The Cordova daily times., 1923-02-19
STEEL COMP ANY SPENDS MUCH
 ON SAFETY

and pensions during the last ten
 years, and that through expenditures
 of more than $9,O00,00O for accident
 prevention the Corporation has saved 35,313 men from death or serious injury since 1904, are revealed in
 Bulletin No. g, which has just been
 issued by Charles l.. Close, manager i of the Bureau of Safety, Sanitation and Welfare of the Corporation. A chart of the year by yeac trend
 of the accident rate per 1000 em-
 ployes shows that, taking the plants
 of all the subsidiary companies as whole, the rate for serious acCi- dents has decreased 56.13 per cent since 1906 when the Bureau of Saf- ety, Sanitation and Welfare was or ganized. Since 1912 the rate for all accidents has been decreased 71.41 per cent. The latter reduction in the accident rate, the report says, means that 193,2 ,232 men have been saved from injury since 1912.
 During the early part of last year, the report says, total of 136 plants, mines, and other properties with an average employment of j5,639 men went through an entire month with out a single disabling accident, and some of these plants were operated from two to six months without a single injury to workman.
 Another chart in MT. Closes re- port analyses the causes of 257,357 accidents which have occurred in the plants of the United States Steel Corporation over a long period of time This shows that, eliminating the accidents involving overhead cranes, only 4.SS per cent of the accidents shown on the chart were due to machinery causes. The re- port then says "While doubtless this very low percentage is th" "asH]t of the protection afforded by the in stallation of mechanical safeguards, a study of the chart is immediately that accidents cannot be eliminated through physical correc- tive measures alone. It will be noted that hand labor was responsible for 4404 per cent, or nearly one haf, of all these accidents, the majority of which could not possibly have been prevented by the use of mechan- ical safety devices and appliances, but were due to carelessness and the failure of the workmen to observe simple precautions conducive to safe ty. Therefore, our safety activities have been governed by two prime factors - engineering revision and education."
 On October 1, 1922, the report says, 154,342 shares of preferred stock and 463,742 shares of common stock were held by employe stock holders. On the same date there were 46,145 employees who were pay ing for 139,46O shares of common stock. More than $9,OOo,OoO has been loaned to employees to assist them in the purache of homes.
 Certain expenditures of the com- pany for the period of January l, 1912, to September 30, 1922. are listed in preceding paragraph:
 Welfare, $19,394,567; sanitation $21,2O1,1 ,197; accident prevention, s9,- 763,O63; relief for injured men and the families of men killed, $31,750,- 615; the employees stock subscription plan, $15,474,615; for pension fund payments in excess of income pro- vided by permanent fund, 925.5SS; total pension payments to employees, $7,476,961; additional benefit pay ments and administration, S392,0S5; for the creation of permanent pen sion fund, ss,OOO, ,OOO-making total of $1OS,5O9,723.
 The bulletin quotes the following from Judge Gary's original instruc- tions to the subsidiary companies re- garding the safety of employees:
 "The United States Steel Corpor- ation expects it's subsidiary con- panies to make every effort practic- able to prevent injury to employees. Much can be done by designing new construction and machinery with all practicable safeguards. Expenditures necessary for such improvements will be authorized. Nothing which will add to the protection of the work men should be neglected. The safety and welfare of the workmen is of