SAFETY PROVISIONS BEYER. 225 



Carelessness as to the safety of yourself or others will be sufficient cause 

 for dismissal. 



The more you insist upon carefulness on the part of others, as well as exer- 

 cise it yourself, the safer it will be for all. 



Report all injuries, however trivial ; blood poisoning is the result of neglected 

 wounds. 1 



Realizing that what is sometimes classed as carelessness may be 

 merely thoughtlessness or lack of understanding, signs are posted in 

 the mills which are intended to keep the necessity for caution fresh 

 in the mind. Following a newspaper account of an accident in an 

 outside company, where three men were crushed to death in the air 

 cylinder of a blowing engine, this notice was posted in each of the 

 blowing engine rooms of the American Steel & Wire Co. : 



Notice. — All persons are positively forbidden to enter an air cylinder of a 

 blowing engine until flywheels have been securely blocked, to prevent possi- 

 bility of engine turning over. 



— , Supt. 



Signs are placed at ladders or passageways leading to crane run- 

 ways, instructing men to notify the crane operator before doing any 

 work on a crane; warning signs are hung on valves, switches, and 

 controlling levers of various kinds of machinery to guard against 

 their being started while the men are working where they might be 

 injured; notices are placed at railroad crossings and along tracks, in 

 freight elevators, and in other places where they will attract atten- 

 tion to possible dangers. 



Plate 8, figure 1, shows the warning sign which is used for mark- 

 ing electrical equipment. It is printed in six languages and is sur- 

 mounted by branching lines of " red lightning," which ought to make 

 it universally understood. The smaller sign at the top of the picture, 

 marked " Danger — Keep away," is made of nonconducting fiber and 

 is hung over the controlling sw T itch to show that it should not be 

 operated. 



It is difficult to get the men to exercise the continued care which is 

 necessary to guard against accidents. It has been said that " famil- 

 iarity breeds contempt," and this is nowhere more strikingly demon- 

 strated than in the mills. 



While investigating a case recently, where the general foreman of 

 a rod mill was injured, one of this man's assistants took me to the 

 location in the mill where the accident had occurred, stepping over 

 running lines of red-hot rods to reach the exact spot. He explained 

 that a guard of wire netting had been placed at the rolls, which was 

 supposedly fine enough in mesh to prevent a rod going through it. 



1 This is intended to encourage the men to make use of the hospital facilities described 

 later. 



97578°— sm 1910 15 



