464 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



Memorandum No. 21, from the Health of Munition Workers Committee, con- 

 tains an account of the investigations made by Dr. H. M. Vernon on the Causation 

 of Industrial Accidents. Data were collected from four factories for periods varying 

 from 9 to 255 months, and the analysis which he gives of the 50,000 accidents 

 which came under notice leads to interesting and somewhat remarkable results. 

 In the first place, as might be expected, speed of production plays a considerable 

 part ; the diurnal variation of accidents generally corresponding with output 

 variations. Fatigue apparently had little effect on the accidents to male workers ; 

 but with women the number of accidents when working a 12-hour day (75 hours 

 per week) was 2J times greater than when the period was reduced to 10 hours. 

 With the longer shift women were treated for faintness 9 times more frequently 

 than men ; with the shorter only 3 times more frequently. A striking difference 

 was shown between the night and day shifts, the former giving a distinctly larger 

 output and 16 per cent, fewer accidents. Dr. Vernon attributes this to psychical 

 influences, the workers being much less excited and distracted from their work 

 during the night than in the daytime. This conclusion is supported by the fact 

 that the accidents were at a maximum at the beginning of the shift, and fell 

 gradually the whole night to about half the initial value. Indirect evidence of the 

 ill-effects of alcohol was obtained — -especially in respect of alcohol consumed 

 during the dinner hour by day workers and just before coming to work by those 

 engaged at night. Although the total number of accidents at night was less than 

 by day, eye accidents were from 7 to 27 per cent, greater, the excess being greatest 

 in the worst-lit factory. Finally it was noted that temperature has a most 

 important effect. The most favourable temperature is 65° to 69 F. ; the number 

 of accidents increasing rapidly at higher temperatures (by 30 per cent, at tempera- 

 tures above 75 F.) and more slowly at lower ones Moreover, as the outdoor 

 temperature grew colder accidents increased rapidly ; at one factory women's 

 accidents were nearly 2J times more numerous when the temperature was at or 

 below freezing-point than when it was above 47° F., whilst the men's accidents 

 were twice as numerous. To reduce the number of accidents to its inevitable 

 minimum it is desirable to induce in all the workers throughout their hours of 

 labour the same mental outlook as is present in the night-shift workers in the 

 early hours of the morning, when their attention is best concentrated on their 

 work. However, to produce this state of mental calm in the daytime would 

 require such monotonous conditions of labour that the worker would certainly 

 pronounce the cure worse than the disease. 



The Report of the Committee of the Privy Council for Scientific and Industrial 

 Research for the year 1917-18 conveys the general impression that that body is 

 very well pleased with itself. And indeed much progress has been made. The 

 fuel-research station is in course of erection at East Greenwich, and should be 

 finished by the end of the year; its cost being estimated at £ 120,000. The 

 National Physical Laboratory has been taken over from the Royal Society, and 

 the salaries of its staff raised to the scale recommended by the Executive Com- 

 mittee of the Laboratory. Further, the pensions scheme in operation for univer- 

 sity teachers has been adopted in order to facilitate transfer of staff between the 

 universities and the Laboratory. The Board of Trade are arranging, subject to 

 the approval of the Treasury, for the transfer of their Electrical Standards Labora- 

 tory to Teddington, thus avoiding the uneconomical maintenance of dual standards. 

 The cost of the Laboratory to the Council for the (then) current financial year was 

 .£89,750, while, in addition, it rendered services to the several war departments 

 which will be met out of the Vote of Credit at an estimated cost of ,£74,100. 



