Omaha daily bee., 1911-04-16
UNITED ACTION FOR SAFETY
Railroad Employees Organized for the
Prevention of Accidents.
COMMITTEES ON THE WATCH
Systematic Methods of Inspection the
Essence of the Move--Substnn-
tiRi Results Expected
by Leaders.

Employees safety committees have been
organized by the Chicago & Northwest
ein railroad on all the divisions and in
L The various shops and division safety com
mittees composed of division officers also
The employees committees investigate CON
ditons that may cause accidents and make
recommendations to the division safety
committees for their removal There is
also a central safety committee. to which
the reports and recommendations Of the
division committees go. r. c. Richards
general claim agent. is its chairman The
committees that have now been formed
have total membership. including officers
The method of work followed has been
for the division safety committees and
employees safety committee to make in
spection trips over the divisions at fire.
quent intervals. a special train is pro.
vided, and the party, which usually con
ssts ;downfc1pose OF
tains fifteen TO twenty people ordinarily
rides in the superintendent business car
The members observe the condition of
tracks. structures and equipment as they
go along, and make frequent stops for more
careful inspection Of stations shops and
yards. The committee is often accom-
panied by division officers not belonging
TO it. For instance. by road foremen oil
engines, bridge foremen, etc
subcommittee are appointed to inves-
tlgate different matters. For instance one
subcommittee is assigned to inspect
track; another rOundhouses: another equip,
ment; another to see IL operating rules
are being disregarded by such conduct
as going between moving cars. failure to
set cars so as to keep side tracks clear.
etc. In the appointment of these sub-com-
mittppg which or or
division officers sometimes serve. a point
is made Of not selecting men to investi-
gate things they are concerned with in
their daily. work A track man, for ex-
ample, IS not put on a track committee
or shop man on a shop committee The
track man is put on the shop committee
and the shop man on the track committee
The idea is that employees are more apt
to notice shortcomings of plants or meth
DDS that they do not come in contact
with constantly.
Inspection Trips.
An inspection trip over a division takes
from one to four days When 1t REQUIRES
more than day the committeeman
usually sleep on the car At the end of
the trip a dinner at a hotel is arranged
for at which all sit down together. The
subcommittee then make their reports
to tho full committee, and the matters
they ! * up are discussed and necessary
aCti1 lken
ines of members Of the employees
sa ! committee are posted on the bull
ietI'. cards I'm the roundhouses, shops
ana other places where the men congre-
gate, and employees are asked TO make
whatever suggestions and complaints oc,
cur to them to the committeeman The
members of the
cial button.
The central safety committee has rec
commended that the employees on commit
tees be rotated, the term of office to be
not less than six months nor more than
Twelve. At first employees were a little
loath to serve on the committees and
hesitated to freely criticise at meetings
with their superior officers. The officers
however, have received all suggestions
and criticisms in such good spirit that
employees are getting ambitious to serve
on the committees and their members
are losing all reluctance about making
suggestions and criticisms It is being
found that the employees committees con,
stitute a very important Intermediary be,
tween the management and employees in
general because an employe will report
matters TO a fellow employe on one of
the committees that he would not think Of
reporting directly to an officer
The work OF the safety committee has
brought out numerous suggestions for
changes in plants and operating methods
which the central committee has recon-
mended to the general officers and many
OF the suggestions made have been favor
ably acted on. The following are some ex-
amples: One division committee recon,
mended that side curtains in engine cabs