B.C. LUMBER WORKER

M stery Death

CONVEYOR CHAIN in the accompanying pictures is where F. Gau- dreaw, employee of the Somass Division, Port Alberni, accidently lost his life. The victim, it is believed, fell into the chain around 3:00 p.m., where he lay undiscovered until the night shift came on duty at 5:30 p.m. He was found lying face up on top of the drum > with the chain running over his body. Investigators at the scene were at a loss to explain why Gaudreaw fell into the conveyor with- out being able to get out of it, as the machinery is only three fect

off the ground.

UNION SUSP:

OVER-WORK

Coroner’s jury, investigating the circumstances) leading to the death of Fred Kuzmick, employed in the Saskatchewan Federated Cooperative mill at Canoe, found that death was accidental and urged that the safety committee act to pre- vent any such accident in the future.

Spokesman for the Union on the occasion was District 1st Vice-President William Gray, as-

sisted by Business Agent Peter Wright and Safety Committee Chairman Don Mathews. The re- cital of evidence brought to light by the Union’s spokesman pxompted the jury to urge the adoption of safer working pro- cedures,

Secondary Shock Fatal

The deceased suffered a frac- tured leg at the time of the acci- dent, and died from secondary shock as a-result of the accident on June 15.

When injured, the victim was engaged in pulling lumber off the planer chain. He signalled the carrier driver to pick up the load, and then for some unexplained yeason stepped in front of the load as the carrier moved in.

The frame of the carrier caught a 2x6 on the load and pushed it ahead, pinning the man’s leg against the chain, causing a compound fracture.

Too Much Hurry

Questions asked during the in- quest brought under suspicion the rate of production on the planer in relation to the number of men pulling lumber on the chain. The implication was that men: working under undue pres- sure might inadvertently break the safety rule regarding remain- ing in front of the load when a carrier is moving toward the load,

IWA safety officials who were present at the inquest, upon ex- amination of the production fi- gures on the planer, and the size of the crew assigned to pull lum- ber, expressed the opinion that too much was expected of each man on his shift.

The circumstances will be fur- ther discussed by the job safety committee to determine what steps may be necessary to ensure safe practices,

The deceased is survived by a widow and five children.

Bucker

Crushed

Verdict of “strictly acciden- tal death with no blame attach- ed to anyone” was returned Saturday by a coroner’s jury probing a woods accident that took the life of William White, 36. ,

Evidence was that a log which White bucked reacted opposite to what his judgment indicated and crushed his pelvis by swinging back at him instead of rolling downhill.

White was working with his brothers, Reg and Doug, Green Mountain above Third Lake for Comox Logging Com- pany early Thursday. Reg freed his brother’s body by cutting a length from the tree.

White was born in Nanaimo and had been a logger for 16 years. He played soccer and la- erosse and took part in many races for the Nanaimo Indian canoe team,

on}.

MAY DEAD Mt

1953

=TOLL

1953 TOTAL DEAD 29

INJURED 2703

INWRED 69)

Eleven more fatal acci- dents in the month of May have been reported by the Workmen’s Compensation Board for the B.C. lumber

industry, two occurring in April and nine in May. Time-loss accidents for the same period were 695. Total fatalities for 1953 are 29, with 2,703 injuries.

Continued emphasis upon

In six weeks the Safety Direc- | tor working in cooperation with the officers of Local 1-71, IWA, and the crew of the Loggers’ Navy contacted the crews in such well-known operations as Colum- bia Cellulose, Little, Haughland & Kerr, Terrace, Sandspit, Aero and Justkatla, Q.C.I., Alice Lake Logging, Holberg, Pioneer Log-| ging, Beaver Cove, Camp “A”, Woss, Nimpkish, and Beach, En-

glewood, Fraser Creek, Booth Logging, Forbes Bay, Gustaf. son’s, Burke Logging, Britain

River, Vancouver Bay, and Os- borne Logging. Public Meeting

At Terrace a public meeting in the local theatre atracted a large number of workers from opera- tions in the vicinity, with their families. At other points job meetings were held, working pro- cedures and equipment inspected, and job safety committee work discussed with sub-local officials.

‘At points where evidence was found of neglect of safety pre- cautions the matter was dis- cussed with the local manage- ment and the safety committee members, and steps planned to rectify conditions.

Organization Counts

The report reveals that in those camps where IWA organi- zation had been given full sup- port with active safety commit- tees, substantial progress had been made in correcting unsafe procedures. In several instances where safety committee members had been indifferent to their re-

Director Reports On Northern Tour

the Union’s organized effort

to wipe out the causes of needless accidents in the Coast logging camps was urged by IWA District Safety Director John T. Atkinson in an extensive report to the District President dealing with his recent tour of over 25 opera- tions in the Coastal area north of Jervis Inlet.

sponsibilities, the crew members had reason to fear the worst.

In one camp, where an inex- plicable fatality had occurred re- cently, many of the accident pre- vention regulations were being flagrantly violated, because ‘of indifferent camp supervision. In another camp haywire rigging was in use, exposing the crew to constant danger.

The contrast found in many camps, where the crew members had followed the IWA program of safety organization, indicated superior working conditions.

The high toll of accidents among fallers and buckers was a subject under constant discussion at all points. The debate regard- ing the comparative safety of two-men ys, three-men falling crews was in full swing, it was reported. x

BCLW Helps

The Safety Director found that the safety educational work of The B.C. Lumber Worker has been serving to focus attention on the need for general coopera- tion to achieve safety.

He also urged that unremitting efforts be made to keep the job safety committees active, despite the difficulties confronting the officers of the Loggers’ Local in dealing with isolated camps and many transient workers.

Local 1-71, IWA, was compli- mented by the*Director for the persistent effort made to over- come these almost insuperable obstacles.

Accident prevention e! with the hazardous equip: of industry. This was ] days of the safety move changing technical advan cannot be ignored today. risks, and improved pi hazards.

It makes the safety més mend modern equipment, proved lighting, ventilatix keeping facilities as a m rate. It is true that the: and that they require a them.

But in the final analysi the utmost safety is the it dustry. Safety is a state: associated with a develop than with primitive protec

Engineering cannot mindedness for it is n

emotions or develop an ai mathematics, | It takes more effort)

man’s attitude from indif to sell an engineering ide| movement is a publicity impact on human basic m| people sense a threat to th| consciousness can be dey vidual through the worl senses.

Publicity can pave t the idea, of safety usually you realize the need for }: so that they, in turn, cary] tinuous state of safe thin

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Workmen’s rt

ADAM BELL, C F. P. ARCHII CHRIS. W. PRI E. Y. ABLETT,£

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