678 



Yearboo^ of Agriculture 1949 



agement must demonstrate its interest 

 in the safety of all workers at all levels. 

 The worker will do a job if he knows 

 his boss wants it done; by the same 

 token, if the boss is in earnest about 

 preventing accidents, the workers will 

 work hard at it, too. This principle ap- 

 plies to any operation, regardless of 

 size; aggressive interest by the persons 

 at the top will produce results. 



The second, planning, means that if 

 one wants a good safety program, he 

 must provide for it in advance. 



What is important to keep the men 

 safe when they work in the next drain- 

 age? Who is going to watch out for 

 safety when the planting crew starts? 

 Who is going to handle the safety in- 

 struction of the new felling and buck- 

 ing crews? Is responsibility fixed so 

 they will not work dangerously close 

 together? Has provision been made for 

 safety at the new camp location? What 

 items should be covered there? 



Most accidents come from unsafe 

 conditions and unsafe acts. Working 

 conditions in the woods are subject to 

 some control, and this phase of safety 

 should not be overlooked. Within prac- 

 tical limitations, plans should be laid to 

 eliminate hazards on all jobs. Manage- 

 ment can control roads, tools, equip- 

 ment, loading and unloading sites. The 

 workers can control, to some extent, 

 their working areas. A disorderly place 

 is an unsafe place to work. In the more 

 dangerous work situations, hard hats 

 or even lookouts will help. 



There is almost no limit to what can 

 be done to prevent unsafe acts. The 

 drive to prevent them is the third part 

 of the safety prescription. Human en- 

 gineering means better job relations in 

 all parts of the operation. 



First, recruit only workers who are 

 physically and mentally qualified, and 

 put them on the jobs they can do best. 



Second, instruct them in the safe, 

 most efficient way to do their work as 

 soon as they report for duty. A large 

 proportion of accidents is caused by 

 green hands during their first days or 

 weeks on the job. A new worker will 

 never need help more, nor be more 



willing to accept help than during the 

 first hours on the job. That is the time 

 to make him fully aware of the need for 

 safety. His support should be enlisted 

 in a thorough effort to eliminate acci- 

 dents. It is largely a question of job in- 

 struction. The pulpmaker must be 

 shown how properly to lift a heavy ob- 

 ject. The swamper must learn how to 

 use his ax safely. The truck driver must 

 be told the rules of safety on the road. 

 Third, be sure that all work super- 

 visors make it a point to follow through 

 on safety in all their contacts with the 

 workers. Do the men understand the 

 key points of safety? Do they apply all 

 safety instructions conscientiously? Is 

 the right man on the right job? These 

 and similar questions should be raised 

 by all inspecting officers. Many agen- 

 cies have found that most injuries could 

 have been prevented if supervisors had 

 been more alert to requirements and 

 standards. Failure of supervision is one 

 of the most important of all accident 

 causes, and supervisors are the key men 

 in any accident-prevention program. 



THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, in a 

 study of the pulpwood-logging industry 

 in 1933-44, found that nearly half of 

 all disabling injuries happened to fall- 

 ers and buckers, about 16 percent to 

 employees loading and unloading logs, 

 and another 16 percent to those trans- 



