676 



PRESCRIPTION FOR WOODS SAFETY 



SETH JACKSON 



A woods crew was talking about 

 safety. 



"You think most accidents come 

 from unsafe working conditions and 

 unsafe acts," the logging boss said. 

 "That may be true, but in the woods 

 you can't do much to improve what 

 you find in the woods. Take Joe Sa- 

 block. Joe was killed by a widow 

 maker; it dropped on him while he 

 was chopping an undercut. And Jim 

 Mathews he was killed on a fire when 

 a rock came rolling down the moun- 

 tain. Falling things kill or cripple lots 

 of woods workers, and we can't do 

 much about it!" 



"Yes," I said, "there are reasons why 

 the logging industry has a high injury 

 rate. But we can do many things to 

 improve the record." 



"What are you going to do about our 

 Joes and our Jims," he said, "or about 

 the man whose ax slips and he cuts his 

 foot, or the fellow who falls and breaks 

 his leg when he's carrying a stick of 

 pulpwood? We can't change woods 

 conditions much. We can't be around 

 enough to tell 'em how to swing an ax, 

 or lift, or walk carefully." 



The logging boss had put his finger 

 on two main reasons why the rates of 

 injury and death in the woods are five 

 times higher than for industry as a 

 whole. Many woods working condi- 

 tions are beyond the practical control 

 to be had in factories, and supervision 

 is not so close. 



The logging boss had also touched 

 on another reason. That is the attitude 

 toward safety that is found among 

 woods workers, from top officials down. 

 These men, working alone or in small 

 groups, give safety little consideration 

 compared with their factory brothers. 

 More thought could well be given to 

 such things as hard hats for the Joes 

 and the Jims in danger areas ; clearing 

 limbs, brush, and vines out of the swing 

 of hand tools; getting firm footing; pro- 



viding protective devices for machine 

 equipment. 



"It's just too expensive to prevent 

 all accidents around here," said the 

 woods superintendent. "Besides, the 

 boys in the head office are always 

 pounding us for more production." 



"True," I said, "accident prevention 

 does cost money, but accidents cost a 

 lot, too. More, probably, than most of 

 us figure. Lost-time injuries to Federal 

 workers average $205 for direct com- 

 pensation and medical payments, based 

 on 332,289 cases. Industrial costs are 

 even higher, according to the National 

 Safety Council. In industry, occupa- 

 tional injuries average $274 each for 

 232,068 cases. 



"But that isn't all. The generally 

 accepted 4 to 1 ratio for indirect costs 

 brings the total to about a thousand 

 dollars for each lost-time injury. Indi- 

 rect costs include time lost by those 

 who stop work to aid or watch the 

 injured; time lost by supervisors and 

 others in investigating causes, prepar- 

 ing reports, and training replacements ; 

 lost production due to upsetting other 

 workers; lowered efficiency of the in- 

 jured person when he returns to the 

 job; and damaged equipment or ma- 

 terial." 



One of the swampers in the crew 

 spoke up: "You brought out the costs 

 to the company. It sets us workers back 

 plenty, too, when we get hurt. Besides 

 our own injury, our families suffer 

 from less money in the pay envelope 

 while we're laid up. Compensation 

 payments are a lot less than our usual 

 wages." 



The logging boss asked, "I wonder 

 just how much good accident preven- 

 tion costs?" 



"Some companies spend as much as 

 $25 per employee each year," I said, 

 "but amounts as low as $2 a year, or 

 less, will produce some results. Of 

 course, it costs more at the start be- 



