214 ANNUAL EEPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1910. 



wire from which your watch spring is made or your telephone con- 

 nected up. 



To do this there is a great variety of machinery, and the problem 

 of bringing this equipment up to approved standards of safety and 

 maintaining it in this condition is complicated by the widely sep- 

 arated locations of the plants. The logical outcome has been to place 

 the responsibility largely in the plants themselves, with such over- 

 sight and assistance as are necessary to obtain satisfactory results. 

 Accordingly, special inspectors have been appointed and local inspec- 

 tion committees organized. There are two of these committees in 

 each mill, one of which is called the " foremen's committee," and the 

 other the " workmen's committee." 



LOCAL COMMITTEES. 



The foremen's committee usually includes the assistant superin- 

 tendent of the plant, the master mechanic, chief electrician, and a 

 department foreman or two. Some of these members are retained 

 permanently on the committee, so that they may gradually become 

 educated to the full scope of the Avork. By changing one or two 

 members at intervals, numbers of foremen receive the benefit of this 

 experience. It is the duty of the foremen's committee to make an 

 inspection of the plant, either semimonthly or monthly, and turn in 

 a written report ; furthermore, it goes over the recommendations of 

 the w'orkmen's committee, which reports weekly. 



The workmen's committee is entirely distinct and is taken from 

 the rank and file of our mill employees; for example, there may be a 

 machinist, an electrician, and a wire drawer; or a roller, a millwright, 

 and a carpenter, etc. These men are selected by the superintendent 

 in consultation with the foreman from whose department they are 

 taken, workmen of good intelligence being chosen, who will take an 

 interest and be able to make their work count. There are from two 

 to four men in this workmen's committee, depending on the size of 

 the plant; they serve on the committee for a month, making one 

 inspection a week, each inspection consuming about a day. At the 

 end of the month an entirely new committee is appointed, and both 

 the incoming and outgoing committees meet with the superintendent, 

 who explains to them something of the object of their committee 

 work. Those who have completed their term of service are told that 

 they are to consider themselves permanently on the safety commit- 

 tee and to feel free at any time to mention anything which they think 

 conducive to their own safety or that of their fellow employees. The 

 men, pleased, of course, at the opportunity to meet the head of the 

 plant, take considerable pride and interest in the safety work and 

 are coming to realize more fully its importance. Several superin- 



