January 11, 1918. THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. 69 3. At each mine a mine safety committee should be organised, consisting of men doing different kinds of work and usually of different nationalities. This com- mittee would make regular monthly inspections and submit written reports, with recommendations, directly to the central safety committee or the executive. The committee should consist of three members appointed by the superintendent or the foreman or elected by the miners as conditions may indicate will prove most satisfactory and effective. Each member should serve two to four months and be succeeded by a new member, so that in time a large number of men of various nationalities would have been in a position where they would feel individual responsibility and could more readily understand the need of co-operation. All members of this committee should be furnished with a safety button specially designed for each company, the ex-members retaining theirs in honorary membership. Inspection trips of such workmen’s committees tend greatly to interest the men. Better co-operation is ensured and habits of indifference and carelessness are discouraged. For all time spent in this work, the members of the committee should receive their regular pay. Mixed committees of workmen and foremen and other officials have been appointed at some mines. Such committees, acting as plant committees, have the advantage of bringing the management and men together in work for greater safety, and induce a comparison of viewpoints. Special Inspection. In addition to the inspection provided by law some companies have established special systems of inspec- tion by dividing the mines into separate sections, each embracing 25 to 40 men and being under the direct supervision of an assistant foreman or safety boss, who must visit and inspect during the day at two to three hour intervals all working places, give instructions, and see personally that his orders are understood and carried out. As the greatest number of injuries and fatalities happen in working places and are caused by falls of roof, ore, or coal, such a system commends itself as a practical means of getting results. Safety Department for Small Mines. At small mines employing 50 to 100 men, or even in some of the larger mines where the employment of a special safety inspector is not warranted, safety organi- sation can probably be advanced best through a safety department formed by the local management. This work to be successful must have the active sympathy and support of one of the higher officials of the com- pany, preferably the one acting as safety inspector. The mine superintendent might have immediate direc- tion of the safety work, and be empowered to adopt any desired safety measures for any particular mine. A plant committee, composed of the superintendent, foreman and assistants, and a mine safety committee, composed of three representative workmen, could proceed along the same lines as outlined for larger mines and with greater thoroughness. Such committee work does not in any way replace the more valuable supervision and careful and frequent daily underground inspection by foremen and assistants, but supplements them and stimulates interest in safety. Safety is a personal matter, and the personal contact of officials and men in small mines is an advantage that should result in a rapid response to the safety idea. Educa- tional work can be promoted in its entirety and safety measures adopted on a scale affecting the greatest number of workmen. A group of small mines separately owned may advan- tageously co-operate in a joint safety organisation, perhaps associated with a central rescue station. Co-operation. Although it appears that much recklessness exists among industrial workers, every man has an inherent desire to save life, whether it be hi& own or that of another. Because of the hazards of mining, there is a natural fellowship among miners which has often been evidenced by heroic acts done without desire for reward. Will not men who risk their lives to save those of their fellows be equally willing to make a mine safer ? This question can undoubtedly be answered in the affirmative when the men fully realise how much they can do to prevent accidents. Every working day in the coal, mines of our country 50 men are either killed or severely injured, and approximately 100 receive more or less serious injuries. In the metal mines 20 men are either killed or severely injured daily, and the number of those less seriously injured approximates the number in coal mining, although the total number employed is less than one-fourth of that employed in coal mining. Every miner who has had such facts brought to his notice may be expected to give his hearty co-operation to a work that so vitally concerns him. Mine operators realise that it is to their advantage to promote safety. The decrease of fatalities and injuries is always accompanied by an economic gain. Every accident impairs the working efficiency of an organisa- tion, causes delay, curtails production. Individual effort toward accident prevention is being recognised and rewarded. Foremen are such essential factors in accident prevention that there is a growing tendency to select as foremen those men who are most careful to avoid accidents. Bonus Systems. One promising innovation of the safety movement is the bonus system now used by many companies. Under this system foremen and assistant foremen receive a cash bonus each month for good records in preventing accidents during any one working month, and an addi- tional bonus for a record entirely free for a period of six months or more. Demerits incurred through accidents in any one month can be worked off in sub- sequent months. One large company has maintained a bonus system for four and a-half years at a cost of 015 cent per ton of coal produced. Score boards of various kinds are maintained for comparisons of months, years, or departments. Such a system naturally creates a desire among the foremen to co-operate with the management in promoting safety work. The necessary interest and co-operation of the work- men can be secured only when the company shows an attitude of absolute frankness in dealing with the matter. Companies that have had the longest experi- ence in safety work emphasise the necessity of securing the confidence of employees, so that the latter may see and perform their part in achieving the desired end. Education of Miners. Education is the foundation rock in accident preven- tion. Education and inspection can, it is believed, eliminate the majority of the preventable accidents. “ Education,” here, does not imply such training as will make engineers, foremen or mine managers, but simply the direct training of the average miner so that he may know clearly how to do his daily work with greater personal safety. Although it is true that many experienced miners meet serious injury, this is due largely to the fact that such miners are granted many more privileges than the inexperienced man, do all the most dangerous mining, and have probably grown unresponsive to thoughts of personal safety through daily conflict with danger. It is natural to expect that conditions favour the experi- enced and thoughtful miner, and it is an established fact that the careful worker is, as a rule, the most efficient. The number of miners, motor men, drivers and trip riders or brakemen, who meet accidents caused by care- lessness emphasises the necessity of pointing out the reckless and dangerous practices that are often con- tracted. Training and education are necessary for safety and efficiency, and, therefore, all classes and types of labour should be interested in accident preven- tion. Especially should all new workmen receive instruction in a language they understand, as to proper and safe methods of work. It is particularly important that they be warned of dangers apparent only to intelligent and experienced workmen, and be shown how to avoid such dangers. Practical instruction at the working face, supplemented by illustrated class-room talks, should be given on how and when to set timber, precau- tion in testing the roof or back, use of safety lamps and portable electric lamps, handling explosives, blocking cars in rooms, and underground travelling to and from work. Experience is a good teacher, but the risk involved in permitting the inexperienced miner to pursue his own methods is too great. A miner should possess knowledge that will enable him to work in com- parative safety when left to his own resources. Such instruction makes both an efficient workman and a useful citizen out of a new recruit, and is greatly pro- moted by an adequate inspection system that gives personal directions whenever and wherever required. Posting Rules. The practice of posting rules conspicuously at mines is somewhat general. For some years many companies have posted both general and specific rules to cover plant operation. Standard rules to govern employees in their performance of duties, methods of work, and handling of material have long been recognised as having a positive value in accident prevention. Whole- sale disregard of such rules has resulted in many accidents that could have been easily averted, but laws and rules will not produce results unless they are enforced. A strict conformity with the spirit of the law by all employers and employees is essential for safety. Distributing Rules in Handbooks. When rules are posted, efforts should be made to bring them to the attention of the workmen so that the latter may become familiar with them. Many com- panies ’print rules in several languages in pamphlet or book form and issue a book to each workman, who signs for it. A few weeks later the workman, who is expected to have read the rules or to have had them read to him, is required to send in over bis signature a slip that accompanied the book, with the statement that he fully understands them. Then if he passes an oral examina- tion satisfactorily he receives a safety button similar to that worn by members of the safety committee. An attractive pocket memorandum book that would be of actual service to any workman would be one containing the rules of the company, safety precepts, simple problems regarding his work, and items of general interest that might cause him to refer to the book frequently and remind him of the sincere attitude of the company toward safety and the part that he must play to bring about the desired results. A book of rules for the employees in the iron-ore mines of one company contains, among other#, the following injunctions: Ten Commandments. To Prevent Accidents and Promote Sanitation. 1. Get the safety habit. Don’t take chances. Learn all the' rules; understand your work thoroughly. Study the dangers incident thereto and avoid them. Think before you act. 2. Do not work with defective chains, cables, tools or appliances of any kind, or in an unsafe place. Carefully examine same and report dangerous conditions to your foreman. 3. Never work on any machinery until you have notified the operator, and attached a sign, “ Danger, do not move,” bearing your name, at the point where the power is turned • on. No man except the man who placed it should ever remove such sign. 4. Do not turn on any electricity, steam, air or water, or set in motion any machinery, or throw down any material, without first seeing if anyone is in a position to be injured, and all safety guards are in their proper place. 5. Do not handle, use or explode any high explosive without complying with all the rules covering “High Explosives.” 6. Use proper timbers, and adopt all precautions to prevent any possibility of roof or sides caving in and falling on you. 7. Do not ride on or operate engines, cars, motors, steam shovels, skips, or other moving bodies, or tamper with elec- trical apparatus, unless authorised to do so. Never leave your regular place of work and go to another part of mine except when required by your duties. 8. If you make an opening or remove the cover from any opening in floor, ground, shaft, raise, valve pit or sewer, guard that opening so no one can fall into it. 9. Do not pile any material so high it is liable to fall or cause another pile to fall, or allow it to lean against walls too weak to bear the pressure. 10. Commit no nuisance; be clean and help to keep the mine clean. Conduct your private life so that you are at all times in the very best physical condition, wide awake and active. Bulletin Boards. The use of bulletin boards for posting various items of interest, such as notices, reports, photographs, articles, has proved of great value in safety work. Such boards are in use both in and around mines. The posting of items of local interest attracts the attention of all employees. Men make it a practice to read the board daily. Photographs showing safe and unsafe methods of work can be placed to advantage on the bulletin board, with frequent changes and the addition of interesting data. An important item is the posting of accident reports, giving particulars of mine, date, name, occupation and nationality of injured, how acci- dent happened, result of accident, and how similar accidents can be avoided. Suggestion Boxes. Suggestion boxes are maintained at various plants for the receipt of suggestions and recommendations in addition to those presented by the safety committees. Information as to existing dangers, suggestions for their elimination or safeguarding, or anything that in any way will tend to make conditions safer are requested. Much of direct value has resulted from this method of ascertaining the attitude of the men toward the general subject of safety. Any device or suggestion, however simple, that may prevent an acci- dent is worthy of consideration. In many instances notable discoveries of latent thought and ingenuity have resulted in improvements and inventions of various kinds, with benefit to both the individuals making them and to the industry. Thousands of seemingly unimportant defects which had escaped notice have been lessened or completely elimi- nated through suggestions received in this manner. As a concrete example of the value of this system, one of the largest industrial concerns received in two years 5.200 suggestions both from safety committees and individual employees, of which 92 per cent, were adopted and put in force. Another plant received 1.200 suggestions the first year. Of these, 90 per cent, are now operative, 6 per cent, are being investigated, and only 4 per cent, were rejected as being impractical. Meetings and Lectures. In addition to the initial public meetings and the regular monthly meetings of the various safety com- mittees, there should be frequent public meetings, “booster meetings” for safety, in which the problem of accidents, their causes and prevention, should be openly discussed. The programmes of such meetings, many of which have been held during the past two years, contain many interesting features. Lectures are given, and the desired lessons on how accidents can be avoided are taught by means of stereopticon views and motion pictures. Other forms of entertainment are provided. Such meetings finally resolve into the community life, and rightfully become a part of it. The mind is forcibly impressed, and “ Safety first ” becomes a common topic of conversation among the miners and their families. Wherever they meet, this vital ques- tion is discussed, and the graphic tales of reckless driving, failure to set posts, setting off gas, drilling out miss-fires, etc., decrease in direct proportion as interest in and discussion of safety increases. Every serious accident is a reminder that something is wrong, and whether it is non-fatal or fatal is really of no con- sequence as far as accident prevention is concerned as a whole. Almost any serious accident might easily have proved fatal. In the educational work carried on among the miners by the Bureau of Mines through its mine rescue stations and cars, training in first-aid to the injured and in mine rescue methods is supplemented by illus- trated lectures on mine safety. The work has been made more effective by the use of lantern slides and motion pictures showing actual first aid and mine rescue work, tests on explosibility of coal dust, and underground mining operations in both ore and coal in detail, with practical lessons for the miner on safe and sane methods. Safety Precepts. Safety precepts are of great value in keeping the subject of safety before the minds of the men. Such precepts may be used in various forms: they may be printed on statetnents, pay envelopes, calendars, letter- heads, or signs, or in memorandum books and special safety bulletins, or thrown on the screen during illus- trated lectures. They represent in a way the policy of the company, forming practically a set of rules with supplemental admonitions, for example: — Safety first and always. Carelessness means injury sooner or later to yourself or to others. Report all unsafe conditions. By so doing you will prevent accidents. Safeguards not only prevent accidents but lessen the extent of injuries which cannot wholly be averted It takes less time to prevent an accident than to report one. If you see a fellow workman going into a place of danger, warn him. It is better to cause a delay than an accident. Better be careful than crippled. Careless workmen are dangerous in mines. Every accident is a notice that something is wrong. Make repairs before, not after, an accident. Do not let loose material lie around for men to fall over. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. It is the little accidents that kill most. Report all disregard of safety rules. Nothing is a substitute for alertness and watchfulness. A timber in place is worth a thousand on the timber pile. Be sure you’re safe, then go ahead. It’s better to be safe than sorry. Safety first, then work in safety.