PREVENTION OF ACCIDENTS IN AMERICA The prevention of industrial accidents, or as it is popularly termed in the United States, "industrial safety work," is that activity undertaken by the employer or in some cases by groups of employers, to remove the physical causes of accidents and to encourage safe practices by the employees. Estimates show that between 16,000 and 19,00o persons meet their death annually as a result of occupational accidents, while more than 1,250,000 receive non-fatal disabling injuries from the same cause. The direct economic cost of accidents in industry is placed at from $600,000,000 to $700,000,000 annually. The industrial accident situation, therefore, presents a social problem of considerable importance, as well as a great economic problem.
To the employee an accident means the loss in income equal to the difference between his pre-accident wage and his accident compensation or the wage he is capable of earning after the injury. To the employer, accidents mean the expenditure of funds for the payment of compensation awards, medical and burial expenses or insurance premiums to cover the same. They also mean the per manent or temporary loss of valuable employees ; the demoraliza tion of the working force; damaged equipment, raw material and finished product; and curtailed production. These latter items, it has been computed, represent a charge equal to at least four times the cost of compensation and medical service or insurance pre miums. To the general public, industrial accidents mean an increase in the cost of living, as the expenses of the manufacturer are included in the cost of producing his product.
In the early years of accident prevention work in industry, it was considered largely a duty of the mechanical engineer in designing and erecting guards and protective devices and making provision for the greater physical safety of the workman. In some cases such activities were required by State law. In other cases, encouragement was given by insurance carriers through their plan of offering credits on premiums. It soon became ap parent, however, that human defects and failures were responsible for a much larger proportion of accidents than were mechanical defects. Statistics indicated that between 8o and 9o% of all industrial accidents are due to unsafe practices, while only Io to 2o% are chargeable to unsafe conditions. Continuous and thor ough safety education, therefore, is the governing principle in the prevention of industrial accidents.
A study of successful industrial accident prevention work shows that the best results have been obtained in organizations where safety activities, both mechanical and educational, are considered as a direct function of supervision, rather than as a welfare ac tivity, independent of production. It has been the experience of many organizations that the degree of success resulting from the safety plans is dependent in large part upon the amount of direct personal interest taken in this phase of operation by the chief executive. To the employees and supervisors, he is repre sentative of the company and his interests and activities reflect the policy of the employing organization. In the majority of larger plants or companies, however, the chief executive cannot give personal direction to this because of many other duties. In such cases it is customary to assign this work to some other official, sometimes with a supporting staff, to direct the safety activities. In some organizations the safety engineer is placed on the staff of the personnel director. Regardless of the type of organization, however, it is considered important that the individual in charge of safety be given a position on the company's staff, which will clearly indicate the importance with which the employer views the safety work.
A system for obtaining reliable information relative to each accident and for tabulating and utilizing this material is con sidered essential to a reduction of the accident rate. It is cus tomary to obtain an accident report from the injured employee's immediate superior. Where the nature of the injury is serious or the indicated cause of sufficient importance, this initial report may be supplemented by an investigation or by a hearing con ducted by the safety director and a committee of workmen or supervisors. Accident statistics are usually classified by cause in order to determine their relative importance and to serve as a guide in planning for safety. This information also provides effective material for use in educational work. Based upon the accident statistics, the injury frequency rate (computed as the number of disabling injuries per i,000,000 man hours worked) and the injury severity rate (the number of days lost per i,000 man hours worked) are developed to measure the effectiveness of the accident prevention programme and to serve as a means of comparing the progress and standing of the various units of the organization. Accident cost figures are frequently used to keep the executives informed of the value of the safety activities.
Within the individual unit of the industrial organization, the responsibility for the prevention of accidents is placed upon the respective supervisors—the superintendents or foremen. They are charged with carrying out the safety policies of the manage ment, with the aid and advice of the safety engineer or director. Interest in this plan is sometimes secured by including safety as a definite part of staff meetings. Information regarding the company departmental accident experience and the causes of accidents are furnished the safety supervisors. Through personal contact, participation in meetings and general or personal letters from the chief executive, the safety policy of the company and the part which supervision has to play in it are kept before those in charge of others. In the final analysis, however, the cause and prevention of accidents rests with the individual employee. It is essential that the employee be selected and placed with due consideration to his physical and mental ability to perform his designated duties in a safe manner.
Department meetings provide an effective means of develop ing mutual interest in safety between foremen and men. These meetings are usually called and presided over by the foreman and present an opportunity for free discussion of the past acci dent experience of the group and of measures for the prevention of future accidents. Safety committees of foremen and men serve to place a definite responsibility upon the committee mem bers. Through the rotation of membership the entire force may gradually be reached and convinced of the value of safety to the employee. Advertising through bulletin boards, special messages on blackboards, safety signs, pay roll inserts, leaflets or articles in house organs aids the management to keep the idea of safety constantly before the working force. Friendly competition be tween plant units, plants or companies provides a definite incen tive for the practice of safety. Safety rallies or mass meetings of employees and their families arouse a group interest and encourage the formation of constructive public opinion. The intro duction of safety education in the grade school curriculum helps to train the future workman and also provides a splendid medium for reaching the workman through his children.
Considerable aid in connection with industrial safety work is rendered to American industry by the National Safety Council, bureaux of the U.S. Government, State departments of labour, individual insurance companies, organizations of insurance com panies, trade bodies and other national and local institutions. (See the articles INDUSTRIAL WELFARE AND MEDICINE ; DANGER OUS TRADES.) (G. W. Co. ; X.)