The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1913-03-13
s. P. PLANS TO
AVOID ACCIDENTS

At the safety meeting of the South.
ern Pacific company held at Ogden
last Saturday, many new plans and
suggestions were received for the pre-
vention of accident to employees and
injury to passengers. These will be
acted upon according to the Judgment
of the executive committee.
Six months have elapsed since the
safety committee was organized
and meetings have been held twice
monthly, at which hundreds of sugQes.
tions and recommendations for the
elimination of dangerous conditions
and the betterment of the service
have been discussed. The vast ma
JorIty were of such a nature that thew
could be promptly carried out and
nearly all have been put into effect.
Notwithstanding the combined ef
forts, the sacrifice of life and limb
goes on, only in smaller proportion.
and further circular has been issued
by the company to employees as fol-
lows:
Acquire Safety Habit.
Lets acquire the "safety habit"
and cease making cripples, widows and
orphans.
when in doubt, take the course
you know positively to be safe. It is
your duty to the travelling public,
your fellow employe and yourself.
Watch to prevent the little acct
dents, and the big ones will take care
OF themselves. 1t takes less time and
thought to prevent most accidents
than it does to report them.
What at the time appears to be
the most trivial act in itself, or the
Lack of it, often results in the most
serious consequences.
"The trainman who leaves a switch
open, or fails to flag properly, result
ing in a disastrous wreck, is always
known, but the minor contributors
causes that frequently lead up to sefi-
GUS accidents can seldom be traced to
the man actually at fault. The en-
ploye who discovers loose ladder.
t'cad or hand hold and fails to repair
or report it, may be responsible for
the death or serious injury Of train
man, possibly hundreds of miles away.
1.-The section foreman or bridgeman
who at night leaves tools or material
lying too close to the track, may re-
turn on the morrow to find that he has
been the means of taking life or
causing cripple.
Failure of stationmen to properly
close and fasten doors aete- unload.
ing, and to see that open equipment is
loaded with such commodi-
ties as lumber, poles or wood, has in
the past been the cause of accidents.
Directions to Employees
Unsafe conditions develop from
time to time, that must be corrected,
or sooner or later result in someone
being killed or injured.
"Trainmen as they go over the road
and other employees working about the
yards, shops, freight houses, ETC., are
in the best position to first notice
anything which might prove danger
Gus, or have tendency to cause an ac-
cident.
Keep constantly on the lookout;
report promptly conditions by which
life or limb may be endangered.
"Caution new men or employees who
are careless or inclined toward ds.n-
gerous practices.
eff you see room for Improvement,
TO promote safety or increase the
efficiency of the service, your sugges-
tion is earnestly solicited"
Employees Are Watched.
In keeping with the widespread
the officials Of the South
ern Pacific, according to reliable in
have employed number
of detectives to watch the conduct of
their employees during their time OF
duty.
If man is seen entering a saloon,
he enters to play game Of
pool or to take lunch, black mark
is recorded against his service record
and the second offense will mean in
slant dismissal. When an employe is
there is absolutely no
comeback, and no railroad organiza-
tion is powerful enough to secure re-
for him no matter how
many years he may have been in the
service.
1t is stated by the Southern Pacific
that 90 per cent of the acci-
dents which occur ON railroads in gen.
eral are caused by employees either un-
der the influence of liquor, or through
lettering in saloons, and it is the in
tention of the Southern Pacific to get
rid of these men and thereby further
protect the passengers who travel en-
its lines.