_ Alfonso Ferraro was a skilled machinist-
1 proud of his trade and happy that in
adopted country of Canada, he could provide
decent living for his family. Today, he is crip-
_ pled physically, financially and socially. For two

ars now, unable to work at his trade, he has
ied odd jobs and had to give them up. All his
right hopes for the future are shattered.

_ How did this happen?
TF Why did this happen?

' Two years ago, during fire season, Ferraro
hired out to Camp “N”’, Canadian Forest Products
F as a mechanic. He had suffered a
previous compensable back injury
but had recovered. He was glad
of this opportunity to work for a
big company. He felt that here,
he could establish himself in
permanent employment.

.
-cnan

h
ie
cs

Two weeks later, he and an-
other mechanic went out into the
woods in the evening to repair a

ing was required upon the machine. While his
_ work mate was doing this job, some hot slag fell
into the tinder-dry debris in the landing and
_ started a fire near some gas barrels. Realizing

grapple hook loader. Some weld- -

THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER
re “Walking 'Wounded” Case

A PERSONAL TRAGEDY

ee
By BOB ROSS
Regional Safety Director

the urgency of the situation, Alfonso ran with the
fire extinguisher to put out the fire. On the way,
he slipped and fell, severely injuring his back.
He nevertheless succeeded in putting out the fire.
He was in such pain that he had to return to camp
without finishing the job.

He saw the First Aid man who advised him to
go to bed and rest until the Doctor arrived from
Alert Bay on his regular visit to camp.

The next day Ferraro made his fatal mistake.
His foreman came to him and suggested he go
to work in the shop sorting nuts and bolts, “. . . no
use missing time. . .”

¢

He saw the doctor later, . rest and light
duty ...” He sorted nuts and bolts for two weeks
until his shop foreman came to him and suggested
he go to town for proper medical treatment as
his back was getting no better.

Ferraro went to town, saw a doctor who ad-
vised him to put in a “Form 6” to the Workmen’s
Compensation Board. His claim was rejected, al-
though there was no doubt medically, as to his
condition.

His case was appealed. The Board noted that

there was no time loss involved. His present con-
dition could, “not be related to the incident of
August, 1962.” The Company fought the case.
Their representative claimed that he had been
discharged for unsatisfactory work. One pre-
sumes that a man’s work could be classified as
unsatisfactory if his injury confined him to sort-
ing nuts and bolts.

: If Alfonso Ferraro had realized that report-
ing an injury promptly is no protection these

days if you fall for the “walking wounded” gim-
mick, ;

If he had realized that for a working man
his physical capacity is all he has to sell,

If he had realized that some of the operators
will do anything to keep their official accident
ratings artifically low,

If he had realized that apparent Company
generosity in keeping him on full pay was in
reality, callous disregard for his welfare, _

He would today have had secured proper
medical attention. He would have received a
pension if there were remaining disability.

He could have then been retrained through
the Rehabilitation Department of the Board.

He might have retained some of his faith in
Canada.

>

‘Safety vs. production

at Camp Vernon

Production was the key word in the days
of hand falling, when logs were wrestled
down the hillside by almost sheer strength.
Small attention was given to accidents or in-
juries. Gradually it was learned that acci-
dents do not have to happen; that safety is
more important than production. Hard hats,
steel toe boots, eye protection, machinery
guards, etc., were developed and added to the
industry through the sad experience of past
mistakes. Safety became the key word and
it was found that attention paid to safety
brought about uninterrupted production.

During the 1950’s, companies, in general,
adopted a policy of “Safety Before Produc-
tion.” This policy is not being enforced. It is
_ the supervisor’s and foreman’s responsibility
* to carry any company program through, but
the trend now seems to indicate-a camp atti-
tude that safety can wait.

A head-on collision occurred at C.F.P.,
Camp Vernon, aimee penker 3. A
logging truck with its trailer up, returning
to the woods for another load, collided head
on with a pick-up driven by the bullbucker.
The collision point was on a bridge known

as the Halliday Creek bridge. It was com-
b, talk that this much travelled bridge,

10 :
of the restricted road visibility. It is
that three weeks previous to th
t the Resident Engineer stated that fill
be added to the bridge approaches to
et this dangerous situation. Perhaps
suggested work would have interfered

ith production — it was not done!
The bullbucker went to hospital with a

nas arm and a broken leg, the pick-up

s wrecked, the collision knocked one of the
der logs off the bridge. Per-

sonal physical handicaps, mechanical faults,

of been eliminated as causes, leaving

only the restricted visibility of this above-
grade bridge as the foremost factor.

of the job of the Accident Prevention

; peration is to be called in
ripe. or near accidents. No

feet above grade, was dangerous be- |

By BEN THOMPSON

Financial Secretary, Local 1-71

truck was sent to the shop and the Board of
Transport was notified. The bullbucker was
questioned on what he thought happened.

“Who can we blame?” seemed to be the
attitude of the local company officials. They
asked the doctor to give the truck driver a
complete physical (he passed with flying
colours). The truck was road tested the next
day after numerous repairs had been com-
pleted in the shop (then the mechanics were
blamed for doing their job). Even the bull-
bucker was put under this cloud of suspicion.

The company continued to “investigate”
this accident over the following week by

-testing and re-testing vehicles; questioning

and re-questioning the people involved. The
truck driver was followed back and forth on
one of his round trips. Is this investigation
or harassment? SLOW signs were put on
the bridge approaches after the accident.
Gravel fill is recognized as still needed. This
is not the only above-grade bridge that needs
attention!

Now is an excellent time for all companies
to take another look at their Safety Program.
Too often we are hearing ... “make it last
the day,” “bring in another turn,’ “make
another trip,” “we’ll fix it on the weekend.”
Does a foreman or superintendent fully real-
ize this attitude when he says, “Go ahead,

V’ll take the responsibility.”?

Union members are willing and want to
work safely — but safety will only come
about through active participation of both
Union and Management. A Company atti-
tude that safety suggestions are grievances
against Management’s Rights destroys par-
ticipation.

Let’s put safety truly first in all operations
during 1965. Production will follow.

MUST PROVE THEMSELVES

Victoria, Australia, has introduced a plan
in which drivers will not be entitled to a full
driving license until they have been driving
a car for three years without a serious traffic
violation. Under this probationary system a
motorist will lose his license automatically
for three months if convicted of any of seven

Traffic deaths up
across Canada

By GIL INGRAM
Safety Director Local 1-85

For the information of the general public, the following
are facts and figures in regard to how serious the traffic
situation has become all across Canada. The following sta-
tistics are for 1963:

Number of people killed _ 4,210
Number of people injured _... 126,086
Number of accidents __. 336,255

Amount of property damage —__________.$103,277,000

The above figures for last year are taken from a total
population of 19,000,000 in Canada and a motor vehicle count
of 6,000,000. What does the future hold for us? The experts
predict that by 1970 there will be a population of 22,000,000
and a vehicle count of 7,500,000. By 1980, there will be 28,000,-
000 people and 10,000,000 vehicles in this country.

The following are American figures and similar statistics
for Canada are not available. But we can be sure the same
proportion will apply. Off the job motor vehicle accidents
in the U.S.A. kill over 3,000 more workers each year than
the 14,000 that are killed in all work accidents.

In addition, home accidents and public place accidents
combine to- kill another 11,000 to 12,000 workers. In all off
the job accidents kill more than twice as many workers as
are killed by work accidents.

Traffic accidents and fatalities are and must be the con-

cern of every citizen. ae on the job is of little conse-
quence if we cannot avoid killing you on the highway. ~