The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1930-01-04
Hot Air.
The Secretary of Labor Davis and His
Safety Talk"
By GRACE M. BURNHAM
Labor Research Association.

Safety on the Air" is the title given to an
editorial in "a recent issue of the National
Safety News, official organ of the National
Safety Council This private organization Of
less than 5000 employers, safety engineers,
and sympathizers, undertakes the voluntary"
reduction of accidents in contrast to the COM
pulsory regulation of industry to safeguard
workers, now prevailing in every other indus
trial country in the world. =
The editorial praises the newest method OF
advertising the achievements of the employers,
a series of weekly addresses broadcast "to
some 100000 90 radio fans" "Big League
stuff-carried out in big league STYLE" ons
of the employers characterized this stunt. In
the course of this radio stunt this employers
agency was able to introduce to the American
public among other Outstanding leaders in
American life" Charles NJ Schwab, open shop,
Undertaking head of the Bethlehem Steel Cor
poration, and Secretary of Labor Davis, both
equally satisfied with the trend of accident
prevention in this country.
The speech of the Secretary of Labor de-
serves special analysis at the hands of class
conscious workers, for it contains the very
essence of the governments attitude towards
the employers in their defiance of any inter-
ference with their running of industry for their
personal aggrandizement. The Secretary's
speech accepts the National Safety Council as
the proper and effective medium for protecting
workers in the United States.
In spite of. the fact that less than ten per
cent of the employers of the country are CO.
operating in safety work, in spite of the fact
that "only 1000 employers were kind enough
(our emphasis) to give the National Savety
Council access to their records"-and even
smaller number were pursuing safety work
in keeping with the Councils plans"--in spite
of the fact that between $4,000 and $4,000
workers are killed in industry in the United
States each year, in addition to about three
and quarter million annually injured nom
fatally, the Secretary Of Labor sees no need
for governmental control He is proud that
America is pioneering in this great movement
for the safety of the people of the earth"
Actually, this bombastic language is nothing
but smoke screen to hide the terrifically high
rate Of deaths and accidents which continue
to mount in the United States year by year.
Detailed comparisons with the accident rates
of other countries are only possible for certain
industries and general classifcatons, but in
each instance they reveal the price workers
pay in the United States for lack of rerula
ton. The death rate for coal miners in this
country, for example, is four times the rate for
miners in. Great Britain and five times the
rate for miners in Belgium.
In 1924 the rate for all accidents in the
United States was 1852 per 100000 population.
For England and Wales it was 341. For Aus
tralia, 48. The figure for Canada in 1923 was
56.5, while for Belgium in 1922 it was 28.3.
An English expert studying American condi-
tions in 1906 estimated that risks in compar.
able trades i'll the United States were ten
times higher than for England
(To be continued,