Prescription for Woods Safety 



677 



cause you have a big selling job with 

 all workers then. An outfit with high 

 hazards like logging must spend more 

 than one where dangers aren't so great. 

 Many concerns pay more for accident 

 prevention than for accident compen- 

 sation. They believe these large sums 

 year after year are more than repaid by 

 less direct and indirect injury costs, 

 improved production, efficiency, and 

 morale. The National Safety Council 

 has recommended $4.50 to $6 per 

 employee per year for Government op- 

 erations with high hazards, such as con- 

 struction and motor-vehicle operation. 

 This includes salaries and travel ex- 

 penses of all safety personnel, pur- 

 chase of publications and materials. 

 Some funds should be earmarked for 

 protective equipment such as guards, 

 hard hats, goggles." 



"You know," said the cat operator, 

 "when it comes right down to it, every 

 accident we have on the job shows us 

 that something is wrong in the outfit 

 somewhere. Each accident is usually 

 someone's fault lack of skill, careless- 

 ness, poor supervision, wrong design, 

 haywire equipment, poor job instruc- 

 tion, no follow-up on safety, and so 

 forth. We all talk about a right way 

 to do a thing. Isn't the right way the 

 safe way; and the safe way the best 

 way?" 



EVERY ACCIDENT is a symptom that 

 something is wrong with men, methods, 

 or material. It should stimulate man- 

 agement at all levels to do something 

 about it. Accident prevention will pay 

 increased dividends in the form of 

 greater efficiency and production, bet- 

 ter job satisfaction and morale, finan- 

 cial savings to both the worker and 

 management, less loss and breakage of 

 equipment and materials. 



The source of woods accidents is 

 something to consider. An analysis of 

 Forest Service injuries for 1947 shows 

 this, because its conditions of employ- 

 ment are widely varied construction 

 and maintenance of the roads, trails, 

 bridges, telephone lines, lookout tow- 

 ers, buildings; planting; timber-stand 



improvement; and forest-fire fighting. 

 Most of the work is done under situa- 

 tions found in typical logging opera- 

 tions workers largely on their own or 

 with a minimum of supervision in iso- 

 lated areas far from medical help. As 

 often as not they are in rugged, tim- 

 bered country, which is treacherous 

 underfoot. 



The analysis shows that about one 

 out of four injuries comes from hand 

 tools, 93 percent of which are due to 

 unskilled use. A further break-down 

 shows that the ax is the main offender. 

 As one would expect, most of the really 

 serious cases come from operation of 

 motor vehicles, tractors, and graders 

 machines especially when they are 

 operating too fast for existing condi- 

 tions, even though the actual speed 

 may be only 15 miles an hour or less. 

 Disregard for safe practices is one of 

 the primary causes why workers get 

 hurt. Supervision has a direct responsi- 

 bility here. 



Few accidents have single causes. 

 Consider the man who broke his leg. 

 He tripped. Why? He was holding the 

 load in such a way that he could not 

 see. Why? He was carrying the load 

 improperly. Why? He had never been 

 told how. Why? His boss had never 

 told him. Why? Management had not 

 held the boss responsible for accidents. 

 Why? Management did not require 

 bosses to plan for safety, to train for 

 safety, and to follow up on the job to 

 insure that a safe job was being done. 

 That makes seven causes so far, not 

 considering the man's possible physical 

 or mental defects. 



A thorough investigation of all acci- 

 dents is an important part of a good 

 safety program. And before that? A 

 prescription for safety has three parts : 

 Policy, planning, human engineering. 



The first, policy, concerns the neces- 

 sity for the active and full support of 

 the head office. This must go further 

 than just signing directives or making 

 safety rules. A statement on the safety 

 policy is needed that shows the support 

 of management and defines safety re- 

 sponsibilities of each individual. Man- 



