The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1916-12-28
SAFETY FIRST SUCCESS
BIG SMELLING PLANT
A. S. & r. MANAGER GIVES IN.
TEREsTINe DETAILS OF
ITS OPERATION.

For the last six months there has
been such remarkably low accident
record at the Omaha plant of the Am
erican Smelling and Refining company
that it can no longer be regarded as a
flash In the pan, but must be attrib-
uted to the excellent work of the
management and the men themselves,
says the Safety Review of the Ameri-
can Smelling and Refining company.
The manager of this plant, Walter T.
Page, gives the following interesting
description Of the method used for Sc
curing these results:
General Plan.
In the chasing down of accidents
and the very great reduction of same
at this plant the following method in
outline has been adopted:
In the first place, the personnel Of
the plants is divided up into three
committees, made up of the workmen
Of the various departments, The
numbers are divided up as nearly
as possible and they are made up al
so with reference to exposure to acct
dents, so that they are as nearly as
possible all on the same plant Each
of these committees has a flag, and the
committee which has had the least
number of accidents in any one month
has its flag at the masthead as rec
ognition of its good services
Next, we have a rule book. This
rule book is a good one. 1t was made
up by the superintendent commit
tee and also the foremen and was sub
ject to much discussion pro and con
before ii was published; in fact, 1t is
the result of the best thought of the
experts In the whole plant to avoid
accidents in every department.
Book of Rules.
We may say In passing that this
rule book Is printed in four or five diff
ferent languages to suit each employe
as the case may be. Each man Is CIV
quired to learn the general rules and
also the special rules of his depart
ment. The superintendent, when
they have the time instruct them, and
the foremen likewise. After they have
progressed to a certain point as indi-
viduals they give them an eXamina-
ton and If they pass that examina-
ton they are given fobs to wear, The
fob is a sort of bronze affair hung with
a little leather strap 1t makes very
good watch fob and Is rather slightly
in appearance. The men vie with one
another to get these mementoes and
work hard for them. The task is not
difficult and II all stimulates each de-
partment to become familiar not only
with their work, but with the danger
Gus practices connected with It,
Penalty for Violating Rules.
If man meets with an accident
violating rule, 1t goes hard with him.
The men themselves viii take him in
hand. and the foreman will do like
wise. Immediately after each acct
dent a meeting is held, bringing to-
gether all the witnesses, and the re-
sponsibility is placed it matters not
on whom it may fall, and the decision
reached is placed on all the black
boards in the plant. The greatest
publicity is given to all matters per-
tanning to safety, and on entering the
plant the first thing that greets the
eyes of the workmen is a great black
board on which any recent informa-
ton Is published. Blackboards are
to each department, and
these are scanned daily by the men in
that department,
Near the gate is a target with red
bullseye and for each accident the
ball Is moved out from the center one
division.
If any department has made an es-
pecially good record 1t is recognized
IN the larger bulletin board as we'll as
The one in that department
Consider Recommendations
So much for the real prevention of
accidents, Aside from the above COM
there is a superintendent
committee and the general foremen's
committee. Each of these committees
meets every two weeks All the acct
Tents are gone over and discussed and |
come in from both |
Is to any improvement that might be |.
made in the plant to make it a little !
afer. Suggestions from the foremens |
are passed on to the super
ntendents for action, and wherever II |
s feasible and desirable, their recon- |
nendations are agreed to and the
hange requested is made.
We encourage suggestions from the
men and the foremen, and wherever
here is sufficient merit they are con-
urred in and remedy applied. We [
nd that doing this makes the men and
lso the foremen feel that they have
voice in the operating Of the plant
or safety purposes, and it increases
heir interest correspondingly.
Greatest Benefit.
We have spent good deal of money
] placing safety devices. Very many {
them are excellent, but we believe
nat the greatest amount of good has |
ome not from these expenditures, but J
'om inoculating the safety habit in =,