Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-11-11
PREVENTION OF ACCIDENTS
AMONG MACHINERY BUILDERS
Detailed Information on Subject Sup
piled by United states Bureau
of Labor Statistics.

During tho past few years there has
been widespread interest In the sub
ject of Industrial accidents and their
prevention. and important safety cam
paigns have boon carried on by many
employers and by many private and
public organizations No doubt these
efforts have been successful in rcduc-
Ing the huge toll of death and suffering
which modern industry lcvies upon its
workers. But the effectiveness of all
such efforts has been seriously handi-
capped by the general lack Of informa-
ton regarding the prevalence, causes
and effects of accidents In the Indus
tries OF the country.
A recent report OF the Bureau OF
Labor Statistics of the United States
Department of Labor. entitled "Acci-
dents and Accident Prevention in Ma
chine Building" supplies this detailed
information for a large group of plants
engaged i'll the building of different
kinds of machines. The character of
the machines built by these varies
greatly, from mammoth locomotives
and ships to delicate electrical an
paratus. but it Is OF interest to note
that they are all OF IL type for which
the war has made enormous dcma nts
Therefore. although the present study
was made prior to the war. the in
formation regarding accident hazards
In the industry is now OF particular
pertincncc.
notable feature of the report Is
the measurement OF accidents according
to their severity. Previous studies
nave been chiefly concerned with the
frequency OF accident occurrence and
have counted all accidents as of the
same value. broken finger and n
broken back have been counted alike
In computing accident rates, although
clearly the latter Is immeasura bly, more
serious. The method offered I'm this
report is to measure each accident ac-
cordinG to the resulting amount OF
time lost. To do this IL is necessary
OF course. TO express fatal and perma-
ncnt injuries we'll as Temporary dis
abilities in terms OF work days lost.
This Is done by valuing fatal injury.
on the basis OF life insurance exDeri
cncc. as equivalent to the loss OF thirty
years or mans working life while
total permanent disability was rated
at thirty-nve years Other injuries
are credited with lower time losses I'm
proportion TO their probable effect upon
earning capacity.
Applying this method TO the accident
DATA Tor the machine building indus
try. some very interesting results are
obtained. Thus. in the 1874 plants COW
cred by the Investigations the number
u
1861, resulting In thirty-scven deaths
tll permanent injuries and 1879 tenn
porary disabilities. This is equivalent
L" an accident frequency rate Of iIs
per 1000 full-time (30o-day) workers
ana severity rate OF Sc days lost per
worker These rates may be contrastcd
with the experience of u representative
steel plant during the same year. for
which the frequency rate was 1874 and
the severity rate fourteen DAYS lost.
Accidents in the steel plant were thus
only about one-third more FREQUENT
IMAM i'm machine building. but their
severity was two and one-haif times
as great.
The accident hazards or the machine
puiidlnE plants AIRY greatly with the
character OF their produces Those
engaged in the making OF locomotives
nave tho highest severity ratc-clevcn
days lost per worker--and the builders
OF ships have the next highest-eight
days lost per worker
Classifying the combined plants bv
departmental divisions. boiler .hons
ana yard labor show by far tho
sreatest hazards. Boiler shops have n
frequency rate OF 22t cases per 1000