WHY ACCIDENTS OCCUR.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16267, 18 July 1918, Page 5

WHY ACCIDENTS OCCUR.

VALUABLE INDUSTRIAL REPORT.

(FROM OtR OWN COKHESrONDENT.) LONDON, May 18. ' Another of tho very valuable scien- ■ tific reports (Cd. 9046) which have been produced for tho Ministry of ■ Munitions on tho conditions of modern ; factory work is by Dr. H. M. Vernon, Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, and lecturer in chemical physiology, on the causes'of factory accidents. Dr. Vernon confined his investigatatlon to four factories employing more than. 15,000 workers, male and female, and in the period under review the accidents numbered 50,000 and the medical eases 3700. As regards output this was always at a mimimum in the morning 6pell during the first full hour of work, and rose gradually to a maximum in tlio last or second last hour. In the afternoon spell the output was always at a maximum in the first full hour, and then it fell suddenly to a minimum in the women's section, and rose again, in tho next two hours, but not the point reached in the morning. Tho mental equilibrium of the workers ranks, according to Dr. Vernon s ■ opinion, almost highest - amongst trie causes of accident. • Day-shift workers go to tho factory in a sleepy condition, but they brighten up in ihe course of the day in view of , the few hours' rest and enjoyment which they expect in tho evening. Night-shift workers, on the other nand, have had their enjoyment before going to work. Tliev consequently commence in an excitcci state, but calm down gradually during the nighfc, as they have nothing to Look forward .to but breakfast and bed. Mental excitement, it is scarcely necessary to say, induces carelessness and lack of attention, and thereby increases accidents. The speed at which the work is done is also responsible for somo of the frequency of accidents. A speeding-up of 10 per cent, might increase to 50 per cent, or 100 per cent, the number 'of accidents caused in most factories. This can be done chiefly by clamping into the machinery and "taking out the parts and changing tho tools, tho result being that workers more frequently knocirw their hands against cutting tools. 1 Accidents to tho eye are generally l due to metal turnings flying off, and in this case the natural tendency of a worker to bend over his work when he is going quickly produces more accidents! Fatigue is another important factor, and in this respect women are much more subject to accident than men. This was particularly notice-1 able in factories where tho 12-hour day] was in operation. The output in tho case of women sinks very much towards the end of the day owing to fatigue, ,and it is noticeable that their accidents towards the end of the day

are also reduced, evidently owing to the slower rate at which they work. Dr. Vernon suggests that the work of women will have to be reduced to nine hours bofore they could escape fatigue as successfully as men working 12 hours a day. As far as men are concerned he believes that fatigue, has little ,to do with accidents. .

PHYSICAL INFLUENCES. Day workers come on duty in a "lethargic condition, only half awake, and digesting a hurried breakfast," but they gradually brighten up. They have tea about 9.30. and then have the dinner break to look forward to. In the afternoon they brighten up even more, in anticipation of the evening's rest andi pleasure. This" produces inattention and carelessness, • and accidents in consequence, .but the night-shift, worker gets up about 3 or 4 p.m., and has only a few hours to amuse himself before going to work. If he wishes to take' aloohol, he does so in that time, because he has no other opportunity, and consequently the stato of • pteasurable excitement in which ho starts work may be increased. by alcohol, and tho conditions are likely, to produce accidents., As night progresses, his excitement cools down, the effects of alcohol, if any, have,, worn off, and he enters on the last spell in a state of mental dullness, with only breakfast and bed to look forward to, and no senso of exhilaration. That mental torpor in no yv k ay interferes with speed of production is evident from the fact that the night shift often reaches : its maximum output at tho beginning of tho third spoil. ' Day workers, as a general rule, do nob tako alcohol ,at lunch, preferring to wait until they can enjoy it at leisure. It accordingly has very little to do with day accidents. "It is almost impossible," says Dr. Vernon, "to obtain I direct evidence of tho degree of importance to be attached to the alcohol factor, because interrogation of the workmen on their habits would not'only be regarded as an impertinence, imd quite rightly so, btifc it would b* useless, as it would bo impossible to determine the truth." But of indirect evidence there is sufficient to satisfy Dr. Vernon that the talcing of alcohol before work produces ail increased number of accidents in the early hours of work. There are a number of other factors of less importance. Low temperatures, especially during night- shifts j are definitely shown to increase accidents, probably owing to the impaired sense of touch in the fingers. In tho case of women this was specially marked. They suffered nearly two and a half times as many accidents . on tho coldest days as on the warmest. | The men were less susceptible, but even 'thor suffered more than twice as many accidents. , HO"VV TO PREVENT MISHAPS. In his suggestions for preventing accidents, Dr. Vernon deals very largely with the psychical aspect. "The object," ho says, ■ "shoula b© to make all | workers enter on their work with the I same mental outlook as thejiight shift ,' workers have in the early Hours of the . j morning. They have for the most part , forgotten the pleasures and excitements .: indulged in shortly before going on • I night shift, and they have nothing ta

look forward to. Such a mental state is impossible of achievement by tho day shift workers, but something in tho way of mental calm and equilibrium •. can bo attained by stopping all conversation except that relating to the worlfl in hand. If the workers would consent to it, it would bo a good plan to • induce temporary deafness by plugging tho ears, and so shut out the noiseor the machinery, which is in itself an important cause of distraction and fatigue. Again, if it were practicable, it would be of value to shut out the sight or surrounding objects by separating tho lathes or other machines from one another by partitions. The worker, left to himself without sounds or sights to distract his.attention, could then con-, centrato himself ■' entirely on the work in hand. It might bo said that the monotony would" do so, great that no-; body would stand it, but would it nob be bettor to work for, e.g., two three or threo and a half-hour spells every day under' such oonditions if'the worker could thereby earn as -much' as he does under present conditions in H two fourhour spells? However, those oondi- • tions are mentioned only, as jm ideal which should he aimed at Wheneverpossible." By establishing factory ■ canteens where good food is obtainable at cost! price, day shift workers should -be discouraged from drinking alcohol during the dinner hour. Excessive; fatigue could be almost entirely avoided by choosing suitable hours of labour, andi by tho introduction of seats for standing workers to rest on occasionally, and or the most suitable scats for sedentary workers. Finally, the heating of factories calla for serious consideration. Most engineers, Dr. Vernon try to work against the laws of Nature by fbpng the heating pipes about Bft .above tho heads of the workers, probably with, the idea <4 getting them out of the way of the machinery. In practice it means that the larger part of the heating goes to the roof of the building, _and very 'little roaches qven the heads of tho workers. It is important that the heating apparatus should be on the floor, or a fow feet above it, so as to warm the feet rather than the head.