another will be a continua tion of the campaign for uniform traffic laws including standard drivers drivers' ers ers' rs' rs license laws accident reportIng report report- ing tag road rules signs and signals for regular inspection of all motor vehicles and for more safety training trainIng train train- ing in schools with driving instructions for every high school student In home accidents safety workers face a problem similar to that involved involved in in- in in agriculture The fact tact that most home accidents do not come to official notice unless hospitalized makes it t difficult to collect accurate data And like the farmer the housewife is Isolated in her household house house- hold and cannot easily be reached by broadcast methods of safety lafety tion lion But Dut in recent years through women's clubs through home dome magazines mag maC women's pages In newspapers newspapers pers pars 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 delegates must plan how haw to intensify this campaign and how to carry the safety idea to contractors and architects ar so that homes of the future will be built with safety in n mind Does it sound like a Herculean task Perhaps it is but to men and women who have been responsible for far an almost continuous contiguous drop in accidents accidents ac ae ac- ac in fa the face of Americas America's tremendous growth during the past quarter century the accomplish accomplishments ments mens of the past stand as a challenge challenge chal chal- lenge for the future O 0 Western Newspaper Union a t 4 |