FACTS ABOUT FATIGUE.

Shannon News, 21 August 1923, Page 3

FACTS ABOUT FATIGUE.

SAFETY IN BEING TIRED.

INIMICAL. TO GERMS. (By the Medical Corespondent of the London "Times.") There exists in the minds of many employers of labour the idea that fatigue is bad for their workpeople, but not necessarily bad for themselves. That, on the face of it, seoms a reasonable enough view. The very hard worker will be apt to become xhausted; he may suffer when in this state. But there will be his work to the good. Curiously enough, it appears to be a scientific fact that this view is entirely erroneous. Practically no doubt exists that fatigue injuries the master of the fatigued man, but not the man himself. Indeed, we may go further than this, and say definitely that a fatigued man is in a safer position with'respect to many diseases than a man who is not in this state. For some reason our blood, when we are tired out, develops a special power of killing 1 hostile germs. This interesting discovery was first anounced in the "American Journal of Hygiene." It was found that, in the case of animals, great weariness was a positive protection against even pneumonia.

We reach the astonishing conclusion that there is no danger from disease threatening the overworked man or woman. WHKRK THE DANGER LIES. The danger in such cases is to output—that is, to the employer's pocket. In other words, employees can afford to be fatigued, but their employers cannot afford to allow them to, become so. For vast numbers or experiments have proved that as fatigue begins to appear both quantity and quality of work deteriorate sharp. I>\' The employer is paying full wages for less than full work. This is essentially uneconomic, ana must lead—if other employers are adopting rrientific methods— to heavy loss. Consequently, it is the business --'-in the :-;iiict sense of the word—f every master to weed out this •.tan;vei- i'.oMi his factory. A:-;sist.i!ice in this work is now bemg obtained from a device known as the "Mag-.iter." This is an "Inexpensive sU;n oscopio viewer of magazine rolls of, -moving picture photographs on paper of time and motions." The magster thus enables each worker to .see I'-xaclly how a very skilled craftsman in his particular occupation or trade; pel (nvtis his work. He is in a pesiiion (o model, his own efforts on this eilie'..:ney, and so "cut out" needJess mov meats and exertions from hts day':* routine. It is that the. use of this piece of apparatus has been fully justified in several cases. Soniß work recently carried out in America suggests that, with a ninehour working day, maximum output in secured by resting at least 16 2-b per emit, ol" the time. A work period oi: forty minutes should be followed by a rest of about eight minutes, li is a good plan to make the working period longer at the beginning of the day, and then gradually shorten, a.-> this prevents the inset of fatigue. In one case it was found that loss of sleep, exertion, and excitement at night decreased a man's working power 9 po t cent. in the following day. JhHAL WORKING DAT. A r.i'itish investigator, accepting the cighl -hours day, outlines the following as a fatigue preventing programme of Work and rest: (i a.m.—Rise, wash, and dress;-light break fust. 7 fo !) a.m.—Morning spell of work. 9 to 10 a.m.—Breakfast and rest. 10 to 1 p.m.—Forenoon spell of work. 1 to 2 p.m.—Dinner and rest. 2 to 5 p.m.—Afternoon spell of work. f> to 6 p.m.—Tea and rest. JO to 6 a.m.—Sleep.

It should be remembered that fatifaie is not a disease, but a, normal state —;i, slate, 'moreover, by which the body protects itself. It thus saves a gO(jd worker from expending: too nmoh power, and so preserves him. A tired man, in fact, automatically does less work. He has no option in the matter. But, so long - as a single fresh man capable of filling' his place is available, it is manifestly absurd to bold him to his job. He should be sent away to rest, and the fresh worker brought in to replace him temporarily.

That is not a doctor's theory; it is in economic fact.