Suggestions and criticisms were given on the code drafted for adoption by the Industrial Board for safety in electric crane manufacture and operation. The draft of the code covers the structural features of cranes and also specifies rules to be observed by operators, signalmen, floormen and repairmen in crane maintenance and operation.

Some Reasons for Adoption of a Crane Code.

A workman was engaged in handling girders. After adjusting the clamps on one, he stepped upon it and signaled for it to be raised. Unfortunately for him, the clamps slipped and he was shoved off and fell a distance of ten feet to the ground. His head struck an iron stringer lying there. Death resulted from a fractured skull.

It is foolhardy to ride material which is being hoisted and all crane operators should be emphatically warned and directed not to hoist material while anyone is on it.

*

A workman in a steel mill had placed a crane chain hook onto a hook of a hot metal ladle for the purpose of turning the ladle over to clean it out. After the ladle had been turned over, he placed a block of wood between the bottom of the ladle and the truck in order to keep the ladle in this position, so that the chain could be unfastened. The block, however, was not placed safely, so he signaled to the craneman to raise the ladle again. As it was raised, the block fell to the ground beneath the truck. As the man reached over the truck to get the block of wood, the crane chain slipped off of the hook of the ladle. This caused the ladle to return to its regular position and in doing so, caught and crushed the workman's head between the truck and the bottom of the ladle.

If greater care had been exercised on the part of both the workman and the craneman, the former's life, no doubt, would have been saved. Under no circumstances is it safe to be under suspended loads.

Another steel worker in a forge shop was standing in a doorway between two departments taking a short rest. A craneman overhead, who was talking to another craneman who had climbed up into his cage, ran the blocks up too far, so that the cables were sheared off and the blocks fell and struck the man standing below, killing him instantly. This happened notwithstanding the fact that the crane was equipped with a safety stop.

No person should be allowed to visit the operator of a crane in his cage, and further, the safety stop on the crane should be of such a type as to insure its operation under all conditions.

A laborer on a slag dump was engaged in unloading slag cars by means of a locomotive crane. Notwithstanding that he had been warned to keep off, he rode on the front end of the crane while it was being taken to a water tank for water. Before the crane reached the water tank, it was necessary to swing the cab around. A signalman was also abroad the crane but he got off before it reached this point. For some reason, the laborer, either because he did not hear or understand, did not do the same and when the cab was swung around, his head and body were caught between the bottom of the cab and car body. His death resulted instantly.

Positive orders for employes not engaged in operating such mаchinery should be issued, forbidding their presence on such machine and then means taken to see that these orders are carried out.

*

An Italian laborer was assisting in cleaning out a car which had been loaded with scrap metal for open hearth furnaces. Without being seen by the operator of an electric magnet, which was assisting in the work, the laborer entered the car. The operator could not see the whole of the car and during the use of the magnet, the latter struck the laborer on the head. He died within a few hours.

Warnings have now been given to all crane operators to refuse to work with their magnets in cars where men are known to be or in which it is likely that they may be. In addition the men themselves were again warned against entering cars where magnets are working.

Statistics clearly demonstrate that the danger of accidents occurring in connection with hoisting apparatus is an ever present one. The descriptions of these few, which have occurred within the last few weeks, also show this conclusively and suggest that carefulness is practically the only way in which they can be prevented. Rules may be made, and justly so, for both operators of hoisting machines and also for the men engaged in assisting in the work, but if these persons are not impressed with the importance of such rules and the necessity that they be carried out and also that good judgment, carefulness and caution are needed, in addition, lives will continue to be sacrificed.

A meeting of the operators of this type of machinery, together with those employes who may work near the material which is hoisted or handled, might be a very valuable means of showing all concerned the necessity for watchfulness at all times. A discussion of various types of crane accidents could very profitably be taken up at such meetings and suggestions be asked from the men, themselves, how similar accidents could be prevented in the future. If carried out faithfully, such a program could not help but impress the men with their responsibility and cause them to think. If they think first, the number of accidents will surely be reduced.

Newspaper Comments on Work of Industrial Board.

The following article, published in the Philadelphia Public Ledger of August 9, reviews some of the work accomplished by the Industrial Board:

Pennsylvania blazed new trails in the nation-wide "Safety First" movement when the Industrial Board of the State Department of Labor and Industry yesterday adopted complete working codes of safety standards for the thousands of workers in the textile and electrical fields. The board met in the North American Building in an all day session under the chairmanship of Commissioner John Price Jackson.

This is the first of all the States in the Union, according to the board, to adopt such codes, which provide for the guarding of the workers about all textile machines and electrical plants, appliances, equipment and machines. These codes provide for safety in every detail of the vast amount of machinery used in these two great fields; are the result of two years of co-operation between the State, theorists, practical men and women, workers, mill owners, and manufacturers; and finally, they will serve as models for all of the other States. Moving pictures will be used to demonstrate their efficiency in any city or town in the State which may desire them.

These safety standards, it was pointed out, flow from the social and humanitarian legislation enacted in the last two sessions of the State Legislature. The enactment of the workmen's compensation law, providing for compensation to workers and their dependents in the event of injury or death, said Mrs. Samuel Semple, of Titusville, a member of the board, was a moving factor in winning thorough co-operation in the drawing up of the "safety first" codes. For the better the workers were guarded from injury or death by practical appliances, she pointed out, the fewer the number of accidents and deaths, and hence the fewer the number of claims for compensation. A safety code for workers in munitions and explosives is in process of preparation.

The State and national significance of the adoption of the codes was summarized by Mrs. Semple in these words:

"The textile safety code may be appreciated the more when it is known that machines in the textile industry have been largely unguarded. That state of affairs was not due to any unwillingness on the part of the mill owners, but a universal and practical scheme had never been worked out. Now we have the first complete code of the kind. The mill men helped us all the way through. Owners of lace mills, in fact, tried the scheme as it was forming, so that we might have a practical and working demonstration of its efficiency. The code will affect, under the direction of the State, these branches of the textile industry: Carpet, plush, woolen, cotton, tape, silk, underwear and hosiery, upholstery, lace, dyeing and finishing and sewing machines in mills and factories.

"To draw up the code there was a separate committee for each branch, each composed of a worker on the machine, a maker of the machine, a representative of the owner of the mill and a representative of the State board. The adoption of the textile electrical codes makes about 18 codes which have been adopted by the board. The other 16 include power transmission, stationary engines, machine tools, forging and stamping, polishing and grinding, compressed air, woodworking, bakeshops, fire prevention, canneries and foundries. The codes will be enforced by the State Department of Labor and Industry in accordance with the provisions and penalties of the law. Labor unions, as well as employers, will be asked to cooperate in this enforcement. It goes without saying that the codes affect a host of employers and thousand of workers, male and female.

"The Electrical Code was drawn up jointly by the State, the National Bureau of Safety Standards, associations of electrical men, underwriters and, in fact, by all elements concerned. Again, this is the first such code to be adopted, and it has been drafted in such a way that the code can be uniform for the whole country."

The tremendous growth of the munitions industry and the possiblities which may flow from the national preparedness program, said the members of the board, lend unusual interest to the codification of safety standards for workers in explosives. The Pennsylvania code is being worked out by the authorities and factors concerned in this State in conjunction with those of New Jersey. A public hearing on the question will be held on a date to be announced later, to which the manufacturers of this State and of New Jersey will be invited to express their views. Dr. Alice Hamilton, an expert attached to the Federal Government, will be among the speakers.

Another Viewpoint on Industrial Board Codes.

The following editorial, published in the Philadelphia Press, of August 11, also reviews, editorially, the activities of the Industrial Board for safety:

One result of the passage of the workmen's compensation law and other recent humane legislation is the adoption of complete working codes of safety standards for the electrical and textile industries in this State. This increases the number of codes for various industries which have been formulated by the Industrial Board of the State Department of Labor and Industry to eighteen and places Pennsylvania in the position of a pathfinder in this regard, as no other States as yet have safety codes for the electrical and textile industries.

The other codes previously added to the regulations of the department include power transmission, stationary engines, machine tools, forging and stamping, polishing and grinding, compressed air, woodworking, bakeshops, fire prevention canneries and foundries. The textile safety code will affect the following branches of the textile industry: carpet, plush, woolen, cotton, tape, silk, underwear and hosiery, upholstery, lace, dyeing and finishing and sewing machines in mills and factories.

All these industries named in which thousands of men and women are employed can now adequately protect the lives and limbs of their employes by following the regulations of the department regarding the use of safety devices. No standards have been set that are impossible, unjust or difficult to comply with. As an example of the methods by which these codes were drawn the procedure followed in the textile industry is interesting. There was a separate committee for each branch of the industry composed of a worker, a maker of the machine, a representative of the mills and a member of the State Board. The electrical code was drawn up by the joint efforts of the State, National Bureau of Safety Standards, associations of underwriters, electrical experts and all other parties concerned.

The adoption of such standards is an outgrowth of the "safety first" movement. Aside from the humanitarian considerations involved it pays manufacturers and corporations in dollars and cents to comply with the safety standards. Fewer accidents will mean a smaller contribution from the employer for "workmen's compensation." Fewer accidents also cut the expense involved in replacing an injured, efficient workman. The Department will enforce these codes firmly and in accordance with the provisions and penalties of the law. But no manufacturer who is abreast of the times will hesitate to take the initiative and invite the co-operation of the State in making his machinery as safe as it can be against accidents to his employes.

AN INCIDENT IN THE DAY'S WORK OF THE WOMEN'S DEPARTMENT-PHILADELPHIA OFFICE OF THE BUREAU

OF EMPLOYMENT.

Mr. and Mrs. —, of ——, applied to the Philadelphia office of the Bureau of Employment on Monday, May 1, for work. It appears that this couple with their little girl, eight months old, spent the night in Broad Street Station, and were picked up by the Travelers' Aid Society and directed to the Bureau. This case was a hard one to handle in that the couple had no money for their week's lodging and that they had a baby to take care of. They had planned to get work in the city and to place the child in a day nursery, or to get work on a farm, where the wife could assist with the housework while the husband did the outside work, and in this way keep the family together. The Bureau had no positions of the sort open, and so communicated with the Federal Bureau but it reported that it had nothing of this type open at that time.

The next step was to get work by the day, for husband and wife and temporary shelter for possibly two or three nights. It would have been no trouble to have found shelter for the man, but at three different homes for women, it was found, in each case, that some rule prevented the wife from entering. The Men's Department sent Mr.

out to, while the and the baby until the hus

Women's Department kept Mrs. band reported whether or not he had received the position. While he was out looking for this work, a man applied to the Bureau for a housekeeper. Mrs. hearing his request and being desperately in need of a home and shelter, appealed to the man, and told