TJflE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, MARCDT 2G, 101G.
nsu ranee Engineers Put Safeguards Info, factories
ere Legal Reouirernents Only Arous
ed
0 w n e rs' Q poos it i o n
BY CAJRL M. HANSEN.
Chief Ensinr, Workmen' Compensation
Service Bureau, New York.--
FORTY thousand killed! Two mil
lion wounded! Xo, this is not a
report from the battlefields of
Europe. It is simply a statement of
the annual casualties in industries In
the United States according to the best
available data.
Measured in economic terms, It means
200,000.000 working days lost or ac
count of partial or complete disability.
It imposes as annual tax directly or
Indirectly of approximately $600,000,
000 on the industries of this country, a
tax which must in some way or other
be charged against the products of
these industrial and be borne by these
industries in competition In the world's
markets.
.What is doing to check this tremen
dous waste? It is a fair statement that
not until compensation laws- Began to
be enacted in the United States was
the significance of It all generally real
ized. Since then, however, it has come
very much to the fore.
It was but natural that the casualty
insurance companies should early have
become vitally concerned with this
subject. As parties at interest, as the
institutions called upon to pay the
losses occurring through accidents,
their concern was obvious. As the
financial bulwark, so to speak, be
tween the manufacturer and economic
ruin in case of accident catastrophes
in his plant under compensation laws,
they became by the very nature of
their position interested in the question
of how this tremendous accident ratio
might be diminished in order that
losses might be correspondingly re
duced. This statement Is not made to
give the inference that casualty com
panies did not, up to the time of com
pensation laws, display any interest in
accident prevention. They did, and ef
fectively so, but not until these laws
were enacted were their efforts co
ordinated. nineteen Companies Co-operate.
The Workmen's Compensation Serv
ice Bureau, a voluntary organization
composed of the 19 leading stock cas
ualty companies doing business on this
continent, was the medium through
which this co-ordination was effected,
and it was through the scientific de
termination, of rates for workmen's
compensation insurance that insurance
as an institution became so prominent
a factor in the advancement of indus
trial safety.
All forms of true Insurance are based
on the law of averages. Immediately
a system gets away from that princi
ple it ceases to be insurance. This is
an axiom well recognized by all un
derwriters. In the case of compensa
tion insurances rates with the cor
rectness of which the Workmen's Com
pensation Service Bureau is primarily
concerned as wide an average as pos
sible is essential to assure accurate de
termination. Let us take, for example, a common
classification, "machine shops." to il
lustrate the process. The cost of all
accidents occurring in all machine
shops within a given area say a state,
or, even better, in all states produces
the premium cost necessary to carry
the hazard for that classification. The
rate determined on that premium cost
is called the "average rate" and ap
plies equally to all machine shops em
braced in the classification that is,
of course, if within one state, or if
operating under various laws In dif
ferent states providing equal benefits.
Through this plan the cost is distrib
uted on the industry as a whole rather
than on the individual plant which has
had the accident, on the theory that the
industry as a whole shall bear the bur
den. Must Conalder Exceptions,
It is well recognized, however, that
among all these machine shops there
are good ones and bad ones. Whereas
theoretically they should all present
the same hazard, practically they do
not. and it is, therefore, an apparent
economic injustice to measure them all
by the same yardstick, the law of av
erage. It is further admitted that any plan
of compensation insurance for work
accidents, to prove effective and to
truly fulfil what is expected of It, must
primarily be prophylactic that is, the
plan must lay less stress on compensa
tion for, rather than on prevention of,
such accidents. Any system of rating
must act as a stimulus toward acci
dent prevention; only such a system
is defensible and is economically equit
able to the employer, the employe and
the Nation as a whole. This necessi
tates our deviating from the average
rate to some degree, amplifying the
law of average, and creating individ
ual rates on the plants embraced In
any classification based on te actual
conditions of each from a relative acci
dent hazard standpoint in relation to
one another.
The object outlined In the foregoing
is accomplished by what is known as
schedule" or merit rating, and the
"universal analytic schedule" for the
measuring of relative work accident
hazards in manufacturing Industries is
the instrument used for this purpose.
The writer had the honor of compiling
and developing this schedule at the
expense, under the direction and with
the approval of the Workmen's Com
pensation Service Bureau. Upward of
S50.000 was spent in its development.
It involved the inspection of thousands
of manufacturing plants and the em
ployment of scores of experts before
It could be put into practical opera
tion. The results obtained, however.
Justified the time and expense devoted
to it. The schedule is now used in
practically every state, and In several
states it carries the official approval
of the insurance departments as well
as of workmen's compensation and in
dustrial commissions.
ramiralnorj In New York.
In the State of New York, for ex
ample, it is compulsory upon all In
surance carriers to use it by order of
the insurance department. They can
not otherwise underwrite compensation
Insurance in this state. Even the state
compensation insurance fund is avail
ing itself oi this instrument in the de
terminating of compensation insurance
rates. It was turned over to the state
by the companies members oT the
workmen's compensation service bu
reau, without , recompense for the ex
pense involved in its compilation and
testing, and its use by all companies
doing business' in. the state was freely
permitted, including the 6tate fund,
although these companies had not con
tributed,' financially or otherwise, to
the research work necessary in devel
oping it. Among - manufacturers and
employers, of labor also the schedule .
is now generally recognized and ac
cepted as a most effective incentive
to accident prevention.
Just a word as to the construction
of this "universal analytic schedule"
without going into any technical de
tails. It embraces all the factors which,
together constitute the accident haz
ards of the industry to which it Is ap
plied, as follows: Building construction,
protection against fire hazards, stairs,
elevated runways and platforms, floors,
floor openings, hoistways, elevators,
boilers, engines, electrical equipment,
power transmission equipment, such as
sprockets clutches, belts and pulleys,
gears, set screws, shafting, coup
lings, etc.
Also it Includes ladders, general
order, light and sanitation and actual
workinug machines. In addition. It
deals intimately with safety organiza
tion in the plant In relation to the In
terest displayed by the management in.
educating the men on the. subject of.
their own and their fellow workmen's
safety, and takes cognizance equally of
what means are provided for first aid
to the Injured. In all. it "mbraces
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r-C constantly occupied with
things pertaining to details of
pleasure or of the perplexities of life,
to the exclusion of immediate physical
surroundings, it is necessary," said Mr.
Marcus A. Dow, general safety agent of
the New York Central lines, "that
something he put forth constantly to
awaken that mind to a realization of
what might happen to cause an injury
through certain clearly defined acts of
negligence.
"In other words, a reminder to act
as a check and hold up the mirror to
the unpleasant realities of life due to
negligence or thoughtlessness must in
some way be put forth persistently.
"Not all the safety appliances that
can ever be invented and applied nor
all the laws and regulations that can '
ever be passed and enforced can ef
face the human element from the ac
cident equation. The one great, power
ful factor which will curtail and re
duce, and which is already curtailing
and reducing. Injuries and death
among railroad and Industrial em-
ployes in .co-operation, between, em-
ployers and employes to increase the
carefulness of the employes, train them
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about 100 of the most obvious hazards was first ascertained on Inspection:
recognized as accident causes. A brief that Is, it was determined what were
outline of how the schedule is applied the prevailing practices and conditions
and what its effects are is also in at the time the schedule was compiled,
order. " If it was found that a given condition.
The average condition of all shops was guarded in the majority of plants.
Employes it
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to think and avoid taking chances. accidents In Industrie's and on' railroads
". cr'-,'l t-viv-u .,f stptistlc"' of shows conclusively that from 80 to 80
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such a condition was termed "above
average," in the plants In which It
was found that these same items or"
hazards were not guarded a charge wsa
imposed for each in accordance with
the economic value with which the haz
ard was assessed.
On the other hand. If a condition was
found to be most prevalently unguard
ed it was termed "below average." and
the elimination of such a hazard was
rewarded with a credit on the rate.
per cent of all accidents to railroad
. and industrial employes are of a char
acter which can be prevented only by
the exercise of greater care and
thoughtfulness on the part of the hu
man beings involved in those acci
dents." The railroads throughout the country,
as well as the larger industrial con
cerns, are spending time, money and
effort to develop and foster a spirit
.of co-operation among itheir workers.
A number of roads have made arrange
ments to show a new three-reel safety
film, produced by the New York Cen
tral lines, which presents many scenes
illustrating the different ways In
which employes of a railroad may be
hurt through their own carelessness
while working on the tracks or In the
shops, and vividly picturing some of
the sorrows which would result from
such accidents. The film is entitled
"The House That Jack Built" and was
written by Mr. Dow. The most thrill
ing scene Is that of a realistic rear
end collision, in which a big freight
engine hauling a heavy train Is seen
to crash Into another train, completely
demolishing a coach and twa other
cars. It illustrates the serious conse
quences likely to result trom a brake
man's carelessness in not going back
far enough to signal.
This film Is entertaining as well as
instructive, and will be shown in many
of the larger cities for the benefit of
employes and their families. The New
York Central has also equipped two
cars with complete moving picture out
fits, which will be sent' over the lines
of the entire system, thus giving prac
tically all the employes of the road an
opportunity to view the film.
Religion Comes Back
NEW YORK seems somewhat stag
gered by the discovery that It Is
getting religion. A count shows that the
congregations of the churches are 25 per
cent above the normal Summer average,
while the Fifth-avenue churches, trie
various tent meetings and the noonday
services In Madison Square show even
larger figures. And New York only
had a glimpse of Billy Sunday and an
uncertain sort of a hope of really get
ting him some years hence.
Churchmen are quoted as saying thnt
the phenomenon' is due to the sobering
effect of the war on mankind. Some
nonbeliever and cynic declares that
hard times are responsible and. that
men go to church when they can't go
anywhere else, without paying for the
privilege. But the fact is there, an I
also is elsewhere In Philadelphia,
where It would have been discoverable
to some extent if the tabernacle never
had been erected. Morover. there were
signs of It before the war made Ita
impress, and It wasn't consequent upon
financial distress.
There has been a sobering, steadying
impulse, accentuated by these other
factors, but having Its place In the or
dinary cycle of psychology rather than
In extraordinary and external influ
ences. It la the swing of the pendulum.
Men and women had run the gamut of
excesses and had become tired and had.
' come back to find quiet and relief. So
conservatism of political thought fol
lows the extreme of radicalism. So a
period of agitation breeds a desire
which is almost a demand for rest.
Many things, no doubt, conspired lo
help on this natural trend, the Titanio
having notable effect New York's very
furore of crime, which had its culmina
tion in the Beck"er case, made men
think. And when any of the vicissi
tudes of life really make men think,
the church Is the natural spot to whicn
they turn. Philadelphia Bulletin.
Swaddling Clothes.
Atlantic Monthly.
The swaddle Is a piece of stout cloth
about a yard square, to one corner of
which is attached a long narrow band.
The infant, with Its arms pressed close
to its sides and Its feet stretched full
length and laid close together. Is
wrapped in the swaddle and the narrow
band wound around the little body,
from the shoulders to the ankles, giving
the little one the exact appearance of
an Egyptian mummy. Only a few of
the good things of this . mortal life
were more pleasant to me when 1 was
a boy (.in Syria) than to carry in my
arms a swaddled babe. The "salted"
and "peppered" little creature felt so
soft and so light and was so appealinij-
ly helpless that to cuddle it was to uie
an unspeakable benediction. .
This process produces, in other words,
"sub" and "super" standards from the
established average, and a rate pro
auced after the schedule has been ap
plied to the plant." instead of the av
erage rate, becomes a rate adjusted
in direct proportion to the interest the
individual manutacturer has displayed
In accident prevention measures.
The result of this is that the rates
on the individual plants within a classi
fication, taking again machine shops,
may vary all the way from 40 per .cent
below the average rate to 50 per cent
above that average rate In the ratio
that safeguarding has been accom
plished. Clear Incentive to Safeguards.
The incentive for accident prevention
in this plan is clear. The conditions
constituting hazards as defined in the
"universal analytic schedule" are made
known to the employer or plant1 owner.
He understands that for every set
screw, for every. set of gears, for each
belt, for , each ineffective fire escape
and for every such condition . which
constitutes an accident hazard he is
charged a given amount in his com
pensation Insurance premium. The
amount so charged while in true pro
portion to the accident hazard pre
sented, by any of these items,' on the
other hand, is also measured by what
it would cost to remove the hazard
entirely or to bring it down to an ir
reducible minimum; that is. the saving
In Insurance rate on a plant always
bears a fair and equitable relation to
the total cost of improvements, and
when it is remembered that the cost
of compensation insurance goes into
production cost the same as any other
expense of manufacturing, the lower
that Insurance cost is kept the more
advantageously stands that Individual
manufacturer in competition with his
fellow manufacturers of the same pro
duct. The total saving in 100,000 plants to
which the schedule has been applied
in the last three years has amounted
to approximately $5,000,000 in insur
ance premiums. In other words, ?5,
000,000 which otherwise would have
had to be charged against the goods
manufactured in these Industries. In
addition to this, however, it has a
far deeper social significance which
cannot be lost sight of; that is, this
5,000,000 represents that amount saved
in life and limbs of employes, measured
in' compensation benefits. The result
of this, although possibly not yet ap
parent, is. nevertheless, far reaching.
It is. in other words, true social work
put on a business and economic basis.
As a natural sequence to schedule
rating safety standards became neces
sary; in fact, schedule rating rests
fundamentally on definite standards,
simple and. easily interpreted by the
NEW USE FOR MASON-DIXON LINE
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jvR. AUSTIN O'MALLEY, of Phlla-
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failure of the immigrants who come to
layman not having a technical training.
This necessitated, co-ordinately with
the "universal analytic schedule," the
compilation of "universal safety stand
ards." These standards, now used also
in practically every state, set forth
concisely what are the conditions that
shall obtain in a plant in order to ob
viate any charges under the schedule
or in order to obtain the credits pro
vided. They constitute the first organized
attempt anywhere to put truly the sub
ject of safety where it belongs, on an
engineering basis, rather than where it
has heretofore been, on a legal basis.
The writer always has maintained
that whether or not a fire escape was
in the true sense of the word a fire
escape, that could be depended upon in
case of panic, or merely a firetrap or
gridiron; that whether or not a set of
gears was so protected as to afford no
hazard to surrounding employes, as to
whether a belt was guarded or not
guarded, were all simply engineering?
problems that could and should be de
cided on questions of fact, and that
questions of law in no instance should
enter into it.
It is at least significant, but none the
less gratifying, to note that since th
compilation of "universal safety stan
dards" several states have undertaken
to place the power of safety require
ments in the hands of boards of com
missioners, whose orders, after due in
vestigation at public hearings, where
all parties interested may offer their
suggestions and objections, take the
force of law. For the last 30 years
the statute books of the various states
have been overloaded with legal fac
tory requirements, and few or no re
sults were obtained because of the im
possibility of the average man under
standing them; whereas specific re
quirements, accompanied by drawings
as presented in "universal safety stan
dards," enable the humblest mechanio
at sight to interpret and apply them.
Practical Views Spread.
The practicability of these standards
is now so well recognized that several
industrial accident boards and commis
sions, as well as state factory inspec
tors, have requested permission to re
produce them in part or in full as the
official orders of the state in question,
and the same magnanimity as displayed
by tho companies which are members
of the Workmen's Compensation Ser
vice Bureau as regards the use of the
"universal analtic schedule" has been
shown in regard to the standards,
with the result that today in several
states they have the force of law in
place of the previous legal require
ments. The labor and expense involved in
the development of these standards
have been tremendous. Upwards of
1000 drawings have been prepared por
traying ail the known hazards en
countered in the various Industries and
a proper solution of the elimination of
each hazard has been worked out. They
are not simply confined to mechanical
devices and equipments, but include all
buildings for all purposes mercantile,
office, theater, moving picture houses,
schools, hospitals, etc.
The standards when complete will,
as the name implies, be universal In
scope and application. They are pre
dicated on the basic fact that a con
dition is either safe or not safe, and
that if it is safe in New York It is safe
in California, Illinois, Pennsylvania.
Massachusetts, or, for that matter. In
any other part of the world, and that
such safety if properly studied could
be predetermined; that the word "ac
cident" as generally applied is in itself
an accident in the Enarlish language.
Let it not be assumed from the fore
going that the .Workmen's Compen
sation Service Bureau believes or tries
to make others believe that mechanical
safeguards and proper building con
struction will solve the problem of ac
cident prevention as a national ques
tion. No, far from it! Such measures
at the best will only reduce accidents
a certain percentage of the total. The
education of the individual workman
Is equally essential.
After the buildings and mechanical
equipments of a manufacturing-, estab
lishment are brought to the highest
state of perfection from a safety ant
sanitation standpoint the final solution
lies in educating the employes out ot
instinctive recklessness into intuitive
caution.
3
the United States is the line between
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north and south. He holds that human
brain works best at 32 degrees Fahren-
allJ ,;,,. no v hite man can .cceed
oeiovv South Carolina.