Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1915-02-19
INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS

=
The enactment OF laws in various
states on workmsn's compensation for
injuries has aroused increased inter-
est In the statistics and physical and
psychic conditions OF industrial acct
deu,.. The total number OF these ac-
cidsnts o. almost appalling The low
est estimate places the fatal acci-
dents % adult workers In the United
states az 30 900 q year. with an add
tlonaI I.Z5g.O nou-fatal accidents
. The Massachusetts Industrial accident
board. on the other hand. placed the
number OF workers killed by accident
yearly ~ 1900. which apparently in
siudes not only adults. but also work
ers " all ages. while the number OF
. injured OF the same classes was placed
bv this Massachusetts authority at
900. 600 or over. An earthquake in
a foreign country that kills half this
number OF persons and mains one
fnIeth OF those f1fured in our United
states industries Is spoken Of IS cat
astrophic.
A greater proportion OF accidents
occur on Monday than on any other
DAY 90 the week. Accidents are said
90 b. due often 90 fatigue. As. after
the DAY OF rest on Sunday. workmen
should be less fatigued than on other
DAYS. some Other factor must be sought
20 eUpIrIu thfs feature a. the stats
tics 10 has been suggested that the
blue Mold1v- accidents Hrs really
Que tr the fact that worimeu take
more liquor on SUNDAY. and thus be
. come urre-ved and moro liable % ac-
rldsnts during tho following - hours-
There o.. perhaps. something iu fhis
c1utrrtlo1. says The Journal % the
American Medical association. though
+. 10 has been disputed In the Ma-sa-
rhura-rE Industrial accident board re-
ports. fu which the official figures ere
Given. there fs scarcely more than one
twentieth more accidents on Monday
thar on Tuesday. while Tuesday is
not much above the average Ga the
nuube- OF arcideuts reported for other
days Saturday. OF course, shows
noteworthy reduction. because Of the
lrIf holiday Oh some trades.
ug fsr the larger number Of acct
dents Occur 90 about 10 a. m and 3
o. ~ THIS feet &C. confirmed by the
reports Of two state boards. Wishing
ton and 1fassachusetts. The tendency
10 speed up employment has been iu-
eliminated. as sbs uredisp1 coulI-'
ton for the occurrence OF accidents. /
Tdis desire comes over the workman .
when be De- not yet fltirued. but has
been employed for several hours. he
starts the mornings work "cold " and .
a. De warns 90 his work. the danger of. .
rIischauc= because % haste becomes .
greater. Just when the speeding up
reaches a climax fn the morning hours
most accidents happen. The same .
thing g. true % the afternoon. Work
men feel sluggish after their lunch.
bu, after an hour OF wo-s warm up
again. and by about 3 O'Clock they are
doing their most rapid work. and are
at tho same time more subject 90 acci-
dent
with regard 90 accidents among
children. however. there is no hour
% maximum Accidents occur az All
times. and they are comparatively
much more frequent among children
than adults The United States bu-
re1u o. labor reported that there IS
clear evidence Of great liability 20 ac-
cideur on the part OF children. Though
iu the less hazardous work.
their rates steadily exceed those Of
the older c0workers. even when IN
that group are Included the occupa-
lions 90 relatively high liability" This
was said with regard 20 the southern
cotton mills. but the same thing is
true - practically all Industries in
which chiifrsl are employed.