The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1911-01-26
SAFETY ON
THE RAILROADS
Employees of the <. q N. w.
Company Start a Signifi-
cant Movement

According to the report of the
Interstate Commerce Commission,
1877 railroad employees were killed
and 4, 284 we're more or less severe
ly injured, on the railroads of the
United States, during the year end
ed June so, 1910, through careless
ness or failure to observe the rules
laid down for their guidance while
engaged in their regular railroad
work.
That these avoidable accidents
entaiIed a tremendous economic loss
both to the men injured and to their
employers, goes without saying; that
they have set the employees of the
railroads to serious thinking is evid-
enced by the significant and distinct
ly practical action taken recently by
the employees of the Chicago and
North Western Railway Company.
Safety, not only for employees but
for the public, always has been
Characteristic of North Western oper-
alton; yet avoidable accidents have
happened to employees, and through
these both the men and the COM
pany have suffered loss.
To reduce this class of accidents
to the minimum, and thus to
Increase efficiency; to make still
greater the safety both Of travel
and operation along the II, 1000 miles
of Northwestern Lines, the serious
thinking Of the employees has crys-
tallized into a definite organization,
covering every foot of the system
and every detail Of operation.
Beginning with a Central Safety
Committee-composed of operating
and other general officials-the or
ganization has expanded till now
GSnere are safety committees on
every division, carrying out every
day the main purposes Of the or
ganization-the securing of greater
safety through more rigid lnspec-
ton and stricter adherence to the
company's rules.
The methods Of these safety con-
mittees are simple but thorough.
Stated tours Of inspection are made
by the committee of each division.
Conditions favorable to ready cor
rection are attended to on the spot;
undesirable conditions, of a general
character. are reported promptly to
the Central Safety Committee, with
recommendations, and measures are
taken without delay to notify all of
the division committees and to have
the danger reduced or removed
always preferably the latter.
Apply the remedy before the acct
dent, not a~fterward, is the basic
rule of procedure.
The cooperation OF the manage
ment, naturally, has been prompt
and enthusiastic. In every practic-
able way the men have been encour-
aged to make the safety movement
the most characteristic feature Of
4 the operative activities of the COM
panv. This dominant purpose is set
out terselv in the motto: SAFETY
FIRST" which the COMMITTEES have
adopted.
The management and employees Of
the North Western believe that
nothing of greater Importance to
the travelling and shipping public,
than this safety organization, has
been introduced into American rail-
road practice.
Its worth appeals at once to the
practical railroad man, and it cannot
fail, in time, to appeal with almost
equal force to the intelligent general
public.
AS the division safety committees
are composed of engineers, conduc-
tors, brakemen. switchmen, fire.
men, trackmen. shopmen, and sta
ton employees, and as the Central
Safety Committee embraces the
active general operating officials. it
may be seen that no point has been
left uncovered, no possible source of
danger with its protective eve,
Add to this that the slogan,
Safety First" is heard and repeat
ed ny so 600 employees, carried into
their homes in a dozen different
states, taken up by wives and child