be driven. Workers may resent the "speedup" because they fear being over- 

 worked, but they probably resent even more having the pace set for them 



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MORNING RECORD 



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 LATE-AFTERNOON RECORD 



These two records on the ergogroph were made by a medical student on the same 

 day. Although he made no special exertions with his middle finger during the day's 

 work, the record made by the pulls of this finger show a general fatigue — that is, 

 one of the whole body — toward the end of the day 



by somebody who is unconcerned about their continued well-being. In 

 trying to make the most out of mass-production methods we have generally 

 overlooked the fact that individuals differ with regard to their working 

 rhythms and resistance to fatigue. When a machine sets the pace for a large 

 block of workers, some of the individuals are almost certain to be over- 

 worked, while about the same number will be kept from working at their 

 own best speed. 



The First World War compelled works managers to select workers more 

 carefully for the various tasks. The Second World War forced them to go 

 even farther: they must determine "average" speeds and hours of work in 

 relation to the capacities and limitations of the particular organisms under 

 their direction. 



Early in the Second World War, British factories quickly intensified their 

 efforts to increase the production of war essentials by speeding the work 

 and also by increasing the hours of work. In a short time it was found that 

 accidents increased, workers collapsed, and the actual output failed to keep 

 up with plans. In this country workers in many plants were tempted to 

 work extra long hours to earn the additional wages. But within a few 

 months after the United States was at war it was found necessary to restrict 

 the number of hours a worker might keep at his job to forty-eight a week. 

 These regulations were based on studies of the effects upon workers of 



224 



