dollars and sense of safety

8
Courtesy, De Vilbiss Rubber Company GOOD HOUSEKEEPING WILLREDUCE ACCIDENTS Dollars and Sense of Safety F. J. VAN ANTWERPEN 60 East 42nd Street, New York, N. Y. HE theme and plot that money can be saved by a safety program is not new and is not original with this genera- tion. As a premise for safety work it was advanced many years ago. But it is a delicate and unpopular subject, almost taboo among safety men and executives alike. The reason for this attitude is the conception, real or fancied, that safety must be practiced for humanitarian reasons and for those reasons only. This is commendable, an outlook with which we must and do agree. However, there are other benefits, aside from the prevention of human misery, which accrue from safety programs, and the purpose of this article is to inspect these-to examine safety from an economic stand- point to show that it is profitable, in a dollar interpretation, to install and maintain safety measures. Emphasis on safety work seems to have had its inception around the years 1908-12. There are examples of safety consciousness which go back farther, but in the main these years saw the start of the mass safety movement. The iron and steel industry provides a classical example Beginning in 1907, when frequency rates were 82.06, the rate had been reduced to 60.3 by 1913. In 1938 a representative group of companies from this industry showed a frequency of 13.85, while a select group, known to be industriously interested in safety, had a rate of 6.56, a 92 per cent reduction in 31 years. (Frequency is the number of lost-time accidents per million man-hours of work or man-hours of exposure.) T Economics of Safety One of the earliest studies on monetary gain through reduc- tion of accidents was published by the Massachusetts Indus- trial Accident Department in a series of bulletins which give an interesting picture (7). Table I is taken from the first bulletin (7), published in 1912, and shows the comparative accident rates for various industries in Massachusetts. TABLE I. ACCIDENTS IN MASSACHUSETTS INDUSTRIES, JULY, 1912 All manufacturing industries Chemical and allied products Textiles Iron steel and their products Misc'ellandous products Leather and its finished products Paper Metal and metal products other than steel Food and kindred products Lumber and its remanufacture Printing and bookbinding Liquors and beverages Clay, glass, and stone products Clothing Employees 584,599 4,883 196,827 72,125 54,685 97,660 24,534 27,449 18,861 24,748 15,603 2,367 7,879 19,1173 I n j uries 3051 45 888 645 581 233 154 146 120 115 39 31 30 24 % Injured 0.5 0.9 0.4 0.8 1 .o 0.2 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.4 0.2 1.3 0.3 0.1 This analysis covers only one month, July, 1912, and can- not be' considered conclusive. It is indicative, however; chemical industry had a rate well above the average and is 1437

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Page 1: Dollars and Sense of Safety

Courtesy, De Vilbiss Rubber Company

GOOD HOUSEKEEPING WILL REDUCE ACCIDENTS

Dollars and Sense of Safety F. J. VAN ANTWERPEN

60 East 42nd Street, New York, N. Y .

HE theme and plot that money can be saved by a safety program is not new and is not original with this genera- tion. As a premise for safety work it was advanced

many years ago. But it is a delicate and unpopular subject, almost taboo among safety men and executives alike. The reason for this attitude is the conception, real or fancied, that safety must be practiced for humanitarian reasons and for those reasons only. This is commendable, an outlook with which we must and do agree. However, there are other benefits, aside from the prevention of human misery, which accrue from safety programs, and the purpose of this article is to inspect these-to examine safety from an economic stand- point to show that i t is profitable, in a dollar interpretation, to install and maintain safety measures.

Emphasis on safety work seems to have had its inception around the years 1908-12. There are examples of safety consciousness which go back farther, but in the main these years saw the start of the mass safety movement. The iron and steel industry provides a classical example Beginning in 1907, when frequency rates were 82.06, the rate had been reduced to 60.3 by 1913. In 1938 a representative group of companies from this industry showed a frequency of 13.85, while a select group, known to be industriously interested in safety, had a rate of 6.56, a 92 per cent reduction in 31 years. (Frequency is the number of lost-time accidents per million man-hours of work or man-hours of exposure.)

T Economics of Safety One of the earliest studies on monetary gain through reduc-

tion of accidents was published by the Massachusetts Indus- trial Accident Department in a series of bulletins which give an interesting picture (7 ) . Table I is taken from the first bulletin (7 ) , published in 1912, and shows the comparative accident rates for various industries in Massachusetts.

TABLE I. ACCIDENTS IN MASSACHUSETTS INDUSTRIES, JULY, 1912

All manufacturing industries Chemical and allied products Textiles Iron steel and their products Misc'ellandous products Leather and its finished products Paper Metal and metal products other than

steel Food and kindred products Lumber and its remanufacture Printing and bookbinding Liquors and beverages Clay, glass, and stone products Clothing

Employees 584,599

4,883 196,827 72,125 54,685 97,660 24,534

27,449 18,861 24,748 15,603 2,367 7,879

19,1173

I n j uries 3051

45 888 645 581 233 154

146 120 115 39 31 30 24

% Injured 0 .5 0 . 9 0 . 4 0 . 8 1 . o 0 . 2 0 .6

0.5 0 . 6 0 . 4 0 . 2 1.3 0 . 3 0 .1

This analysis covers only one month, July, 1912, and can- not be' considered conclusive. It is indicative, however; chemical industry had a rate well above the average and is

1437

Page 2: Dollars and Sense of Safety

1438 INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY VOL. 32. NO. 11

CourUay, American Optical Campang

(Left) THIS INEXPENSIVE RESPIRATOR FOR USE IN DUSTY ATMoSPwEaES H A S BEEN APP~OVED BY TEE U. S. BUREAU OF MINES; ( r ight ) EYES CAN BE EXPENSIVE TARGETS, AND THIS WORKER Is Paommn AGAINST

QPLABHINU ACID

second in the list of industries in the per cent of workers in- jured. From the accident rates for two months, July and August, this state board estimated that there would be 80,000 accidents for the year 1912. This estimate is proved correct in a later bulletin published in September, 1914 (8). Here the number of accidents were shown to be 89,694 for the above estimated period-an accuracy of about 90 per cent based on the same figures from which Table I was d o rived. The profit motive iu shown in this 1914 bulletin when the Accident Board states: “Through the organization of efficient safety committees the employees of Massachusetts may save $40 on each injury reported to the board. Em- pluyees m y save *** a t least 50 per cent of the loss in wages. By reason of the injuries *** the employers lost the services of experienced workmen for a total of 1,156,181 working days. Wage loss to the employees was $2,965,225. The estimated value of the economic loss to the employer by reason of the substitution of less efficient employees totals about $3,000,000. At least 60 per cent o j this loss may be saved. The results 80- complished by employees who have efficient safety orgaaiaa- tions show that a t least 50 per cent of the injuries which oc- curred prior to the formation of such committees are preventc able.” The bulletin explains how safety organizations should be formed, analyzes the duration of disability for the 89,694 accidents, and appeals to the employer “who values human life, human experience, and human efficiency, and more particularly to the emplqer who properly places a h<gh value MI bwiness methods which save mwy”.

In October, 1915, the board described (9) how “a study shows a saving of 41 per cent in compensation payments as a result of the acceptance of the invitation by certain em- ployers”. The study covers forty-eight places of employment aud 56,587workers. The results are shown in Tables I1 and 111.

Thus we see how, as early as 1913, the possibility of safety paying dividends was apparent to those concerned with the protection of workers in industry. At that time there was

no mention of hidden losses which in later yeam were proved to be at least four times the amount of compensation paid for each accident.

There are many instances of profit, and the following ex- amples are typical. A branch of a hrge chemical manu- facturing concern in the United States, employing about 400 men in 1925, bad a frequency rate of 38.07. A plant expan- sion and building program increased the number of employees to 700 by 1927 and with it the rate went t o 55 for 1926 and 43 for 1927. Total number of accidents increased rapidly, and by 1929 there were four times as many accidents as there bad been in 1925. The insurance company carrying the risk then declared the company uninsurable because total claim

TABLE 11. To~hhs AND DIPFERENCES FOR FORTY-EIQET MAsSACHUSETls COMPANIES AFTER ORUANIZINQ FOR

SAFETY, 1913-14 July 1 to July 1 to

Claaaification Dec. 31. 1913 Deo. 31. 1914 Differsnaes Nn. re~mted Bccidents 2,403 1,901 - 502 No. disability oases 1,138 907 -231 No. cornpeasation owes 422 301 -121 Day8 1-t 22.348 14,237 -8311 Compensation days 11.476 6.401 -5:075 wage leea S34 667 $22,195 s-iz.47a Compensation paid 6035 5,329 -3.7c5

TARLE 111. AVERAGE8 POR FORTY-EIGHT &fA8SACliUSE~ COMPANIES

A i . per Av. per Concern 100 Employees 1913 1914 1913 1914

Claaeifiostion

Keported acoidenta 60.06 39.00 4.24 335 Dianbility c- 23.70 18.89 2.01 1.00 Compensation owes 8.79 0.27 0.74 0.53 Dam loet 489.75 296.00 39.84 25.14 Compensation dam 239.08 133.35 20.28 11.31 wage loa* P722.22 S02.39 181.26 139.22 cumpeneation Paid 188.21 111.02 15.96 0.41

Page 3: Dollars and Sense of Safety

NOVEMBER, 1940 INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY 1439

far exceeded insurance premiums. A thoroughly alarmed management, faced with the possibility of paying large com- pensation claims, acquiesced in the insurance company’s demand for a safety program. A safety engineer was in- stalled along with a full-time doctor and nurse. Compulsory medical examinations were instituted, and accident preven- tion work was stressed to the individual workers. Within one year the number of accidents dropped to one third and within two years to one fifteenth of the 1929 rate. Recent rates are one twentieth of the high point, and insurance premiums have dropped from about $4.50 to $1.49 per dl00 of pap roll. The record is shown in Table IV.

As another example Ahern (1) gives a tabulation for four companies-two public utility, one oil, and one steel company- which shows the reduction in compensation costs compared to administrative costs of the safety program (Table V).

The experience of members of the Yational Safety Council is revealing and several examples are here given. By spend- ing about $10,000,000 over a period of ten years, one large steel corporation saved almost $15,000,000 in the cost of accidents to employees.

An oil refinery had a $175,000 accident cost in 1918; by careful planning this has now been whittled to $14,000 per year. More than half of this is used for maintenance of a first-aid room, nurse, and doctor’s salary.

One of the largest rubber companies estimates a saving of

Courtesu, Nat ional Conservation Bureau

SAND-BLASTING EQUIPMEST DESIGNED TO PROTECT THE OPBR-4TOR FRO31 HARMFUL DUSTS

a t least $50,000 per year because of decreased accident ex- perience.

A large vegetable oil refinery reduced compensation pay- ments from $39,802 to $8470 per year over a 10-year period. Medical expense was reduced from $19,220 to $11,573 over the same period. These combined figures show a 66 per cent reduction in costs, and though man-hours worked were some- what less during the last few years of the ten-year program, this was more than offset by increased compensation and coverage of the state compensation act.

Year 1025 1926 1927 1928 1929 1030 193 1 1032 1933 1934 1035 1936 1937 1038 1939

TABLE IV. Total No. Accidents

36 58 53 60 122 41 8 13 5 4 18 12 18 6 6

ACCIDENT R Av. No.

Employees 304 440 494 742 1362 625 487 509 690 823 SO7 875 928 802 854

A ,TES OF COMPANY A Frequcncy Insurnnre Premium

Itute pcr $100 Pay Roll

3 95 3.52 $1.18

In a glass manufacturing company an intelligent program has reduced accident costs $1.14 per $100 of pay roll; this amounts to an annual saving of $37,000.

In spite of increased compensation payments and an influx of new employees, $71,000 has been saved in eight years by a paper manufacturer; this is directly traceable to the intro- duction of safer working conditions.

Compared to its accident costs before and after the intro- duction of accident prevention programs, a petroleum re- finery has saved $50,000 annually in compensation alone. It has reduced a compensation cost of $11.20 per employee to $167 over a nine year period, and the medical expense from $10.70 to $7.60; a total saving per man of $21.63.

It may appear an easy task to reduce accident costs which are greatly above normal to a figure corresponding with aver- age costs, and we might assume that such results were to be expected. However, a gypsum manufacturer reduced a cost of $0.97 per $100 of pay roll to $0.55 in one year; and a cost of $0.606 per $100 of pay roll has been loivered to $0.271, a sav- ing of 80.335 per $100, by a rubber manufacturer.

TABLE v. ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS O F SAFETY PROGRAMS FOR 1935 AND COBIPENSATION PAYMENTS FOR 1938 COMPARED WITH

PATMEXTS IN A YEAR PRIOR TO THE SAFETY PROGRAM %

Adminis- sation tion trative Cost for Reduction in

AV. E O . Cost Of Cost Yea! Compen- in Corn- Employ- Safety per Prrceding sntion Compen- peiisn-

em, Program, Employee, Safrty Costs, sation tion 1938 1938 1038 Program 1038 Costs Costs

Compen- Reduc-

~~

These savings represent only a few of the many experiences of members of the council, and mere taken from the chemical and allied fields. The mechanical industries abound in ex- amples. The sum of $25,000 was spent to furnish goggles to employees of the Pullman Car & Manufacturing Corpora- tion engaged in tasks which endangered eyesight. In two years, reduction in accident costs amounted to $116,000, a net profit of 364 per cent.

The St. Joseph Lead Company (3) has given an admirable record of the place of safety and hygiene in the balance sheet.

Page 4: Dollars and Sense of Safety

1440 INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY VOL. 32, NO. 11

hibitively high rates; a pension plan was begun, and a safety program and department were instituted.

Today the company views all this as money well invested. Labor turnover n-as reduced to 40 per cent by 1926,4 per cent by 1933, and 3.6 per cent today. The pasteurizing plant re- duced the percentage of undernourished children from 80 to 17 in five years, and helps guarantee a local supply of healthy workers. The company now maintains a herd of three hundred dairy cows and, in addition to a dairy, has an ice cream plant and company stores to help maintain low living costs.

Courteay. Notional Conservation Bureau

PREVENTING INJURIES BY FORCING THE OPERATOR TO USE BOTH HANDS TO CLOSE THE EMBOSSING PRESS

It is true that many of the benefits given below accrued from a combination of improved employee relations and living conditions with emphasis on safety and hygiene. However, i t is an outstanding example of the results attainable when the safety and health of the worker outside as well as inside the plant is considered. I n 1918 the labor turnover of the St. Joseph Lead Company was 250 per cent’; to maintain an organization of 2500 men, the company had to hire 6250 every year. The cost of hiring each man was estimated at $20 to $25, and for the year 1919 the total was $125,000 to $150,000. This does not consider the indirect costs of supervision, in- creased accident hazard, and other intangible expenses which, if considered, would bring the amount to some $250,000. Realizing that i t was necessary to reduce turnover, the com- pany made a survey and not only found out why the men were quitting, but examined employment, wages, hours, working conditions, training, safety, health and living conditions, and economic security. A variety of reasons for leaving the company were unearthed such as “poor living conditions”, “working conditions unhealthy and dangerous”, “no churches of their faith”, ‘(poor schools”. The company accepted the responsibility of providing better working and living stand- ards. An expensive water system was installed; taxes were increased to provide better schools and improved company houses; a system of physical entrance examination was instituted; at one of the southeastern Missouri plants a pasteurizing plant was started to provide milk for the school children, 80 per cent of whom were undernourished; lead poisoning was studied and semiannual examination started; a modern change room and a cafeteria were provided; em- ployees wore work clothing provided and laundered by the company; a group life insurance plan was started to provide this security formerly denied these workers except a t pro-

1 The average labor turnover in 135 representative manufacturing industries is a8 follows (from Bureau of Labor Statistics data, obtained from National Association of Manufacturers): 1919, 88 per cent: 1920,

per cent. 106; 1919-23, 70; 1923-28, 30; 1928-33, 16; 1933-37, 15; 1939, 4.07

..

The study of lead poisoning, frequent medical examination, and other preventive measures reduced the number of cases from 64 in 1920 (in an organization of 400 men), to an absolute zero, no case having come up in the past ten years.

The safety program reduced the number of accidents, per 1000 shifts worked, from 0.90 to an average, for the past five years, of 0.18. The number of shifts lost because of accidents has been reduced from 12 to 5 per 1000 shifts worked, and cost of accidents per $100 of pay roll has been reduced from $2.25 t o $1.25, a saving which amounts to approximately $40,000 per year. The work of maintaining safe and healthy operating conditions for the workers is continuing, and re- turns on investments in this work still give a profit to the company. The dust conditions in one of the company’s divisions were drastically reduced by the introduction of the wet technique in drilling and other mining operations and by increasing ventilation by the use of fans. The result is in- creased production, in that particular mine, equivalent to a 5 per cent increase in working force.

In the St. Josephstown, Penna., zinc smelter a dust hazard was eliminated when a recovery plant, costing approximately

Courtesy, National Conservation Bureau

HOODS AND VERTICAL EXHAUST FLWE REMOVE FUMES FROM TILTING FURNACES

Page 5: Dollars and Sense of Safety

NOVEMBER, 1940 INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY 1441

$26,000, was installed. It will pay for itself in less than six years. Working conditions in the furnace basement of this plant were improved at a cost of 514,000. As a result it is estimated that furnace recovery was increased by 1 per cent, a saving which %.ill pay for the equipment and operating costs within one year and will show a profit of about $12,000 per year thereafter.

Accident Costs

For many years it has been known that compensation and insurance are only a fraction of the total cost borne by the employer and that thcre are other less obvious losses to man- agement in every accident. These indirect costs have been studied (S-6, fa) and many case costs analyzed; results in- dicate that a ratio of 4 to 1 represents the hidden charges. This means that for every dollar spent in direct compensa- tion, medical, and insurance payments, four have been lost through other causes. This is a heavy ratio to accept with- out substantial proof, hut it has heen based on more than 20,000 case studies ( 8 4 , 13). When the various indirect, costs are considered, the ratio is somewhat easier to under- stand:

1. Cost of lost time of injured employee. 2.

3.

Cost of lost time of other employees who stop work out of curin.it,v nr svmmthv. or to aid the iniured. .__ _j .. .” ~ ~ _ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ” ,

Cost of time of foremen and sudkrvisors not only in as$& . ~~ ~

ing injured but in investigating accident, arranging for con- tinued production, training new employees, filling out accident reports, and attending hearings.

Other incidental coats, such as interference to production, overhead c m t q spoilage of material, and decreased efficiency of new or injured worker.

In another study (18) the ratio was approximately 1 to 4.5, and was estimated from 36 injuries in a woodworking plant (Table VI).

Other statistics have been obtained (4) which show that, for every scrious injury sustained in industry, 29 minor in- juries also occur. On a cost basis (using the derived pro- portions of 4 to 1 for indirect costs, 25,000 fatalities per year,

4.

Locar, EXHAUST AND AIR-LINE R E S P I - RATORS FOR A PANEL SLITPER IN A STORAOE

BATTERY PLANT Cowlcay, Noriond Conre-

Dotion B”*cn“

3,000,000 lost-time injuries, 87,00,000 minor injuries, and direct costs of $312,000,000), i t is estimated that the yearly accident bill for industry only is well over $5,000,000,000. The average direct cost of all compensable injuries is approxi- mately $246, and this plus the indirect charges brings each compensable accident to well over a $1000 total.

TABLE VI. DIVISION OF COSTS FOR 36 ACCIDENTS Compensation and ~ e d i c a l aid 18% Coat of time lost by iniuied employees. paid by employer 15 C a t of time lost by other employees 36 Coit of time lost by ioremen and supervisors 2.5 Spoilnge o i material 4 Broken and damsxed toola 2 -

100

Accident Rates in Chemical Industry Nothing breeds a safety program faster than a healthy re-

gard for the risks undertaken in the various branches of manufacturing. The chemical industry, because of its reali- zation that chemical processes are dangerous and its products risky to handle, should be a safe industry. The maximum of intelligent safeguards in the process industries have be- come a habit with most establishments, and once again i t might he stated that humanitarianism is not the sole reason. When a worker in explosives has an accident, the roof, walls, machinery, and stock also have accidents. Men may have been scalded hy snap boiling out and over soapprocessing units, hut the cost of stock and new equipment was often much more than indemnity claims. Does anyone believe that “No Smoking” signs about a nitrocellulose plant are put there to safegnard men only?

In the same manner small accidents are constantly gnaw- ing away at the profit statement. Every accident which is compensable and which could have been avoided by a proper safeguard represents an average of $1000 unnecessary ex- pense. Accidents which merely call for a brief trip to the in- firmary for patching of a wound hut are neither compensable

Page 6: Dollars and Sense of Safety

1442 INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY VOL. 32, NO. 11

5 . $ 9 : ; k f ; Figure 1. Data

nor time-lost accidents also take sizable portions out of the yearly profit. Finally there are incidents which result in neither time lost nor a brief trip to the nurse, but are acci- dents nevertheless. They might be illustrated by picturing a worker perched on a rickety ladder changing light bulbs. Collapse of the ladder may not result in bodily harm to the worker, but property damage can be caused and time ex- pended in getting a new ladder, telling of the narrow escape, sweeping up the pieces, and replacing the broken supply of bulbs. Such an incident would not show in any record of accidents, but i t is an accident nevertheless and is also an ex- pense to the company.

Accident rates in the chemical industry are, in general, better than the average for all industry. There are two authoritative

> z a e 5

1 I I I I I

10-

s o u r c e s of a c c i d e n t data, t h e N a t i o n a l Safety Council and the United States Depart- ment of Labor Statistics.

The National Safety Council reported rates for its members a s s h o w n i n Table VI1 and

TABLE VII. FREQUENCY RATES FOR MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL

Fertilizcr Estimates Petroleum Chemical Manu- for Ail Refining,

Year Estimates" facturing Industries0 Actualb 1926 1927 192s 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1036 1937 1938 1939

31.38 28.88 26.87 24.50 21.44 15.84 13.66 13.92 13.20 11.45 10.55 10.21 7.82 7.48

...

. . . . . .

. . .

. . .

. . . . . . . . . 16: 07

38.33 33.17 29.57 28.40 21.29 17,44 14.74 15.80 16.56 14.91 14.83 14,82 12.39 11.83

...

. . . 2 i :be 14.06 11.51 9.01 11 87 10.63 9 46 9.50 8 91 8.78 8 56

0 Estimated on basis of 1939 and percentage changes since 1926. b Rates as reported, changes from year to year probably reliable

E

TABLE VIII. ACCIDENT FREQUENCY IN CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES BY YEARS

Chemical Petrolcum All U . S. Industry Refinery Year Manufacturing Fertilizer

1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 193s

13.47 12.88 21.13 10.35 17.64 11.38 7.59 14.27 14.68 14.93 12.75 13.90 10.17

45.31 36.16 38.31 37.99 31.23 33.39 34.14 42.49 48.54 46.73 41.45 37.83 23.85

34: 58 20.55 22.01 31.30 23.48 13. 60 13.53 11.25 10.46 11.59 12.24 8.92

24.16 22.60 22 52 23.98 23.08 18.85 19.55 22.17 22,62 21.46 17.06 10.77 13.08

TABLE IX. ACCIDENT EXPERIENCE, BEFORE AND AFTER SAFETY EMPHASIS

Iron and steel 1910 202,157 45.283 74.07

Portland ocment 1919 16.247 2,119 43.47

Paper milla= 1020 20,525 3,684 46.34

Chemicala 1023 6,015 443 24 58

Power preasesa 1926 126,387 9,184 24.23

1927 395,707 23,338 10.66 73.67

1027 31.290 1,340 14.27 67.17

1927 61,790 5,084 27.42 40.83

1927 84.682 4.364 17.80 27.49

1927 149.359 8,717 19.45 19.45

a Industrial accident experience of members of the National Safety Council.

The National Safetv Council records are made up from the experience of their members and may

r 0

6

8

u

3 0 Y a

I 2,E 30 3,2 34 $6 3,s YEAR

FIGURE 2. DATA REPORTED BY

OF LABOR THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT

(1) Chemical industries (2) Fertiliaer industries (3) Petroleum refineries (4) Chemical industries (5) All industries

safely be accepted as representative of the experiences of the more alert manu- facturers.

Another compari- s o n of c h e m i c a l plants and other in- dustrial units (10) shows accident ex- perience and the de- crease in frequency which followed an accident prevention p r o g r a m ( T a b l e IX). These figures are not comparable, with the exception of the frequency rate, and here again the chemical indus- try is well down the list.

The type of acci- dents occurring in chemica l p l a n t s have not been sub- jected to analysis, a n d d e p e n d a b l e data are not availa- ble. An indication of their severity, based on data from Great Britain, lists the chemical field 8s a high-fatality in-

Page 7: Dollars and Sense of Safety

NOVEMBER, 1940 INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY 1443

dustry (28)). Table X indicates the propor- tion of fatal to nonfatal accidents, and is indicative only of relative severity of acci- dents. From data (11) available, Table XI has been made for the United States; the m e situation is prevalent in this country inasmuch as the chemical industry has an unfavorable ratio of the number of deaths that occur for evcry lost-time accident. In- spection will reveal that 1 death occurs for every 70 reportable accidents in the chemical field, while in other industries, 1 fatality for every 200 to 300 accidents. This means that while frequency of accidents may be low in the process field, the acci- dents that do occur are more severe. In the automobile manufacturing industry there were ovcr 1W0 accidents of varying severity for every accidental death; in the %me year every seventy-third accident in chemi- cal manufacturing snuffed out the life of a worker. Interpretation of the causes for this high ratio is difficult.

It indicates that when something does hanoen in a chemical nlant. it is usuallv

cou71aay. 'va'iond C*"ae**otwn B",eQ"~

A WEL~EQCIFFED DISPENBARV Is A KECESSARY AOICNCT m A Goon sehous. Whether this is ihe fault of engineet- ing design of plants and equipment, employee ignorance, or the hazard of the industry cannot be judged until an analysis of the types of injuries is made known. The indications point, however, to faulty design and enginfw- ing application, for we have presented proof that the chemi- cal industry, as judged hy its frequency rates in relation to other industries, is actively ssfety-minded, and management has done an excellent job in reducing the total number of accidents. The severity of the accident can only be les- sened by eliminating potential hazard. Employee education can reduce the number of accidents, but once a worker b e comes careless, nothing can prevent the full impact of the in- juring mechanism.

TABLE x. RATIO OF FATAL TO NONFATAL AccInENTs IN GREAT BRITAIN

,------1928----. -1932- Nan- NOn-

Industry Fate1 fatal Ratio Fats1 fatal Ratio High-Fatality Industries

Buildin- 152 3,602 1:24 115 3086 1:27 Dooks 100 6.843 1:69 6s 4940 1:73 Chemicals, psinte 59 4.564 1:77 30 3103 1:105 PZ%Derm*kinE 16 1,906 1:118 16 1937 1:121

TABLE XI. &TI0 OF FATAL TO NONFATAL ACCIDENTW IN ZRE UNITED STATES (11)

Indvstry Year Fatal Nonfatal Ratio CkmiwJs 102s 20 770 %:a9

1030 12 766 >:e4 1937 81 ea17 1:7S 1938 59 4295 1:73

Papermaking 1928 14 243s 1:174 lQ3il 20 2980 1:149 193s 21 4604 1:222

Automobilea 192s 9 3939 1:43s 1930 8 1823 1:230 193s 2 2078 1:1039

Metal founding 192s 29 8064 1:210 1930 32 5289 ]:le5 1938 14 ass8 1:255

SAFBTY PROGRAM

This argument and the ratios are further borne out by in- spection of the severity rate (Figure 3) which for the chemical industry is above the average for all industry. (Severity rate is the number of days lost as a result of reportable in- juries per 1000 man-hours of exposure, death and other per- manent injuries being scored according to a standard d e relatine to davs lost.) Here. despite the IoGer frequency of accidents. the tvnes of iniuries r - 7

k :L+ sustained' are io sever; that the process industries are kept well above the industrial aver- age.

There is still a great deal of work to be done in the chemical field before the hazards are rlo- 3. sEvEarry overcome and reduction of RATES

5 , E A R

(1) Chemioal i?dvstriea (2) Ail ioduatrres

accidents and accident severity must continue. Each company should investigate and analyze every accident and eliminab the hazard by application of good engineering design. The industry has reduced the fre- quency; it must now reduce the severity.

Sense in engineering design may mean dollars in the profit statement and, lest we forget, a man's life saved.

Literature Cited (1) Ahern. F. L., Tech. Rea.. 42, No. 5 (Marah, 1940). (2) Fletcher, A,. addreaa before Air Hygiene Foundation, MeIlon

(3) Heinrioh, H. W.. Ann. Cone. Natl. Sdety Counoil, Chicago. Inst., NOT. 15, 1939.

l"", lC.._

(4) Heinrich, H. W., 17th Ann. Conf. Intern. Aesoc. Ind. Accident

(6) Heinrich. N. W., T~nBelers Skzmfm4 p . 244, Dec., 1926. (6) Heinrich, H. W.. V. S. Monlhlv Labm Rm., 31, 72-80. 11517

(7) Mass. Ind. Accident Dept.. BUU. 1 (July, 1912). (8) Ibid.. 9. Sept., 1914. (9) Ibid.. 13, Oct., 1915.

Boards Cornrn.. Wilrnington, Sept. 24. 1930.

(1930).

(10) U. 8. Dept. Labor, BuU. 480 (1928). (11) Ibid., R61 (1934) and RlOl l (1939). (12) Vernon, H. M., "Aooidente and Their Prevention". Cambridge

Univ. Preas. 1936.

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CHEMICAL F. J. VAN ANTWERPEN

RICES are bound to be of interest as the present war conditions create demands and shortages. Ready comparison with other years is not always available,

and to afford such a comparison the price trends of a num- ber of important industrial chemicals have been charted and shown in the accompanying graphs.

The charts, however, represent long-time trends of chemi- cal prices and should be considered only in that light. They are based on prices obtained from Census Bureau data on the amount and value of indicated chemical sold. The price, which is derived by dividing these two figures, may be called the "realization price", for it represents the actual return per unit of chemical sold and is a true average. The Census Bureau, however, published such data only in the years 1899, 1904, 1909, 1914, 1919, 1921, and every two years since then; consequently, the trend line shown be- tween census years may be strikingly inaccurate. For the census year, figures are as accurate as the reporting manu- facturers cared to make them. The prices for phthalic anhydride were taken from the yearly Dye Census.

Almost every graph shown has a peak in the year 1921, and this may seem strange in view of the fact that this par- ticular year was one of depression. One of the great weak- nesses of census data is here revealed. A typical annual price chart would show a descending curve prior to the Korld War following the trend shown on those graphs which cover this period. During the period of the mar, 1914-18, prices rocketed to establish, in many cases, all-time highs. Un- fortunately no data were collected for these periods, and the price peaks are not shown. Immediately folloning the war there was a general slump in chemical and other commodities. The 1919 census figures show what is apparently, up to 1919, the highest point yet reached. In reality the 1919 figures are merely the tail end of a war boom and, while consider- ably higher than pre-war levels, are much lower than those produced in the war scramble. The year 1920 witnessed one of the strangest periods of activity chemical industry has yet experienced-a veritable buying binge which made prices climb rapidly toward another high, in some particular materials even exceeding the peak of the war period. The most powerful single factor in this buying wave was the pur- chase and exportation of chemicals to Japan; the general con- sensus was that this nation would act as selling agent for the n,hole Far East. That this was wrong was proved in the following year when another depression set in and the flow of chemicals was reversed. The census figures are high be- cause of two probable reasons: (1) Contracts let during the 1920 season were filled at favorable producer prices; (2) the prices still reflected the high spot of the year before, which was a veritable boom on top of a first boom. Thus the cen- sus figures give the incorrect picture of a gradual steady in- crease in prices to 1921, whereas a correct analysis shows two important peaks which were entirely missed.

The utility of the reproduced graphs lies in the showing of the long-time swing of prices and more particularly in the effects technologic advancement has made in each industry.

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