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Show I SAFETY FIRST DEALS DIRECTLY f WITH THE HUMAN ELEMENT ( Written by J. C. Chirk, Asst. to Gen- eral Manager in Chaise of Safety : First L. A. and S. L., O. S. L. i In the early ' days of industry, there was no lack of human sympathy sympa-thy and understanding between the i employer and employee. In the ma- , iority of cases, the owner of an in- ' dustrial plant was usually also the 1 manager. As a rule he knew the ! most of his men by name an dreadl- ly understood the conditions under 1 which they worked. With the con- ,olidat!on of industrial plants and the formation of great railroad cor-1 cor-1 porations, it became impossible for the manager to know the individual workman and it became very much more difficult for the managers to keep in close touch with working conditions. There was, consequently, consequent-ly, a alkc of understanding and human hu-man sympathy between the employer and the employee. Under these conditions, con-ditions, personal injuries increased to a very large extent. The introduction of machinery also al-so contributed to the increase of personal per-sonal injuries, principally because a great deal of the new machinery installed in-stalled was not properly safe guarded. In order to reduce personal injuries injur-ies and also to introduce a link of human nuderstanding, Safety Committees Com-mittees composed of officers and employes em-ployes were formed. This plan has proven of great advantage to the manager because it has given him the benefit of suggestions and observations obser-vations made by the men who actual ly do the work, but it has been a far greater benefit to the employee, because be-cause it has greatly reduced the hazards haz-ards of employment and has given the employee an insight to the organization or-ganization of which he is a part. The result has been a phenomenal decrease in personal injuries and deaths and a consequent relief of the sorrow and suffering incident thereto. there-to. Prior to Government operation of railroads, there were few railroad companies that had adopted the Safety Safe-ty Committee plan of organization and had secured good results under its operation. When the Government Govern-ment assumed control of the railroads, rail-roads, they immediately adopted this plan for all Roads under Government Govern-ment control and during the past year the reduction of casualties among employees on railways has been truly remarkable. For the 1st seven months of 1D19, there was a net decrease of 21,221 casualties to employees as compared with the same period of 1918. On the Los Angeles and Salt Lake railroad, good results have been obtained ob-tained although the statistics for 1919 are not as yet obtainable. During Dur-ing the "No Accident Week" in June this road made a 100 per cent rec ord. During the National Railroad Accident Prevention drive, October 18 to 31. there were two minor injuries in-juries the same period in 1818. If the same plan of safety organization organ-ization could be anplied to the general gen-eral public, there would undoubtedly he a gnerr-e far"fpnitrtmt",fbt",t"' be a great reduction in the number of casualties to automobile drivers and others. Few people realize the L number of iniuries and deaths fi' occur every day in the ordinary wal-f wal-f ks of life. In one year in the United t States, 10.534 children under the age of ten years were killed hy ac-; ac-; cident, 3,300 of these were the re-i re-i suit of burns. This class of injury could be almost eliminated by the f proper handling of gasoline and oth- er imfinmable materials. Another r prolific cause of death to children j is drowning. This class of casualty could also be largely eliminated by j proper supervision. No figures are j at present available for the country ( as a whole showing deaths and In-I In-I juries due to automobile accidents. J but beyond doubt, the total is enor- mous and unless very stringent laws are adopted, this class of casualityj will continue to increase. It is to J ' be hoped that the national govern-! ment. as well as state and municipal f governments will take this matter j vigorously in hand and 'pass pffee-l pffee-l t-ve laws to govern automobile traf- fie thereby overcoming many of the personal injuries and deaths due to , this ca use. |
