THE WONDERS OF A FOOL-PROOF HOUSE

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 54, 26 November 1937, Page 17

THE WONDERS OF A FOOL-PROOF HOUSE

-x ' : ACCIDENTS IN FACTORIES How To Prevent Them •

'J'HERE IS A BUILDING in London wbere tbey like you to try to burt yourself. The sombrely named Home Office *In(iustrial Museum, known in the neigh* hourhood of Horseferry road, Westminstqr, as Fool-proof House, is now about to celebrate its tenth aimiversary. EmployerB and workers from all over the world * have discovered its valtie as a pJaee to study the prevention of accidents, but London so far has not discovered the entertainment it has to offer. The museum staff are grateful for Londori's ignorance.. If lt hecaine genefally known how many ways of not getting hurb they were able to demonstrate, the museum would be overtun with people anxious to pfaetice narrow escapes in perfect sfifety. Its gfound fioor and its gallery are like a great, clean factory, containing tnachines fqr every process-, from metal stamping, printing, meCt mincing, cake mixing, woodwdrbiug, shoe and box making, to rubber rolling, laundrying, clothes pressing, and aetated .water liottle filling. But tlie machines all have one thing m eommon. They, dr their like, havo all at pne time or an otber hurt somebody — crushed an orm or a hand, lopped off a finger, or even drawn their minder to death. Now they stand mttzzled. Attached • blieui are all the latest ways of preventiug anybodv lcnlishl, risking life uid liinl) The •» a* prove liov well muzzled thev are is ta risk life |and I.imh among them. A Home Office

factory inspector taking his month's turn-of-duty, plus refresher-course, in the museum obligingiy risks his for me over and over again. He tried to thrust bis hand under a descending power press. An automa/ic grid sbot put like a kickiug gato .nd jolted bim back. The nexfc power presa in which the inspector did his best to jam his finmrs had a rubbed-sheathed guard wbicb aapt, out borizontally and pushed bis irra aside. Otber guards simply refus'fl allow bim to place bis band near tbe press. Not even a finger could wrlgits way past their barriers. A pair of heavy steel rollers. used for rubber manufacture automatically stopped whenever hand or any otber part of the body approaehed them. The gufird Of tbe heavy, paper-culting guillotine tbrew bim rouglily back wben he tried to tneddle witb tbe dropping Knife An automatie w^bing macbine. with ts rotary cage for swirling clothes •ound would not start nnfil its lid wns dosed und foolisb barrds wore Out of the way, and would not allow its lid

o be opened until it had stopped rotatmg. One clothes press would not do its . unless bath hands were appiied bo separabe switches. Try to smooth out a garment crease at tbe last minute as the press caine down, and it simply stopped. Another rotated out of reach of hands before applying its press ure. A cake mixer with sinister steel revolvmg arms inside its drum would not allow its guard to be raised until the arms had stopped'revolving. A pastry roller,, like a steelmangle, started i'otating the other way whenever hands came near it, so that tingers were pushfid away instead of being drawn in. Even cnrdboard box making machines and sewing tnachines had the ariti-ined-dle devices. lt was impossible to put your finger under the jabbing needle of the sewing machine. The sinai! eleen uittrloiKiuz gi.atd not oniy push ed it aside. but would not allow you to work the sewing machine witliout it. You could, ii you liked, slice your tingers. with the woodwork planing and cutting macliines, but it was difficult-

x - * ' --ii-.ii. ■ i ■ i if you held your wood clamped in one Jf the many new and vanously sha-peu "jigs'' designed to prevent your hands from coming near the tools. Nor could you slip against the clrcular saws and other cutting edges. The ;tloor, which has been pohshed by workers' feet and gyrating sawdust, was covered with varieties oi the most obstmate non-slip material. it was just as difficult to fall downstairsl Each step which led to the museum's gallery had a different nonslip guriace to show how many ways there are of not breaking your leg, Tha buiider's crauo, jn the gallery, dxd not prevent you from overloading it and dropping a few iiundredweigiit on vourself or somebody else, but it did its best to warn you bj? making a noise like half a dozen aldrm docks .vhenever you reached danger point. A whole secliun of a ship's deek rigged' up nearby showed what sfcressaa and strains your derricks could stand ii you were to ioad her up in safety. Ways of not injuring yourself while repairing a hot furnace or working in a refrigerator were ouriously similar. • A lar bear suit of thick wool and :lelt padding for the furnace; another of vvool and featlier for the refrigerator. Two rooms devoted .themselves to showing bow not to blow up your factory by dust ex-plosiou or enfeeble yoiir workmansliip by lnadequate lighting And, finally, there was this week's sperial tip— how, by fixiiig a-sliding metal guard,. not to get vour foot eaught in a lift gate, afid, how, by using a safety valve to prevent excessive pressure, ti'ot to die of a burst blow-lamp.