Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-09-28
Industrial Health


The importance of the problem Of
Industrial sanitation is gradually be-
coming more fully realized. Some
employers, indeed, even yet appar-
emily take the ground that, il work.
men are willing to labor under in
sanitary conditions, it is no concern
of their employers. The New York
State Factory Investigating Commits
sion, which has carefully studied the
conditions under which about 20D.eU0
wage-earners work, reports that
there is tendency on the part of
many employers TO economic not
only in matters of legitimate eS
pense, but also in space, light, air,
and certain other safeguards to the
health and lives Of the workers.
The report of the State Board Of
Health of Louisiana indicates that
over fifty per cent of all the manu>
featuring establishments in the
State are in poor" or bad" Sani-
tary conditions. Most States have
no available figures, but New York
and Louisiana are so far from each
other geographically, economically
and socially that, for lack of better.
we may take these two reports SIS
an index of industrial health condt.
tons generally throughout the
United States. On the whole, says
The Journal of the American Med
ical Association with each year en-
ployers tend to appreciate more and
more the commercial value to them
of sanitary working conditions for
their employees.
b. S. Warren. of the United States
Public Health Service points out
that the false economy involved in
neglect of sanitation inevitably leads
TO greatly lessened efficiency. and is
thus really expensive for the en-
ployer in the end. The highest eff
cheney is possible only when the
health of workers is favored by good
air and light, proper arrangement
of hours of labor and tho mainte~
nance of the safeguards Of ,ealth.
With regard to hours of labor pa; :
ticularly, some recent experience is
valuable as indicating that short
ened hours of labor may actually
conduce not only to the health Of
employees but also to greater pro-
duction In the Engis Zinc Works
the hours of labor We're cut from
twelve to eight per day, Vet the men
earned as much and did as much
Work in eight hours as they did for
merly i'm twelve. Besides there was
a marked decrease in the calls on
the sick fund, the men no longer
felt the need of stimulation, and
sobriety was markedly increased.
Almost the same thing happened at
the Zeiss Optical Works. in Ger
many. Able kept careful record
for the years when the plant was
operating on a nine-hour day. When
the working day was reduced 10
eight hours the record showed the
men earned over 3 per cent. moro
than during the previous year the
output of the work was increased 3
per cent. and the powerp plant WIS
able to shut down an hour earlier,
thus effecting a very material saving
in fundamental expense. The record
was for 233 men at an average Of
thirty-one years, and many different
occupations on "A piece-work basis
were represented i'm the shop. Both
employers and employees need to be
convinced of the evident fact that
the healthy man is the most efficient
and the cheapest employe and that
any reasonable expense to maintain
him in health is profitable invest
ment