must have been getting ready to get down and start business. Sam thinks he ought to have something in his cellar that would tell him in dollars and cents how much current he has used. He takes a taxicab once in a while, and he doesn't find on it four little wheels all ending up with zero. He buys a shirt, a straw hat, a necktie. He says the merchant doesn't spin four little pointers and tell Sam the damage in volts and amperes. But, anyway, Sam figures out the volts and amperes-and then his bill comes to him in kilowatt hours! Sam thinks that his wife is sort of scared to buy too many electrical devices for the home, for fear they'll put a big dent in the electric bill. He hopes that, in good time, the big electrical supply houses will invent and install a meter that will show his wife that the washing machine actually does run for a few cents an hour, and that she can curl her hair and do the ironing for only a penny or two. Sam says he's waiting for you to give people something that will measure electricity just as openly in dollars and cents as the taximeter measures transportation, or the cash register accounts for cash. And he says you'll see a big jump in the sale of electric devices for his home. Old stuff, I know. I have one new exhibit for you. Before showing it, I want to say that no industry that I know of has so greatly won the esteem and the confidence of the American press within so few years as you have done. Editors are glad to hear from you. Be tender of this feeling, gentlemen, for the affection of a newspaper editor, to say nothing of his respect, is not universally gained. What I have here is an awful example of publicity gone wrong. This scrap basket was loaned to me by one of Chicago's evening newspapers. It contains the daily grist of "publicity matter" that comes to that one paper. Those sheets, gentlemen, are the earnest work of press agents from coast to coast. Do you suppose the writers know how much of it there is? Today is Thursday. There was just as much yesterday. There will be just as much tomorrow. And every paper in Chicago-every paper in America-gets it every day. It's a full day's work for one man to read it through from end to end. May I sum it up? The Chicago paper in question, from which I got this stuff yesterday, had 288 columns in yesterday's edition. Of these, just four columns contained publicity matter-and 11⁄2 columns of that was published for government de partments in Washington. But this press material on the floor-all cheerfully labeled "for release. June 1st"-aggregates just over 1,000 columns, or enough to fill solid all the evening papers in this city. The time has come to give the newspapers only what they can use. What they want, of course, is news-and news that will interest as many people and as many different kinds of people as possible. They like variety; they are not predisposed against something that is conveniently manifolded for everyone. But I'm not venturing on any analysis of publicity of this kind. The newspapers can and do fight their own battle against it; but you can help them, and win not merely their esteem but their undying affection, if you will not lay down any barrage of press matter, on speculation, but let the editor understand that when he hears from you, you have something real to tell the world. My time is done, gentlemen. Let me tell you why Sam Robinson is really interested in you. Let me tell you why he'll read your advertising, and actually search the newspapers for news about you. Let me tell you why Sam thinks about you more than he thinks about many other manufacturers. It's because Sam is interested in you in four ways: He's interested in you as a consumer. There are the four ways Sam Robinson looks at you. There are your four roads to his heart. And let me tell you this, and I tell it to the everlasting honor of the American people-when Sam makes up his mind that a man is square and right, that a business is square and right-then Sam sticks with it through thick and through thin. forevermore, with you. Treat Sam Robinson fairly and he'll play fair, You know who I've been referring to as Sam Robinson, of course? Lots of people call him Uncle Sam. THE PRESIDENT: Gentlemen, we are indebted to Mr. Powel for his analysis of our business, and he has left many constructive thoughts with us, and I thank him on your behalf, and also on my own behalf, for coming so far to address us. We will now hear from the Accident Prevention Committee, Mr. Charles B. Scott, of the Bureau of Safety, Chicago, Chairman. Report of Accident Prevention Committee A public utility is the fusion of materials, money and men whose product is service. The properties and laws of materials are fairly well understood, and competent design, construction and installation render an efficient plant. The intricacies of finance are studied and have rendered possible present industry. Although the psychology, individual and mass, of men has been studied, we are as yet just at the threshold. Did you ever see the blue print of a man? Not an anatomical chart of his physical structure, but a blue print of his attributes adaptable and valuable to your purposes. Much time and energy are devoted to materials and finance. What of the other factor of the trinity? Some years ago the industry, influenced by a humanitarian as well as a commercial interest, started the study of accident prevention. Methods of employment and discharge had been developed from the earliest time. Fire prevention had been receiving some attention, and first aid and some medical care had been instituted. For the most part, all these activities were not correlated, and other matters of labor policy or industrial relations were touched upon only to a limited degree. Within the last few years there has been developed in industry in general, and more particularly in the larger units, departments having charge of industrial relations. These departments are for the most part under the supervision of senior men, and properly so, in view of the importance of the work. Some of their duties deal with Accident Prevention, Fire Prevention, Health Promotion, Centralized Employment, Education, Employe Representation and a number of kindred subjects dealing more particularly with men and their relations to each other and between the company and the public. Realizing this trend, the Committee this year presents, as parts of its report, matters dealing with Health Promotion and Fire Prevention. These sub jects deserve the careful attention of all companies and more particularly those employing large bodies of men. Following the reorganization of the Association, the Committee is now composed of geographical representatives and some members at large. The geographical representatives are the chairmen of geographical accident prevention committees. Close touch has been kept during the year by supplying all geographical chairmen with minutes of the general committee meetings and by bringing up for discussion at the general committee meetings the minutes of the geographical meetings. It is hoped, by keeping a close touch between the various activities, to be of more assistance to all sections and to bring to bear on problems the concerted thought of all committees. One instance of this has been the supplying to geographical committees of a suggested agenda for their work. The Committee during the past year has held five two-day meetings, four of which were held at Head quarters and one in Detroit. It has also presented a special series of articles in the Bulletin dealing with the subject from the standpoints of the executive, the industrial surgeon, the educationalist, the lawyer and the engineer, each being taken up by an authority in his particular sphere. Organizations and individuals specializing in earnest efforts for the prevention of industrial accidents have become convinced that after the successful establishment of such fundamental requirements as organization, education and personal interest, the succeeding steps are very closely linked with operation and efficiency. After the groundwork for accident prevention has been accomplished, the problems demand the close, constant and combined attention of executives, supervisors, and working forces which should be a definite part of the work of the Company. Progress in the field of industrial accident prevention proved the fallacy of operating the safety machinery in an organization independent of and disconnected from the executive and supervisory activities. There is a clear-cut, vital relationship between supervision and accident prevention which must be appreciated and utilized. Lax supervision is responsible for many serious accidents which in the past have had their causes obscured by such stock phrase designations as "human element,' "bone-headedness" and "carelessness." Truly these terms have been misused to cover a multitude of industrial sins. Supervision means one thing and close supervision means another, the degrees of interpretation being dependent upon the individual training and conception of the supervisor. Close supervision involves the enforcement of rules as well as their promulgation; the use, as well as the supply, of safety appliances and enforcement foremen, and knowing that rules and standard of safe practices: the check up of foremen and submethods are not being violated. No plant can be assured of safe operation without due recognition of the importance of close and proper supervision. When accident prevention was a new art, the importance of supervision may have been overlooked. Now it urgently needs to be emphasized and constantly kept in mind. Design of construction has not received due consideration in its bearing on accident prevention. Safety must be thought of before, and not after, the design is finished. If this had been the rule adopted in old construction, much would have been. saved in subsequent expenses due to alterations, insurance penalties and accident and fire costs. All designs for new construction should be standard; standardized with a careful view to accident and fire prevention. We urge members to establish a working contact for this purpose between the design and safety departments. Standard safe methods for doing work should prevail in the several departments or subdepartments of a property. The safest methods should first be decided upon or standardized and then be made inflexible whenever and wherever the particular kind of work is done. Too often important and perhaps hazardous work is performed under an experimental emergency plan, the quickly formed idea of an inexperienced or incompetent person. Many safe practices have been developed in certain departments which should be standardized and used generally. This will protect the man transferred from one department or going to another, and will assure his immediate and greater efficiency. Following the recommendations of previous committees, some companies not only have had their men trained in resuscitation, but have had them practice regularly. The result has been that many have been resuscitated from electrical shocks up to 110,000 volts. This can only be done by careful instruction and continued practice, and the Committee again emphasizes the importance of this work. Acting on a request from the Headquarters of the Boy Scouts of America, copies of the booklet and chart have been supplied to them, and provisions are being made to incorporate the Rules for Resuscitation by the Prone Pressure Method in the handbooks used by Boy Scouts. Much good is looked for from this activity, and it is sincerely hoped that the day is not far distant when this training will be made part of the curricula of our schools. How many lives are lost from shock, drowning and gas poisoning that could be saved by the prompt application of the Prone Pressure Method by trained persons? If the person dearest to you received a shock could you resuscitate him? The method is simple. It has been drawn to your attention for years. Are you ready? During the year the Committee has endeavored to keep in close touch with other general committees of the Association upon all subjects where there were points of mutual interest in order to guard against duplication or inconsistent findings. Much cooperation has been granted and received from the Electrical Apparatus Committee in connection with our work on Fire Prevention, the Overhead Systems Committee on the subject of working on live high-tension lines, and the Safety Rules Committee with respect to the National Electrical Safety Code and others. Under an arrangement made in the beginning of the fiscal year by the Safety Rules Committee, the Accident Prevention Committee has served as a subcommittee of the Safety Rules Committee. This delegated duty had reference to part four only of the Electrical Safety Code. No tenable objections to this part of the code as printed have been brought to our attention, and we shall concur in the parent committee's 1921 Report. Organization Systematic organization plans always have been and will continue to be the very first requisite for successful accident prevention work within the plant or property. Such basic plans must be simple and not complex; designed to be permanent and adaptable not only to the characteristic zealousness of the initiative of the work, but also to the lethargy which is sure to come as a reaction. It is better to plan for meetings every three months and hold them regularly than to plan for meetings every thirty days and gradually dispense with the meetings so provided for. In connection with systematic plans for organization, the Committee presents herewith, in the detailed suggestions and recommendations on safety meetings for the families of employes, methods for investigating serious and fatal accidents and forms and methods for tabulating accident statistics. These several reports cover very important details of organizational plans and represent the best thoughts and experiences available to the Committee. In connection with these detail reports, we call attention to previous reports of the Association on the general subject of organization for accident prevention. Health Promotion In detail report No. 1 the Committee submits a report on Health Promotion designed to interest dustrial subject, and also to assist such members to member companies in this new and important inmore readily comprehend their local conditions with respect to this subject. With reference to First Aid Equipment, the Committee presents a tentative report specifying the contents, quantity and quality of such materials as are considered necessary and adequate for the treatment of injuries arising in our industry. An attempt has been made toward standardization, simplification and economy both in the use of supplies and the reSpecifications have been placement of the same. developed to assure uniformly good quality of all the materials used. Fire Prevention The prevention of fires and their extinguishment is of importance to the small as well as the large utility. In a detail report attention has been drawn to certain fire hazards, particularly referring to power utilities. Methods of extinguishment and classification of extinguishers are also dealt with. No attempt has been made to go into the subject in an exhaustive manner, since many books have been written on the subject, but the more important points are presented. Companies are urged to standardize their firefighting equipment. Regular detail inspections should be made of their properties to see that the equipment is ready for instant use and that hazards are eliminated as far as possible. In the larger units special training and drill is also recommended. Attention is particularly drawn to the hazardous properties of the results of combustion of carbontetrachloride and the more recent forms of apparatus for fighting oil fires. Operating Methods As heretofore mentioned, accident prevention work to be real and effective must be combined with proper design and efficient operation of the plant. Interest in accident prevention on the part of a welltrained and well-supervised force in a well-designed plant will always work for prevention in accidents. Attention to matters of design and operation have been made the subject of a detail report, and it is hoped that this may be of value to those having charge of the work. In all underground work there is the hazard of gas leaking into the ducts and manholes. Methods of minimizing this hazard are dealt with. With the increase of the traffic more attention must be given to guarding open manholes. Attention of the Committee has been drawn to a most deplorable accident in which a child walking at its mother's side disappeared into an open sewer manhole that was unguarded. Utility companies, along with all other users of automobiles, have the ever-increasing traffic hazard to deal with. An attempt has been made to draw attention to the more important of these hazards and to point out methods of correction. More and more attention will have to be given to this subject if it is to be effectively dealt with. Last year the Committee presented some operating rules primarily designed for the smaller companies. These rules have been again reviewed with the object of having them prepared in salable form for the use of company members. Rules to be effective must be enforced, and companies are warned not to put in rule books any rules that cannot be lived up to. When a rule is placed in the rule book it should be fully enforced. Attention of the Committee has been drawn to some very serious accidents causing loss of life resulting from the disruption of apparatus from short circuits in networks supplying large volumes of power. Is sufficient attention being given to the safe handling of large blocks of power? A detailed report is presented on the subject which deserves the most careful study by all concerned. The possibility of a short circuit involving enormous quantities of power is the problem to be dealt with, and it is only with the best engineering skill and study that the problem can be solved. The disruption of apparatus with its accompanying sheet of flame is not only hazardous to service, but has in the past taken its toll of human lives. Power companies should study their systems in order to determine the possible short circuit currents, especially when additions or interconnections are involved, with a view to providing adequate circuit. breaker capacity, suitable current limiting apparatus and relay protection. Ground Detectors A Many serious accidents have occurred when hightension wires have become grounded or crossed with other wires. Conditions of this kind often remain unnoticed for a considerable length of time, and consequently the chance of accident is greater. member company has developed an indicator which gives an alarm to the station operator should a ground occur on any part of its system. While the principles involved in this indicator are not entirely new, no accidents due to grounded distribution circuits have occurred since its installation. A description of the indicator is included. Devices and Appliances Failure to use the safety devices and appliances provided is responsible for many more accidents than is the inadequacy of the device. This truth, however, does not relieve the employer of the moral responsibility of providing employes with the very best protection devices and appliances obtainable. Specifications for rubber gloves were approved at the last convention. These specifications are now under review in certain minor particulars in collaboration with other interested associations. No definite recommendations can as yet be made, but the furtherance of the work is recommended to the incoming committee. The present Committee, however, definitely recommends that gloves be always used with protective non-rubber gloves. Attention is directed to a typographical error in the Specifications for Linemen's Belts in last year's report. In the thirty-sixth paragraph in the Specifications the words "snap hook" should be struck out and the word "buckle" inserted. Apparatus Too often high-tension apparatus has been installed and insufficiently safeguarded with the understanding that skilled men only would operate it. Even skilled men in the hurry of emergency are liable to make mistakes, and it is found to be good practice to carefully safeguard apparatus so that it can be safely operated and maintained. Such matters as designation of circuits; careful naming of switches; adequate clearances from live apparatus for maintenance men, make for safe and efficient operation. So that this much to be desired protection can be provided, close cooperation with the design. departments should be established. It must be realized by the engineer that the technician deals with laws of nature and materials; the engineer adds to design is to be considered to fulfil the requirements these the organizing and directing of men, and no until it can be efficiently, economically and safely. operated. Conclusions This Association maintains a very reputable position among industries for its developments in safety. to employes and to the public, and this position, and its recognition, should be still further strengthened by a continuance of accident prevention work by the general and geographical committees. The Accident Prevention Committees of the respective Geographic Divisions should be constituted of a carefully selected personnel and should keep in very close touch with the local membership and this parent committee, The Accident Prevention Committee of the New England Division, Southwestern Division and the Canadian Electrical Association have been particularly active during the past year. For the information of the safety committees of the several Geographic Divisions, the Committee submits with this report, in Appendix No. 1, the reports of the Safety Committee of the Southwestern Geographic Division. Future annual reports should be a correlation of Geographical activities combined in a text for the benefit of the membership at large. To accomplish this, chairmen of Geographical Committees are urged to attend all meetings of the General Committee, and an agreed prearranged pro RG ASTON gram for the coming year's work is essential so as to obviate the possibility of working at cross purposes. The Committee solicits a closer relationship with your membership. It desires to be of the greatest possible benefit not only to the Association body, but to each member, and particularly the smaller member. Problems of safety arising out of the course of operation or construction should be presented to us and will receive our best consideration. We recommend that the membership provide itself with a sufficient number of copies of this report to supply each of those interested within their organizations-particularly the operating departmental heads, supervisors and foremen. Accident prevention is today recognized as an industrial requisite. It is certainly an economic necessity to this industry whose financial problems are so vital. It is of even more concern to this industry so closely linked with the general public, its comfort, its convenience and its happiness. Accident prevention to us serves more than a selfish purpose-it is our opportunity. It is more valuable and pertinent than to less favored industries. Health Promotion and Morbidity Statistics Our universal good health is primarily a community problem rather than a subject to be solved by the individual himself. Granting this to be true, it readily can be appreciated that industries generally must participate and cooperate in the promotion of more healthful conditions in the communities in which they operate. The need of the moment is for more data showing the sickness experiences of various industries in the different communities. No suggestion is made for the development of any new ideas along this line, which would undoubtedly result in the duplication of much work which has been so admirably begun, but considerably more cooperation is necessary between industries and those agencies already existing throughout the country which are giving their principal thought to the subject of health promotion. Such organizations are the Census Bureau, United States Public Health Service, and the Division of Industrial Hygiene of the Harvard Medical School. The realization of the relationship of the medical profession to industry would result in a closer cooperation in the development of such data as to be of material assistance to all parties concerned in the ultimate solution of the problem. WG SCHMAUDER Employers of relatively large numbers of people have long appreciated the effect of absenteeism due to injury and sickness upon industrial efficiency. One of our member companies reports that an experience of seven years shows that for every day's time lost due to injury there are six days lost due to illness. The experience of the country indicates that daily three per cent of all working people are absent from their work because of sickness, and on the average every worker loses from nine to twelve days yearly because of sickness. The compiling of reliable data is absolutely essential in the solving of this problem, and the Commitundertake the study of the general problem of what tee strongly recommends that the member companies sickness is costing by compiling data along lines similar to the information already compiled on indus trial accidents. A suggested form for keeping such data is given. herewith. Appreciating that the subject is an intricate one, it should be regarded for the moment that the following suggestions are more or less tentative. Every case of illness should be compiled under the following headings: |