The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times WEDNESDAY, JULY 29th 1925. HUMANISING INDUSTRY.

Hokitika Guardian, 29 July 1925, Page 2

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times WEDNESDAY, JULY 29th 1925. HUMANISING INDUSTRY.

A c; i:.vt'ink effort is being made to render industrial occupations more and more sate tor employees with the natural desire- also no doubt to ensure better and more consistent production. A Home paper of last month dealing with trading interests, mentions that progress continues to he made in the rather complicated tii.sk of analysing the- physiological and psychological aspects of industry and of drawing therefrom certain hroad conclusions which, in their application, should make for the welfare of the worker as well as for greater efficiency and increased output. That this task is worth all the inquiry that has so far heeu undertaken, is emphasised hy a perusal of the fifth annual report of the Industrial Fatigue Research Hoard, which point.* out that the loss of time in industry due to sickness alone—most cl which is prevent ih'le probably costs Great Krilain not less than ten times more than that which it loses owing to strikes and labour disputes. In view of this statement, it can he safely said that the application of scientific method's to the functioning of the human element in industry should, in a genera! sense, result in the saving of millions of pounds. The report of tho hoard gives examples as to tho causes of inefficiency, and of the beneficial effects of curative applications in certain industries. In heavy manual work involving exposure- to high temperatures (e.g., the tinplate and steel industries) output often undergoes a seasonal variation, which, in extreme cases, may amount to as much as 2ft or even 3ft per cent. This effect, however. is much less marked in ventilated mills, and the comparative evenness of output in these- suggests that most of the loss could he eliminated through the relief afforded hy suitable ventilation. The hoard have also found that the judicious introduction of restpauses of ten to fifteen minutes into a spell of 4i-o hours of “light repetitive work’’ will eventually lie followed l>v an increase in output of about o to 10 per cent., notwithstanding the shorter time actually worked. These are clear indications of how the introduction of perfectly definite and comparatively simply changes will cause the human body and mind to respond in such a way that output is increased, and the board suggest that in each important industry a small committee, representative of employers and employed. might le formed to deal with such Indies as the hoard itself and the National Institute of Industrial Psychology.